Getting weight on a TB?

Hello,

Putting a horse on various feeds and grains is hazardous to the horse's health and function. Horses gain weight over time and it's a slow process if done properly. TB's are lean to begin with, so they are not gonna have that big, round belly, like some other horses. Sweet feed and oats contain lots of sugar that give horses energy. Oats and Sweet feed are not weight gainers, they are for hard working horses that need some energy to perform longer. Farm and equine stores sell equine weight gainers. A good pasture and a weight gainer or moderate to light work horse feed will help the horse gain weight the right way. The horse needs to be ridden or lunged to burn the energy he already has from being young. He may need to be put into a small paddock and worked with. Talk to the owner about this more and offer your help if you want the best for this horse. 2 flakes of hay are all he needs. Be sure that he never receives Alfalfa Hay or even Alfalfa Pellets. Alfalfa is richer and is for hard working horses only. Have the owner talk to an equine professional about this for further information. Hope I helped!

Makayla (HH)

my tb who i'm trying to get to gain weight gets fed twice daily with 3 flks of alfalfa hay, 3 scps of safe choice and 4 oz of canola oil. she also gets almost all she can eat grass hay.

but i have also had her tested for almost everything that could be wrong, and they vet comes out every 3~4 weeks to check on her progress. so i know there are no underlying issues.

EDIT

my mare go crazy running in the pasture to. so we have had to shut her up into her stall while she is eating. and she is only allowed out 5 hrs a day to avoid having her burn off more energy than she is eating. which was the case when she was on 24/7 turnout

I don't know about the crazy energy, sometimes TBs are just nuts like that, sometimes it's because there's too much sugar in their feed that their bodies can't process correctly so it makes them nuts.

At my barn, one of the older mares who has trouble keeping weight on gets beet pulp along with her hay and grain. It needs to be soaked in water before given to them.

Yeah, those OTTBs always need some meat on their bones. Try weight builder feed, or beat pulp, you can probably get it at any livestock store. Smart-Pak will definitely have some weight building supplements and they are very good and not too expensive, so check out Smart-Pak. Good luck with your Thoroughbred!

At my barn we used rice bran and a super expensive high brand feed we thought would help. It works pretty well, and grazing is definitely good!!!