| With over 170,000 unwanted horses in the United | | | | Once you have addressed any health issues that are |
| States, according to the American Horse Council, the | | | | causing the horse to lose weight, the next step is to |
| number of horses showing up at horse sales and | | | | create a diet that will nourish him but not create |
| horse rescues, or simply "turned loose on the range," | | | | further digestive issues. Contrary to popular opinion, |
| is increasing. | | | | skinny horses do not need super rich, high fat meals |
| As a result, the number of malnourished and skinny | | | | in large quantity. Most skinny horses have such poor |
| horses is also on the rise. Luckily, some of these | | | | digestive tracts that they cannot process these kinds |
| horses are being adopted or rescued by good | | | | of meals. |
| Samaritans. The trouble is that many good | | | | Instead, focus on feeding the thin horse small, |
| Samaritans have no idea how to feed skinny horses | | | | frequent meals that are easily digestible. If the horse |
| to restore them to health. | | | | has low energy, you can gradually increase up to |
| Three Steps for Feeding the Thin Horse | | | | one-and-a-half pounds of grain or pelleted feed per |
| If you are one of these good Samaritans then you | | | | 100 pounds of body weight. Adding some oil or rice |
| know the temptation to "feed up" the skinny horse | | | | bran to the diet can also help. Alfalfa can help the |
| in attempt to restore him to his proper weight. | | | | horse put on weight, especially if he is a picky eater |
| Unfortunately, simply shoving tons of food in front of | | | | or has ulcers, which makes him avoid grain. |
| a skinny horse is unlikely to produce the results you | | | | If the horse has high energy, it is best to feed less |
| want, since a thin horse is often unable to digest or | | | | grain and more hay. Adding some vegetable oil or rice |
| process huge amounts of food due to a weakened | | | | bran to the grain can also encourage weight gain. |
| digestive system. Instead of dumping tons of feed | | | | Soaked beet pulp also helps the high-energy skinny |
| over the stall door, follow these three steps for | | | | horse gain weight. |
| feeding the thin horse. | | | | Step #3: Supplements for Skinny Horses |
| Step #1: Fix the Cause of the Problem | | | | Once you have created a diet suitable for your |
| Skinny horses tend to suffer from one or more | | | | skinny horse, you may want to consider digestive |
| health problems, so the first step to restoring the | | | | supplements that can help your horse better digest |
| skinny horse is to discover those issues. Health | | | | his food. For instance, enzymes can help a horse get |
| problems that are common among skinny horses | | | | the most out of his feed. Probiotics also help with |
| include: | | | | digestion, along with healing the gut and boosting the |
| - teeth in need of floating | | | | horse's immune system. Excellent sources of |
| - parasites or worms | | | | probiotics include acidophilus and bifidus from |
| - lack of good horse feed and nutrition | | | | Simplexity Health, Fastrack from Conklin, PreProbiotics |
| (malnourishment) | | | | from Equilite/Arenus, and Pro-Bi from ABC. |
| - stress, injury, or pain | | | | For horses who have been stressed or traumatized, |
| The first three causes are fairly simple to address | | | | the herbal product Eleviv from XanGo is an excellent |
| and understand, but the fourth is less | | | | supplement which restores these horses to their |
| straightforward. A horse that has been stressed, | | | | natural, healing, parasympathetic nervous system. |
| injured, or is in pain may lose quite a bit of weight, | | | | Omega Sun blue-green algae from Simplexity Health is |
| because these conditions can cause the formation of | | | | a good source of nutrition for these horses, providing |
| ulcers or may cause digestive upset. For these | | | | dense nutrition without generating a lot of nervous |
| horses, it is a good idea to address digestive | | | | energy. |
| problems with products such as Stomach Soother, | | | | Finally, you may want to consider digestive herbs |
| SUCCEED, or KAM Ulcer Formula (KAM UF). | | | | such as marshmallow root, slippery elm, or aloe vera |
| Whatever the cause, once you have determined the | | | | to give your horse's digestive system a boost. |
| health issues from which the horse may be suffering, | | | | Caring for the Skinny Horse |
| the first step is to address those issues. For instance, | | | | Bringing a skinny horse from the brink of |
| if the horse has bad or broken teeth, you need to | | | | malnourishment back to glowing good health can be a |
| have his teeth floated before feeding him tons of | | | | long trek, depending on how many health issues you |
| food, otherwise he won't be able to chew a single | | | | have to address. Luckily, a solid nutritional foundation |
| bite of that food. | | | | can do wonders for skinny horses, once the major |
| Step #2: Horse Feed for the Skinny Horse | | | | health issues have been addressed. |