My daughter’s TB can use a bit more weight…maybe 100 lbs. We had him up to where we wanted him and so I stopped giving him Coca Soya. I realize now he can use a weight supplement along with his grain and beet pulp. I liked the Coca Soya but can only find it in Smart Paks. I would prefer a bucket so I can easily mix with his other supplements.
So…opinions on Fat Cat vs. Coca Soya or any other weight adding supplements that don’t add energy.
Thanks so much!!
Whatever does the job and is cheapest and/or easily available locally.
If you board see if you can pay for extra hay and hang a hay net 24/7. If not, see if they will let you do that yourself. It’s a pain but IMHO best way to get weight on a horse is feed them hay. You don’t need to feed Alfalfa, just Timothy or Orchard.
I’ve used Cool Calories with wonderful results for my OTTB gelding.
I always swear by stabilized rice bran. It’s got fiber and fat, and the vit E they use to stabilize it (prevent spoilage) will give him a shiny healthy coat!
Coco-soya and Pure-a-yeast. The yeast helps them metabolize more efficiently. It’s cheap and works like a miracle for my gelding!
I get CocaSoy at my Tennessee Farmers Co-op and TSC also has it
I put a lot of weight on George when he was first showing by using Neighlox. I still use it on any horse under stress. It is not specifically for weight, but it helps their digestion and so they metabolize their food better.
I also like McCauley’s Rice Bran Oil.
LH, He gets a calcium supplement (Ultraguard) every day so I think that is similar to Neighlox? He definitely gets lots of hay.
Good to know the Coca Soya is available in bulk elsewhere. I will probably go back to that since it worked.
I don’t care for Fat Cat. It isn’t high in fat and it made one of my TBs a bit spazzy.
I like Cool Calories. All fat and easy to feed.
Would it be terribly difficult to add canola oil? The make inexpensive 1oz pumps that help avoid muss and fuss.
I’m a big fan of Cocosoya. I find it does the job quite well if everything else is being done (free choice quality forage + quality high fat, high fiber feed). Have never used Fat Cat, but it hasn’t ever impressed me when I’ve read the label. Cool Calories isn’t bad if you get the one that is higher fat (I think one is close to 100% but one that isn’t) and if the horse will eat it. Part of the reason I like Cocosoya is that it is a palatable oil, so they like it it, and it doesn’t sift through and get left in the bucket.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;8001106]
Would it be terribly difficult to add canola oil? The make inexpensive 1oz pumps that help avoid muss and fuss.
The omega ratio in corn/canola and most other oils is WAY off for horses. Plus to gain weight, what you don’t want to do is simply add fat and omegas, you need to add calories.
I had the same sort of TB and used Smartgain and it worked CRAZY well, so well that I volunteered to be in the smartpak catalogue to review it. I had it in his smartpaks, but it comes in buckets as well. The reason I don’t like Fat Cat is because it tended to make my horse just a little more energetic, but any addition of calories will do that a bit. Make sure you’ve had him checked for ulcers, fixing the ulcers on my boy made him a lot better.
AFAIK, canola is the better option for oil when compared to others, in regards to O3/O6 ration.
And since the majority of COTH agrees with me else where on the forums, I’m obviously correct :lol: :lol: :lol:.
I buy it at Costco. Easy peasy. And at 2000 cal a cup (max two cups a day, whether your horse can handle that is individualized), price/cal is pretty unbeatable.
[QUOTE=hunterrider23;8001646]
The omega ratio in corn/canola and most other oils is WAY off for horses. Plus to gain weight, what you don’t want to do is simply add fat and omegas, you need to add calories.[/QUOTE]
I must have misunderstood things in Nutrition 101, I learned , I thought, that not only was fat higher in calories but that those calories were more readily available. :lol:
Platinum Performance’s Healthy Weight is wonderful. Do you have control over what your horse eats? I have other suggestions that are easy if you decide what kind of grain he gets, not so much otherwise. I will second that hay, long term, is the best weight builder. If there is anyway you can have a hay bag in front of him at all times, it’s ideal. A lot of barns free feed alfalfa cubes to their hard keepers, which would be easier in a boarding situation.
I’ve used Fat Cat when my big saddlebred has gotten lean a couple times. She didn’t get at all wound up, which for us was not a good thing.
He does get a lot of Timothy/Orchard grass hay and beet pulp. I could buy him another feed if I wanted to but since it is just 100 lbs and clearly the Coca Soya helped so I will buy it again. I had always heard good things about Fat Cat but this thread convinced me that Coca Soya is a good choice.
Thanks for responding.
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