[QUOTE=breemyster;7547015]
Do you have a brand you recommend? That’s where she is looking thin.[/QUOTE]
Tri-Amino is good stuff…
How long have you had the horse, and how long have they had 24/7 pasture? How much hay in the “multiple” feedings?
Which grain are you feeding, and how much?
Weight gain is not a fast process - nor should it be. If you do it right, you should notice changes but should not be so rapid you can easily see it. Sometimes it’s necessary to take pictures to really be aware of the gain that is occurring.
What does the pasture look like? Is it lush, sparse, overgrazed? How many horses are competing for pasture? What kind of hay are you feeding? Does your horse finish what you give or leave some behind?
I wouldn’t add anything else until you’ve evaluated the feed that your horse is getting.
Have you had your horse tested for insulin resistance? It’s a thought. The results could determine what you are able to feed for optimum absorption and positive results. Could be that what you are currently feeding cannot be used by the horse’s body.
Tri-Amino sounds like a good product but most likely the horse also needs a different concentrate. A horse can only eat so much hay–if it can’t hold its weight on hay it needs more. But the fact that your horse is getting both and still not gaining is troublesome to me. Makes me think it’s time to talk to the vet!
[QUOTE=Scaramouch;7547029]
Maybe I’ve missed it, but you’re feeding 3 pounds twice per day of what grain, exactly?[/QUOTE]
She is currently on 3 lbs twice daily of a 1:1 mix of nutrena safe choice original and senior. They guarantee amino acid levels. In addition she gets a joint supplement with glucosamine and added msm. She has been in a pasture 24-7 for over 11 years that I am sure of, right now she is in a partially wooded 20 acre pasture with 4 other horses, and I couldn’t tell you how much of the hay she is actually getting because 2 of those 4 are bullies, but she always has her face in the grass eating when I come out and I give her an extra flake while I’m grooming. I just moved her here not too long ago (like I said she has been leased out while I go to school) and I am running low on the nutrena mix and the owner wants me to switch to one of her provided grains, still considering the switch, she offers dumor equistages, purina senior, ultium, and a 12% sweet feed. Since getting her back, we have had some improvement, she is still shallow mostly just behind her ribs, along the top of her back (the top of her butt is finally rounding out), and she has a little muscle depth coming in on the back of her butt, but it’s still pretty shallow as well. The owner and workers at the barn said she isn’t a dummy about dealing with the “b***h mares” as they call the two, and she will just find somewhere else to eat rather than deal with them.
No Dumor anything, no sweet feed. Period.
Of the feeds offered, Ultium is probably going to be the best.
How much grass is there? That will put weight on quickly.
If you ever find her in another situation where she’s bullied off her hay, then move her. Either move pastures or move barns. That’s not acceptable management
Since she’s making improvements, then just deal with real horse food. Ultium would be my preference of those listed, with a distant second the Sr. Make sure she gets enough. 6lb may not be enough for now
I agree with what’s offered the Ultium is the best bet. If I absolutely had to feed Purina to my horse, then Ultium would be it.
We have had good luck feeding just plain old clean oats, quality hay, cold pressed soybean oil with vitamin E, and a high quality vitamin supplement with pre-biotics that was formulated for the upper midwest. If you need more protein, then add calf manna. I would not feed chicken feed to horses for many reasons already explained but also because it is cooked and processed. I would stay away from the cooked and processed feeds because you might have micro-nutrients that are lost in the cooking process.
[QUOTE=JB;7547536]
If you ever find her in another situation where she’s bullied off her hay, then move her. Either move pastures or move barns. That’s not acceptable management
Since she’s making improvements, then just deal with real horse food. Ultium would be my preference of those listed, with a distant second the Sr. Make sure she gets enough. 6lb may not be enough for now[/QUOTE]
I agree. I have five horses; and there is a pecking order, so they move around from pile to pile of hay - but there is always enough for them all, and spread out to allow them all to eat in peace. It’s not that hard.
And, I agree that 6lbs of grain may not be enough right now - a feed like TC Senior assumes a 6lb minimum…and goes up from there.
Complete feeds, like Senior, have to be fed at a higher rate because they contain more roughage, and are therefore less nutrient dense. That doesn’t make them bad - in fact, they are quite good for some horses because of digestibility. However, you have to take it into account. 6 lbs. is no where near enough. That is the minimum amount you can feed and still meet the daily recommended amount of nutrients on many Senior feeds. I’d be doing 5 lbs. per feeding, 3 feedings per day, for a total of 15 lbs.
Feed companies spend millions researching nutrients for the feeds for the different species – I’d stay with their formulations. Sheep feed has different ratios of copper, etc. and any amount of this food is not good for another species…or you will be under feeding some nutrients, and over feeding others.
Free choice very good quality hay is just about as good a way to put on weight.
[QUOTE=breemyster;7547015]
Do you have a brand you recommend? That’s where she is looking thin.[/QUOTE]
I am not the person that recommended this but I bought this for my horse about 2 months ago. I think it has done wonders for him. I noticed his neck, and shoulders getting more defined and filled in at first then now it has been slowly filling in his topline and hind end.
I bought tri-amino from smart-pak.
You might want to just switch her to the senior feed. Please call nutrena or even triple crown. I have heard that by splitting feed like that then the horse is not getting the full nutritional value from the feed.
So if the bag says that a horse needs 3lbs 2x a day to receive the full nutritional value, they really mean that. The minerals and nutrients might be not evenly distributed in the food. I am sure that there is a more clear explanation then this one but I would only feed one type of feed as she might not be getting her nutritional needs met by splitting the two feeds.
I don’t want to feed her anymore grain than that because she gets hot, especially with a lot of fats.
[QUOTE=breemyster;7547344]She is currently on 3 lbs twice daily of a 1:1 mix of nutrena safe choice original and senior.
[/quote]
The horse is 8 years older than when you started all this. At some point in many horses lives their dietary needs change, from needing more calories, to needing better quality nutrition (especially in the protein department). To say “I’m not changing anything, it’s worked for 8 years” is not fair to the horse, because the horse has changed.
There are far more than a handful of horses who get hot off a given feed, Safechoice included. Think about it. If she gets “hot” off more than 6lb of this combination, it’s far, far more likely to be the sugars than the fat content. There are better feeds out there, especially for a horse like her who need more calories.
I don’t necessarily think you’re sacrificing nutrition by using a half dose of these 2 particular feeds. In some cases that would easily be the case, but it doesn’t worry me for this. However, you can do much better in the feed in particular. As I already said, feeding the Ultium exclusively would be step up.
They guarantee amino acid levels.
So does every halfway decent feed out there 
