Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
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Dr. Getty
Hello Danielle,
Sounds like the best way I can help you with your mare is for us to visit personally over the phone. Inability to hold a normal weight can have many causes and I would like to get the big picture by spending time going over her history, diet, exercise, medical treatments (if any), environment, etc. to customize a feeding plan that will help her gain weight.
In the meantime, a low starch/low sugar diet is best but it should also contain fat. Rice bran is fine but I would also give her flaxseed meal -- 1/2 cup per 400 lbs of body weight. Nutra Flax is best because it does not contain any added grain.
In addition, consider giving her Ration Plus to help her obtain more calories from forage.
Finally, fescue can contain a fungus that causes weight loss in all horses, so this may be the main problem.
Please let me know if I can assist you further.
All the best,
Dr. Getty 
I searched the forums and found other posts for draft horses, but the ones listed were easy keepers or light work.
Her background:
I ride dressage 3-5 days a week, she is 10 yrs old, 1750lbs, and currently a good weight- she is very high energy for a draft horse, and I usually do not have problems with her weight, but if I do, it is to put weight on her.
She is on 24 hr pasture of grass (fescue, I believe) and clover. There is grass type hay available at all times as well.
Right now she gets about 6 lbs of feed mill sweet feed a day- about 10% protein, not sure on the other ratios, but it has oats, corn, and soybean with a bit of molasses.
She shows no signs of muscle problems, but I fed oil as a top dressing in the past until it got too expensive, and she had more energy and stamina with the added fat. I recently found a cheaper ($25 instead of $50 a bag) fat additive grain (Rice bran based, by the makers of Equishine) with 20% fat and 12% protien,fiber 8%, Ca P each at 1.5%, and would like to try adding fat in a pelleted form.
Basically I am looking to optimize her performance and give her the best nutrition possible for a draft horse doing heavy riding work.
My questions:
If she doesn't have signs of EPSM, would a low starch diet benefit her nutritionally for performance? Should I cut out the sweet feed and switch to Nutrena Safechoice, or something similar? Or just leave well enough alone because she is fine on sweet feed?
And how much of the rice bran fat supplement should I add to her diet? I read 20-25% of the diet should be fat. I know there are calculations out there, but none of them include free choice forage as an option.
Oh, I read somewhere that a higher fat diet would also create less heat during exercise- she is heavily muscled, and in the summer I can only ride in the early morning or evening because she has a hard time dissipating heat, even though she is body clipped. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance,
Danielle
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO