Thin Mare

[MooreAcres]

My mare is thinner than I would like. I've been trying for a couple months to get weight back on her with little luck. She is 10yrs, 35", always been a broodmare, currently has a foal at her side and is open. She's never been an easy keeper. I currently have her on Omelene 400 and SafeChoice (I'm switching to Omelene, so am feeding the last of the SafeChoice along with it). She gets about a pound of grain in the morning, a pound midday, and a pound at night along with a half pound of orchard grass pellets. Of course, she gets hay as well and cleans it up.

Any ideas? How much grain can I safely give her? The Omelene 400 has roughage built in, but I am feeding just as much hay as I was before.

 

[chandab]

Where is she thin? All-over? Top line (backbone, hips)? Ribs?

According to the nutritionist I've been working with: if they are thin along the topline, they need more protein; thin in the ribs they need more calories.

 

[kaykay]

If she was mine I would put her on a complete feed with good hay. Complete feed already has beet pulp and all the extra stuff in there

If you dont want to do that, then add beet pulp am and pm

 

[MooreAcres]

Sorry, I didn't realize I hadn't mentioned where she was thin. That would surely help.

Its along her top line. Her spine and hip bones.

The Omelene 400 has roughage built in and is designed to be feed with or without hay/pasture. It has beetpulp already in it. Should I add more beetpulp? Or just up the grain? She's getting about 2-3lbs of grain a day, how much can she safely have?

Again, shes 10yrs and 35".

 

[albahurst]

The nutritionist I work with has advised us not to give over 2 # grain, but ours is a couple of inches shorter than yours. I would think about adding alfalfa, beet pulp (soaked), and if needed, fat source. You can pm me for what I do.

 

[chandab]

Sorry, I didn't realize I hadn't mentioned where she was thin. That would surely help.
Its along her top line. Her spine and hip bones.

The Omelene 400 has roughage built in and is designed to be feed with or without hay/pasture. It has beetpulp already in it. Should I add more beetpulp? Or just up the grain? She's getting about 2-3lbs of grain a day, how much can she safely have?

Again, shes 10yrs and 35".

Omolene 400 is the new name for Complete Advantage (a beet pulp based feed with 12% protein, 5.5% fat and 18% fiber); it can be fed with or without forage. This feed may or may not have enough protein to fill her in along her spine and hips, but should be a fairly safe way for her to gain weight.

 

[Bess Kelly]

Alfalfa would add some protein and calcium, needed for her & nursing. If it's good alfalafa hay, or pellets.

 

[mightymiracles]

My mare dropped weight in her topline after she foaled and we are just now getting it back, I put her on triple crown which has lots of beet pulp in it, as well as good grazing. It could just be that the baby is sucking her dry, look into early weaning for this mare and I would bump her up to a good fat source like an oil over her feed and or a fat supplement.

 

[wingnut]

Thanks for posting this today! I was about to ask a very similar question. I do not believe my 14% complete feed pellets have beet pulp as an ingredient so I'm making a call to check and will add it if not.