Re: maintaining horse weight

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

 Her fitness
> and endurance is fine but I am having a
> problem keeping weight on.   I have had a vet out to cover all the bases;
> parasites are negative, blood work came out
> fine, and thyroid is also normal.  I have her on grass and hay, she is
> getting almost 9lbs of feed a day  (A mix of 10%
> alfalfa pellets, and pennfield enduraevent).  She keeps getting thin in
> the flank area and sometimes some along the
> topline and ribs. Any help is appreciated.

Beet pulp, beet pulp, beet pulp.  There's an article on my website with alot
more details www.shady-acres.com/susan/ but it really is great stuff.  I'm
assuming that when you say she's getting nine pounds of feed a day, you mean
9 pounds of pellets and enduraevent in addition to hay and pasture, right?

So here are my suggestions.  Eliminate the alfalfa pellets, because their
caloric content is only marginally higher than grass hay and while their
higher protein level *can* be used by the body for energy production
(including the production of fat), it's an inefficient pathway---sort of
like using dollar bills to light a fire.  It'll work but there are better
ways.  I'd gradually replace the presumably 4-5 pounds of alfalfa pellets
with 4-5 pounds (dry weight) of beet pulp instead. Just doing that is going
to increase the caloric content in the total ration by about 10%---not a
tremendous amount, but a good start.  If you want, you can increase the beet
pulp beyond 4-5 pounds, but will probably have to decrease her hay ration by
an equivalent amount.  Don't worry, the beet pulp still counts as forage,
even though it's not exactly hay.  You can replace up to half of her total
forage ration with beet pulp.  Remember, that's dry weight beet pulp, after
which you should ideally soak it with water.  Try to split it into multiple
feedings if you can manage it.

You can also add some fats to the beet pulp, my preference is good quality
corn oil.  Keep it in a tightly lidded container in a dark, cool place.  A
frig if you can manage it, though the weather is already cooling off most
places.  Start with just a dollop in the beet pulp until she accepts it and
work up to two cups per beet pulp mash.  You can feed more fats total than
that, but 2 cups per meal will maximize your digestive efficiency.  If she
turns her nose up at it, back down on the amount, mix some grain or other
goodies into the beet pulp and make sure the oil is really fresh---if
exposed to heat/light/air it will start to go rancid within about ten days,
which the horses can smell and that's what they're usually objecting to.

You can also try adding some probiotic cultures to her feed.  I happen to
like Fastrack, or Yea-Sacc if you can find it.  Some of the commercial
brands already contain yea-sacc, Pennfield *might* already.

Give her some time to adjust to feed changes and keep track of weight
changes with a weight tape.  I've had pretty good luck getting weight onto
bunches and bunches athletic horses with this program, including my own.

Good luck,
Susan G