Feeding For Weight Gain Spotlight: Mitavite Gumnuts for Seniors and Poor Doers
Weight gain is always a hot topic when it comes to equine health. It’s an aspect of feeding that owners often struggle with. There are those horses that are poor doers and are difficult to get weight on, horses who are recovering from illness or injury, horses who have been purchased by new owners in poor condition, or those horses that are older and struggle to keep weight on.
There are many reasons why a horse needs condition and extra weight added to their body score, so for the next four weeks we’re going to spotlight four feeds that are great for doing just that.
Start with the horse’s health
Before embarking on a weight gain feeding regime, we must first address the horse’s health to ensure there is no underlying reason why the horse is not gaining and maintaining weight.
Health Checklist:
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Teeth and dental up to date?
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Worming and parasite control up to date?
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Virus and infection free?
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Gastric ulcer free?
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Is the horse getting at least two per cent of its body weight per day in roughage?
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Have you changed/ removed external factors that may be causing stress and anxiety?
Feed for the job - Mitavite Gumnuts
Mitavite Gumnuts is one of Australia’s original and most trusted specialty senior feeds. It is a highly nutritious, palatable and safe to feed with a balance of vitamins & minerals formulated in a highly digestible form.
This feed is traditionally used for more senior horses, however it is a great conditioning feed for most horses. Horses who are in heavy, strenunous work would benefit from a more energy dense feed, but for horses who are retired, spelling or in light to moderate work Gumnuts will help with conditioning.
Gumnuts are fully steam extruded to increase digestibility to over 90 per cent in the small intestine maximising nutrient utilisation and minimising risk of hindgut acidosis.
Gumnuts are nutrient dense to provide optimal nutrition for older horses and ponies, which in turn helps increase the horse's body score.
Live yeast probiotic to support gut health and aid digestion, omega fatty acids strengthen the immune system, natural and bioavailable Vitamin E works as an effective antioxidant and supports muscle function.
Gumnuts also features Mitavite's Bonafide®, featuring Quinaquanone®, a Bioavailable form of Vitamin K1 and K2, proven in trials to increase bone density.
Another advantage of Gumnuts is that this feed can be wet down and made into a mash for beloved oldies with poor teeth.
Keep it balanced – it’s about the big picture
Feeding a pelleted feed such as Mitavite Gumnuts is a great base for your horse’s weight gain regime, however, don’t forget these important feeding rules to ensure that all the horse's requirements are being met:
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Free access to fresh, clean drinking water
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Feed at least 2% of the horse’s body weight in roughage per day (fresh pasture, hay and chaff)
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Feed smaller feeds more often, this is how a horse’s digestive system is designed
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Feed by weight not volume and always feed the recommended amount for you horse’s weight/ workload
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Don’t feed more than 2kg of grain at once as this can cause stomach issue, such as ulcers
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A complete feed does not always meet the required intake of vitamins and mineral if there’s a deficiency in the horse or the pasture is depleting them of something (for example horses on high oxalate grasses may need extra calcium added to their diet), therefore it is important to keep it all balanced. There are apps such as FeedXL that can help you calculate and balance your horse’s feed.
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Oil is a great way to add extra calories without adding extra hard feed
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Be careful to not overfeed your horse, this can cause issues and will for the most part be a waste of your money as it will pass straight through the horse.
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Weight gain, conditioning and top line building takes time, this will not happen overnight but rather over months!
Don't forget to read our previous weight gain blogs on Johnson’s Every Horse Weight Gain, Pryde's EasiConditioner, and D&G Horse & Cattle Fattener Pellets too!