Hay, hay and more hay, like the poster says above. I have a super hard keeper TB, and went through this, that, and the other of hard feed, beet pulp, etc, to keep on weight, when he just needed to have hay under his nose when in. I have since moved barns, now he is on grass 24/7. I was worried about how he would do, and planned to supplement with hard feed, but guess what. No need! He is getting all he needs from high quality grass and no hard feed. High quality hay, under his nose when he is not on grass, as the poster above says-- that is what you need.
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Hi from the baby Hanoverian club! Mine is about to turn 7 and he did a lot of growing this past year. Heās in a place now with better hay that he gets free choice and he gets 3 flakes alfalfa hay a day. He wonāt eat soaked cubes or pellets at all. I have managed to get him waaay down on his concentrates from when he was 5, though, by adding more quality fats by way of flax based vitamin/mineral supplements and flax oil. I started that mostly for the itchies and for his sensitive gut, but it has helped his weight too. He is picky about the flavor of oil, but there are cheaper alternatives to flax. I get my flax oil from Ultra Cruz, which is the cheapest Iāve found. He does get an amino acid supplement as well since itās so hard to build muscle on these young growing WBs (nutramino or tri-amino).
If your forage options are limited, alfalfa cubes are a good option if he will eat them. When I lived in the south and alfalfa hay was hard to come by, we would feed cubes to the hard keepers in a separate 5 gallon bucket from the regular feed tub, because it was too much volume to feed all at once. We did feed the
cubes dry because of how hot it was and the horsesā tendency to snack on them over the course of being in the stall. Some brands are easier to break apart dry than others. We didnāt have any problems with choke.
Your guy actually looks pretty good. You donāt want him losing more weight, but I think you are on the right track. They will also go through pudgy phases and stretched and ribby phases as they grow.
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I have hard keeper TB who I used to have on DynaSport. I switched him to TC Senior due to the lower NSC and I have also added Purina Amplify to keep his weight up. Heās always been on free choice pasture and O&A hay but the switch in feed and addition of Amplify has kept him plump without being hot
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My mare isnāt one to eat a large volume of food, so beet pulp wasnāt working out. I put her on chopped and bagged alfalfa and it has helped keep her weight up. Easy to feed and she eats it promptly.
You can always try adding a daily pound of a ration balance. Every feed company makes one- for Seminole, itās Equalizer. You feed 1/2# to 1.5# a day (anymore than that and they pee it out). People balk at the 32% protein, but itās GOOD protein. Protein = muscle. It doesnāt make them āHOTā but it will provide a more steady source of energy (just like how people who go to the gym drink/eat lots of protein supplements). Along with proper work, the muscle will build up.
From the looks of the pictures, I wouldnāt want him to lose weight; but I donāt know how much more fat he needs either.
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itās āgood proteinā in a good quality regular feed too 
What makes that 30-32% protein not an OMG issue is the low feeding rate - 1-3lb for almost any horse. Not 5-6lb and up. An average adult horse would get 1lb. That same horse as a yearling would get 2-3 because of overall higher nutrient needs. That same horse as a late term pregnant mare would get 2-3 because of higher overall nutrient needs.
The right amount of a RB provides about the same nutrition as the lower feeding rate of a regular feed. The goal isnāt typically to provide more protein, since it also comes with a lot of other nutrients, but provide all those nutrients in a much more condensed form, not nearly the calories as that 5lb-ish of a regular feed.
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Nothing to add regarding feed but it made my heart happy to see your photo. You are at a wonderful barn. I have many fond memories of my late mare out there. If the blueberry bushes are still producing this summer make sure to pick a bunch! They are the best Iāve ever had and freeze beautifully.
I also think you should keep hay in front of him while heās in his stall/pen. If you can load and hang two or three slow feed hay nets, it will save your having to make multiple trips to the barn every day.
My WB mare no longer growing, but very hard to keep weight on. Right now she looks like your guy. it takes a lot to keep her there and not losing. She is on lush pasture 24/7, is fed the best quality hay I can find, gets alfalfa cubes/pellets, beet pulp, ration balancer, etc.
You know what really made the biggest difference? Rice Bran. She gets about 1.5 cups a day and is doing extremely well on it. May be worth a try!
Irony here- was speaking about a super easy keeper ony previously, now i
am in ossession of a not-so-easy easy keeper and feeding dynasport. Feed man was very much pushing it and I was terribly sceptical. Heās been on it a week and I think I see a difference. It may be my hopefulnessā¦ but seems like good foodā¦
@annikak Dynasport did wonders for my guy when he was on it! Seminole makes great feed! All of the horses that were eating it at my previous barn loved it. Since moving farms, the horse I was writing this post about is on TC senior and thriving with it and all of the hay he wants. If I could, I would continue to feed dynasport as he did so well on it.
6 weeks later and he looks GREAT. Wonderful foodā¦
