Gaining weight for my horse

Question
Hi, My name is Haley and I have a purebred Arabian he is 12 and I barrel race him we are going to state. But he is losing weight and every time I ride I feed him Performance grain from TSC but he keeps losing weight. I want to put him on weight booster but I don't know what kind to use? Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Haley,

Thank you for your question.  For your gelding I would recommend staying away from starch based grains, as some horses simply don't handle them well and your horse can actually lose weight instead of gaining weight as you would hope.  Instead, try a performance formulated high fat high fiber feed (something like Purina's Ultium Competition) that will use quality fiber sources and fat as an energy source.  A little bit of 'controlled' starch in these types of feed may be OK and can help with stamina in competition without being so much as to disturb the digestive system.  If you have a particular feed company that you would like to work with let me know and I can make a more precise recommendation.

Thanks, Corlena