want stick on weight!!!!!!!! help!!!!!!

my friend has this horse he is an anglo arab his name is cadar, he is either 17 to 19 years old were not shore and he just want stick on weight. We feed him all sorts of fatening foods like lucerne chaff, copra, oaten chaff and we are going to start him on gum nuts. I had a skinny horse like him and I fed him all of that and he stuck on weight like that and he is fat now. But cadar just want stick on weight.

Got any ideas. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!-o

My horse is like this, too... I have tried everything!

How much hay and grain is he getting? What type of hay and grain? Does he have access to quality pasture? If so, how many hours per day? Older horses can be harder to put weight on.

At that age you might check his teeth. He might not be "processing" all that food. My trainer has a 26 year old that just can't process pasture grass...he has to have wet down beet pulp, hay cubes, etc.

Get his teeth done, and have the vet out to see if he has a thyroid problem. Also, horses who are in a high stress environment tend to lose weight quickly. If he's healthy, stress free, and his teeth are fine, then it's a nutrition problem. Start him on high quality senior feed, which is easy for older horses to digest properly and most senior feeds also contain probiotics, which help the horses digestive tract become more efficient as well. Underweight horses should be fed at least 20% of their body weight in quality hay a day (so a 1000 lb horse should be eating 20 lbs of a hay a day), or free choice hay is the best. Make sure he has access to a mineral or salt block and plenty of fresh water. Finally, look into using a vegetable oil or my personal favorite, Cocosoya oil, to help improve his weight even more. Oils are good for weight gain because they contain a high amount of calories without the risk of feeding large amounts of grain. It will also make his hooves harder and stronger and give his coat some real shine. Good luck!

Feed him more than what you are feeding him

Generally horses that won't put on weight with feeds or supplements have one of four problems, or a combination.

1. Illness or Disease
2. Parasite Infestation
3. Bad teeth
4. Cannot properly process a diet high in starch/sugars

First I would have the vet out to give him a good once over. Have him check his teeth, fecal count, and maybe run some blood work. Make sure the horse is truly healthy.

If all that checks out, then you need to alter your thinking on horse nutrition.

My husband's Anglo Arabian was the same way. We fed him all kinds of things and nothing really helped. We did finally stumble on a solution: STOP! Go back to "simple" in his diet. See, with these high energy horses or "hard keepers" in general, the more starch/sugar you give them, the more it revs their metabolism, which in turn makes them burn more energy, which makes them require more food!

So, STOP! Go back to just hay, lots of hay, more hay than he can eat. Just plain grass type hay. Add to that lurcene chaff (chopped alfalfa) or lucerne pellets (alfalfa pellets), a good vitamin supplement, a digestive aid (probiotics), and a fat source (I prefer flax or rice bran, but oil will work if you're on a budget).

Start with 2 lbs (about 1 KG) of lucerne (alfalfa) a day with 1/2 cup of fat. Keep him on that for 4-5 days, then increase to 3 lbs (1.3 KG) of lucerne/alfalfa a day plus 1 cup of fat. Keep him on that for 2 weeks and see how he does. If there is no weight gain, then increase to 5 lbs (2.25 kg) of lucerne/alfalfa plus 1.5 cups of fat. Keep him on that for 30 days. You should see good improvement.

Once he's up to a good weight, pull back to the starting amount of 2 lbs (1 KG) and 1/2 cup of fat. Remove the digestive aid (probiotic), but continue the vitamins. Adjust the amounts as needed.

TRUST ME on this one. The simple diet WORKS for hard keepers or high energy horses. Your horse will gain and maintain weight on a LOT less food than you thought possible. The key is to start with QUALITY hay, and lots of it. The lucerne/alfalfa adds protein, quality amino acids, and concentrated calories that are a "slow burn" and won't hype up the horse.

Just re-reading my former post, and I ment 2%, not 20% of their weight in in daily hay. I'm not suggesting anyone shoul be feeding 200 lbs of hay a day!

Get his teeth done then make shore he can digest the food and how much food is he getting and how much a day