Can you provide your own feed for them to give?
Also how much work is he in?
Does he have IR issues or are you just being extra cautious?
Another suggestion to look into rice bran for adding weight to a horse. It was recommended to me by an equine nutritionist at Cornell when I brought my horse home from a week in the hospital there. It seems to be really tasty to the horse. It is high fat. I get the pelletized version made by Equi-Jewel , which is balanced for calcium/phosphorous. It’s also a bit cheaper than another brand.
https://bluebonnetfeeds.com/content/equine/equi-jewel.pdf
if someone is concerned about high sugar/starch, rice bran is higher than any ration balancer, and a lot of regular feeds.
I’m not sure why you think he is IR?
Daily t/o but by himself. When I’m there every other day - I take him for longs walks - or ride him - or longe him a bit.
He was very thin when I got him - the first place he gained was his neck.
It looks a bit cresty to me.
To mention - I finally saw / talked to the owner of the new TB with feed chart saying 1.1/2 scoops Balancer am/pm.
(8+ pounds a day !!!).
I suggested she look into that. I don’t know how it happened but that’s what her horse was getting for over a month.
Tonight I looked - chart changed to 1.1/2 Sr. Whew. That had me worried.
I guess I’m the feed nerd of the barn.
I’m still not sure why you don’t switch off the RB to another type of grain if he’s underweight? IR might be the latest thing to fret over but you can solve that worry with your vet, looking at a cresty neck (especially on an arab) isn’t a good indicator.
Don’t overfeed the RB. If you won’t consider a different concentrate, increase the pellets/cubes. Those are both low NSC options.
i would free feed the Timothy Balance cubes if needed. They are great for a horse that needs weight but has metabolic issues.
