Tuesday, November 13, 2012

How to Help a Horse Gain Weight

One problem for some horses is keeping weight on.

If you have rescued a thin horse, or your mare is having a hard time putting on weight after having a foal, or you have a performance horse that just cannot keep weight on, or you have an older thin horse, there are some things that can help.


Typically people try to help their horse gain weight by offering it more feed, and while this can help it wont always do the trick. Additionally some horses are prone to colic by eating too much grain and others just become too “hot” when their grain ration is increased.

Arab mare and foal
You should worm the horse and make sure its teeth are in good condition. A horse with poor teeth may need them to be “floated” which is where the sharp edges on teeth are sanded down by a veterinarian.

Additionally you should be aware of some supplements for helping your horse to gain weight. Horse.com sells a large range of supplements including those for thin horses. One of their most popular products is Farnam Weight Builder. Below we will look at some of the top products for helping horses to gain weight and stay in shape as sold by Horse.com.

Farnam Weight Builder for horses provides horses with extra protein, fat calories, fiber, and minerals. Not only does it help a horse to gain weight but it improves their skin and coat too.

Start to Finish Cool Calories 100 is specially formulated to add more energy to a performance horse without making the horse become high strung. This is a product that many Olympic riders feed to their horses and recommend to others.

AniMed Weight-Up offers additional support beyond just adding calories to your horse's diet. It contains healthy bacteria to improve your horse's digestion. This is a great product for all horses and particularly those who may have had issues with malnutrition.

These three feed supplements for horses are just a small sampling of the many products available for weight issues in horses from Horse.com (or at your local feed store).

If you are a horse owner, or somebody involved in horse rescue, and weight issues are a concern for you, then I encourage you to worm your horse, examine its teeth and consider adding a supplement to your horse's feed, such as those mentioned above from Horse.com. To help you out here is a link you can click on free shipping (or use the above banner link for discounts and other savings).


Also with Horse.com if you sign up for “Autoship” you receive a 10% savings bonus on your orders.

To see the foal in the picture as she grew up read her story here.

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