Question
I own a yearling Lippizan gelding. I would consider him moderately thin, with visible ribs. I don’t want him to grow too quickly, but I think he needs more weight. His current diet includes free-choice hay, 1 lb (0.45 kg) balancer pellet, 4-6 lb (1.8-2.7 kg) alfalfa pellets, and flaxseed. How should I add extra calories?
Answer
Visibility of ribs in a young horse is not considered a true indicator of an underconditioned state, as it is with older horses. Ideally, fat should cover the upper one-third to one-half of the ribcage. Greater fat coverage may indicate the horse is too heavy. The yearling’s current “lightness” of weight may be due to a growth spurt.
As you mentioned, it is usually counterproductive for young horses to be pushed to carry excess weight, as it might lead to growth problems. For young horses that need additional calories, we recommend using dietary sources of fermentable fiber and fat. Your gelding’s current diet is providing slightly less digestible energy (calories) than KER’s recommended daily allowance, though Lippizans are usually easy keepers and this may be suitable for his metabolism, as long as he is growing at an appropriate rate.
Does the yearling have access to grass pasture or is hay his main forage source? Yearlings can obtain a significant number of calories from good-quality pasture and high-quality grass or grass-legume hay but, if forage quality is moderate to poor, then an increase in concentrated energy sources is needed.
Adding vegetable oil (0.5-1 cup or 4-8 oz per day) will provide a concentrated source of highly digestible calories. Other options to consider are increasing the amount of beet pulp, adding a fat supplement like stabilized rice bran, or transitioning to a commercial feed designed for young, growing horses.
The current diet is providing appropriate trace mineral and vitamins but less phosphorus than KER recommends. The estimated calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of his diet is 3:1, as alfalfa contributes a large amount of dietary calcium. This ratio falls at the higher end of the desired range for young horses (1.1-3:1). When adding additional feedstuffs for calories, the amount of calcium and phosphorus they contribute should be taken into consideration, so as not to skew the ratio further.
An alternative diet would be to offer him a feed specifically formulated for young horses coupled with good-quality hay. These feeds are designed to fulfill the nutritional requirements of growing horses, thereby simplifying your feeding program. To be sure he consumes optimal nutrition, he should be fed at least the minimum amount recommended by the manufacturer.
