How to put "meat" on a super refined horse...?

[LindaL]

I have a 2 yr old filly that is super refined and while she is at a decent weight, she has no "meat"...I plan to show her this year and have been trying to bulk her up, but she is starting to get a belly, which is not what I want! I have started to round pen her, but I am concerned that she will lose weight, which is not what I want either.

She is an ASPC/AMHR filly and is approx. 35" ? tall. I am feeding her...6 cups Strategy Healthy Edge, 6 cups soaked beet pulp and approx. 1/4 flake alfalfa morning and evening. I am going to add oats in the mix now that the show horses are "working".

What should I change/add to help her get some muscle definition without making her get a belly?

Being a Shetland and especially with the bloodlines she has, they tend to have a high metabolism I think.

Also, I should mention that I feed along the pasture fence, so while the horses usually stay at one feed bucket, they can and do "share" or move off to another bucket. There is no way to change this unfortunately.

 

[Minimor]

That doesn't sound like very much hay. I would up the alfalfa--I've never had extra alfalfa put a belly on them, and certainly not while they are getting a good grain ration.

I had a mature pony stallion that I was having trouble rounding out his topline--he had a bit of a belly and needed rounding on top--but he was not getting much for grain because he was in with two other horses. I have since moved him into a paddock by himself and he's in great shape now, just needs to do some actual "work" so he muscles up for the shows...he is getting 3 flakes of alfalfa/grass hay 2X a day (about 15 lbs) plus he gets 1 lb of rolled oats and 1 lb of 14% Frontrunner pellets TWO times a day. This stallion is about 38" measured as a Mini, so he isn't a big pony--and he looks great on this feed ration. When I start to work him this spring (it is too icy to work anyone here now so he just self exercises when he chooses to) if he drops some weight off his topline I will increase his Frontrunner pellets to 2 lbs 2X a day

I have a coming 2 year old that is smaller & he is getting about the same ration as the above stallion, though he gets a little more of the pellets and a little less oats (he isn't so keen on oats) and he is in very nice body condition too. These are both refined ponies.

 

[TMR]

Put him on a feed bag (I prefer the Feedrite Pony size). There is no way to know how much he is getting if he is not eating by himself unless you are using feedbags or tying everyone up. I swear by feedbags, you can just put one on him and then you know he is getting what you want. My routine is put feed bags on, feed the other horses together, check hay, waterers, and then they are done eating and its time to take the bags off....or I go do something else and come back half hour later and take them off.

 

[Crabtree Farm]

Having Shetlands and Hackney ponies, we have started using the Healthy Edge and it has worked. My 42 inch shetland/hackney gets 1 pound HE, 1/4 pound Seminole Alfafa pellets with his coat suppliment, plus 1 flake hay each morning and night. Gets free turn out on good days and plays hard.

Our 48 Hackney gets 2 pounds HE and flake of hay each morning/night. If he begins to look like excess weight it is cut back.

Nobody is potbellied and basically always showring ready. But each is stalled for feeding, excellent worming program and access to grazing minerals.

Some shetlands won't bulk up to look like QH's, so it will also depend on structure and type.

 

[MindyLee]

Hi Linda,

I work at Tractor Supply, and we sell a product that works wonders on adding weight safly to horses who are skinny, hard keepers, old, rescues and so on. I use this product myself and LOVE it! I recomend this to everyone who runs into issues with both small and large equine.

I have a 11 yr old stallion, Little Kings Sentra Supreme, and he's a major pacer in the spring as well as trying to condition him for shows. He too is ultra refind and this product adds the ideal weight just for the same reasons your needing.

Its called Omegaten. It comes in a 5 gallon bucket and located by the weight builders. It costs about $30 and ya only add a lil cup which is in it to your horses grain each day. I swear by this and I use it every yr. I also used on a mare a few yrs back who lost 40% of her body weight by plant poisoning. It worked wonders. Not sure if ya remember my post where a lot of folks here seen my topic about her and said she needed more food because my vets couldnt figure out y she lost so much weight in so quickly. Then one vet found the poison nightshade in my pasture and finally figured out the cause of her weight loss. I started using the Omegaten in her grain and WOW what a huge differeance in her weight in 1 month! She is a ex colic/founder mare and had absoultly NO issues with this in her grain.

Heres pics of my skinny pacing boy on it and what he looks like before and after.

Hope this helps and good luck!

1st pic skinny hippy (1.5 months before show)

2nd pic week before show

3rd pic at show.

 

[ohmt]

I sent you a pm Linda

Re reading what you're feeding, I would talk to your vet and maybe add a phosphorous supplement. With the alfalfa, beet pulp, and that grain, her calcium to phosphorous levels are much much too high. It can cause all sorts of problems (I had the same problem with a filly of mine 2 yrs ago) and cause the belly.

I would substitute the alfalfa for grass hay.

 

[LindaL]

OK, so it sounds like I need to balance out the potassium/calcium levels...and add more protein...It's not so much the "lack" of hay (roughage) they are missing because they get lots of beet pulp, but not enough protein. Our hay is very expensive here and I am wondering if alfalfa pellets would be a good 2nd choice? I was doing cubes, but they are a pain in the butt IMO...and would rather do pellets.

The balancer may be needed as well I guess to even out the potassium/calcium levels...hadn't thought of that.

Just an FYI....she is NOT skinny...but just needs more muscle definition.

 

[ohmt]

If you do decide to supplement with phosphorous, definitely talk to your vet first to see if it really is necessary at all and if it is, how much to supplement. I would go for the alfalfa pellets and also increase grain. Any chance we can convince you to post a before picture? I love seeing the befores and afters of feed changes

Good luck!

 

[Margo_C-T]

Not sure how much beet pulp you mean by 'lots', but it might pay to research what is known about what PERCENTAGE of total fiber/roughage should be from beet pulp. I don't have those figures at my fingertips, but do know, from reliable reading, that it is possible to 'overdo' beet pulp. While it is considered a good source of fiber(esp. for the hind gut, as I recall), and can help in weight gain and reportedly in 'filling out a top line', it is also possible to overdo it, which can be detrimental.

Agree !00% w/ the use of alfalfa--and urge the use of PLENTY OF hay, period(NOTHING Is more vital to horses' overall well-being than enough of what they evolved to eat!), but also the need to determine what kind of calcium-to-phosphorus ratio you are actually providing, and adjust if needed.

Margo

 

[ohmt]

Beet pulp can safely replace up to 30% of hay according to current research.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Yes, up to 30% is fine- I would drain off the excess molasses water though.

I wish we had access to good alfalfa here....one year,many years ago, I had the chance of threshed alfalfa- farmer had taken seed from it- and it looked like brown flatten stalks- well, my horses fell on it and, in spite of what it looked like it was some of the best "hay" I have ever had. That was the only time I was able to get it though, our soil just does not grow good alfalfa and what we do get goes straight into processed feeds.

Edited because I am an idiot and put 39%!!!

 

[chandab]

Some where in my researching of beet pulp, I came across a recommendation for adding phosphorus to balance the calcium once you feed more than a pound or two. The calcium in 1# of beet pulp can be balanced with one of the following: 1 tsp monosodium phosphate (heard it tastes like soap so may be hard to get them to eat much); or 2 oz non-calcium added rice bran (hard to find without calcium added, but I know its out there); or can't find my notes, but pretty sure its 1# oats.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Sunflower seeds provide 1158mg (116% DV) of phosphorus per 100 gram serving,

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