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My senior horse is underweight. What feed helps him gain weight?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Farm Animal | Horse | Male | neutered | 900 lbs

I have a 12 year old horse that needs to gain weight. What grain or feed should I feed him?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Barry, BVSc, MRCVS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 9th, 2017

Some brands you may wish to try are Triple crown Senior, or Purina Amplify, or Purina Impact senior. Senior diets have more calories and fats than general feeds. You may also wish to supplement with soaked sugar beet. Check for spoilage (mold) in the hay or haylage

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    Answered By Karly Macon, DVM, MS, CVA Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 1st, 2018

    Make sure your vet has done full bloodwork and an exam to look for any obvious age-related health issues like bad teeth, infection, or internal tumors. Senior feed is great, but some horses need more like 12-15 lbs of it per day to maintain decent weight. It can get really expensive, unfortunately. If you increase the feed, do so very slowly to avoid colic or impaction. Beet pulp and high-fat supplements can also help. I use Purina Amplify. Hope that helps!

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 31st, 2019

    Hello. The first thing to consider is the overall health of your horse. Has she been examined for any medical problems, including intestinal parasites, dental issues, metabolic problems or problems with organ function such as with the liver. If the mare is relatively healthy, a good quality pelleted equine senior feed is best. To this I will recommend either Manna Pros Equine Accelerator or Cool Calories to get the extra fats & calories an older horse may need. Hope this helps & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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