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Which Feeds Will Put Weight on My Horse?

As I nutritionist I am asked all the time what feeds are best to put weight on a horse without sending it absolutely mad. While there is no easy answer, there are some basic guidelines you can follow to make the path to weight gain an easier, safer and far more enjoyable one for you and your horse. The standard answer to ‘How do I get my horse to gain weight?’ is ‘Have his teeth checked by a qualified dentist, have your veterinarian conduct a general health check to ensure he is healthy, place him on a regular worming program and finally, feed him more’. ‘More of what?’ you ask … keep reading.

 

Weight Gain – How does it happen?

 

Horses’ burn energy on a daily basis to enable them to maintain their body temperature, breathe, digest food, move, grow and reproduce. Large amounts of energy are also burnt through processes such as muscle contraction, heat dissipation and oxygen transport when horses are ridden and worked.

 

If a horse is eating less food and therefore less energy than he or she is burning on a daily basis, the result will be weight loss. On the other hand, if a horse is eating more energy than they are burning daily, the result will be weight gain. So for a horse to gain weight, it really is as simple as feed them more energy than they really need! To achieve this, the following steps may be followed:

 

  1. Give your horse 24 hour access to good quality grass hay or pasture – We all have a tendency to get focused on feeding high energy grains and high fat feeds to our horses when they need to gain weight and overlook the contribution that a good quality grass forage can make. Free access to grass hay or pasture always underpins effective weight gain programs for horses.
  2. Feed lucerne hay – Lucerne will provide your horse with good quality protein which will facilitate muscle development. This is particularly important if your horse suffered muscle wastage at the time that weight loss occurred. Lucerne is also a high energy forage and makes a valuable contribution to raising a horse’s energy intake above their daily requirement to encourage weight gain. It is difficult to make a recommendation as to exactly how much lucerne should be fed as each horses requirement will vary depending on the degree of weight gain required, their temperament (as occasionally lucerne hay will cause behavioural changes in some horses) and the quality of grass hay being fed. Between 0.5 kg and 1 kg per 100 kg body weight per day is a good place to start.
  3. Add high energy feeds to the diet – If the desired rate of weigh gain is not achieved after implementing the first two steps above, your horse still requires additional energy over and above that provided by the pasture and/or hay. You now have three high energy feed options to consider adding to your horse’s diet. These are:

 

(i)            High energy fibrous feeds such as soybean hulls, copra meal and sugarbeet pulp – These feeds are similar to pasture and hay, however the fibre they contain is more readily digested by the bacteria in the hindgut meaning they contain a similar amount of energy as cereal grains. These feeds will encourage weight gain and are suitable for all horses. They are particularly well suited to horses who become excitable and hyperactive when fed cereal grains. The feeding directions recommended by the companies who produce these feeds should be followed for the best results.

(ii)          Cereal grains and grain based feeds – Cereal grains are well known as being high energy feeds and are useful in the diet of horses that need to gain weight. However some grains and grain based feeds are more suitable than others from a weight gain perspective. When selecting grains to feed to encourage weight gain it is critical that the starch within the grain (which is the high energy component) is digested in the small intestine (read the article Grain Processing – Enhancing or Destroying Nutrient Value). Grains that are digested in the small intestine will provide your horse with more energy (and therefore more weight gain). They will also ensure your horse avoids problems with hindgut acidosis which can cause laminitis and will also reduce the amount of energy a horse can extract from pasture and hay.

Grains which have been extruded, steam rolled or micronised have superior small intestinal digestibility and should be used in preference to unprocessed grains in diets designed to encourage weight gain.

Cereal grains should not be used in the diets of horses with Cushing’s disease or those susceptible to laminitis.

(iii)         High fat feeds or oils – High fat feeds and oils are the highest energy feedstuffs you can give a horse. Fats and oils hold two major advantages over high energy fibrous feeds and cereal grains. The first is they are energy dense – for example 1 cup of vegetable oil contains as much energy as 1.2 kg of oaten chaff. This has obvious advantages for finicky or small horses that won’t eat large meals. The second advantage of high fat feeds and oils is they don’t tend to make a horse as hyperactive as the same quantity of energy supplied in the form of cereal grains. In addition they do not carry the risks of digestive upsets that accompany cereal grains. Any oil may be used to encourage weight gain as long as it is fresh and palatable for your horse. High fat feeds include rice bran and rice bran based feeds, copra meal, and any of the full fat oilseeds such as soybean and sunflower. There are also many high fat commercial products available in Australia.  Between 10 and 20% of your horses daily energy requirements may be provided in the form of fats and oils.

 

The perfect combination of these feeds you need to feed to achieve weight gain will all depend on your horse. For the best results you should balance the diet carefully using a feeding management software program such as Equilize or have your diet balanced by your preferred feed supplier. If you are using a commercial product, it is important that you follow the feeding directions for that specific feed, otherwise its effectiveness will be decreased.

 

  1. Ensure your horse is receiving a balanced profile of protein, vitamins and minerals – If your horse’s diet is unbalanced from a protein, vitamin and mineral perspective it is likely that this will prevent your horse from gaining weight, regardless of how much you are feeding it. Feeding your horse the recommended amount of a well formulated commercial product or feeding a good quality supplement (remember to choose carefully as some supposed complete supplements are anything but – read the article Feed Supplements: are you getting what you paid for?) will ensure your horse’s diet is well balanced. It may also be necessary to include a high quality protein source such as soybean in the diet. Again for best results, a feeding management software program such as Equilize should be used to balance your horse’s diet correctly.

 

Problems Associated with Weight Gain Diets

 

Now, unfortunately when we start feeding our horses a well balanced diet with energy in excess of their requirements, they tend to decide that they need to find gainful employment for this excess energy and increase their expressiveness and playfulness (which is then interpreted as loving owner talk for unruly, undisciplined and at times dangerous behaviour) when we ride them. So how do you feed your horse for weight gain without having them trying to kill you when you ride them? The answer to this million dollar questions is … you can’t UNLESS your horse is well disciplined to begin with. If you own a horse that you can only just control when it is not being fed for weight gain, then you should not expect that you will be able to feed it gross amounts of feed to encourage weight gain AND still ride it safely, because it is just not going to happen. The golden rule is education first, feeding for weight gain second. The exception to this rule is when you have an emaciated horse that needs to be fed to gain weight before you begin riding it.

 

You may still find that a well educated horse becomes a little more difficult to handle when being fed a high energy weight gain diet. In this case, altering the types of feeds you are using may help. The high energy fibrous feeds and high fat feeds and oils tend to have the ability to promote weight gain without having as much effect on their behaviour. There are also many commercial feeds marketed as ‘Cool’ feeds available. These feeds are generally designed to provide your horse with the energy it requires in the diet without causing behavioural changes. Their suitability and effectiveness will depend on your horse and its level of education.

 

You should not expect that your horse will instantly begin to gain weight once you have placed him on a ‘weight gain diet’. Some horses and particularly those who have come from an emaciated state will have internal damaged caused by weight loss that they must repair before visible weight gain will occur. Even if this is not the case visible weigh gain may take weeks to appear. In short, make sure your horse is healthy, develop and feed a well balanced diet using your preferred ingredients and be patient.