Question
I have a six-year-old Thoroughbred mare that weighs about 1,000 lb (450 kg). She’s tall and thin, probably a 3 on the body condition scorecard. I work her quite hard, usually five days a week, at least 45 minutes of jumping or dressage. Though she’s turned out about nine hours each day, pasture is scarce. She stays in her stall the remainder of the time. She’s fed free-choice fescue hay, even when on pasture. She gets about 2.5 scoops of a low-starch feed per day, 4 oz (120 ml) of rice bran oil, and digestive, hoof, and electrolyte supplements. I need to step up her weight-gain program, as she’s not gained a bit of condition since I got her months and months ago, but I don’t want to deal with a hotter, more excitable mare. Can you help?
Answer
Accelerating weight gain can be accomplished with a few simple changes to her current diet. First, it is important to identify just how much forage she is consuming daily. Giving free-choice access to hay is great; however, if she doesn’t eat much of the hay available, you may need to offer another type of hay to ensure she is meeting her daily intake requirement of 1.5-2% of her body weight (hay and concentrate combined).
You should calculate the amount of hay she needs based on her optimal weight (not current weight), which is probably 1,250-1,300 lb (570-590 kg). Using that weight range, she should be consuming between 19-26 lb (9-12 kg) of forage daily. Keep in mind that this recommendation is a starting point, and you may need to adjust up or down accordingly. Offering a mixed grass-legume hay in her stall and pasture would be appropriate to boost caloric intake. Legumes such as alfalfa (lucerne) and clover typically have more calories than grass hays if all are of the same quality.
Without knowing the size of your feed scoop, it is hard to determine exactly how much grain she is fed daily. A three-quart scoop is one of the largest scoops feed-supply stores typically sell. Assuming it is a three-quart scoop you’re using, the mare can be fed more. For a horse of her size in need of weight gain, she could be fed more grain per day—closer to 12 lb (5.5 kg)—split into three meals, depending upon the manufacturer’s feeding directions. Different feeds have different recommendations, so it’s important to follow feeding instructions carefully.
As far as an appropriate feed, a reduced-starch formula, like the one she’s currently on, should not promote excitable behavior. Her current feed contains 6% fat, which means you can add more fat to the diet, as you have been doing with the rice bran oil. To boost calories further, you could increase the intake to 8 oz (240 ml) a day if she will tolerate that in her meals. Stabilized rice bran could also be fed at 1-2 lb (0.5-0.9 kg) per day, and this too will increase calorie consumption. As with all new feedstuffs, introduce stabilized rice bran slowly into the diet.
In addition to the modifications in feed, hay, and energy supplements, I also recommend KERx Special Needs Nutrition supplements to target specific gastrointestinal problems your mare might have. RiteTrac is a dual-acting buffer that protects the stomach and hindgut. One scoop of RiteTrac twice a day will buffer excess acid and maintain a healthy digestive tract to help with weight gain. RiteTrac is a great follow-up to omeprazole treatment. In Australia, look for research-backed gastrointestinal-support products.
One ounce per day of Bio•Bloom PS (Bio•Bloom in Australia) hoof and coat conditioner promotes hoof growth and strength. Bio-Bloom PS contains the necessary amount of biotin (20 mg) shown in research to improve hoof health, in addition to key ingredients iodine, methionine, and zinc.
Well-formulated electrolyte products such as Restore SR and Restore Paste, available in the U.S., deliver key electrolytes to horses. Electrolyte technology has advanced, and Restore SR contains a proprietary slow-release mechanism that allows sodium to be released gradually into the gastrointestinal tract for sustained absorption. When sodium is delivered slowly over a period of time, more is retained and utilized by the body. Australian horse owners should look for Restore and Restore Paste.
In addition to dietary considerations, be sure the mare is on a thorough deworming program (based on fecal egg counts and management factors) and has regular dental care. Overlooking these routine health-care needs are often at the root of failure to gain weight.
Finally, weight gain might be slow with this mare, considering she’s asked to do a fair amount of work. Remember, horses only gain weight when fed energy in excess of what they require for maintenance and work. A decrease in workload coupled with revisions in her diet might hasten weight gain.
