Horse Not Putting On Weight

Question
I have a thirteen year old Arabian mare. She is a show horse who gets worked almost everyday. She gets grain everyday and all the hay she wants. Plus grass from time to time. For grain she gets calf manna or strategy and sweet feed. She still isn't putting on any weight and her color is very dull. She was black but now faded to a brown. When I first got her she was a shiny black and very plump. I know that sun can fade them but none of my other horses are faded. I know that black horses can have problems because of the recessive genes. Do you know of anything that can help me with her weight and coat? Maybe a certain vitamin or supplement? Anything is appreciated.

Answer
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for your question.  I do have a few suggestions that may help with both the weight and colour issue.
I would first suggest that you try switching your mare onto a high fat/high fiber feed instead of a sweet feed and where possible try the performance based version instead of a maintenance one...the difference will come from the difference in the ingredients they use.  Some horses don't deal with starch based feeds very well and my experience has been that Arabians and Thoroughbreds generally fall into this group of horses...and I'm not entirely sure why.  The higher fat level will also help with coat quality and bring back some of the shine she has lost.
I would also suggest feeding a good quality prebiotic like Alltech's LifeForce Fromula or SmartDigest from SmartPak Equine.  Prebiotics work well to maintain hindgut health and ultimately improve the way your horse converts forages into safe energy.  This will help your mare with her weight issue without feeding tons of grain.
Lastly, you could look into supplements that work specifically to help colour fading.  For black horses, I've used "Black as Knight" with a tremendous amount of success.
If you have a specific feed company that you prefer to work with let me know and I can help you choose the exact feed to try.
Thanks, Corlena