A Guide For Putting Weight on the Skinny Horse

It's a common concern among horse owners - the ribs are showing, the topline is poor, and despite your best efforts, your horse just isn't maintaining a healthy weight. Weight management for horses is a delicate balance, and when faced with a skinny horse, a systematic approach is essential. This guide will walk you through effective strategies to safely put weight on your underweight horse while addressing potential underlying causes.

Understanding Why Your Horse Is Underweight

It is tempting to jump head first into a weight gain diet for your horse. But before throwing every single feed or supplement into their feed bin, it's important to identify why your horse is thin in the first place. Some common causes for underweight horses include:

• Dental issues: Sharp points, missing teeth, or other dental problems can make chewing painful and reduce feed intake.
• Parasite burden: Internal parasites can steal nutrients and cause weight loss despite adequate feeding.
• Medical conditions: Diseases like PPID (Cushing's), ulcers, or kidney disease can impact weight.
• Age-related factors: Senior horses may have decreased digestive efficiency.
• Competition or stress: Hard work, training, or environmental stressors can increase caloric needs.
• Social dynamics: Herd hierarchies may prevent certain horses from accessing enough feed.
• Inadequate nutrition: Simply not enough calories or poor-quality feed.

Addressing each cause outlined above (and ruling them out) before starting on a weight gain diet, will help to safely put weight on your horse as well as save you time and money in the long run. These points are explained in more detail below.

Step 1: Veterinary Assessment

Always start with a thorough veterinary evaluation. Your vet can:

• Perform a dental exam to identify issues requiring treatment
• Recommend appropriate parasite control
• Check for underlying medical conditions
• Evaluate body condition score (BCS) to establish a baseline
• Help develop a customised feeding program

Step 2: Optimising Forage Intake

Forage should be the foundation of any equine diet, including weight gain programs:

• Quantity: Provide 1.5-2% of ideal body weight in high-quality hay daily
• Quality: Select nutrient-dense hay with higher calorie content (mature horses can benefit from added lucerne or mixed hays)
• Accessibility: Ensure continuous access to forage with slow feeders to extend eating time
• Soaking/steaming: For horses with dental issues, soaked hay cubes or steamed hay can be easier to chew and digest
• Chopped forage: Chopped hay or chaff can be helpful for seniors with dental limitations

Step 3: Strategic Concentrate Selection

Choose concentrates wisely to add calories without digestive upset:

• Fat-supplemented feeds: Commercial feeds with 6-12% fat content provide safe calories
• Complete feeds: For poor dentition, complete pelleted feeds can replace some hay requirements
• Beet pulp: An excellent digestible fiber source that can be soaked and added to meals
• Rice bran: High in fat (20%) and palatable for picky eaters
• Senior-specific feeds: Highly digestible and nutrient-dense for older horses

Step 4: Adding Healthy Fats

Fat provides 2.25 times the calories of carbohydrates, making it ideal for weight gain:

• Vegetable oils: Start with 1/4 cup daily, gradually increasing to 1-2 cups divided between meals
• Stabilised rice bran: Provides fat plus phosphorus and vitamin E
• Cool calories or fat supplements: Commercial products designed specifically for weight gain
• Flaxseed (linseed): Offers omega-3 fatty acids along with calories

Step 5: Feed Management Strategies

How you feed is just as important as what you feed:

• Multiple small meals: Divide daily concentrate ration into 3-4 smaller meals
• Consistent schedule: Feed at the same times each day to reduce stress
• Gradual changes: Introduce new feeds slowly over 7-14 days
• Separate feeding areas: For horses in groups, ensure submissive individuals have access to their full portions
• Track progress: Weekly weight tape measurements and photos to monitor changes

Step 6: Digestive Support

Supporting digestive health optimises nutrient absorption:

• Prebiotics/probiotics: Support healthy hindgut fermentation
• Yeast cultures: May improve fibre digestion
• Gastric support supplements: Particularly if ulcers are suspected
• Adequate water: Clean, fresh water encourages proper digestion and hydration
• Consistency in routine: Minimizes digestive upset

Step 7: Lifestyle Modifications

Consider environmental factors affecting weight:

• Rug in cold weather: Conserves calories used for warmth
• Shelter from elements: Protection from extreme weather reduces energy expenditure
• Reduced training intensity: Temporarily modify work schedule while building condition
• Stress reduction: Minimise transport, competition, or herd changes during weight gain periods
• Turnout with companions: Social stability reduces stress

Special Considerations

The Senior Horse

Older horses often need specialised nutrition due to age-related changes:

• Higher protein quality to maintain muscle mass (14-16% crude protein)
• Fully processed feeds for easier chewing
• Additional vitamin and mineral supplementation
• More frequent dental assessments

The Hard Keeper

Some horses naturally maintain lower body condition despite good care:

• Consider metabolic testing
• Implement more frequent, smaller meals
• Explore specialty feeds designed for hard keepers
• Evaluate work-to-nutrition ratio carefully

The Recovering Rescue

Severely undernourished horses require careful refeeding:

• Follow veterinary refeeding protocols to avoid refeeding syndrome
• Begin with small, frequent meals of high-quality hay
• Introduce concentrates very gradually
• Monitor vital signs and manure consistency closely

Realistic Expectations

Weight gain takes time - expect:

• Noticeable improvement in 30 days
• Significant changes in 60-90 days
• Full rehabilitation may take 6+ months

Remember that approximately 20 kg of weight gain means roughly one body condition score point. For a horse needing to go from a BCS of 3 to 5, this represents approximately 40 kg of gain.

When to Reassess

If your horse isn't gaining weight after 30 days of implementing a weight gain program, it's time to:

• Consult your veterinarian again
• Reassess calorie intake calculations
• Consider more extensive diagnostic testing
• Evaluate for subtle signs of pain or illness

Feed Recommendations for Weight Gain

There are several types of feeds that can effectively help with weight gain in horses. 

High-Quality Concentrates

• Fat-supplemented commercial feeds: Look for feeds with 6-12% fat content that are specifically formulated for weight gain. These often have "conditioning," "performance," or "weight builder" in their names. For example, CoolStance Copra, Barastoc Speedibeet
• Complete feeds: These can provide 100% of nutritional requirements and typically contain higher calorie density than standard feeds. For example, Hygain Tru Gain, KER Equi-Jewel, CopRice R, Johnsons Everyday Weight Gain
• Senior feeds: Highly digestible and nutrient-dense, these are excellent for older horses or those with dental issues. For example, T&R Horse Cubes for Seniors, Benchmark Golden Oldies

Calorie-Dense Supplements

• Beet pulp: An excellent source of digestible fiber that can be soaked and added to regular meals. It provides "cool" calories without the risk of grain-related issues. For example, Hygain Micrbeet and Barastoc Speedibeet.
• Rice bran: Contains about 20% fat and is highly palatable. Stabilized rice bran is preferred to prevent rancidity. For example, KER Equi-Jewel and CopRice R.
• Vegetable oils: Rice Bran oil or Canola oil can be gradually added to meals (up to 1-2 cups daily divided between feedings). For example, Hygain RBO.
• Flaxseed/linseed: Provides healthy omega-3 fatty acids along with calories.

Forage Options

• Lucerne hay or cubes: Higher in protein and calories than grass hay.
• Oaten or Oaten/Meadow mix: Offers a good balance of nutrients and digestibility.

Conclusion

Putting weight on a skinny horse requires patience, observation, and a methodical approach. By addressing potential underlying issues, optimising forage intake, strategically selecting concentrates, adding healthy fats, implementing smart feeding practices, supporting digestive health, and modifying lifestyle factors, you can help your horse achieve and maintain a healthier body condition. Always work closely with your veterinarian and equine nutritionist to develop and adjust your horse's weight gain program for optimal results and health.