Question

I own a poor-doing Thoroughbred gelding. At 16.3 hands (170 cm), he’s a big horse, and I’ve found it nearly impossible to get him to gain weight. He is fed 4-8 flakes of mid-quality, local-grown grass hay and 4 lb (1.8 kg) of alfalfa hay per day. In addition to hay, he’s fed coconut meal (6 cups), food-grade copper and zinc, spirulina, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, fenugreek, fennel seeds, kelp, rosehips, hemp seeds, nettle leaf, L-lysine hydrochloride, L-methionine, and MSM. He has been on this diet for nearly a year. Aside from the weight issue, he lacks energy, has terrible hooves (requiring glue-on shoes) and a fuzzy, patchy coat, and has recurring dental infections. He’s mostly sound but with all of his health issues I hardly ride him. I will not feed him corn, soy, and wheat because of the potential for genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Answer

This question is jam-packed, so let’s try to unpack it one piece at a time.

Forage. Aside from some calories in coconut meal, forage is the primary source of energy in the ration. At 16.3 hands, let’s assume a desired body weight of 1,200 lb (545 kg). If fed 2% of his body weight, he should be offered 24 lb (11 kg) of forage and concentrate daily. Without knowing how much each flake of grass hay weighs, it is impossible to know whether he is being fed 20 lb (9 kg) daily, which is what he would need minimally to properly complement the 4 lb (1.8 kg) of alfalfa. Do you believe you’re feeding this much grass hay? For a horse that needs to gain weight, free-choice access to forage might be best for fulfilling caloric needs and for gastrointestinal health.

Describing hay accurately can be difficult, which is why a forage analysis is helpful in determining its nutritional quality. One person’s “middling” hay may be another’s “throwaway” hay; one person’s “high-end” hay may be another’s “mediocre.” Forage analysis removes the subjectivity from hay appraisal and serves as a useful tool when balancing a ration. Horse owners can send hay samples to reputable labs for hay analysis.

Concentrate. Concentrates are fed to make up for the caloric and nutritional deficiencies of forage. From the description provided, your gelding does not receive a concentrate or ration balancer, either of which would supply him with essential nutrients necessary for optimal well-being. In this case, ramping up his caloric intake through the use of a concentrate, at the level recommended by the manufacturer, will likely help with weight gain. The obvious stumbling block will be finding a product that aligns with the restrictions you’ve placed on his diet, primary of which is the avoidance of genetically modified cereal grains.

Supplements. Without an explanation as to why some of these supplements are being fed, it is difficult to assess their worth in the gelding’s diet. Oversupplementation is a concern among nutritionists because it can indicate a gap in basic nutrition. Some owners use an array of supplements to overcome nutritional problems that arise from inappropriate forage or concentrate. In these cases, replacing the core elements of the diet with more appropriate ones is the place to start. Oversupplementation may also provide an excess of certain nutrients. Targeted supplementation, on the other hand, is advocated by nutrition experts because its premise lies in providing one or more nutrients that high-quality forages and concentrates do not confer adequately to solve a specific problem.

Lack of energy. The addition of a well-balanced concentrate, especially one that contains a source of starch, will probably increase your gelding’s willingness under saddle. In concentrates, starch is typically provided through cereal grains, namely oats, corn, and barley.

Poor-quality coat and hooves. Some of the supplements you have listed may help shore up the strength of his hooves, but it is difficult to overlook the omission of biotin from your list. Biotin is the vitamin most often linked to hoof quality. Several studies have documented the effectiveness of biotin in improving hoof health; thousands of hoof owners swear by its usefulness. A horse’s coat and hooves often respond favorably to a well-balanced diet, first and foremost, and supplementation can provide secondary support.

Dental care. Infected teeth may be keeping your horse from comfortably chewing its forage, which can influence digestibility of forage. Has your horse been examined by an experienced dentist? Diseased teeth cause discomfort but they can also lead to more widespread infections, such as sinusitis. Periodontal disease has been implicated in the development of systemic disease in other species, and could be an important contributor to organ disease in older horses. The persistent nature of this infection begs for further investigation.

Where does that leave us with this gelding? A nutritional overhaul is needed to get this gelding back on the path to nutritional well-being.

•  Hire a professional dental expert to examine the gelding’s teeth and to make recommendations on how to best deal with any diseased teeth. Plan continuing dental care with annual or semiannual appointments.

•  Schedule a thorough physical examination by a veterinarian.

•  Reconsider the quality and quantity of forage provided. Source the highest quality hay possible and feed at least 1.5-2% of body weight per day. Use a scale to make sure the necessary amount is fed. Consider free-choice access to forage until he reaches moderate body condition.

•  Choose a well-formulated concentrate for horses in light to moderate work. Unless the gelding has a health condition that you have not mentioned, there does not seem to be sufficient reason to limit starch. As aforementioned, the addition of starch may increase his energy, and he may be more eager to work. Feed at the rate recommended by the manufacturer.

•  Add an energy-dense supplement to his concentrate. Examples include stabilized rice bran and canola oil.

•  Consider whittling down the list of supplements, keeping only those that confer a specific, research-proven health benefit.

•  Select a high-quality biotin supplement if poor-quality hooves persist after the ration revision. As with his dental care, a second opinion on the state of his hooves might be warranted.

Make all changes to the diet gradually, over a period of a few weeks. In this horse’s case, you might start by slowly adding more alfalfa to his forage allowance. Once that has been accomplished, you may begin feeding a suitable concentrate, adding a bit each day and reaching the full measure in 10-14 days.

These recommendations do not take into consideration the restrictions you have placed on your horse’s diet, namely your preference not to feed genetically modified cereal grains. With sufficient searching, you may find products that fit this preference, but most will be expensive or difficult to obtain. In the meantime, assuming no underlying disease is revealed, your horse is suffering the effects of poor nutrition—suboptimal weight, general unthriftiness characterized by lack of verve, hooves so weak they cannot hold shoes, chronic infections, and a staring coat. If he is healthy otherwise, much of this may be corrected with the implementation of the reasonable, science-based feeding recommendations given here and a renewed commitment to finding a competent and professional team to oversee his dental, veterinary, farriery, and nutritional needs.