Horse Nutrition

Question
Hi Amanda,

I am having issues with one of my older horses.  She is a 28 year old thoroughbred.  I am having difficulty getting her to gain weight this year.  Currently, I am feeding her 2 lbs of Equijewel (Masterfeeds) and 3 lbs of Finishing Touch (Masterfeeds) along with massive amounts of beet pulp and hay cubes per day.  She has free choice of hay out in her paddock, so there is no lack in food available to her.  The break down of her grains are as follows:

Equijewel 2 lbs (max allowed)
Crude Protien-12.5%
Crude Fat-20%
Free Fatty Acids-4%
Fibre-13%
Calcium min-1.75%
Calcium max-2.25%

Finishing Touch 3 lbs
Crude Protein-14%
Crude Fat-14%
Fibre-14%

free choice hay in pasture
70% timothy
15% alfalfa
15% brome

Do you have any suggestions on what else I can do to make her gain weight?  I realize that the feed is probably different here in Canada but am I feeding the correct combinations of fats and fibres?  Your help is appreciated!

Answer
hello stephanie,
you are feeding a great nutrition plan to your mare. i would highly advise you to have her teeth checked and floated by your local vet. also keep in mind that when horses get older it is difficult to keep weight on them. you can feed your horse mare and foal as well as rice bran and vegetable oil. the mare and foal will give her extra nutrition and the rice bran is basically pure protein and weight builder. this will also give her a healthy coat. the vegetable oil will add fat and calories to her diet. definitely get her teeth checked though it sounds like this is the main problem. when starting these new grains start her with two handfuls of mare and foal with one handful of rice bran. after three days double this. over time she should be up to 2 pounds of mare and foal and one pound of rice bran. for the vegetable oil start hr with a quarter of a cup and get it up to one cup. keep me updated on your mare and let me know what the vet says when they check her teeth.
amanda