# Weight builder



## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

I have a 16hh+ quarter horse gelding who needs to gain about 200-300 puonds before winter. He's about 6 or 7 so it's not his age, snd I've had his teeth done recently. He's just skinny. He's been wormed, vaccinated, the works. I'm thinking about putting him on some kind of weight building supplement. What is the best brand of weight builder to use? Or is there another type of feed or supplement that I can use?


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

Try a complete feed. Triple crown senior did wonders for my ex reiner.. he's now 25, retired, and no longer gaining weight. The triple crown was fantastic for the first 2 years.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Eliz (Jun 16, 2010)

I had my horse on weight builder for about a month. I just put him on beet pulp a few weeks ago. I saw little difference from the weight builder, and I even gave him the largest healthy amount. On beet pulp, he has already gained weight! He gets about 3lbs/day soaked.

What do you currently feed?


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## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

Eliz
I'm using a 12% sweet feed, and plenty of grass hay. It's not a name brand feed. It's a feed made here in oklahoma. Where would I get beet pulp and how much is it?


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## haleylvsshammy (Jun 29, 2010)

You can get beet pulp at a local feed store. It's not too expensive, but I know prices went up where I live and I think we are paying $15 a bag. You can either get beet pulp shreds or pellets, they are the same thing. We've fed both but personally I find shreds easier because they soak in a lot less time.


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## Eliz (Jun 16, 2010)

Hey! I'm in OK too! Where are you? I'm in a tiny town 25 miles from Tulsa 

I would recommend taking the horse off sweet feed. Its sort of like candy- tastes good, but not really a meal. You can find a ration balancer, which is sort of like a supplement to grass-fed horses. They're quite expensive though, so if that is not in your budget I reccomend a pelleted feed. ADM's Patriot is a good, cheap ($12ish a bag) complete feed, and it tends to keep weight on horses. I've also fed Safe Choice by Nutrena for a harder keeper, and Purina's Strategy.

You can buy beet pulp in either shreds or pellets. Technically, you don't have to soak it, but my horse eats it better that way. You can find it at Tractor supply and pretty much any feed store/mill.

ETA: I just paid $11 for shredded beet pulp (25lb bag, its just really light weight. Of course it weighs more when soaked) and I think pellets were about $14 for a 40lb bag.


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

What does his current diet consist of?? I have concern that a young horse needing to gain that kind of weight gain:?. Either his diet is not optimal or he has some underlying reason for his poor weight.You have addressed his teeth & worming but ulcers are another consideration.
you may be wanting to consult a vet re: His heath & feeding program:-(

As far as beet pulp it is a inexpensive & good supplement feed for helping with weight.Once your horses get a taste for it most just love it.Good feed to mix with your grain & complete feed or supplements without really upsetting the balance of things,Alone it doesn't really meet alot of nutitional needs.


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## leapoffaithfarm (Jun 26, 2009)

One of my horses that was always an easy keep started loosing weight this summer due to the fact that we have had some horrid heat. everything is current (teeth, worming and no ulcers) I tried the weight builder supplement and was not that impressed with that but someone recommended Calf Manna and WOW the results are amazing. I only give him 2 cups of this stuff everyday in his feed and he has just about put back on the weight that the heat took off.


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## mramsay (Feb 1, 2010)

I have the same problem with my gelding. he is now six. he is a 3/4 QH, and 1/4 TB registered paint. He wont put on weight and always seems quite lean (can always see 2-3 ribs) I bet he would look amazing with a few extra hundren pounds. Teeth done, vet checked, UTD on all shots and worming-generally very healthy. But he doesnt seem to wnat to eat. IT takes him 10x longer to eat what everyone else does-he takes a bite, looks around, takes anouther, wanders around, takes another has a nap.. He is in a huge fied with lot of grass and gets hay cubes too-everyone else is FAT. Sorry to Hijack, I m curious to what the responses will be. HE had free choice hay and soaked beetpulp and alfalfa pellets with 1 cup of oil all winter, and was still lean.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I am curious if you are not feeding him enough? Not every horse takes the same amount of hay and grain to maintain it's weight. It may need that he needs more. May I ask how much and how often he is getting fed at this moment?

I have used the weight gain product and had good results. I have also used a supplement called Athlete, I think it was a purina brand. It came in a 50 lb bag and you mixed it with the regular feed...

You can also use hay additives and other types of supplements and weight gain feeds, however if it's a simple matter of upping his feed intake, that would be the cheaper route...


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I like Farnam Weight builder. It's 14% protein, 40% fat and has amino acids, minerals, biotin, etc. It's reasonably priced and gets good results with most horses.


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Lovely to see more Okies in this forum! I don't know where you are in Oklahoma, but you can get beet pulp in either shredded or pelleted forms at Tractor Supply - it's about $12 for a 40# bag. I use it along with alfalfa pellets and Omega Horseshine for my horses. I have a mare that is stubborn about gaining weight and I've just about decided that if she's not going to cooperate on that diet, I'll add Purina Amplify to her diet (vet's suggestion.) 

In this horrific heat we've had this summer, all of our horses have lost weight. Hopefully they will gain it back now that the heat is starting to moderate a bit - 104 is a darn sight better than 114!

We used to feed our horses sweet feed - it made them so hyper that they actually lost weight, instead of gaining it like we wanted them to. Switched to a virtually grainless diet, and the weight is much better - and so is their attitude.


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## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

leapoffaithfarm: How much weight did your horse lose to the heat? How long did it take him to gain back the weight?

mramsey: Do the hay cubes help? I was thinking about starting him on that or alf cubes. My gelding is kind of like your horse. Takes him a bit to get it all finished. He is in his own run so there's no bullying or competition that he has to worry about. Would help to understand if I said he's a running bred QH that probably came straight from the track. Bought him from an !!HONEST!! horse trader. Hahaha. Dirty word, sorry. 

farmpony84: Im feeding him two large flakes of quality grass hay, 2x scoops of purina omelene 200(I think, its the red bag) and 2 scoops of rolled oats. This is what he's eating now and he's skinny. I've had him for about a year come this winter. Ive had everything checked out and up-to-date on him in this time. I just don't know what it is. 


dee: Do the alfalfa pellets have a high weight gain/stability outcome for you? I'm looking for just about anything that'll help him, aside from sugar packed sweetfeeds. What does the Purina Amplify consist of? Is it or does it have grain in it or is it the pellet type of food with all of the good nutrients and vitamins in it? I really want to help my gray boy out. 

On another not, I'm probably going to take all my horses off of grain. Gradually of course. I've got a High Brow Hickory/Dash for Cash bred 4yr old filly who is absolutely NUTS! She is the spookiest, most reactive horse you'll ever meet. She wasn't frightened so badly the other day by a coloring book flapping in the wind, she wouldn't eat in her little shed for a day or so. The book wasnt left intentionally. My sister left it there. I'm sure knowing how a horse is, it'd would have colored the pictures itself. lol. She did have a rough start though and wasn't *handled* until late into her two year old year. She does kind of calm down when she's been on a round bale for a few weeks. My gray gelding is the same way. He's not cow/speed bred though. He's run, run, RUN all the way. He's the tall, leggy, appendix type. Other than the additudes of your horses, what are the other positive effects of no grain? Is it easier financially?


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

BarrelWannabe said:


> dee: Do the alfalfa pellets have a high weight gain/stability outcome for you? I'm looking for just about anything that'll help him, aside from sugar packed sweetfeeds. What does the Purina Amplify consist of? Is it or does it have grain in it or is it the pellet type of food with all of the good nutrients and vitamins in it? I really want to help my gray boy out.


My horses do great on the alfalfa pellets - they aren't worked very hard, though. On the days that they do get worked, I cheat a bit and throw in a quart of plain crimped oats. They think they are getting a treat! 

We have a couple of high strung horses that will actually lose weight on grain - it just makes them more hyper, and I guess they just "worry" the weight off! We have one really nasty spooky mare that we don't dare even give alfalfa to. She's stuck with timothy hay pellets, because even the alfalfa is too hot for her!


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

You might try Fat Cat. It's made by Vapco. It has 24% protein and lots of omega 3 & 6. My old man gets a little lean through the winter (he is 29) and this is the one product I've found that keeps him looking great.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

ANY horse can benefit from a probiotic, but for underweight or senior horses, it is a MUST!!!!!!

We used Cool Calories and a probiotic and it fattened our OTTB up so much people thought he was an Appendix QH.

Tried Platform Weight and Farnham Weight Builder...they did nothing for our boy.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

leapoffaithfarm said:


> One of my horses that was always an easy keep started loosing weight this summer due to the fact that we have had some horrid heat.


That is what our vets are saying. Heat, rain and bugs. The horses simply don't 'feel' like eating.

I love summer but fall is rather enticing right now.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

Try SafeChoice, it has always worked amazing for any horse I have ever seen it fed to.

Also, I would not go the alfalfa cubes way, one they are not really all that high in fat and they will make a horse hot.

Another feed you may wanna check out is Empower, I would not recommend this feed to be fed to an already hot horse. It is kinda high though last time I fed it price per 50lb pag was $25, but it is a very high in fat good feed!

Also, I have used weight builder on my mare and I can never finish a bucket with her before she is OVER WEIGHT! haha

I also love beet bulp, but it is more of a filler then anything else, it is not all that high in fat. 
Alot of people like rice bran, me I am not that big of a fan, I did try some rice bran pellets but my mare would not eat them.

Good luck, also once you change from feeding that crappy sweet feed you will probably see a huge change with in days in yours horses behavior and appearance.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

sierrams1123 said:


> Another feed you may wanna check out it Empower
> Alot of people like rice bran, me I am not that big of a fan, I did try some rice bran pellets but my mare would not eat them.


 
Psst - Empower is a rice bran pellet.

Nutrena: Products - Horses - Empower Supplements - Empower


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

mls said:


> Psst - Empower is a rice bran pellet.
> 
> Nutrena: Products - Horses - Empower Supplements - Empower


 
I am sorry I meant the rice bran in powder form or whatever you wanna call that sand looking stuff!  my correction.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I agree with the other suggestion people gave and have another to try. We feed a couple cups of rice bran a day, has a nice fat content to it too.

One possibility to think of. Quite a few years ago I bought a horse that was underweight and tried to feed him up. He gained weight up to a point then refused to put more on no matter how much I tried to feed him up, this went on for a year. He was an older horse and I figured due to his age, getting ridden on trails and being a hard keeper that was as good as he was going to get when it came to weight.

One day he got sick and the vet recommended antibiotic shots for him, afterwards his weight shot up so fast he actually got fat and even sassier then he was already (didn't think that was possible). I had to actually cut back his feed for the first time since I bought him. I asked the vet about what happened and he said sometimes they just have a low grade fever that physically drags them down, the antibiotics got him over it.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

mls said:


> Psst - Empower is a rice bran pellet.
> 
> Nutrena: Products - Horses - Empower Supplements - Empower


I heard this was good stuff, but my horse wouldn't touch it. Fat Cat didn't do squat for my guy. Neither did Cool Calories. I did have success with SmartPak Weight Gain and also Omegatin. If at all possible, try to "borrow" some of whatever you want to try before buying any of these. They aren't cheap. I probably blew $200 and went through several products that my horse either didn't like or didn't work before finding stuff that showed results.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

MyBoyPuck said:


> I heard this was good stuff, but my horse wouldn't touch it. Fat Cat didn't do squat for my guy. Neither did Cool Calories. I did have success with SmartPak Weight Gain and also Omegatin. If at all possible, try to "borrow" some of whatever you want to try before buying any of these. They aren't cheap. I probably blew $200 and went through several products that my horse either didn't like or didn't work before finding stuff that showed results.


 
I know with smart pak you can call and get samples of different supplements for your horse to try so that you can make sure your horse will eat it.


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