Question #1: I have a paint horse that is 30 years old and he has lost weight and is looking bad despite being on feed and supplements. Is there any one particular supplement that will help him gain weight? I know he is an old horse but I have had him for about 15 years and gotten attached to him and don't want to do anything to hurt him in any way. I know he hasn't much time left but I don't want him suffering.

Question #2: What is the best supplement to put weight on a horse? We have had her on Fat Cat and she still is not putting any weight on. She is 5 yr old mare that is used in college rodeo. She gets equine senior feed, plus a big amount of grass/alfalfa mix. She is ridden at least 5 times a week. Any help would be appreciated.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been inundated with questions about how to put and keep weight on horses. It’s especially critical now as we head into winter and possibly a hay shortage, depending on what part of the country you live in. I’ve included two questions in this entry because they represent two common but different reasons for horses to be thin: old age and athletic activity.

The first thing I recommend to both these owners is to have their veterinarians perform complete physical examinations on these horses to rule out any medical reasons for them to be thin. Medical reasons for weight loss or failure to gain weight include parasites, dental disease, ulcers, metabolic conditions such as Cushing’s Disease, chronic pain or infection, and many others.

Once any medical conditions are ruled out or treated, these owners should look at their specific situations. Let’s start with the older horse. As horses age, they become less efficient in chewing, digesting and absorbing food, so we need to make this process easier for them, provide them with a higher quality and quantity of food, and perhaps provide them with additional nutrients.

Older horses that may have difficulty chewing may need to be transitioned from long-stem hay to chopped hay, hay cubes, hay pellets or a complete feed that contains both forage and concentrate. Hay cubes are usually always soaked before feeding; some horses may need pellets soaked as well to make chewing easier and avoid “choke.” Concentrates may need to be in pelleted form, since whole corn, oats and other grains may be difficult for the older horse to chew.

Because the older horse’s body is less efficient at digesting and absorbing food, they may need more and better food simply to maintain their weight. Try upping the amounts of both hay and concentrate by 10 to 15% and see if he gains weight in two to three weeks. If your older horse is already eating all the hay and concentrate he can in two meals, add a third or even fourth meal. Supplementing with oil or fat is another excellent way to provide more calories to the older horse. Horses require more protein as they age (14 – 16% instead of 10 – 12%) but this protein must be of high quality or it will not be absorbed and used properly. Look for feed with a mixture of protein sources providing a wide range of the essential amino acids, especially the limiting amino acid lysine.

Older horses may need specific nutrients to help maintain weight and health. For example, horses naturally make Vitamin C and the B vitamins themselves. However, as their digestive systems age and become less efficient, they may make less of these nutrients, just when their bodies’ demands for them are increasing. Supplementing with pre- and probiotics is also a good choice, as yeast especially has been shown to enhance the digestibility of fiber and other nutrients. And if they seem to have lost their appetite, stimulate them with bee pollen, fenugreek, or banana (recently shown to be the number one preferred flavor of horses!)

Now for the young athletic horse in the question above. I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but since you mentioned some specific products, let’s review your current feeding program. You say you are feeding a “big amount” of grass/alfalfa mix. Since one person’s big amount may be different than another person’s, I recommend you weigh the hay you give your horse. You can easily do this by hanging it from a fish scale. Horses should get about 2% of their body weight in total feedstuffs per day. So if all a horse is getting is hay and he weighs 1000 pounds, he should be getting 20 pounds of hay per day, preferably divided into two or more feedings. But because most horses receive concentrate for additional calories, vitamins and minerals, another combination might be 15 pounds of hay and 5 pounds of concentrate. If you’re not feeding at least 2% of your horse’s body weight per day, then gradually work up to this amount. If you already are, then consider feeding 2.25% or even 2.5% of her body weight, if she’ll eat it. This may mean keeping hay in front of her all the time, or if that’s not possible, feeding three or four meals. Something to improve her appetite may also be necessary.

Now let’s talk about your choice of concentrate, an equine senior feed. You may have been advised to put her on this because it’s highly digestible. However, if this is a COMPLETE feed, it’s a forage-based product with concentrate (calories, vitamins and minerals) added. That means it’s a dilute concentrate. I suggest you go back to a true concentrate, one that isn’t made up primarily of forage, to “concentrate” calories for her. Otherwise, you’ll have to feed more of this product than she can possibly eat.

Finally, you said you give Fat Cat as a weight gain supplement. That’s a popular and successful choice for many people! But because horses are individuals, and what works for one may not always work for another, I suggest you try something else. Fat Cat is a 25% protein supplement that is designed to supply amino acids for muscle building. Perhaps your horse would gain weight better on a product that supplied fat instead. Fat is an excellent source of energy and calories and may work wonders on your horse! Another choice is pre- and probiotics. Some horses, no matter their age, simply need a little help in extracting all the nutrition possible out of the hay and concentrate they’re fed and live microorganisms like yeast and bacteria are designed to do this.

I encourage both owners to read my article on our website “Managing the Hard Keeper,” which has additional suggestions for thin horses, including sources of stress in their lives and the value of pasture!

Question:

Hello. I have a large pony that is Insulin Resistant. He foundered 3 years ago - August... and come to find out he's Insulin Resistant but not Cushings. Because I caught it so quickly we were able to "cure" him and to this day he is SOUND!  He hardly rotated. I noticed he was getting QUITE fat and saw a beautiful cresty neck (to which I thought I was training him SO well, and that's why he had such a beautiful neck!) He is on a VERY strict diet - beet pulp, cinnamon, rice bran, vitamin E and salt. He's now on A HANDFUL of Triple Crown Low Starch with Smartpak's IR and MSM pellets. He also gets Timothy/Alfalfa hay.  He hasn't been ridden in a while and has been "hanging out" lately. I've noticed that lately he's blowing up like a tick again and my "foundering" fears are coming back! He's absolutely fine right now. He's been on this hay for a long time and I haven't changed a thing other than him not getting much exercise lately. Is there any kind of diet HAY or something I can DO for him? He tends to get colicky on Timothy Hay Cubes (wet or dry) and has a small ulcer. Any suggestions? He's worth every problem he has. I just adore this pony. He's 16 years old. Any suggestions would be so helpful. Thanks so much! M.S.

Dear M.S.,

(I have received a whole lot of emails about overweight horses.  So I thought I would start the blog with a couple of them first.)

Thanks for your question. Your pony is lucky to have such an observant and dedicated owner! It sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. Let me just make a few suggestions here and there to see if I can help.

As you know, insulin resistance is managed in three ways: diet, exercise and appropriate supplementation. Based on what you feed your pony, I’m concerned his diet might not be completely balanced nor meeting his minimum nutritional needs. While it’s important to reduce the sugars and starches he gets (and overall calorie content), it’s also important to continue providing at least 100% of his daily vitamin and mineral requirements. This can be done with a commercial ration balancer, now offered by several different feed manufacturers, or a multi-vitamin mineral supplement. Next, I’m impressed you can provide him with the same mix of hay year-round!  However, even if hay is cut from the same field, it can vary dramatically in sugar content depending on which cutting it is, how mature it is at the time of cutting, and how it is handled after cutting. I suggest you routinely analyze your hay for sugar content and when it occasionally creeps up close to 10 or 12%, just soak it in water for an hour before feeding to remove some sugar. I’m sure you already know that pasture grass is a big no-no for your guy.

You mention your pony hasn’t been ridden in a while. This is probably the number one reason he is starting to pick up weight again, as exercise plays a huge role in how sensitive insulin is. Experts aren’t sure how it works, but they know that daily exercise improves glucose metabolism in both people and horses. You didn’t say why your pony is just “hanging out” right now, but I recommend you or someone you trust provide him with at least 30 minutes of controlled activity per day. Turnout is beneficial, but not as good as hand walking, lunging, riding, ponying, driving or even round pen work.

It sounds like you’re on the right supplement: SmartControl IR. You probably have him on the maintenance dose right now. I suggest you go back to the loading dose during those times of the year when he seems to gain weight for no reason or it’s the end of the show season and you’re giving him a little time off. MSM is a safe and effective anti-inflammatory and a good choice for overall health. I recommend you add an antioxidant like Vitamin E to your nutritional program as research shows obesity and insulin resistance are linked to high levels of oxidative stress. Congratulations on your successes so far and I hope these tips help!

Question:

I have acquired an overweight horse that needs to lose approximately 150 pounds. I plan to feed him mixed and grass hay with minimal to no grain. Because of this I feel he needs a vitamin/mineral supplement to make up for any deficiencies due to hay quality. Any suggestions? L.S.

Dear L.S.,

It sounds like you’re on the right track to weight loss in your horse! First we’ll review your diet strategy then we’ll get into exercise, the other key component. Finally we’ll discuss a growing problem in horses, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, to make sure this isn’t the reason your horse is overweight to begin with. Include your veterinarian in the process to make sure your horse stays healthy while he sheds those pounds.

Horses require 1.5 – 2 % of their body weight each day in food (that’s 15 – 20 pounds for a 1000lb horse), and most of this should be supplied as forage (hay or pasture). Sweet feeds or any feed with cereal grains such as oats and corn should not be on your horse’s menu, as they are very high in sugars and starches. However, forage alone probably can’t provide the minimum daily requirements of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals your horse needs, so you’re right to supplement.

There are two ways to approach this gap: 1) feed a commercially available ration balancer or 2) provide a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. Whichever route you choose, think about having your pasture or hay analyzed so you really know what your horse is getting. If, after a few months, you don’t see any weight loss, it could be because your forage is high in non-structural carbohydrates so your horse has been eating sugar all along! Or, it could be because you are overfeeding forage. An overweight horse probably isn’t going to drop pounds on pasture, but neither will he lose weight if he’s getting too much hay per day. Weigh your hay and try to feed only 75% of his daily requirement (in several small meals) until he reaches his ideal weight.

No matter how diligent you are with his diet, however, he may not lose weight unless exercise is part of the program. Turnout into a dry lot is beneficial, but many overweight horses don’t move around too much on their own. You are going to have to provide him with controlled exercise such as hand-walking, lunging, riding, ponying or driving. If he’s not used to exercise or has any medical conditions that prohibit him from being worked, consult with your veterinarian first and start slowly.

Finally, if your horse has a cresty neck, fat pads in other places, and is prone to founder, he may have Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), a newly recognized disorder in horses. Once lumped in with Cushing’s Disease horses, EMS is defined as a syndrome of obesity, chronic laminitis, and insulin resistance in middle-aged horses. Ask your veterinarian to test for the disorder and if your horse is diagnosed with it, provide ingredients shown to help establish healthy metabolic function such as chromium, magnesium, cinnamon and others, all of which can be found in SmartControl IR, available only in SmartPaks.

(Photo is courtesy of Nancy Loving, DVM out of her new book, "All Horse Systems Go"  (Trafalgar Square Publishing, 2006).