A senior horse might need to gain weight for a variety of reasons. The horse might be a highly competitive athlete, have dentition (teeth) issues, be suffering from a disease or illness, be overloaded with parasites, or have hierarchy issues at feeding time that prevent him/her from accessing enough feed.  

In this article, we’ll look at some of the causes of—and offer suggestions for—addressing weight loss in older horses. Owners should always consult with their veterinarians to uncover underlying health conditions. Working with an equine nutritionist can be useful for tailoring a feeding plan that works for an individual senior horse. 

Make sure you understand body condition scoring and the body condition index. These can help you keep a better track of your horse’s condition.

Unraveling the Causes of Weight Loss 

Weight loss in horses can be a multifaceted issue. In addition to the causes listed above, a senior horse could be facing chronic infections or gastric ulcers. Unfortunately, senior horses can face multiple issues at one time.  

If you add environmental factors (such as extreme heat or cold), transportation stress, lactation, or pain, it can be a puzzle to get a horse to gain the weight it needs to be healthy. 

Therefore, we again emphasize the importance of consulting with a veterinarian who can diagnose any underlying health complications or illnesses causing or exacerbating the senior horse’s weight loss. 

Keep in mind that senior horses can lose muscle mass that you might mistake for weight loss. A number of issues, including PPID (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, also known as Cushing’s disease), can cause muscle mass loss. 

Creating a Comfortable Eating Environment 

A stress-free eating environment is paramount for a horse to regain lost weight. Ensuring horses have access to shelter, clean water, and high-quality forage can significantly contribute to promoting healthy weight.  

Addressing any issues within the herd can also make a big difference. Sometimes (but not always!) as horses age, they lose prominence in a herd’s pecking order. As more horses rank above them, they are forced to wait and take what they can get after those horses have eaten. This can cause stress, which puts a horse at risk for developing ulcers. (Editor’s note: Yes, research has shown that herd dynamics can cause gastric ulcers.)1 

Owners who feed in a pasture setting and put out more “piles of hay” than the number of horses are doing the right thing. However, the “higher-ranking” herd members often eat first, then continue to push their way to gain access to the newest piles of hay. This forces the “lower-ranking” horses to go back to the piles where the best of the feed has been picked through. They might be left with less-digestible forages that can contribute to weight loss. 

Increasing Forage for Weight Gain 

Forage plays a pivotal role in a horse’s diet, and increasing its quantity can aid in weight gain. Ideally, a horse should consume at least 1.5% of its bodyweight in dry matter of forage each day. Therefore, the first step is always to ensure they are being given enough forage and they are eating it! Consider introducing higher-quality hay, alfalfa, or highly digestible fiber supplements such as soaked beet pulp.

Always check with your veterinarian or equine nutritionist as some of these forages are not appropriate for horses with specific illnesses or conditions. For example, some feeds might have too high non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) levels that could cause issues with the horse’s insulin response.

Owners might have to separate “lower-ranking,” thin, or senior horses for them to have access to the quantity and quality of feed they need to gain weight. One way to do this is to put the thin horse in an enclosure with a “buddy” close by during feeding time. The buddy shouldn’t be able to steal the thin horses’s rations.

Boosting Horse Weight Gain With Vegetable Oils/Fats 

In cases where increasing the amount or nutrient quality of the forage isn’t enough—and if not contraindicated by your veterinarian—adding vegetable oils to the horse’s diet could help boost weight gain. Affordable options such as vegetable oil or rice bran can increase fat content. You can also use commercial concentrates formulated specifically for weight gain. 

As with all feeding changes, introduce fats, rice bran, or commercial feeds gradually and never in large amounts or as a single meal to avoid digestive issues. Also check the balance of the resulting diet to ensure the necessary nutrients are being supplied in the proper amounts. This is especially true of vitamin E.

Abrupt changes in a horse’s diet can lead to health complications such as colic or laminitis. Therefore, go slow when it comes to a horse’s weight gain.  

Final Words 

Regular weight checks and diet adjustments are crucial when helping a horse gain weight. Working cooperatively with an equine veterinarian and nutritionist can be particularly beneficial to ensuring a safe and effective weight gain approach. 

Achieving healthy weight gain in horses requires addressing any underlying physical or environmental causes of weight loss, and typically involves increasing calorie intake gradually through providing higher-quality forage/fiber. This is often assisted by the addition of suitable vegetable oils/fats. Monitoring the horse’s weight and condition regularly is important to ensure that they are gaining weight, but do not let them become obese!

Further Reading

Reference

  1. Evaluation of a questionnaire to detect the risk of developing ESGD or EGGD in horses. Sara Busechian; Micaela Sgorbini; Simona Orvieto; Lorenzo Pisello; Francesco Zappulla; Angela Briganti; Irene Nocera; Giuseppe Conte; Fabrizio Rueca. 2021. Preventive Veterinary Medicine.