need to put wieght on horse

We have a 5 yr old quarter horse, Dezi. She has lost alot of weight this past month and a half. We have 3 other horses also, 2 are quarter horses(7&8 yr old), the other is halflinger/ arabian(12yrs). The other 2 qh has lost some weight but they were a litte heavier. The halflinger still is at the same wieght. We started feeding a different hay about 2 months ago, so I think that is a major issue. We are going back to feeing the big round bales, these have been the squares. Also all these horses have been mostly pasture pets 2 are rideable but have not been riden in at least a year. Dezi had a bad hoof injury last year. The vet said she would probably not recover. Her flexer tendon was severed do to an infection. She seems to be fine but we will never try to ride her. Now that I probably gave a lot of not needed info heres my question, What is a good mixure to feed Dezi, to get weight back on her and how much? We were thinking sweet feed. None of them are on grain right now. But I heard the corn can makes them hot. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks, Brandi

Hey hun!

From my personal experience, I've found a great way to get weight on a horse is Alfalfa pellets. When we would get a skinny horse on the ranch, we would feed hay (Alfalfa and an Oat/Mix hay) to get weight on the belly, but, I've found, to get weight to show on the back/topline of the horse, alfalfa pellets rock. We would give about one heaping feed scoop (we had the normal big metal scoopers) and in a month you could see a difference.

Also, im not sure if you mentioned it in your post or not, but make sure they are wormed =) to rule out that pests are making them skinny.

Stuff like Senior feed and feed with high percentages of protien also do the trick, but from my experience, make them high as a kite to handle and ride. But then again, at that time, I was dealing with horses that lived in 12 x 24 stalls, not in a pasture. When they are pastured they seem to get their steam off in other ways =)

This was just my personal experience with putting weight on horses, and I figured it could give you an option =) this has worked for me when I needed to put weight on horses. Be sure not to over-feed!

Thanks skippy. The horses have not been wormed yet. I was not sure if I should weight till she gets some weight on her. Also shoud I start out giving her a small amount and work my way up to the full amount?

Ah yes! I totally forgot to mention this:

On young horses, and very under weight horses, some wormers can be very abrasive on their tender stomachs. I would recommend using a Wormer called "Safeguard". Its active ingredient is fenbendazole, which isn't harmful to even the most sensitive of stomachs. This is what I used on last years 3 month old weanlings =) Heres a link so you can read a bit more about the product =)

http://www.petvetsupply.com/wrmhfrs001.html

Its not as uber-powerful as other wormers, so I believe we had to give a repeat dosage every week for a few weeks.. but don't quote me =) Ask your vet about it if you'd like =) Some vets really don't mind you calling them up to ask stuff like that =)

Thank you so much for reminding me to post that! Haha! Id definitely recommend Safeguard until the horse is ready for something more =) Any wormer with fenbendazole as the active ingredient.

Have any pictures of your horsie?

I got some of that safeguard wormer today. I will give her some tomorrow. Also I decided to get all stock grain and mixe rolled oats in with it for the weight. The guy at tractor supply was nice and got a bag from the back that had a small hole in it and gave it to me for half off. He also tried to get number afterwards too. Lol anyways im going to start giving her that mixture tomorrow. If she just seems to gain weight in her belly maybe ill try the alfalfa pellets. I have a yahoo website of picture of my horses. They were taken in late october. There not that good. I don't have any recent ones. Maybe ill do that tomorrow. Well heres the site http://new.photos.yahoo.com/brandi_k1985
Thanks for your help.

Hey, you can also try beet pulp, that has always worked for us in a hurry if the alfalfa is not helping.

If you try straight up beet pulp, be sure to moisten it first :) Horses can choke on it really easily if they are eating too much of it dry. Its also very high in fiber =)

I hope she puts some weight on soon! Keep us posted hun!

Hey guys. Well I thought I would give you an update. Dezi has gained a little wieght not much tho. I decide to give her senior feed, and steamed rolled oats. I was wondering how much should I give. I just started out giveing her 7cups grain and 2cups oats. It filled a big coffee can, giving it once a day. I might move to twice a day, in a few days since its new. Should I be giving more? She has a little belly but you can still see her back bone and hips. I wormed her in december should I do it again. I used safe guard. I did it once for 2 weeks, second time I just gave her what was left. Thanks

Personally I'd up her grain slowly to 1 can of the mixture 2x a day. I also use corn oil to put weight on my mare. 1 cup 1x a day shouldn't make her excessively "hot". Whatever you do, though, do it slowly.

I recommend broodmare mixes from your local grain store, they are high in fats and conditioners. I use it for my TBs who I retrain off the track for eventing, helps them fill out.
Also, it could be a muscle issue, are the horses ribs easily seen?
After worming there should be an improvement.
My 12yo gelding has been in 'very' light work due to discovering he has a respitory prob (developed as a youngster) and since then his muscle is peeling off, his rump is losing its roundness, same with his back etc, his topline is melting because of not enough work. Yet, his ribs are not visible. Poor boy looks older than he is but I am unable to work his muscles as often or ride for long because of his breathing.
:roll:
Anyway, a little work might help the horse build up too, the good fats may end up in the wrong places(low belly etc)
Maybe ask your vet to check his old injury and decide whether he would be capable of exercising