Question
My 22-year-old Arabian gelding needs to gain weight. He doesn’t work because of arthritis, but he’s far more active than his companion, a 23-year-old gelding. His current diet consists of two flakes of grass hay in the morning and 1 flake grass/alfalfa hay, 2 lb (0.9 kg) alfalfa pellets, 1 lb (0.45 kg) whole oats, and 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) rice bran in the evening. He gets 17 hours of turnout each day but there’s not much grass to eat. He has access to salt. In addition to being thin, he has midline dermatitis, thought to be an allergy to molasses. The severity of that waxes and wanes, though sometimes it requires a course of steroid therapy. He is dewormed regularly. Can you offer any suggestion to improve weight gain and perhaps help with the dermatitis?
Answer
The current ration is not providing the necessary energy, vitamins, or minerals to meet the gelding’s requirements for optimal weight or health. In order to increase calorie content and provide required vitamins and minerals, you have a few options.
If you would like to stick with the current diet of oats, rice bran, and forage, I suggest increasing the amount of oats to 3 lb (1.4 kg) and providing a ration balancer pellet. A ration balancer pellet is a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, and protein that is used to add fortification to unfortified feedstuffs like oats and rice bran. Just 1 lb (0.45 kg) of a ration balancer pellet will supply essential minerals like selenium, copper, iodine, and zinc.
A word about rice bran: be sure to feed a stabilized rice bran, as it will be the safest for your gelding. Stabilization inactivates a natural enzyme in rice bran that causes premature spoilage, so it is important for extended shelf life.
A sensible addition to the current ration would be a source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil. One well-researched product is EO•3. DHA and EPA are two important omega-3 fatty acids found in EO•3, and they have been shown to reduce the inflammatory response associated with allergic reactions and joint inflammation. Feeding two ounces of EO•3 a day will provide some support for his system when dealing with allergies and arthritis. Obviously, EO•3 is not going to work as quickly as a steroid would for allergies, but anecdotal reports from horse owners have underscored its usefulness for skin problems. If you try EO•3, be sure to start off by introducing only a very small amount to the oats until he gets accustomed to the new smell and taste. If he is a picky eater, you can orally dose the oil in a syringe to get him familiar with the taste.
A second option would be to switch him to a high-fat, high-fiber feed that contains complete fortification. More than likely such a feed would contain molasses, though you would have to discuss this with the manufacturer. You mentioned molasses was removed from the diet based on a supposed connection between it and the midline dermatitis; however, the dermatitis continues on and off, so molasses is probably not the cause. Should you switch to a more traditional feed, be sure to feed at least the minimum recommended by the manufacturer. By doing so, you can be confident that the gelding is receiving all essential vitamins and minerals for his health. Introduce the new feed slowly over a period of a week to 10 days. As with the other diet, he can be supplemented with EO•3 for a reduction in body-wide inflammation, including allergic reactions and joint pain.
