Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
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All the best,
Dr. Getty
Hi, I have a 5 year old quarter horse gelding that just came to me after a year of being with someone else. He was previously being fed Omolene 100, and rolled oats and out on pasture 24 hours a day. Since we have had him we have kept him on the Omolene 100 and rolled oats, he is not in pasture but we feed grass hay twice per day, we would like him to put a little more weight on. He is not being used right now due to the fact that I am pregnant, I would like to know if you feel that this is adequate nutrition for him or if you feel we should put him on something else. Thank You for your time.
Where are you from? Oklahoma
How did you locate this forum? horsecity.com
Hi Tamara,
I don’t recommend feeding high concentrations of grain. Horses’ digestive systems do much better on forage (hay, pasture, and other high fiber feeds).
So, if he were my horse, I would gradually reduce the amount of Omelene and oats, and substitute something that is not high in soluble carbohydrates.
Since you would like for him to gain a few pounds, your best bet would be to feed him a combination of stabilized rice bran (such as Natural Glo Nuggets) combined with Flaxseed meal (for omega 3 fats). Not only will you notice a significant sheen to his coat, but this will keep him healthy and prevent the problems we see with high carb diets, such as ulcers, colic, and laminitis.
Offer him a good multiple vitamin/mineral supplement, fresh water, and a plain, iodized salt lick. And, give him hay throughout the day – he shouldn’t go hours without feed, to prevent ulcers (not to mention, anxiety problems).
Congratulations on your new baby (human!)
All the best,
Dr. Getty
Thank You so much for your quick response, I have found this site to be tremendously useful, I do have one more question, I am going to start feeding him alfalfa pellets along with his grass hay just wondering how much should be fed of each, he is healthy, just want him to put on a little more weight like I said earlier he is around 1000 lbs, I was also going to try the platinum performance and natural glo nuggets. I just want to make sure I dont give him too much. Thank You
Where are you from? Oklahoma
How did you locate this forum? horsecity.com
Hi Tamara,
Offer him grass hay throughout the day. He should consume at least 1 to 1.5% of his body weight in hay. So that’s between 10 and 15 pounds.
If you feed him twice each day, you can offer him 1 to 2 pounds of alfalfa pellets along with ½ pound of Natural Glo nuggets at each meal. And, Platinum Performance is an excellent supplement.
The only thing you’re missing is a daily probiotic. Pick up some Ration Plus to round out the diet – he will gain weight much more easily this way.
Keep me posted!
Dr. Getty