My horse or pony is too skinny. What should I do?

My horse or pony could use some more weight. How can I handle this?

In the wild, a horse or pony is eating fibre rich greenfeed about 14 to 16 hours a day. The best thing is to imitate this as well as possible. A horse can eat as much roughage per day as it can. When a horse can eat unlimited, the horse stops when it's full. If the hay or dry silage that is fed is not rich enough, it can be chosen to replace (or replace a part of it) by Hartog Compact Grass or Gras-mix. It is intended that the animal gets more energy than it burns so that the energy is stuck as fat. A well-balanced diet is very important here. Nobody wants to be very wild and unmanageable because of the high energy levels in the feed.

Increased energy content

A good solution to this problem is to feed Lucerne mix alongside the current ration. Lucerne-mix consists of freshly chopped lucerne mixed with green harvested oats. This combination guarantees increased energy content with a reduced content of digestible proteins. Furthermore, molasses and vegetable oil have been added to this crude feed. Lucerne mix contains all daily building materials such as vitamins, minerals, trace elements and amino acids. The Lucerne-mix can be fed 2-3 times a day as needed next to the hay or pre-dry silage. It can be fed into the Hartog Feed Box XL or, for example, in a 10 liter bucket. When the bucket is pressed properly, there may be 2 kg in the bucket. When you are going to use Hartog Lucerne-mix, it is wise to build it slowly and do not feed three buckets at once. See how the horse responds when you carry more roughage.

It may be that the roughage is significantly increased in quantity and this does not give rise to the horse or the pony. If this problem occurs, the amount of concentrated feed can be increased by 1 to 1.5 kg per day, slowly build up. Horses should be able to get used to a new diet. The power feed can also be replaced by another type of power supply with richer composition. From the range of Hartog you can use the Balance feed. This grain mix is excellent for horses who perform light work. When heavy work is done and too little energy is taken from the current feed, Energy Classic or Energy Special can be specially fed. In addition to the Lucerne mix, 2 to 3 kg can be fed daily.

Not only the nutritional pattern can affect the condition and fat percentage of the horse. Worm infection, dental problems, stress and pain can contribute to a too thin horse. When a horse drops quickly, turn to a vet.

Natural vitamins, minerals, and trace elements

Lucerne-mix contains more than enough vitamins, minerals and trace elements to meet the basic needs of the horse. The vitamins and minerals in Lucerne-mix are distinguished from concentrated food because these levels in Lucerne mix are pure naturally formed.

Fully digestible proteins

Proteins in (pre-dry) silage and hay resulting from plastic fertilization are often badly digested and can cause adverse effects. In the case of lucerne, rodent bacteria bind the nitrogen out of the air, resulting in an amino acid pattern that provides completely digestible proteins. In addition, the artificial drying process of lucerne plays a major role in the digestion of proteins for horses. Due to the short heating, proteins are partly broken down so that they can be more easily absorbed by the horse's body.