My horses won't gain weight

[Sunpath]

I want to keep them at Moderately Thin, but since the new update some of them keep dropping in weight even though I am giving them 400% of the daily energy need and not training them at all. It's the guys in Stable 2 that are causing me the most headache. Any suggestions?

[kitkat12]

Hi I looked at your stable and you look like you're doing pretty good with keeping them at moderately thin. It's just the last four to five. (By the way I absolutely love all your horses!) I know when I'm working my horses everyday or every other day they drop to poor, I consider that okay if your working them. It might be just a bug, try playing around with the ones that are giving you trouble like: Muddy Champagne through Dance Idea. And remember that some horses just don't gain weight or gain wait slower than other horses. (PS if you ever want to get rid of a few of your horses you can send them to me, I might be making a Akal-Teke/Marwari cross soon)

[KayaineII]

I want to keep them at Moderately Thin, but since the new update some of them keep dropping in weight even though I am giving them 400% of the daily energy need and not training them at all. It's the guys in Stable 2 that are causing me the most headache. Any suggestions?

So I only looked at a couple, but I think your problem is that they can't eat enough because you max out their feed. If the feed amount turns red, then it may mean that your horse will need more than its max feed amount if you do any training or work or anything.

This horse for example:
http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/318931
It's max feed that it can eat in a day is 11kg. But to eat at 200% capacity it could need to eat up to 12.3kg. It can't do that though because it can only eat 11kg. I've found that for the little hoggie horses that are to keep weight on, a mix of 50% performance and 50% weight gain works best for most. Unfortunately, this only seems to work once they've stopped growing, so you may have to try some combos around 40/60 or 30/70 until you find a combo that adds up to 100% energy but doesn't max out what your horse can eat. So check to see if the numbers are in red and if they are, try a different combo.

Hope this helps!

[Xant’hippe]

THANK YOU!!! The "Feeding ?" article, of course, doesn't explain this simple, essential point -- that they can only eat ## kg. -- at all .

My poor little Shetlands were starving, for the same reasons as Sunpath's. (After all, the food indicators show you how much energy, protein, sugar, and fiber is being delivered compared to the percentage the animal needs -- the indication of limit is lower down on the screen and ***does not affect how much food you can offer***. I think that is poor design.

Thanks. You've relieved my anxieties and helped me to not write a flaming complaint message.

Yes, I am being mild about this, for me. I tend to get really, really unhappy when my best efforts result in my horses suffering instead of thriving.

[larissar]

Yes we acknowledge there is a problem with feeding right now, we are working on this and a bug fix is priority.

[Kayaine]

Yes we acknowledge there is a problem with feeding right now, we are working on this and a bug fix is priority.

Thanks Larissa! We appreciate all your work for us!

[Scythian]

One thing that helped Xant’hippe was putting all the horses -- Shetland and light horse mares, Shetland stallions, and an assortment of foals and weanlings (light horses, Shetlands, and part Shetlands) -- into pastures and using the grass as a baseline. Easier to add some Performance Mix, if levels seem low. Still having some weight issues but now it's *reduction* rather than *they're starving!*.

Youngsters and light horses now being trained and having expected levels of fatigue, with reasonable overnight recovery. Still not daring it with Shetlands, however. Maybe later in the week.

Thanks and we're encouraged now.

[Sunpath]

Right now I am beyond puzzled because no matter what combinations and amounts I try I can not possibly keep the kg of food down to a level my horse can eat, while still making sure they get the amount of protein, fiber and sugar they need AND being at 100% energy gain. Is this a part of the bugs that are to be sorted, or is it actually supposed to be like this?

[Kayaine]

Right now I am beyond puzzled because no matter what combinations and amounts I try I can not possibly keep the kg of food down to a level my horse can eat, while still making sure they get the amount of protein, fiber and sugar they need AND being at 100% energy gain. Is this a part of the bugs that are to be sorted, or is it actually supposed to be like this?

I think it's still part of the bugs. I can't feed the fiber part to keep any weight on because they'll fill up on it. Right now,though, it doesn't hurt your horse if they don't get what the bars say they need.

[Xant’hippe]

The big trouble seems to occur in the barn. Apparently my old formula of 60-65% hay/alfalfa hay + 35-40% Performance Mix won't work for Shetlands anymore. Too much bulk. Seems like the temporary fix is either feed mixes + NO hay, or put them in the pasture. Add Performance Mix if the pasture isn't 100%.

The horse still is likely to gain weight if the total offered is over 105%; lose if less than 95%. That, however, if only if everything remains within the limit that the horse CAN eat, which is new and complicated.