How to Gain Weight
My pony/horse is too lean. He is easily distracted during feeding and he also eats too quickly. How can I make sure that he gains weight?
If you want your horse to gain weight, adding concentrates to his diet will help, but be careful: this can cause disturbances to the digestive system. Introduce extra concentrates slowly and don’t give him more than is necessary for a trainings level. Another method of improving the condition of your horse is to give him corn pellets or Lucerne-mix. Too lean horses get too little or poor roughage.
Including Lucerne-mix in the ration improves his condition and takes care of better performance from the rations.
Fast and nervous eating habits can play a role in the digestion of the feed. Because he doesn’t chew well, too little saliva is produced. As a result of this, the small intestines do not digest the food well and fewer nutrients enter the blood stream. By mixing Lucerne-mix into the concentrate, the horse is forced to chew better, more saliva is produced and the nutrients are utilised better.
In addition, make sure your horse is de-wormed regularly and have his teeth checked regularly.
All horses and ponies are different. If you need any personal advice please contact us about feeding of Hartog products. It is also possible to calculate the feed ration for your horse or pony with Hartog Feeding advice.