[cowgurl1811]

Ok so im horse sitting for my neighbors. They have 5 horses. They were really fat last year and the were giving them very little feed. Well now they are extremly skinny. All ribs, sunk in necks, it is sad. So now they are giving them much more feed but i want to help speed up the process. They gt a mix of oats and horsemans edge pelets. Not the best feed but i can afford to but them new and they arent in town. So my point:

Are there any kinds of oils or anything that i can feed them that isnt exspensive to help tack on the pounds?? If so please let me know. Thanks sooo much.

[3WishesDun]

I would be very careful changing the feed of any horse I did not own. Unless you have permission, if anything were to happen, you could be liable. I know you only want to help though. Are the owners wanting you to change their feed? What type of hay/pasture/forage do they get. That is usually where I start with wieght gain.

[Luck be a Lady]

I agree with 3wishesdun, you cannot change the feed of someone elses horses even if they are under your care. If you can contact the owners and see if they agree before you adjust anything.

The only thing you can do is increase the forage such as longer turnout time for extra grass and extra portions of hay.

Good luck, hope they gain weight whatever you decide!

[cowgurl1811]

No im not changing their feed. I have permission to do what ever i want with the horses. I would change their feed but io have no money. They are on practicly dirt pastures. No rain for us. They have a big bale of some kind of grass hay to munch on all day though. I was just wandering what extra stuff i can do to fatten them up though.

[banana_butt101]

Ok ive heard you can use vinager oil (is that how you spell it). I've heard that that works.

P.S. clean out your mail! lol

[turn-n-burn5477]

I used to put vegetable oil in my horses feed. It helped my gelding gain weight and get an awesomeeee coat. Don't feed them too much of it though. I just mixed it in with my gelding's food twice a day and he actually liked his food better with it lol. It was also what my trainer fed her horses(and trust me, if it wasn't good for them she wouldn't be feeding it to her Andalusians that cost lots of $$$) But anyways, good luck!!!!I'm glad that you are trying to help them

[Sue B]

It sounds like a nomal progression has happened...ie: too much feed = fat horses, owner cuts feed = too few calories = thin horses. Generally by the time you see weight loss, you are now on the down side of the hill and have fed the too little for too long, so it iwll now be an uphill battle to regain the weight. If the feed has been increased and they are beginning to gain, there isn't really anything that you can do that will help them regain any faster than they are....at least nothing that is safe.

It sounds to me like the owners have already addressed the issue and it is now just a waiting game to get the weight back on. While it does work on extremely over or under weight horses to lose or gain weight rapidly....there are metaolbic reasons why this works and even they will threshold at some point and it will become frustrating trying to get that last bit off/on.

Even adding a fat supplement will not show any benefits until at least a month down the road.

How long have they been on an increased feeding program and about how much feed do they get in lbs or quarts/day?

[Christa]

Super Gain w/ grain and Clover hay.........I would feed them 2 times a day if possible......It makes me happy to see there are more people out there that care for other horses that arnt getting the right feed (((I am caring for a Mustang and QH that isnt mine and they have dry hooves and are skinny but not very skinny)))

[caaenglishrider]

Flax seed oil sometimes helps them gain weight

[SweetIron]

Maybe worms/internal parsites? I say this because you said all of the horses were thin...