# OTTB not gaining weight



## candandy49 (Jan 16, 2011)

It would probably be a good idea to have your TB mare scoped by your Vet to check for ulcers. That should really be on your agenda to have done for her. It is best to feed supplements by weight rather than "coffee can" measurements. For example, on the average a horse's stomach holds only a maximum of 4 pounds of a grain supplement per feeding twice daily.


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## Beauandme (May 29, 2011)

I have had my OTTB for 8 weeks and he is about 200 pounds under weight. It takes a while to get weight on or you will run into problems with colic. We are slowly adding more grain to him since he was mostly on a sweet feed diet and i am moving away from this. My barn manager took courses in equine nutrition(sp) and feed them stridder brand grain and hay. Plus the more you ride him the more muscle he will put on once you change his diet also. I recommend slow changes since I am always affraid of colic with OTTB horses. Check his out put and make sure its nice and round (apples) if it is he eating and digesting his food well. If you see corn or feed he isnt digesting his food and I would slowly change it to something else he can tolerate and get the nutrients he needs.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

I don't know how big this coffee can you are talking about is, but I can't imagine it is anywhere near enough. You need to measure by weight.

I would be ditching the sweet feed if I were you and replacing it with something like rice bran. Sweet feed is very low in any sort of nutritional value.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

HowClever hit on some really good points.

Beet pulp added to her diet might help too.

Clearly she needs more calories than she is currently getting. 

What kind and how much hay does she get? How is she in turn out (stressed, relaxed, etc)?


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

Maybe her teeth need to be floated?


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

manca said:


> Maybe her teeth need to be floated?


Great suggestion.


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## horselvr (Apr 5, 2011)

You have to remember TB's have a higher metabolism than other horses a OTTB probably has an even higher one if raced in the recent past. THey will require 2x's as much calories as say a QH, Arab, Paint... It is the way they are bred. I took care of TB's on the race track for a couple years as my first job. The ones who were not coming up on a race and just being breezed / trained were getting 6qts of 13% sweet feed two times a day + as much hay as they wanted + Rice bran oil (4oz 2x's a day)+ supplements. If they were racing with in a month and training hard they would get even more feed and supplements. Its all about their metabolism. I have had great success with using Rice Bran oil. Unlike some of the other oils that loose their nutritional value when being processed it does not. A quality rice bran oil will have "sediment" laying at the bottom that has to be shaken to dispurse. I am by far no expert but I hope this helps you understand and put it into perspective.


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Ahh, gotta love the hard to put weight on, TB's  I'm there too, I have a TB, but he's doing quite nicely. 

As you already stated, the most important factor is hay, hay, hay, hay, hay. As much has as possible. You said that your horses are on free choice, which is wonderful. As much access to the hay, the better. 

I would definately get her scoped for ulcers, if you don't have the money to scope, you can treat - go with SmartPaks SmartGut Pellets. I had my boy on that, and I loved the results.

I would also look into a Digestive Aid supplement. There are many horses out there who's systems just aren't working properly, where there is a missing link somewhere, causing the lack of weight gain. A digestive aid supplement will help with that. Again, I used SmartPaks SmartDigest Ultra. 

*I'm not trying to push SmartPak, I only suggest it because that's what I used, and can only go by what I experienced.* there are many great products out there that can help you, doesn't have to be smartpak. 

The feeding schedule - I would divide it up to 3 feedings a day, and I would get rid of the sweet feed all together. It's garbage. That's like feeding your children Corn Pops for meals all day, everyday. Crap, no nutrition at all. 

For the TB, I would look into a Senior Feed. Like Tripple Crown Senior. With Tripple Crown Senior, you are getting more bang for your buck - it has TONS of shaved Beat Pulp in the mix, it also has plenty of Rice Bran, along with other great ingredients. 

When I was feeding Tripple Crown Senior to my boy, I was giving him 10lbs a day, which was split up in seperate feedings. 

Of course, teeth checked is very important. It can be helped!


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

MIEventer said:


> Ahh, gotta love the hard to put weight on, TB's  I'm there too, I have a TB, but he's doing quite nicely.
> 
> As you already stated, the most important factor is hay, hay, hay, hay, hay. As much has as possible. You said that your horses are on free choice, which is wonderful. As much access to the hay, the better.
> 
> ...


This times by about, oh I don't know, 50. :lol: Especially regarding sweet feed, that stuff is truly woeful nutritionally.

Question: What is the time frame here, how long since she was moved and had her diet changed?

Slow and steady weight gain is best, although it can be frustrating waiting to see the effects.


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

If she does have ulcers, the strategy and sweet feed are only going to make them worse, both of those are high NSC. I had my OTTB mare, who has ulcers on strategy, which made the problem 100x worse. I switched her to triple crown senior and she started gaining weight, and after a round of ranitidine(gastro guard is best,but I couldn't afford it), and daily Ulc-r-aid supplement, she has no more problems with ulcers.


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

Oh, and maybe try probiotics  These may help too, especially as it's stressful for her, new home and all this, and deworming too. Some horses really gain weight easily after probiotics.
Vegetable oil helped my mare a lot too. A cup or a bit less for a day.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

My OTTB had a body score of two when we bought him.....his is now a fat pig!!:lol: Seriously, he is developing a crease down his back....oink. 


He's been steadily gaining weight in the year we've had him.. and now I'm trying to get him to stop!! AND, most amazingly of all, he gained this weight...ON DRY LOT. No kidding. AND he only got 3 lbs of Strategy once a day.


We fiddled around with weight supplements, food additives, etc....but he did not put on weight in any substantial amount until we switched him to Cool Calories and added a probiotic. Probiotics can definately make a huge difference and are worth every penny you spend on them.

Like MIEVenter, we use SmartDigest from SmartPak.

The diet that made him fat was:

free choice timothy hay
3 lbs strategy once a day
1 lb of alfalfa cubes (shredded because he is choke prone)
SmartDigest probiotic supplement
2 scoops cool calories
1 hour of grass time once a day


Since moving to a new farm and becoming almost as fat as our draft, we have cut out the cool calories and are waiting to see if that helps. If not, the alfalfa cubes are next to go......

If THAT doesn't help with weight loss, he will have his grass time cut.....at the new farm, he and Epona get 6 hours. Pending a consultation and exam with our vet on wednesday, if she reccomends a cut in grazing time, so be it.

I NEVER thought I'd have two porky pigs for horses, especially since one is a 6 yr. old OTTB.:? Who ever heard of a fat pig OTTB?????

I swear by probiotics. 

Our ex BO also reccomends a round of daily dewormer for skinny horses.....things like Continuex or Strongid. Just to break the life cycle of the worms.


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## WildAcreFarms (Apr 6, 2011)

*thanks for all the sugestions*

I may have forgot to put this in the first post but shes getting a daily wormer
(Diatamaceous (sp) earth) and shes also getting about 1/2 cup of olive oil in her feed twice daily. I bought her and adpoted two others all were body score of 3 coming here to my place and both of the other big horses are doing well i'd say they are now a 4. gaining weight pretty quickly on less feed than she gets. (i got 2 OTTBs the other is a warm blood OTTB cross) the rescue they came from was giving them NO concentrates and a flake of alfalfa and a flake of timothy grass a day they were stabled in stalls 24/7. they said they were doing great on that but i thought they were ALARMINGLY THIN. 
I'm totally open to switching to another feed i HATE Purina products (gp pout opf my way not to feed them to my dogs) but that seems to be the "better" grade of feed everyone has around here. I've been putting in the sweet feed to make the feed go a little farther and to give them something to eat... it just seems with the concentrated feeds give them so little i was afraid of boredom??. 
the coffee can i use is the standard BIG can and when i weighed it with the sweet feed it held 3 lbs. and it held 4lbs of the strategy,so the horse that i'm having problems gaining weight is getting 4lbs of strategy 2 times (8lbs total so we are clear) daily PLUS about 2 to 3 pounds of sweet feed 2 times daily (5 to 6 pounds) PLUS 1/2 cup olive oil for the extra calories all of this 2 times daily. all the other horses are gaining weight and looking good except this one little filly. her coat looks dull and not healthy. she does not drop feed out of her mouth like she needs her teeth floated she is only four but i did have my farrier look at her teeth and he said they are fine....
the hay I'm feeding looks really good green and leafy fresh, no dust, the horses love it and have been eating about a 100 pound bale every day between 4 horses. (they are HUGE heavy bales) long and it takes two ppl to carry them. if i see when i feed at night that they are about out of hay i put out another bale. i have stood out there and watched to make sure she is not getting run off the feed and she is not. so......
I think i will try the senior feed and some of the supplements that you all have suggested. I really appreciate your help and will totally keep you posted on what happens. 
thanks so very very much I know a lot of you have gone through the same thing. I'm really new to thoroughbreds and this little filly is right off the race track so possibly her metabolism is just really high.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

1. Teeth.
2. Check for Ulcers/Treat for Ulcers.
3. Worming (Which you mentioned you had under control).
4. Probiotics.
5. A diet high in fat! Not too much starch/carbohydrates as they just burn them off as energy.

So, in regards to diet - I personally would use a balancer pellet or something similar, relatively low dose, to make sure they are getting all their vits/mins/mino acids. I would then add a forage base, so beet pulp/hay pellets. Then add calories! Oil, Lupins, Soy meal, Rice bran, Copra, Linseed/Flaxseed. As much as I steer away from grains, boiled barley seems to get a lot of glowing reviews for putting weight on.

This means you can keep the vit/min levels fairly constant but make changes to the diet if they are losing/gaining or reacting badly to your calorie source.

This is in addition to as much forage as they can eat, so either 24/7 pasture or free choice hay (Which you are doing).


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

TBs need nutrient dense feed. Grass hay typically just doesnt have enough calories or protien to it to sustain a TB with a high metabolism. Since the horse can only eat so much a day, you need to make sure what he is getting has as much calories and nutrition in it as possible. You will just have to feed a better quality feed and feed more of it if you want to get this horse back to weight.

If you have to use Purina, feed Ultium. Its got twice as much calories per scoop (nearly 1800 calories per lb) as a typical feed and the calories come from "cool" scources. IMO it's Purinas best feed. Feed by weight as has already been said. 

Im also gonna ditto adding in Cool Calories. Its cheap and can help ypou get over the hump and get some weight on the horse. Rice bran works well also. Max E Glow is pretty cheap and easy. 

A daily probiotic will make sure the horse is utilizing its food well. Teeth are a given. Make sure they are in good shape too but I doubt that is the problem here.

Id also for sure add in some form of alfalfa, be it hay or pellets. Remember to feed by weight. Alfalfa has about 800 to 1K calories per lb and can add extra calories easily in a smaller amount of hay along with quality protein which is just as important to weight gain as fat calories are. Just 10 lbs (approx 2 good flakes of a good solid 2 string bale of alfalfa) is 8 to 10 thousand extra calories. Also, alfalfa is proven to have a very positive impact on horses with ulcer/acid issues. You definately should add this IMO and let the other hay just be acid reducing filler in between feedings. make sure this horse is eating 24-7 as much as it will.

You need to do some math and get this TBs daily calorie intake up to about 30 thousand calories a day I would guess. Make sure to split up feedings and give no more than 5 lb of feed at one time. If you have to, feed 3 times a day vs 2 giant meals.

Also, dont forget that a little excercise within reason can help stimulate a horse to eat better, feel better and build a little muscle also. If the horse is in good enough shape to wear a saddle and carry a rider, some light riding in the ring or on easy short trails would be good. If not, just some easy lunging or going for some leadline walks can help.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

Wow...you've gotten some great tips here!! Keep us posted on how she's doing.

And don't forget the probiotics!! You won't regret it, I promise. They are amazing.


When we bought our boy off the track and he was so pitifully thin, I knew we would have our work cut out for us in trying to get him to gain weight. I had heard so much about TB metabolism and how they are hard keepers. But I suspect that our boy was starved rather than being a hard keeper....because as I said, he is now a fat pig. He is developing a crease down his back.....so now we are on the other side of the road....trying to get weight OFF him (and Epona). 

I have to say, it's easier to get weight ON than OFF.....so I would rather be in your position again.:?


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## Sherry Lynn (Jun 26, 2011)

*Good Bacteria*

Great advice posted here. I would suspect the probiotics will help a lot in your case. 
Many horses that are heavy training (like the track) are often fed more concentrates than roughage (hay and grass). Horses are made to eat roughage and a diet without or very little will do harm. 
Their stomachs, unlike ours, produces stomach acid for digestion 24 hours a day. If it's empty acid builds up until it gets to the sensitive lining of the stomach and causes ulcers over time. Ulcers are sore and the horse might not want to eat like it did before. 
Another dilemma is that the horse's stomach can only hold so much, and when overloaded the food is pushed further though without getting properly digested. So now the concentrates are in the cecum, which is designed for the digestion of roughage only. Some concentrates are high in starch (corn is very starchy) and this kills the good bacteria that live in the cecum. Without this bacteria the horse cannot digest very well the hay/grass/beet pulp it is fed. 
Also keep in mind that different types of hay require different types of bacteria, so even if your horse was eating hay, if it's been switched it suddenly, the bacteria still need time to populate. Many people believe switching grains over a period of time is good, it is definitely true with hay.
I would try probiotics (along with the other suggestions posted here). This will help boost your horse's good bacteria population and help gain weight.


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## AislingxXx1234 (Sep 2, 2010)

I have a skinny Thoroughbred too! Not off the track, though someone asked me once (not sure they meant I did a good job for an OTTB either lol)! 
Rule out ulcers or bad teeth first...she might just not be able to eat a lot.
Definitly little to no sweetfeed. It won't put weight on, it'll just make her hyper/hot. The answer: hay and tons of it! I also found getting her on grass and hand grazing her as much as possible worked too. I've been told putting Vegetable oil in her feed should help put weight on. Fehrie is 5 and is just putting weight on..it'll take a while but if you keep giving her food that would make a normal horse a round ball with hooves, she should eventually get bigger. If she is just off the track, she may just need some adjusting time. As she relaxing and settles in she should start to look better. Good luck with her!


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

Sherry Lynn said:


> Another dilemma is that the horse's stomach can only hold so much, and when overloaded the food is pushed further though without getting properly digested. So now the concentrates are in the cecum, which is designed for the digestion of roughage only. Some concentrates are high in starch (corn is very starchy) and this kills the good bacteria that live in the cecum. Without this bacteria the horse cannot digest very well the hay/grass/beet pulp it is fed.
> Also keep in mind that different types of hay require different types of bacteria, so even if your horse was eating hay, if it's been switched it suddenly, the bacteria still need time to populate. Many people believe switching grains over a period of time is good, it is definitely true with hay.
> I would try probiotics (along with the other suggestions posted here). This will help boost your horse's good bacteria population and help gain weight.


Felt this bore repeating. Small frequent meals, not giant ones is certainly best.


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## WildAcreFarms (Apr 6, 2011)

*a lot of great sugestions i'm already implementing them!*

OK I started with the Probiotics last night, is that a daily thing? 
went to the feed stores and i guess I'm going to have to try some of the bigger feed stores in one of the larger cities or have the feed shippen in to me.
not one of the 3 feed stores in my little town caries anything except Purina and no one carries the Ultima (or would order it for me). 

I'm going to try the smart packs ordering online and I've tracked down a source of Alfalfa hay that's 12.00 a bale, one question is the alfalfa pellets and the hay interchangeable? i mean the smaller pellets that are larger then feed pellets but way smaller then the cubes? does that count as "roughage or concentrate"?

I've switched her to 3x a day feedings instead of 2 x daily so that should help... geez it feels like I'm out there feeding her every few hours LOL. 

finally the beet pulp: what is that about? is that an additive or something that should already be in a good feed?

been giving her olive oil but i think I'll switch to rice bran oil."

thanks to everyone who gave great tips i really appreciate it. I've never had a skinny horse before and i HATE it. i feel like everyone who drives by my house it thinking "man why are those people starving their horses?"
I take a lot of pride in my babies and want them to look good and be healthy. 
thanks again,
ANgi


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

I wouldnt waste your time with the beet pulp personally when you look at the costs now. Its doubled in costs since I started using it and it just isnt worth 14 bucks or so a bag when your alfalfa hay is cheaper. Alfalfa in any form is more bang for your buck.

You can interchange any alfalfa product so long as you are feeding hay also. Its all fiber but the pellets and hay are long stem fiber.

You can give your feed more fat simply by adding Cool Calores. It can be ordered offline or in a smart pack really reasonably. Its 99% vegetable fat pretty much. Smart pack also does daily probiotic too really cheaply per month. Id give it daily for awhile.


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## WildAcreFarms (Apr 6, 2011)

*re cool calories*

is the cool calories better or cheaper then just directly adding veggie oils into the feed. I've been using olive oil 1/4 cup pr feeding X 3 times daily now and thats pretty expensive. i just ordered the cool calories from smart pack with the digest ultra. there were LOADS of OTTB ppl on there saying that stuff is great


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I used cool calories for my old gelding a few years ago and after going though a whole bucket I saw no results, I also learned that it's hydrogenated fat so it's not a "healthy" fat. It's artificial (and proven harmful for humans!). I switched him to hard keeper solution, which he will eat the powder right out of my hand, and has in the past, and currently helped him gain a lot of weight. It also contains pre and probiotics already in it.


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## WildAcreFarms (Apr 6, 2011)

*do you remember the brand you used?*

Hey Rachel,
do you remember the brand of hard keeper solution? 
like where was it from? 
thanks,
Angi


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

WildAcreFarms said:


> Hey Rachel,
> do you remember the brand of hard keeper solution?
> like where was it from?
> thanks,
> Angi


The brand is vita flex, here is the link to it on smartpak Hard Keeper Solution - Horse Weight Gain Supplements from SmartPak Equine Although If you want to get it in buckets I have found it cheaper at other stores(both online and in store)


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

Cool Calories has not been proven harmful to horses in any study or article I have read. 

As for weight gain, it worked wonders for my OTTB, who was a body score of 2. Cool Calories has not been proven or speculated upon as being unsafe in any way....what is bad for humans is not necessarily bad for other species, so why mention it. :?

FYI, Cool Calories has been endorsed by Amy Tryon and Bob Avila....:shock: 

I decided to give it a try if they are willing to put their names on it, maybe it works.....and it did.!!!!! 

Plumped our boy up nicely. AND it didn't make him one bit "hot" like that nasty sweet feed did. He was a raging lunatic when we fed him that....and any calories he was SUPPOSED to get from it, he just burned off from running about madly for half an hour, bucking and rearing.....

We also had NO luck with Weight Builder....

Our magic bullets were Cool Calories and Probiotics.


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

Beauseant said:


> Cool Calories has not been proven harmful to horses in any study or article I have read.
> 
> As for weight gain, it worked wonders for my OTTB, who was a body score of 2. Cool Calories has not been proven or speculated upon as being unsafe in any way....what is bad for humans is not necessarily bad for other species, so why mention it. :?
> 
> ...



I only mentioned it so that the original poster can do research and decided for herself. Hydrogenated fats are known to be harmful to humans and I believe that they even cause caner(although I'm not 100% sure on that). Do some research on it and see for yourself. I'm saying anyone should or shouldn't use the product. All I'm saying is do your research and make sure that what your feeding is healthy for your horse. I personally don't feel comfortable feeding my horse something that is known to be bad for humans


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

Horses and humans are nowhere near the same beast and do not get the same problems or have the same reactions to things like that. And EVEREYTHING causes cancer as we all know lol...

I would not sweat it and use the Cool Calories myself unless and until there is some hard evidence that is is bad for horses. I am using it and it is making a difference. I am giving 3 of the little scoops twice a day with his liquid joint supplement to bind it to the feed. I like to use something to bind it to the feed. Its like little granules and not really a powder.


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## WildAcreFarms (Apr 6, 2011)

My mom came over today and after having gone to get the horses with me in May She said that they all look fatter to her. everyone looks ALOT fatter except Kinzie the bay mare (the one the post is about) so I've ordered tons of stuff from smart packs several hundred $$ worth and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival I want to take pics and post a monthly diary so we can see what things or thing affects her weight gain the most. thanks so much to everyone who took time to post their experiences with skinny horses. ALL my dogs and chickens and cows are in good weight and i hate that this horse looks starved, I always feel like everyone drives by thinking "Man they need to feed those horses more" LOL truly no one prolly gives it two thoughts its just me... but i want the horses to be healthy and happy.


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