Getting the Bloom - Feeding for Weight Gain and Improved Appearance

By Karen E. Davison, Ph.D., Manager-Equine Technical Services, Purina Mills, LLC

Whether you are dealing with a horse that lost condition through a long, hot summer of competition or you are preparing horses for the fall sales, feeding for weight gain and bloom requires specific dietary components. The easiest dietary component to monitor is calorie or energy intake. Managing body condition is a matter of calorie economics. Taking in more calories than are used results in weight gain, using more calories than are consumed results in weight loss. So, weight gain is simply a matter of supplying more calories in the diet than are required to maintain current condition. Sounds simple enough, but the source of those calories can impact the outcome. In addition to providing adequate calories, putting bloom or overall “condition” on a horse requires quality dietary protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids to support skin health, hair coat luster and optimal muscle tone. Excellent nutrition along with a good bit of “elbow grease” applied in the form of regular grooming helps horses have the shine and healthy appearance to make them look and feel great.

The approach you take to help a horse gain weight depends on how much weight he needs to gain and what time frame you have to accomplish the desired results. The more weight needed and the shorter the time frame, the more aggressive the effort needs to be. Gaining a relatively small amount of weight, 25 lbs or less, can often be achieved in 60 days by increasing feed intake by 2 – 3 lbs per day. Gaining 45 lbs or more in that same period can require substantial increases in feed intake. It is important to remember that a safe rule of thumb is to feed no more than 5 – 6 lbs of grain per meal to an average 1000 lb horse. So, if you are at the point of increasing feed intake by 5 – 6 lbs per day to support more or faster weight gain, you should add an additional meal each day or consider changing to a higher calorie feed. A more calorie-dense feed will provide the needed calories in a more reasonable amount of feed. Another option is to use a fat supplement to provide very concentrated, efficient calories to help support the needed increase in body condition.

Historically, horse owners have added a few ounces of vegetable oil to improve hair coats on horses. That amount provides essential fatty acids that can improve skin health and hair coat shine. Today, better quality horse feeds containing 4 – 6% fat have enough added oil to meet those fatty acid requirements. However, when the goal is to provide calories for weight gain, much more than a couple ounces of oil is required. One cup of vegetable oil provides 2000 calories. For a horse needing to gain 45 lbs in 60 days, you would have to add over 2.5 cups of oil to his current ration to meet the calorie requirements for that level of weight gain. That much oil can be very messy, doesn’t provide additional protein, vitamins and minerals, and many horses will not want to eat that much oil. Choosing a higher calorie feed is usually a better solution. For example, compared to oats and many less expensive horse feeds, Purina® Ultium® Competition Horse Formula provides 50% more calories per pound. It would take over 4 lbs of oats but only 2.6 lbs of Ultium® Competition to provide the same calories as 2.5 cups of oil. So, with a more calorie-dense feed, weight gain can be achieved in a more reasonable amount of feed than with oats or other lower-calorie horse feeds.

Weight gain and bloom are achieved not only through calories but also from providing a diet complete with essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. All these nutrients play roles in hair coat, muscle tone, hoof quality and overall appearance and health. Purina® premium horse feeds formulated to support the calorie and nutritional demands of performance, including Strategy® Professional Formula GX Horse Feed, Omolene #200® Horse Feed, Omolene #400® Horse Feed, Omolene #500® Horse Feed, and Ultium® Competition Horse Feed, are excellent options for providing the calorie and nutrient levels to support weight gain and bloom. For additional fat supplementation (if needed), Purina® Nature’s Essentials® Amplify® Supplement, is a tremendous nutritional tool. Amplify® Supplement supplies a blend of vegetable oils, flax seed and rice bran to provide an exceptional fatty acid profile in addition to quality protein and balanced vitamins and minerals.

You can certainly feed oats and good quality hay to accomplish weight gain, provided you have enough time and feed enough quantity. However, the end result can be a soft, fat horse that doesn’t have the muscle tone and “gleam from within” that can be achieved with a more complete balance of nutrition. Then, you have to apply even more elbow grease and topical hair polish products to get even close to the shine that you could get with good nutrition.