I bought a 3yo who just came out of race training a couple of weeks ago, and is very thin. I haven’t had a horse needing weight for about 20 years, so I am not sure what the best options are. What is your go to for getting weight on?
He has free choice ok quality first cut. We get really, really nice grass second cut, but that won’t be available for a couple of months, so I am planning on supplementing with some bagged alfalfa. Once he settled in he will have some pasture, but not a lot. I am starting him on Nexium.
I can easily get Poulin/Nutrina/Triple Crown/Blue Seal. I get other brands, but it will be a longer, out of the way drive.
Not one of the brands you listed, but I use purina ultium on ones needing weight. It’s the highest calories per pound in horse feed that I know of (1800-1900 per lb, if I remember correctly) and because it has a lot of fiber it seems to not make them hot or cause gut issues.
Everyone will give you a different answer because there are so many options. I decided to go minimal sweet feeds with my guy who just came off the track. He gets orchard (about 16 lbs per day), any of the leavings on the haybarn floor (roughly 4-10 lbs per day), 2-3 lbs of alfalfa cubes places in a toy feeder, 1 lb alfalfa pellets and 2-3 lbs Albers Special 6 animal feed as a filler. I had not heard of Albers Special 6 before this horse and since I was looking for a mostly forage based diet this feed work for me as a weight gain filler.
For the TBs I get off the track, I prefer to feed them a mix of alfalfa pellets and some sort of high fat, high fiber grain - with 24/7 access to a round bale. If you can get them on grass, even better. For the ones that come to me skinny and not just race fit, I also feed oats.
I’ve tried and fed all of the things listed here, but currently I feed Poulin Fibremax, which is sort of similar to Purina Ultium. I’ve been feeding it for about six years now and like it better than Ultium, but it’s local and not widely distributed.
Be aware that it’s normal for an OTTB to go through a transformation, where they may look “worse” or skinnier before they look better - their race-fit bodies usually lose the racing muscle, and it can create the impression of them looking worse than they are. Just part of the process. :yes:
It is not very common to feed oats anymore because of the high NSC, but I have had good luck feeding oats/alfalfa during transition, to keep their body weight ahead. Some horses never have that “race horse crash”, others do – since adding alfalfa to the diet I have not had a horse go through it much.
My only complaint about Sentinel LS is that you have to feed too much to get the same results; since it is such a light and fluffy feed, it takes a long time for a horse to eat and I have had horses walk off it that have never left their grain before! :eek:
Keeping him on grass, and a good quality diet, will go a long way. One thing I will never not feed any of my TBs is alfalfa pellets. It keeps them in very good weight, and they look great on it. None of them are hotter with the alfalfa – all of the horses on the farm get it (TBs, WBs, QH, and an STB!) – if anything, I think they are better on it than without. I personally believe it helps tremendously with ulcers. Our horses get 1/3 qt to a quart per feeding, depending on weight and work.
Just remember TBs at the track usually are eating in the ballpark of 15lbs a day of high calorie/high protein feed plus top quality hay, fed generously if not free choice.
Often they come off the track and we dramatically cut their caloric intake in addition to dramatically changing their lifestyle. To a lot of people (not necessarily you, I’m sure you already know this), a generic barn “scoop” of feed twice a day seems like a lot, then they are surprised when their TB turns into a skeleton getting 2 scoops of feed and average quality grass hay. Or they kick the horse out on so-so quality pasture and can’t figure out why the horse is losing weight.
So whatever you decide to go with, don’t be afraid to feed it at the recommended quantities or more. You’re feeding a growing horse with an amped up metabolism. Personally, I really like Triple Crown Senior or a similar high fat/low starch/higher protein product. I also like using a ration balancer and making up the calorie difference with a pelleted fat supplement, alfalfa pellets, and oats if necessary. Make sure you are feeding LOTS of forage. And definitely supplement him with alfalfa (as I know you are planning)… make sure you’re feeding several pounds of it daily, not just handfuls to top dress.
Lots of high quality hay and alfalfa, but for bagged feed, I really like the Carbcare Performance. It’s a DENSE feed, so you get more kcals in for the volume–a 3 qt scoop holds nearly four and a half pounds for close to 7,000 kcal. For horses that get bored of eating and walk away, it’s just so handy to have that density!
Thank everyone for the replies! I have had a bunch of IR/easy keeper retires for soooo long, I forgot what I used to feed the high metabolism guys. I think I am going to try following Beowulf’s regime, as I can get the FibreMax at the feed store I frequent, and I have already started him on alfalfa pellets.
My biggest worry is the load of hay my hay guy delivered last night is great for the fatties, but not so much for someone needing calories. I do have a field, but it is rather sparse, which is again, great for IR, as it just gives them something to do without causing issues. I am going to have to run to TSC for some bagged alfalfa and maybe some cubes this afternoon. I did have a guy I used to get round bales from, but he bought a new baler that is hydraulic and the bales were then so tight that the middles were always musty, so I stopped getting them.
I do know about the let down period. I bought a gelding at Suffolk, but it was eons ago. My new pony was in training until last week, I think, but never raced because he was/is body sore. Very tight muscles. I have the vet coming for him next week, and I think I will have her pull blood for Se/Vit E while they are here. Body worker is coming either tonight or one day next week.
My preference is for a high fat senior feed (my choice is Seminole Wellness, but as long long as you choose a top notch senior feed from a major feed company you are probably OK ) and then add canola or veggie oil (if you are feeding alfalfa cubes they will do a nice job of soaking up oil, whereas a high fat feed might not sop it up) and a good legume (alfalfa or peanut) or legume/grass mix, free choice.
But as someone pointed out, this horse has probably been on an energy dense high carb diet. Also he’s been in a balancing act between growth (assuming he’s young), high performance and not carrying a bit of excess…
So you have a few things to overcome: 1) the “conversion” process to absorb high fat from a high carb is a few months and 2) now that you are lowering the performance requirements and upping the calories (comparatively speaking), his body may use this as an opportunity to pack in the resources for growth. So you may see a horse who looks the same… same… same… worse!!! OMG <cue panic> wait is he fatter today? maybe? definitely! Finally, he looks lovely… and about an inch taller.
High fat diets are pretty en vogue in the racehorse world anymore. The most popular commercial mixes are usually 6-10% fat, which isn’t crazy high, but is a lot higher than the days when everything was under 5%. Adding oil is fairly common practice. On the farm, people who want their horses to look good tend to use a lot of fat supplements. Rice bran, etc.
It’s just the balancing act where they are coming down from needing SO MUCH ENERGY to sustain themselves. The biggest mistake I see is that people don’t feed enough to support a growing horse with all that muscle, so the horses crash and burn. It’s an ugly process trying to recover from that, not to mention the horse’s body is so stressed by that point, they develop all sorts of skin and hoof issues to boot. You have to keep the calories up and they have to be quality calories, not just sugar and fiber.
My TBs all eat Blue Bonnet Natural 12/10 3 lbs am/ 3lbs pm. (This is a oil feed not a molasses feed). If they are terribly skinny I’ll add Manna Pro Cool Calories in their feed with Platinum Performance and a flake of alfalfa at evening feed. They also have access to grass pasture 24/7. I have also had luck with the Nutrena Senior feed in lieu of the of the Manna Pro Cool Calories about 1/2 and 1/2 with my regular feed. Change is slow be patient.
Our geriatric OTTB is looking amazing this year on Poulin Fibremax. I was able to cut his grain in half when we switched from TC Senior to Fibremax. Free choice hay and 4-6# of Fibremax depending on how much grass he’s getting.
Be aware that it’s normal for an OTTB to go through a transformation, where they may look “worse” or skinnier before they look better - their race-fit bodies usually lose the racing muscle, and it can create the impression of them looking worse than they are. Just part of the process. :yes:
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That has not been my experience at all. Sometimes I bring them home for 2-3 weeks of turnout between races and they lose no condition at all. The ones that come home and stay for months do just fine on the TC Senior, and I usually start out at just 6 lbs a day if the pasture is lush.
Of what you listed …Triple Crown Senior , or Nutrena Fibergized Omega …also Tribute Kalm Ultra… an Ulcer Supplement such as Equine Elixirs Ulceeraser, Purina Outlast Ulcer Supplement, Succeed Oral Paste Syringes, Uckeles GUT powder -all great choices …but what’s really important is good quality free choice hay
You’re bringing them home for 2-3 weeks between races/work.
Completely different than turning them out after retiring.
Keep in mind… most TBs that retire from the track, are doing so for a reason and usually have some sort of jewelry or compromise that also impacts their management.
That’s good for you that you found something that works… but I think most people will find some sort of conditional decline when they bring home their first OTTB. Either they have no idea the real amount of grain going into that TB to keep it in that condition and they aren’t feeding enough, or they aren’t working the horse/keeping to a routine and the horse loses condition. The sad reality is, most boarding barns are not equipped with the knowledge or the resources to keep an OTTB in the same condition it was on the track.
I usually give the new TBs I get the winter off (I almost exclusively get OTTBs at the end of the fall). They totally lose their racing condition. This program has worked well for me, for the last fifteen years or so. I am not sure what magical supplement can be fed, to make them keep their racing condition, while they are not in any sort of work. Maybe you can tell me?
Most boarding barns are not equipped, either physically or contractually, to house the OTTB in the same manner a race-trainer’s outfit does. Most boarding barns here have somewhere in the boarding contract a limit to how much grain a horse gets per day without needing an additional charge. IME it’s about 2-4lb a day - NOT per feeding! That’s hardly scratching the surface of what TBs get on the track (closer to ~15lb grain). Most boarding barns also only offer a handful of different feed options, and don’t want you bringing in your own even if you provide/pay for it.
Add that most boarding barns don’t provide hay 24/7, much less high quality hay…
It’s really not surprising to me to see so many horses go through a drastic change in condition.
When I was a BM at a barn that got OTTBs, I would normally put the TBs out as much as possible on our biggest grass field and fed them about 4lb of Ultium to start, 3 feedings a day, and gradually wean them back. They all were stalled at night, and would get 5 flakes of hay in a haybag at 6pm and 11pm. I had good luck with this routine but prefer my own routine mentioned above (alfalfa pellets/Poulin Fibremax/24/7 turnout on roundbale) – alas, as a BM, there is only so much you can control when working under a barn owner’s vision :winkgrin:
No, you are not correct. The ones that need a break come home for about 3 months, some up to 6 months. I feed TC Senior, and will top dress with TC 15% as needed to maintain condition. They get free choice OG hay and pasture. No magic supplements. No weight loss. But I agree a horse that is underfed and not exercised will lose condition. Any horse would.
@beowulf You and I tend to see eye to eye on things and I have a lot of respect for your program. But I’ve found I can avoid the condition decline, too.
Keep the protein up, keep the calories up, keep the good forage flowing, and scale the carbs waaaaaay back. Keep the horse working lightly if you can. Protect them from the elements they are not used to. Avoid stressful social situations that may occur.
Totally agree that most boarding barns just suck at letting down TBs, for the exact reasons you cite.
But I do think the crash can be avoided with proactivity and knowledge of what they were coming from in their previous racing lifestyle.
It’s harder when they are laid up with an injury, but that’s unavoidable.
My guy dropped weight after a barn move. Head gelding bullied him relentlessly for about a month. anyhoo, I went down the same path as you and tried about 4 different feeds before LOVING Blue Seal Performance LS. Try it!! Oh, and yes, he is a OTTB.
