Appendix QH not gaining weight, ideas?

It is better to feed hay by weight rather than by flake. 6 flakes of a lightweight, low calorie hay is not much compared to 6 flakes of a dense, heavy, hay. I would start by feeding him 20 lbs of hay per day. If he can't eat it all you can cut back. For a TB type 20 lbs of hay can be minimal.
You have to realize that a grazing horse may eat 1 and a half lbs of grass per hour. That may be 30 lbs or more daily. When you don't have grazing like that a horse needs the same amount of calories supplied.

1 bale of my hay weights 40-45 lbs and he is getting at least a half a bale a day. The other three horses combined eat the same as him. I am feeding more than a bale of hay per day when a bale used to last 2 days with the other three.

I am running very short on hay because I am feeding him so much. He is eating a lot and I am not seeing a big difference.

I always heard that a TB can starve on a diet of only hay & grass and needs grains to maintain weight. Maybe that is only true in our area...but a "bale" of alfalfa is $18 in Tractor Supply, the only place I can get it, and the "bale" measures about 24"x15" and doesn't look too great. I can't afford to feed him one of those litte bales per day. I am just guessing here that you mean alfalfa as a heavy hay...

I see you have a TSC....
Get him alfalfa pellets, to replace some of the "sweet" pellets, at least, needs soaking, tho. Then, for coat, skin, to add yeast, probiotics, fat and some vit/min, add Omega Horseshine, or the Dumor equivalent. With a cup a day, the bag should last two months, at least.
The slowfeeder is very good, needs to be full at all times, when he is stalled.
Look into a senior pellet, Nutrena Life Design Senior being a good one, to help him gain the missing pounds, then you can switch back to the current feed. Senior is easier digestible and has done wonders on my horse. For salt, the only salt lick they readily consume is the Himalayan one. Pricey, but worth it.

Yes, it can be quite a shock when you start out with these hard keeper types when you are used to easy keepers. High fat supplements such as rice bran pellets can help a lot. I use Nutrena Empower Boost and it costs about $1 a day to feed a lb. You can't feed more than 2 lbs or so or they will get diarrhea anyway because it is so high in fat.

Otherwise there are many ways to add calories such as corn oil, BOSS, beet pulp, etc.

OK, so I went to TSC today to get shavings and picked up a bag of Manna-pro rice bran. It has calcium in it...I hope that is ok? I plan to feed him a cup a day. I couldn't find the Omega Horseshine tho. I probably will try one at a time anyway.

Also I saw I wrote the wrong amount of feed down, he actually gets 2.5 quarts total, half of each Strategy & Nutrena Stock & Stable pellets. Not 2 quarts of each! Sorry


I still think he needs some sort of blood builder tho, I rode him today and he would hardly go, it is so agravating. I could only get his trot up to 8.6 mph, which is slow for him. Then he is breathing hard after the first mile and then he steps in a hole with his left hind and after that I just gave up.

I've included a picture of my hay (my supplier is bringing me another 100 bales by Monday, TG) and a picture of the $17 bale alfalfa at TSC (next to a treat container to compare size)

My goal for Drambuie is to be fit and hold his weight when he starts working hard, not be a chunky boy! I want to at least be able to do a 25 mile LD by fall or the latest next spring.

What do you feed with the Nutrena Empower Boost? I think I saw that suppliment there, but I'm going to try the rice bran first.

Omega Fields® Omega Horseshine®, 20 lb. - 5031852 | Tractor Supply Company
^^the Omega horseshine
And the Dumor equivalent:
DuMOR® Ultra Shine, 20 lb. - 1025910 | Tractor Supply Company

I currently feed either one, with alfalfa pellets and a vit/min supplement, if I need a horse to gain, I'd add ricebran.

Reading the short of breath part...has he been checked for COPD/ heaves?

Thanks for the links, I'll look again.

No, I didn't do a vet check, he was fairly inexpensive, and seemed fine when I tried him, but did cough in the sand. He stopped after we left the arena, so I didn't think it was a problem.

I bought him in North Corolina & her property is total sand, he has been getting better, but still not as good as he should be. I need to take him over to a friends to see how he does on sand again.

I probably need to have him checked over, I been having too many issues with him.

You can start out with watering his hay, eliminate dust as much as you can. He should live outside. Any hay has to be definitely moldfree, and as dustfree as possible and most likely watered. Soaking the filled net will do.
Get a vet as soon as convenient to get a diagnosis. And let's hope it's not COPD......in any case environment is critical. Fresh air and no dust and mold will keep him at least symptom free.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas. I really love this horse and want him to be the best he can be. I am going to try to get an appointment at the vet for him next week, Coosa Valley Equine Center, not my regular vet, but they are the best in the state and helped me a lot with my last Dressage horse.