Pedigree Query

My mare is alittle thin she is wormed regularly and eats enough. Last year she was a little heavy during pregnancy this year I'm having a hard time putting weight on her she is eating about the same I have incresed her grain but I don't want her to colic from to much what else will help her put on the pounds.

Corn oil is what was recommended for my foundered mare. Its a slower burning fat and way cheap if you bypass the feed store and buy it at Wal-mart

Instead of increasing the amount of her feed, you might try a concentrate that is more nutrient dense.

Senior feeds are my favorite trick I do prefer a dry-pellet senior feed rather than equine senior. Less danger of spoil, a more uniform palatablity, and less sugar from molasses. I've fed Kent Feed's Senior Pride and I was really very happy with it.

My old boss used Kent Feed's Omegatin (http://www.omegatin.com/omegatinhome.html) to send every mare who came to be bred home fat and sassy. It's very pricey, but you can get a marked improvement by just top-dressing. She also used it with a normal concentrate on sale yearlings. Put a great bloom on them.

You can also by corn oil at Sam's Club for $6/gallon <g>.

~Adrienne

Fastrack works well as it makes them utilize their food better. To fatten my horse up during the winter, I soak hay cubes in water and add 1 to 2 cups of corn oil. I also add Fastrack and Max E Glo. It looks like a strange bucket of sludge, but he loves it and gets plenty of moisture in his system at the same time. Hay cubes need to be soaked so they don't cause colic or choke.

Try SUCCEED! Works great...even for older horses.

TBHorseNut

I second the Suceed. Its fantastic!

I agree with the Fastrack. It will help your mare digest the nutrients better from her feed as it works on the digestion tract, so you dont have to increase the amount of grain and she will gain weight.

An economical and manageable source of fat is sunflower seeds. A cup in each ration goes a long way to add fat to the diet and it's not as messy as oil and not as expensive as suppliments.

I agree with all of the posts above but my quick and easy favorite is still...........Calf Manna. It isn't very expensive, easily found at feed stores, it's palitable (never had a horse refuse it) it's easy to feed, (you can feed by hand or add to feed) and IT WORKS.

Have you had her teeth floated?

I have 2 OTTB mares that I rescued who were also very thin when they came to me. I tried all kinds of supplements, including one called Weight Builder. Tried corn oil, too. They put on a little weight, but not nearly enough. Nothing seemed to really work until my vet recommended a 5-day wormer called Panacur. It was around $50 and had to be ordered online as local feed stores didn't carry it. I gave them both the Panacur over the 5 day period - they hated it, but we all got through it! They get fed twice daily, am and pm, and get a mixture of equal parts of the following: 10% pellet, 10% sweet, senior feed and calf manna. To this, I add about a half cup of ground flax seeds. They also free feed good coastal hay. They both have responded greatly and put on very nearly all the weight they needed to. It's an ongoing process. I have learned, too, that some TB's are just built slender, like some people I guess! <lol> I also have one of those "tanky" TB's who can stay huge on a half a scoop in am and pm. Go figure.

I use corn oil and at this time of year (when all my hay is pretty much 5+ mo since cutting) I also make sure they're getting Vit E and Vit A. I use the gel capsules from Walmart (one of each daily).

Lack of Vit E can make it hard for them to keep weight on. Also, if you add oils for calories (I do this for rehabs) add Vit E to the diet. Check your grain mix and if it does not claim to provide E and/or A, then you might consider the gel caps. Normally they get plenty of both from fresh grass, but at 6mo past cutting, the contents of A and E in hay are really declining. So if they're stressed (like her we're running REALLY COLD temps) she could be lower this year than last (or your hay may have been cut earlier, etc, etc).

I should have said this in the beginning. Check her teeth!

What's in the calf manna?

Also, (Yes, I'm blonde) - coastal hay - is that salt hay? I thought only cattle got that...

I am from the coast...

"An economical and manageable source of fat is sunflower seeds. A cup in each ration "

May I strongly suggest that these be BLACK OIL sunflower seeds. Easily obtainable at Tractor Supply or Wal-Farts. Be sure not to purchase any with Bird-Kote.

I too feed "BOSS," as it is commonly called in the horsey set.