I am looking for some advice. I just put a deposit down on my dream horse 
. I am looking for ways to get calories into her, without making her an even hotter horse than she already is naturally :lol:. She is currently on 4 scoops of a locally milled 14% sweet feed and 4 flakes of alfalfa (no grass). She isn’t skinny but I would like to see at least a few more pounds on her. I also am not a fan of sweet feed, and I feel that sort of amount of food plus the alfalfa is going to put her even more on edge. I have always been of the school to feed more hay, as much as they will eat, and supplement whatever grain needed of course, but to me hay should be the primary source of their diet. For those with hot, hard keeping horses what do you give them? I want to be prepared with a plan when she gets home to start transitioning to the best plan I can make for her nutritionally. Oils, supplements added to the feed to add fat? Open to any opinions on what has worked for you. Also, she will be on grass 12 hrs a day where I am bringing her, and stalled 12 hours a day. Although I do have the option to leave her out 24/7, but wanted to keep her on her routine as she is used to being stalled part of the time.
How much alfalfa are you feeding by weight? A flake can be anywhere between 2lbs and 20lbs.
I don’t know I will ask her though, good question! I don’t think she weighs them, just tosses 2 flakes to her twice a day
I used beet pulp, alfalfa, and rice bran to get my ottb to a good weight. Hay is shared with a fat mini so I opted for alfalfa cubes that I could soak into his feed and not risk mini getting. Alfalfa is also a plus since it can aid in ulcer prevention. Senior feeds are also good since they are low starch/sugar.
Since you have the option to, I would go for the 24/7 turnout. You’ll find that her temperament will calm down when she is able to stay out longer. And more grass will be better for her weight as well.
Alfalfa doesn’t make my hot OTTBs any hotter, and it’s really vital to keeping their weight up. All that sweet feed WOULD send them sky high, though. I’d get her off of that and onto a low NSC senior or performance feed. You don’t share where you are, so it’s tough to make recommendations on brand. Triple Crown Senior is pretty much everywhere and a good one, but Nutrena, Tribute, Southern States, etc all have feed that would work.
I like oil quite a bit for hard keepers, but since this horse is new to you, it’s probably best to transition her to a new grain and give it some time to see where you are. You may not need any supplemental fat at all.
I recently bought an OTTB I want to put a few pounds on.
First thing I did was float his teeth and start treating for ulcers and added Smart Paks Smart Digest ultra pellets.
I aim to feed low sugar, high fat.
He’s getting free choice high quality orchard and two heavy flakes of alfalfa a day.
He gets 4# alfalfa pellets, 1# nutrena balance, and 1# nutrena boost per day (split into two feedings).
He also gets 1quart dry beet pulp, soaked each night.
I orally dose 15cc Body Builder daily and will do one bottle and decide if I need to do another.
I’m also considering adding Nano-E based on KER’s recent article: https://ker.com/products/ker-products/united-states/nano-e/, but Smart Pak is out at the moment.
Emcelle is an analogous product, and is FAR less expensive.
https://www.vetprovisions.com/emcelle-tocopherol-1000ml
I think most of us just use the Santa Cruz Vit E for supplementation, though: https://www.scahealth.com/scah/product/ultracruz-equine-vitamin-e-horse-supplement
Thank you!
She does need floated, which is going to be done first thing after she settles in
Alfalfa/orchard or alfalfa/Timothy mix hay and Bluebonnet Omega Force
Here’s what i’m switching my horses too. https://www.nutrenaworld.com/product/proforce-senior-horse-feed
Have been using TC senior but don’t care for the brick hard feed when cold out. Got weight on them with TC doesn’t make them hot. Also feed straight alfalfa free choice that alone really helps. Will see how the proforce senior works, if not i’ll switch again to something else. Not a huge fan of nutrena but Triple crown isn’t great either, when i have to pound it apart so i can feed it. Horses don’t look that great on it dull coats.
Before anyone can give you any feeding advice, take a “scoop” of her feed and a flake of hay and weigh them. Its really hard to give any advice on feeding if you don’t know if the horse is getting enough to meet her requirements or not.
All the horses i have had have been hard to keep OTTB’s, and most on the hot side as well.
I have been on a variety of nutrition plans but I have never been happier than my current nutrition plan.
We do grass round bales that its winter, and i also add a flake of alfalfa AM and PM. I know there is the never ending debate whether alfalfa gets horses hot, and its just my personal opinion that I have noticed them be more “up” when they were getting larger amounts of alfalfa. But i dont think that a 2-4 flakes a day makes a difference, im talking about half a bale vs a whole bale.
My guy is on buckeye cadence, which is a 14/14/14. He only needs 6lbs a day to stay in good weight (which is WAY less then iv ever had to feed my TBs). This is also not a sweet feed, so then you dont have to worry about mass sugars from molasses.
The last piece I have added is a solo cups worth of rice bran. VERY high in fat, but thats about it.
My horse has been on stall rest and no work for almost 4 months now. I just clipped him as hes allowed to slowly start to come back, and the clip revealed some gorgeous bay dapples! When looking at him, you would never know he hasnt been in work and hasnt been deflated at all.
I would also recommend trying the 24/7 turnout (with weather exceptions per your preference). All of mine have done much better by being outside more. However I know thats not the life ALL horses like, so it will just be trial and error for you!
Congrats on your new purchase and best of luck!
PS - heres a list of past feed types I have used and liked/disliked.
- Triple Crown senior, this would be my second choice - kept good weight but had to feed more of it.
- Strategy - NOT a fan, really did nothing for my horse
- Stay away from anything with ultium, its good for calories and weight gain but it made my horses and the others I saw way crazy.
My mareface is a psychopath if she’s stalled, no matter what her diet is.
My gelding has no cares if he’s inside or outside, he’s always the same.
I’m firmly in the “alfalfa makes them hot is a myth” club.
Sweet feed, though, all that sugar - no thanks. I’d change your grain when you get her home to something low NSC with high fat and fiber, give her free choice hay (grass or mix, if you’re really worried about the Alfalfa), turn her out as much as possible, and see how she does for a few weeks before making any other changes.
I also meant to add that I do the rice bran rather than beet pulp because of the lower sugars.
Exactly. Because if you’re only feeding 15lbs of hay, that’s probably why your horse is a hard keeper. I think a lot of people underestimate the difference in caloric requirement between easy keeping breeds and TBs. It’s not necessarily that they are “hard keepers” but they just need more food. Hard keepers are those that get unlimited hay and still don’t put on weight.
Lots of good ideas on this thread. Generally, higher fat/lower sugar diets work well for a wide variety of horses, including hard keepers. This can mean a diet of primarily good hay, or hay + 2-3 feedings of a concentrate or of assembled whole foods (ex. alfafa pellets, rice bran, flax, coolstance, renew gold, etc.). If you want to keep her on just hay/pasture, something like renew gold can be a handy way to serve up any supplements you need to get into her diet.
Some of the “complete” feeds that you might consider instead of a basic sweet feed include:
-Triple Crown Senior
-Seminole Dynasport (my eventing barn counts on this for hard working event horses)
Overall, good, plentiful hay (and pasture if available) will go a long way to brining your horse to a bloom.
Alfalfa sensitivity is a problem in some horses, but by no means all. Remember that alfalfa is a high protein forage compared to mixed grass hay, so it is potentially a useful way to add protein (needed for muscle building) to your horse’s diet.
A couple people I know rave about the Seminole Dynasport. Might look into that.
I am going to call the seller and have her weigh her feed and hay proportions and then go from there. Lots of good ideas here thanks!
Triple Crown Senior + rice bran if you need it, GRASS hay and pasture.
My 32yo hot redhead TB mare hard keeper’s diet. (her teeth are going now so she just “sucks” on the hay) Alfalfa just gives her horrendous diarrhea.
The best thing about TC feeds; https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/feedpost/equimix-technology/
The grass is going to help a lot, as long as you are in a place that has grass now. And I agree to feed as much hay as they will eat.
I feed all my tbs free choice grass and hay. I would not feed your new horse grain, I’d look into a low NSC roughage based concentrate such as Triple Crown Senior, or any other premium brand feed. If you pick a well fortified premium concentrate, it will have all the good stuff already in there and you won’t need to supplement much.
Once you settle on a concentrate, read the label before ordering supplements. It probably has good stuff already in there such as rice bran, beet pulp, pre/probiotics, etc. And it’s probably well balanced.
The only things I add for my tbs is flax (1/4 cup a day) and maybe Triple Crown 30% if I feel like they need a boost in topline before they go back to the track.
