Question
I have a 15-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, a one-time racehorse. He sweats profusely, whether the work is light, moderate, or intense. This is a lifelong occurrence, and my vet finds no issue whatsoever with this. His fitness is improving with work and weight loss. What is the best supplement to support him and to assist in strengthening hoof growth? In addition to that gelding, I have another Thoroughbred and an Australian Pony that I have trouble keeping weight on. They too are in moderate work, and their diet consists of paddock grasses, supplement pellet, chaff, and a muesli.
Answer
Some horses simply sweat heavier than others, regardless of work level or environmental temperature. This is not necessarily a cause for concern, although it can mean lots of saddle blankets to wash!
With these horses, however, it is even more important to ensure adequate electrolyte supplementation. Horses lose sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium when they sweat and therefore it is essential to supply daily salt in their diets (sodium and chloride) as well as a well-formulated electrolyte that contains potassium and magnesium. Restore SR (Restore in Australia) is ideal as it has been formulated to mimic the composition of horse sweat so these minerals are replaced in the correct proportions. If you choose Restore, your horse should receive between 30 and 90 g of Restore daily, depending on the amount he sweats during work.
In terms of encouraging and strengthening hoof growth, provision of certain nutrients may significantly help hoof quality. Choose Bio-Bloom PS (Bio-Bloom HF in Australia) for support of hoof health. This product contains a synergistic blend of biotin, zinc, and methionine, nutrients that are known to encourage growth of healthy hoof tissue. An added benefit of Bio-Bloom is its positive effect on hair coat.
To achieve weight gain with your other horses that are currently in moderate work, I would recommend constant forage, a moderate-energy performance horse feed fed at recommended levels, and a fat supplement. A constant intake of forage is essential for achieving optimum digestive health, and it is great that your horses have constant access to pasture. Additional hay will be required if the pasture becomes eaten down, and alfalfa (lucerne) hay is ideal for achieving weight gain as it is generally higher in energy than other grass hays.
In selecting a performance horse feed, choose a fully fortified one that uses a range of fast- and slow-acting energy sources. When fed at the appropriate level (read the feeding instructions carefully), such a feed will provide all of the required nutrients for moderate work.
As an additional energy source, stabilized rice bran is a high-fat, low-starch conditioning supplement that is one of the most effective ways to assist with weight gain.
