Can't get horses weight up

I have 4 horses and all are lower in weight...not skinny but I can see their ribs a bit. I feed them 2 huge flakes of alfalfa in the morning and 2 huge flakes of 3way hay at night...and by huge I mean 5-6 inch thick flakes....but they are all still a little ribby. I live in CA and heard that the sand can take the nutrients away and my vet only feeds her horses a big handful of alfalfa in the morning and night and her horses are FAT...I just feel like I'm dumping hay in these guys and it's just not helping. I do practice for rodeo everyday with 1 or 2 of them but they really aren't in any serious work. And my dad says that if we have to feed them any more hay that we're going to have to sell one or two.....please help!!

Ok how big are the flakes weight wise?? Size means nothing. If its an average size 70-100lb bale then you are probably only feeding 20lbs per feeding at best. Each horse should be getting roughly 20lbs per day. 1.5-2% of body weight so a 1000lb horse should get about 20lbs per day.

So if you are only feeding 40lbs per day for 4 horses that is half of their daily requirement. You need to feed more hay.

They are current on their worming and their teeth are good too.

No they get that much hay EACH.

No they get that much hay per horse...not in all.

But what do they weigh??? That makes all the difference in the world.

Sand can be an issue and just because they are up to date on worming doesn't mean they don't have worms.

100-120lbs

And I am awareon the worms...I'm just saying that they've been wormed recently.

Each flake weighs 100lbs?! You need to provide weight per flake. There isn't a standard amount of flakes per bale.

So they could have worms, be full of sand, possibly other issues. Has the vet examined them and done blood work and a fecal?

You could ask your vet if she thinks you are feeding enough, its hard to say without knowing the weight of the hay. You could always add a fat supplement to their diet like ricebran- its very inexpensive and it will give them shiny coats and add extra calories without making them hot.

Do they get hay only or hay and a grain? If they are on hay only they may be lacking in certain minerals etc if not on a supplement. You can always have the hay tested and see what its missing.

As much as no one wants to hear it, if what it takes is more food and its not in the budget, it may be in the horse's best interest to downsize the herd so they can all be at a healthy weight.

Best of luck!

no, the bales....each flake is approximately 8-10lbs each.
The sand is possible but they do get psyllium powder for a week once a month to clean out their systems. They haven't had a vet check because my dad doesn't want to pay all that money when they really aren't that bad...they are not starving in any way. I just want to know why I can't get them rounded off and cover the ribs the rest of the way.