News & Tips

Putting weight on your horse

Some horses, no matter what you do or what you feed, just don't hold the weight they need. In other cases, there may be older horses that are a bit on the thin side. When confronted with one of these situations, the common approach to adding weight to a horse is to increase the amount of grain.

However, this may not be best for the horse. Research has shown that problems may arise when horses are fed large volumes of grain. Instead of increasing the grain load, adding fat to the horse's diet is the best way to increase weight gain. Fats are an energy powerhouse and contain 2.25 percent as much energy as carbohydrates (grains).

Equi-Jewel, developed by Kentucky Equine Research, is one of the best supplements to use. This stabilized rice bran product contains 20 percent fat. In nature, rice bran is low in calcium and high in phosphorus. However, calcium has been added to Equi-Jewel, so it does not interfere with the calcium-phosphorus ratio in the horse's diet. Not only can this product be used to put weight on a horse, but it has also been used to improve hair coats and as an energy source for performance horses without increasing the amount of grain fed.

Equi-Jewel is available at Stockdale's in two forms - a standard meal (#1101) and a pelleted version (#1167). The feeding recommendations are from ½ pound to two pounds a day. As with any feed changes, make those changes slowly.