# Best grain for weight gain without making a horse hot?



## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

I give in each feeding 1lb beet pulp crumbles and 1/2 lb rice bran. Flax seed oil did wonders as well.
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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

Beet pulp! its amazing my horses get 2 lbs morning 3 at night unless they get too fat then I lower it.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

What is her forage - is she on pasture only or also being given hay? If yes to hay - what sort and how much (weight, not flakes) hay per day? Forage is the key ingredient to maintaining a horse's weight. For adding weight, free choice, QUALITY, hay is my first step. We have a TB (7 yo and also off the track - but once you get past the first several months I take that part out of the equation as they are just another TB) as well and just in moving to the use of a round bale over having to throw hay to her throughout the day we have been able to all but eliminate the need for graining - she is actually a bit on the "fluffy" side of her weight now.
When was she last floated and an FEC/de-worming done?


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## lpcg18 (Oct 14, 2012)

I was wondering the same thing!


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## CountryGirl3294 (Jan 8, 2011)

She had her teeth floated about a year and half ago. She shows no signs of eating trouble. She had all her shots done in the end of spring to beginning of summer. She is due for fall worming. She is on a open pasture 24/7 that is full of high quality grass that is also used to bale hay. Whenever she is given hay it is always weighed to equal the amount she should eat by how much she weighs.
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## gothicangel69 (Aug 2, 2011)

If its been that long since her last floating, I would get the vet out to check her teeth. Just because she doesn't appear to have trouble eating, doesn't mean her teeth are working properly. Its usually recommended to get their teeth checked at least once a year at her age, and floated if necessary. It's something to rule out at least- no point in throwing good money away on extra feed if its just a tooth imbalance. .
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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Grass is getting poor in nutrition in fall and has next to nothing in winter, if there is any at all. 
So there could be one reason for weight loss. TB's in general are hard keepers, period. 
I'd suggest free choice hay first of all. I'd also add some alfalfa. That should help already. Then, to add even more calories without the "crazy" effect, as stated, beetpulp and ricebran. Mix it with what you currently feed and see how it goes. If you can't get alfalfa hay, soaked alfalfa pellets work, too.


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## CountryGirl3294 (Jan 8, 2011)

When the vet came out during the spring he also checked her teeth and said everything was fine. She has hay available besides the grass in the field. Our other QHs are over weight from eating just the grass our there and no grain. So the grass has to have nutrient value if they are gaining weight from the same pasture. I'll try the beet pulp along with her grain. Whenever I gave her alfalfa she got "hotter" and had stomach problems. She almost colic on alfalfa. Thanks for all the replies. It helps me out a lot to hear them.
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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Another vote for beet pulp and rice bran  My barn feeds a nightly mash of beet pulp and rice bran (in a 4:1 ratio), which the horses love. You can safely feed rice bran up to 2 lbs/day, and no real upper limit on beet pulp- just be sure to soak it.

My boy is an easy keeper, but he was underweight when I bought him. Rice bran did wonders for putting the weight back on him.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Beet pulp is good for putting a bloom on an unthrifty horse & does make them hot. You could also try an extruded feed with a high fat content.
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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Waresbear please explain how beet pulp makes them hot? I always thought it was kind of a cool calorie.


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## tealamutt (Aug 21, 2009)

I have a TB that gets hot on everything and is a very difficult keeper. I have tried it all and unfortunately he has a tendancy to choke so though beet pulp keeps weight on, he has choked on it even when soaked over night. Rice bran is my secret weapon for him- he doesn't choke on the pelleted type and the best part is that it is next to impossible to colic a horse on too much fat, which is what the rice bran is so you don't have to worry about over doing. To be honest though, he does the absolute best when he is on a round bale. He can "graze" all day on it, I don't have to worry about colic and he comes through the winter looking amazing, and he is coming 23 this march!


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## SaddleOnline (Oct 20, 2011)

Another vote for rice bran! My horse was a very hard keeper and picky eater- wouldn't touch beet pulp/pellets. I tried him on TC senior and it made him fat...even though he tried to leave as much of the beet pulp as possible in his bucket...., but it also made him hot. Our current winning situation is Purina Strategy, ricebran and Suceed (and free choise quality hay)
He is fat, shiney and sane! 

Best of luck!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

poppy1356 said:


> Waresbear please explain how beet pulp makes them hot? I always thought it was kind of a cool calorie.


 LOL!!!! Typo!!! does NOT! Sorry!


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## clippityclop (Jul 12, 2012)

I used Triple Crown Senior for the last part of my 25 yr olds life - it made a drastic difference, the only reason that he eventually passed was because his small intestine just wasn't absorbing nutrients anymore.

If you use rice bran, pay attention to the calcium/phosphorus ratio so that you don't get it out of balance. But rice bran is a great idea.

A cup of corn oil works great - instant fat calories, but the main thing I read and agree with is freechoice hay, with alfalfa or beetpulp given as a supplement to that but not as the main dish.

I agree about getting a dental workup done just to be sure, a deworming for tapes, and then don't forget winter blanketing especially during the rainy days - a horse can shiver off all of the calories he ate the day before in just one night of cold weather. 

The main thing tho is good quality free choice hay and a vitamin supplement or at the very least, a mineral block. If you horse is healthy on the inside and doesn't have any metabolic issues, hay is the fastest, cheapest and most efficient way to bulk them up. But if there are metabolic issues present and hay isn't enough, your idea of Triple Crown Senior is a great feed choice for the old skinny horses. It worked for my guy - it added years to his life, and he actually got back to his old self and we did some more trail riding and playdays for a long time.


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## heatherd (Oct 8, 2012)

Wow it looks like you covered your bases well. I agree with the beet pulp. I think you ought to soak it first. Make it go down easier. Sound like you have the best horse feed around with the free grass at will.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

have a fecal count done with the fall exam


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Another vote for beet pulp. My TBs both get 6 quarts of soaked beet pulp a day with their grain. You could also try adding corn oil to his diet.


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## justicehorse (Oct 17, 2012)

My favorite weight gain product is Nutrena Empower. Purina Ultium is another very good product and it has beet pulp and rice bran in it. You can also add BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) to any feed program for added fat calories.


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## reigninseattle (Nov 15, 2012)

It's really hard to compare a hard-keeper TB to your easy-keeper quarter horses. My trainer has a bunch of quarter horses who are on local hay and no grain and they are all fat, even though local hay has very little nutritional value. 
I would suggest you give your horse as much high-quality, orchard grass hay as he will eat, even when he's on pasture keep a hay net in his shelter. I also have a very hot TB. I really like Purina Equine Senior Active Healthy Edge. It is high in fat and low in starch, I was able to drastically reduce my horse's grain when I switched him to this as it was actually making him too fat! It doesn't make him hot (at least not hotter than he is naturally) and it keeps the weight on. I also add Canola Oil to his grain for extra fat (canola oil is better for your horse than corn oil or soybean oil because it has a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, although even better would be Cocosoya oil, which is made for horses). I've also heard good things about Cool Calories 100 (a weight gain supplement) and rice bran. Hope this helps


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