Question

I have a five-year-old Thoroughbred mare that stands about 16.2 hands (168 cm) and weighs in at 975 lb (442 kg). She is recently retired from racing. Her body condition score is about 4, so she’s moderately thin, especially for her frame. Her current feeding program includes 12 lb (5.4 kg) orchard grass hay, 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) rolled oats, one-third cup rice bran, a vitamin and mineral supplement, and free-choice salt. Her workload is light right now. How can I help her gain weight?

Answer

If the mare is recently off the track, she may be experiencing decompression from the stressors associated with racetrack life.  Sometimes it takes a horse about a year to get the stress out of their system, at which time she may not have difficulty maintaining weight at all. Keep with the program you have her on, only offer her more so she will get more calories.

I would start with increasing the quantity of hay, if she will eat more. Try feeding her 1.5% (minimum) and up to 2% of her body weight in forage, which would be closer to 15-20 lb (6.8-9 kg) of hay per day. If you have trouble getting her to eat more hay, you can try supplementing the hay with another fiber source like beet pulp.

Next, I would increase the amount of fat in the diet, which is more concentrated in calories than the other nutrients, by giving more rice bran per feeding, between one-half and one cup. Once you get the mare to a good weight, you can back down on the fat supplement once again.

If there has been any damage to the intestinal tract from her time at the track, you can promote healing with the use of a digestive aid. The best are a combination of probiotics and yeast. If you suspect ulcers, then a stomach buffer like RiteTrac would be worth trying. This particular product not only provides antacids and coating action to the stomach but also contains a hindgut buffer, which is helpful in the case of colonic ulcers.

(RiteTrac is not available in Australia or New Zealand. KERx EquiShure hindgut buffer is available as well as various options for gastric ulcer treatment. Please contact a KER representative in Australia for more information on treating a horse with digestive issues.)