What grain should I feed

Question
My horse is a bit underweight. What is the best high quality grain and how much of it should I feed him? He is between light and medium worked. I also have heard of feeding wheat germ oil. What is this for and should I use it?

Answer
Hi Lisa,

If your horse is underweight it is a great idea to try and get more weight on him now before winter hits hard as many horses lose weight during the winter months.  I'm afraid I can't tell you what grain to feed or how much based on the info you have given me.  Before making such a recommendation I need to know a few things.  First off I need to know how much your horse weighs now and what his ideal weight is.  Ideal weight can be estimated by performing a condition score on him to see how much fat cover he has.  If you go to www.equilibrateequine.com and go to the newsletters section and open the Sept 2007 newsletter you will see an in depth article I wrote about estimating weight and doing condition scoring.  Knowing your horses current condition score would allow me to estimate how much extra weight he needs and therefore how much food to feed.

How much hay and what type of hay is your horse getting?  Hay should always be the basis of any equine diet and you should first look to increasing the amount of hay being fed if a horse in light to medium work is loosing weight.  He needs to be fed at least 1.5% of his body weight a day in hay and if he is underweight this number should be at least 2%.  However horses quite happily eat 3-3.5% of their body weight as hay so there could be room to increase the amount depending on what you are currently feeding.

What age is your horse?  What breed is he?  These both play a role in how easy he is to keep weight on and how efficient he will be at using the nutrients in his diet.  Could he possibly have problems with his teeth or with worms as both of these would cause him to loose weight and unless they are addressed feeding more grain will not be the answer.

What type of housing is he kept in?  If he is out at pasture and the weather is getting bad he may be loosing weight becuase of that and need more hay as hay keeps horses warm better than grain or maybe he needs blankets or more shelter?

It would be irresponsible of me to suggest a grain to you without first better understanding your horses exact situation. As you can see there are many factors to consider to decide what is the best approach to helping your horse put on more weight.  If you can get back to me with this information I will be happy to make some suggestions.  You can also reach me at info@equilibrateequine.com and I can help you to put together a detailed diet for your horse.

Best wishes,
Clair