Skinny Colt

Question
Hi there! I was wondering if you could help me out... I have a long yearling colt who is VERY skinny and I cannot seem to get weight on him. He is on grass hay ( I cannot give him alfalfa or put him out to pasture because he colics on rich forage) and 2 lbs. of rice bran a day along with about a half a cup of corn oil. He is on a continuous pelleted daily wormer, a mineral pelleted supplement and a probiotic supplement as well. I got him when he was about 4 months old, and he hasn't seemed to have grown as much as he should since then... he was an orphan foal and was bucket fed milk replacer until his 6th month. He has had the continuous wormer and the mineral supplement continuously, and was fed calf manna when I first got him. He has never been of particularly good weight, but he is even worse off now then he was before. He is very underweight, and I don't know what to do. I am in the process of trying to sell him, but I don't want him to leave in the condition he is in now. You can see all his bones (hip bones are jutting out, backbone, ribs, elbows, everything), and he looks like a walking skeleton with skin... Please Help! Thanks, Hannah

Answer
Growing horses need 18.9 MCal a day for proper growth. He is not getting this from his rice bran. He is calorie deficient and that is why he is thin. The corn oil is not good. It adds calories but not nutrients. There are many ratios that are balanced in a horses diet. One of these is nutrient density to energy ratio. This ratio is unbalanced by adding corn oil. If this ratio is unbalanced you will get a protein deficiency. I also don't like a young horse eating the daily wormer unless you are going to own him his whole life. He is unable to build any natural resistance to parasites if he is on the daily wormer. So, lets say you sell him and the people who buy him don't keep him on it then he will not be able to cope with having the parasites and will not do well. Its okay for grown horses to be on it, but I do not recommend it for the younger, growing ones. I recommend you get a 12% protein feed that is high in fat. You will need to introduce this very slowly. Just a handful for his first meal and take a week to ten days to build him up to a full meal. Read the tag on the bag of the feed you select and follow the directions. Feed him by weight and not by volume. He will gain weight and grow. Horses in this situation experience what is called "compensatory gain." This means he will get a spurt and grow very quickly. His body hasn't had the nutrients and calories that he has needed for growth so he just hasn't grown. When you start feeding him then he will take off like a rocket. You can also save the money you are spending on the supplements. They are in just about every premium feed. If you like, you can let me know what brands your feed store carries and I can tell you how much of which one to feed him. If its not a problem to do so, you could upload a current photo of him so I can see what his body condition score is. But I think you will be happy with the results you will see if you just give him some good groceries.