An underweight Thoroughbred requires even more energy, or calories, to help it gain weight. If possible, allow your horse access to grass or hay or a combination of both throughout the day. help is greatly appreciated. If nothing else seems to be helping your Thoroughbred gain weight, you may need a veterinarian to check your horse for undiagnosed diseases. You can gradually increase the amount of hay in your Thoroughbred’s daily diet to around 2.5 percent of their target weight. 1 scoop of conditioning nuts. I've owned horses for 25 years and have a particular love for gentling wild horses. Some horses are easy keepers and seem to stay fat on grass and air, while others will need twelve pounds of feed three times a day with all of the hay and grass they can get. i wish to begin working him soon so i need some suggestions on ways to put and keep weight on a hard to keep thoroughbred. If your Thoroughbred horse is having trouble putting on weight, try checking its teeth first. This may be directly related to the lack of pasture. If Shuster is out with other horses and only offered hay twice a day, he may not be consuming enough hay to meet his forage requirements. it works wonders! Should I involve a vet? Other high fiber foods, such as wheat bran and alfalfa pellets, when fed in moderation, can help supplement poor forage qualities. Because Shuster is already consuming a significant amount of fat, and his current diet is not improving body condition, it may be best to take a different approach. It can be fed at regular intervals with forage throughout the day to avoid gastric upset. Their metabolisms are often faster than horses of other breeds. Grain is a great high-calorie option to help a thin horse or an active working horse gain weight when needed. The other part is finding out which remedies apply to and will help your horse specifically. Use a Chart or Journal to Track Progress, 9 Reasons Your Horse is Bucking (and how to stop it), 5 Tips to Keep Your Horse From Standing in Mud, Equine Anatomy – Naming the Parts of a Horse. Maximizing forage intake for weight gain with free-choice, high-quality hay is ideal. Suggested feeding amounts for grain are often listed on the product bag. Feeding 2.5% body weight for maintenance at a skinny horses' current weight will only succeed in keeping it's weight static, to increase weight and condition, you must set a goal and feed at a rate corresponding to the desired body weight. Internal equine parasites can cause weight loss and interfere with weight gain. If this is not possible, consider adding more hay to your horse’s regular meals. As an antioxidant, vitamin E supports muscle function and immune health. If you do not own a large animal scale, then you will need to use other methods to track your Thoroughbred’s weight progress. Use blankets in the winter to help them stay warm and expend less energy. (he has also lost muscle after being out of work due to bad weather. My thoughts include gastric ulcers, hindgut disturbances, and PSSM. Have a Vet Check Your Horse for Worms. Your Thoroughbred’s diet should match his or her activity level and it may need to be adjusted regularly. Figure Makers: How Speed Ratings Are Created. It promotes digestive health and allows horses to absorb more nutrients from their food. SmartPak's Staff Veterinarian, Dr. Lydia Gray, answers a question about how to get a horse to gain weight. I've had many off the track TB's and the way I put weight on them is to free feed hay, morning, lunch and dinner. They have well-angled shoulders and lean but powerful haunches. Thoroughbred horses expend energy trying to keep cool in the warm months and when struggling to stay warm during the winter. (source). Check out my about page for more detailed information. Make Sure You Are Feeding the Recommended Amounts, 4. (source). This means that the horse excretes most of the electrolytes prior to absorption in the large intestine. Chronic infections and gastric ulcers can also cause weight loss. Lairic, LLC is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. A high fat, high fiber diet will help to assure good weight gain after checking the teeth and doing the worming rotation. The Thoroughbred typically has a deep chest, lean body, and long flat muscles. For grain I … I am trying to put weight on a thin Thoroughbred and have been giving him alfalfa pellets and beet pulp pellets in addition to 15-17 hours a day of lush pasture. Follow the instructions on the back of the bag to help determine the amount your horse will need each day. Estimating body weight (BW) of foals can be a challenge unless you are fortunate to have access to a platform scale. He is currently on two scoops of hard feed and a scoop of beet pulp per meal twice a day but he cannot seem to gain any weight. Skin issues, hair loss, poor coat quality, lack of appetite, and lethargy are all signs of a worm infestation in horses. The following are suggested feeding strategies for weight gain in horses which do not have an underlying medical problem and have not been through a … (source). In the year that I've owned him, he's gained a lot of weight, but he's still not close to where I need him to be, even though he's consuming this daily: 8 lb (3.6 kg) grass hay, 3 lb (1.4 kg) alfalfa-timothy hay pellets, 5 lb (2.3 kg) all-purpose commercial grain, 4 lb (1.8 kg) ration balancer, 1.5 lb (0.7 kg) rice bran, 1 cup safflower oil, 1 cup aloe juice, 6 oz flax, and multiple supplements (electrolytes, amino acids, psyllium, and probiotics). Good pasture is the ideal, but very few of us can count on that year-round. Different Diets. Thoroughbreds typically function with a faster metabolism than other horse breeds, which means they need more calories in their diets than some other horses. Kentucky Equine Research offers a slow-release electrolyte, Restore SR, which provides a time-released source of sodium that allows sustained absorption for maximum replenishment. While some Thoroughbred horses seem to be easy keepers, you will find that some of them struggle to maintain their weight. I have tried many different feeds and I’ve increased them as much as I can but I don’t see any difference. Visit equinews.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to The Weekly Feed to receive these articles directly (equinews.com/newsletters). You can use corn, peanut, canola, or vegetable oil. *This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). A: If you haven't already done so, I suggest you work with your vet to rule out conditions that can cause weight loss, including dental problems and parasite loads. There is no actual breed standard for racing Thoroughbreds as there is with the Arabian or Morgan, as their primary purpose is racing at speed, not as specimens of conformation and conforming to a certain type. I have put about 50lbs on him as of now & he has just stopped gaining weight. It really does help! I’ve been active in the horse world and a horse owner since 1994. The addition of alfalfa-timothy hay pellets, as you have done, is a good idea to contribute more forage to the diet. I find that he isn’t putting weight on like he should be. What you feed, or do not feed your horse will determine his weight. You are looking for the inches to increase as the horse gains weight. He also gets one to two cups of canola oil and two pounds of a ration balancer. Extreme temperatures can also make horses less inclined to eat. Purchase a food scale so that you can measure the amount of feed and hay that you feed each day. There are several things you can adjust about your Thoroughbred horse’s day-to-day regimen to help it gain and then maintain its weight. He always has water. If the horse regularly runs out of water, consider an extra bucket, container, or an automatic waterer. Not every Thoroughbred horse is the same, but that is what we love about them, right? This blog is run by me, April Lee. You can separate the horses at feeding time or, if that is not an option, you can try incorporating multiple feeders spaced apart from one another. Here are some dietary strategies for putting weight on: The equine digestive system is designed for grazing. A bad tooth or an infection could also be causing the problem and may need medical attention. A significant worm infestation in a Thoroughbred horse can cause a decreased appetite, resulting in weight loss and malnutrition. 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