All the horses in the barn get the same amount of feed every day; it makes feeding time much simpler. The warmbloods look super. Their weight is good, and their coats are gleaming. However, the one Thoroughbred in the barn who arrived a little thin six months ago has not put on any weight.

In fact, he has lost body condition. He is getting grain just like the other horses, so what could be wrong? A veterinarian has thoroughly examined the horse and nothing appears to be wrong. Could it be as simple as insufficient caloric intake? What kind of changes can be made to his feeding program to encourage weight gain?

Sometimes, getting a thin horse to gain weight is simply a matter of increasing the caloric density of the diet. Other times, the diet may need to be higher in calories because of a medical, psychological or environmental problem.

What makes a horse a hard keeper?

The metabolic rate determines whether a horse is an easy or hard keeper, and the variation between horses can be extreme.

Metabolism is the speed at which the body burns fuels for energy in order to maintain normal body functions. A slow metabolism can function on little input of fuel energy. Conversely, a fast metabolism needs a higher caloric intake in order to function properly.

In general, members of certain breeds have faster metabolisms and need more food to maintain body condition than members of other breeds. For example, Thoroughbreds usually eat more per pound of body weight than draft horses. There is also variety within a breed. For instance, some Thoroughbreds are easy keepers while others require intense management to maintain body weight.

Temperament often goes hand in hand with metabolic rate. A nervous horse may require more calories than a calm tempered one to maintain the same body condition. A tense horse may spend more time stall walking or weaving while the calm horse conserves energy stores.

A thin horse requires energy in the diet to ensure proper functioning of body processes and to build fat stores. Energy is a general term, yet many horsemen associate the word energy with mental energy. In this article, energy refers to the potential of a feed to fuel body functions and exercise.

Weight gain in the horse can be attributed to protein or fat deposition. When a horse does not have enough calories or protein in the diet, the body will break down its own muscle tissue and deplete much of the adipose tissue or fat.

This results in emaciation with poor muscle definition and protruding bones.

When the diet has excessive calories, the body will build muscle and adipose stores. The simplified solution to poor weight is to increase the caloric content of the diet while ensuring adequate protein content. The three nutrients which can supply energy to increase the caloric content of the diet in the horse are fiber, starch and fat.

Each nutrient is utilized for energy in a slightly different way in the body which, depending on the horse, can be advantageous or not.

Fiber

Of the three major energy sources for the horse, fiber is the most important, most underestimated and the safest. Fiber is the major component of grass and hay.

Some horses can maintain their weight on fiber sources alone. For the hard keeper, however, fiber alone will not maintain weight, but there are fiber feeding strategies that can increase the ability of the horse to derive energy from fiber.

Read more: Putting Weight on a Skinny Horse

Icelandic horses and loved all over the world and it has never been easier to buy horses in their home country and export them to their new destination, due to a great number of experts and professionals in the industry.

In this video we see the horses being brought down from the highlands in the fall and gathered at Víðidalstungurétt, where the owners bring them back to their farm. We speak with horse trainers, tourism operators, exporters and also a farm in Europe who assist with the transitioning. Enjoy!

The video was filmed and edited by Wild Horse Films.

Read more: The Export Journey of the Icelandic Horse (22:17)