Senior Horse Very Underweight - What to feed?

What about soaking some Beet Pulp shreds?
We feed them here, and our horses are FAT!  They usually sell them at any Far Supply, and compared to the feeds, they are not expensive.
I usually mix the BP with their ration of horse pellets.  (Course...I mix in their glucosmin/chondroitin with that!  (Mine are older, too...)

  How long have you had them?  On 20+ year old horses, I wouldn't be expecting anything noticable for the first month other than a brighter eye and more energy. 
  When I'm trying to fatten up a horse, I'm going to look at how I can do it in the most cost effective way.  Hay is always the cheapest way.  1# will add about .85 MCals.  Start by knowing just how good that hay is. Has it been tested? It might look great but how much digestable energy does it have?  Second cheapest is veg oil.  You can work up to 2 cups per horse which will add an additional 4MCals to their diet.  BP has approximately the same calories # for # as grass hay but will cost 2X.  A lot of people tout it as the greatest thing out there but they haven't really done the math to figure out what it's actually costing.  It works out to about $320 a ton.  The advantage of BP will be if your horse has trouble chewing and it's a great way to add oil to the diet.  TC makes great products but they're expen$ive.  Around here, it's about $18 a bag. Feeding 2 horses won't break the bank but feeding 6 will.
 
 &nbspersonally, I would up the oil to a 1/2C per meal (B,L and D) poured over 3-4# of alfalfa pellets plus their senior (I have no opinion on Nutrena Senior) plus all the hay they can eat.  Monitor how much hay they eat.  You want them to eat a minimum of 20# just to maintain.  If they're only eating #10, I'd be looking at different hay.  Add a vitamin/mineral supplement to allow them to replenish their stores (hang a bucket of the loose stuff on the fence and let them eat it free choice).  Try a daily probiotic (it is added to the senior but in what quantity?).  Blanket them on cold nights so they don't spend any extra energy keeping warm.  Get them out and hand walk or lunge them lightly even in the shape they are in (5-10 mins) to help with appetite, depression and muscle tone.

I don't disagree with anything 2manyhorses said! (and I forgot about the oil....)
I just wanted to mention that I do find myself taking lots of pictures when I'm trying to get weight onto a horse!  Seems like I can't see a daily improvement, but if I go back a week or 2....there it is! 

You can never feed too much probiotics.  I guess most Sr. feeds have that in it but....   Also, starved horses don't stand a chance against ulcers.  I'd get some ulcer treatment in him.  LOTS of free choice hay - if he's grown accustomed to having a full belly and his digestive system is working.
Bless you for trying.  It doesn't always work out.
Good to see you, btw.

The hay is very good hay. Most of my horses are on just that hay with mineral/salt blocks and stay obese. I am almost certain that they have told me it was tested but I didn't see the results. They feet it to their horses as well.

I went to the feed store yesterday bought some shredded beet pulp. I do give them oil for the extra calories. I think I will start taking progress pictures. It might help me see the improvement. I would prefer not feeding alfalfa cause it can cause horses personalities to change.

I have had them since October. I just think if my feeding program was working I would have noticed a better change. Now I didn't do a power pack till the end of November. I had wormed them but vet said that sometimes they get bad enough that they need the power pack to get it all cleared up. So maybe now they will really start gaining weight. I sure hope so. I don't like having skinny horses in my barn!

Thanks for all the input!! Hopefully I can get these guys looking better.

Hope to see pics when you can.  Keep up the good work!

  On so many levels, alfalfa is a superior product for rehabilitating older horses.  It is the most palatable forage product out there and often horses in poor condition just are not interested in eating.  They need to be rebuilding muscle mass and it has 2X the protein of BP thus having higher levels of essential Amino Acids (AA they can't synthesize).  It has a slightly higher Caloric content for the same $$.  As mentioned earlier, they could have ulcers and there have been data to support that alfalfa buffers stomach acids up to 8 hours after a meal.  It is lower in startches and sugars than either BP or grass hay.  Horses in poor condition often have poor hair and skin.  They are prone to rain rot mostly along their spine where they have lost their topline.  Vit A is essential in good skin.  Alfalfa has a decent quantity (2,000 IU/#) while BP has none.  For me, alfalfa is the cheapest forage available ($100/ton).  In a pelleted or cubed form, it runs the same as BP about $8/ #50 or $320/ton.  The myth that alfalfa makes horses wonky has some easy expaination.  If you were to substitue Bermuda hay # for # with alfalfa, you would be giving the horses about 1/3 more calories.  Without increasing their workload, they are going to both get fat and full of themselves.  If it were true, most every horse in the Western states would be out of their minds.
 
  Mineral blocks do not provide adequate levels of trace minerals and little to no macro minerals.  Most are 99% salt.  When looking for a vit/mineral product, I want something with no more than 20% salt (I won't pay a premium for added salt) 20% Ca, 10%P (for grass diets) and 100,000 IU/# Vit A.  All the other ingredients will fall into accepable levels.  It needs to be in a loose form or a soft block for horses to get enough.  They will devour 2-3# right off the bat if they are deficient and then consume about 1/2# per week afterwards.

That was an eye-opener.  TSC here had the big blue tubs of minerals and my horse farm neighbors set them out all the time for their 30 or so mares that are on pasture.  I've been meaning to get some....

Honestly?  I think the first person you would talk with should be your local vet. The horse needs to be checked and/or vaccinated. Your local vet will know the make up of the local soils and from that the basic contents of your local hays and grasses. What supplements you may need because of your location. Your vet can put you on a week-to-week ration increase without any (possibly expensive) side effects.
 
Forgot to add: A documented vet visit and weight gain plan will also protect you from people who think/worry that YOU are the one who got that poor horse in that condition, and turned you in. CYA.

She took them to the vet right away! 
 
I think most vets aren't always up on nutrition but they know what's good for what ails 'em!
 
I bet all the posters on this thread feed their horses differently and we probably all have healthy, good looking horses.  I know MY horses are darned good looking, that's for SURE! []
 

When I took these guys to the vet I tried talking about nutrition. He honestly wasn't that helpful. Feed him senior feed and hay..... well I wanted more. Like one feed versus another type deal but he didn't seem to know to much about getting weight on. So decided to do my own research. Seems to me that Ranger at least is starting to put weight on. Topline starting to fill out, filling out overall. So I am excited about that. I still don't see a difference in Aztec yet but hopefully soon!

Thanks so much for all the advice. Well right now not riding them ect. I wouldn't mind adding some alfalfa just have had a few horses get hot when put on it so was hesitant.
I have about half a bale of alfalfa right now from feeding it to a different horse. So I could start that right away along with their other feed. Any thoughts on this? 

I am attaching a few pictures of Ranger will get a few of Aztec soon!

For some reason last message wouldn't let me attach both pictures! Weird!

Here are a few of Aztec out of the two definitely worse off. I really am wanting to start to see improvement.