Sometimes it’s challenging to keep weight on a horse. A hyperactive horse might burn off too many calories to stay in optimum body condition, while an old broodmare with digestive inefficiency can lose weight during the stress of lactation.

In this article we’ll look at ways to help get weight back on these problem horses.

What’s the Reason?

“There are usually specific reasons the horse is underweight,” says Stephen Duren, MS, PhD, a nutritionist in Weiser, Idaho. “It may be an old horse that’s losing nutrient efficiency or a horse with poor teeth. It may be low in the pecking order and not getting its share of the feed.”

The first thing to do is find out why the horse is thin, and you might need help from your veterinarian to figure it out