My Horse is Skinny. What Should I Do?
- Topics: Basic Care, Body Condition, Grains, Hay, Horse Care, Nutrition, Nutrition Basics
By Fernanda Camargo, DVM, PhD; Laurie Lawrence, PhD; and Bob Coleman, MS, PhD, PAS, of the University of Kentucky Department of Animal and Food Sciences
As we understand more about the impact that obesity and emaciation have on animal health, it is imperative that we strive to keep our horses at an optimum body condition. We’ve learned how to body condition score (BCS) our horses, so let’s take a look at what horses with a BCS of 4 or lower might look like:
Here are some tips on how to help your horse gain weight.
Think about calories first.
A mature horse will gain weight and condition when the number of calories it consumes is greater than the number of calories it uses. Therefore, to increase body condition the horse must either increase calorie intake or decrease calorie use (or both). Calories are important to muscle gain as well as fat gain, so the diet’s calorie value is important
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Written by:
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
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