Managing an underweight horse

When I first purchased my mare in January, she was extremely underweight. It was difficult for me to add weight on without having any grass, due to a harsh winter. I remember thinking constantly how embarrassing it was to have people over. All they would see was an underweight, muddy horse (she loves to roll!). I also remember thinking often that it was taking so long to build her up. If I could tell you one thing about adding weight to a horse, it would be to NOT rush the process! Though it took me many months, my mare is now thriving and even has developed a little hay belly (which I need to fix!). The best help for putting on her weight, was her feeding routine. She would get 1/2 scoop Purina Senior feed with 1 scoop of soaked beet pulp in the morning, and 1/2 scoop of Purina feed in the evening. Along with 24 hour access to hay. I would not recommend allowing your horse 24 hour access to hay unless your vet approves the horse, some horses have trouble managing sugar (causing founder) and may need supplements to balance the hay sugars. If your horse is struggling significantly with putting on weight, I would recommend contacting a vet, worming the horse (if they have not yet been wormed, and/or adding beet pulp or alfalfa to their feeding routine!

Hope this helps make a happy horse!

(she has grown significantly since March!)