My horse loosing weight, how do I put it back on? ******UPDATE********

[nccatnip]

I agree with newchickowner- the hay and grasses in Florida are horrible as far as nutitional value. Also, just a thought, have you check both of them for sand? If they were polo ponies, they might have spent time in So Florida and have bellies full of sand. When I was there we had to bran mash at least once a week and added metamucil to every feeding.
Testing is easy, though not necessarily the most pleasant thing to do. Take a ziplock bag and wait for a fresh poop. Scoop a ball in the bag and add water. Seal and shake then hold it by on corner so you have one corner pointing down. If they have sand in the intestine, it will all settle in the bottom corner of the bag.
Just a thought..................

 

[seminolewind]

Have your vet check worm count and you can check sand content by taking a few manure balls and putting them in a jar of water to see how much sand is in it. You should rotate wormers, check the ingredients. Have their teeth done. The highest calorie count is in oil. You can work up to a half a cup per feeding, as long as they don't get diahrrea. Puts the weight on quick.
My old horse was having a problem with weight that turned out to be coarse hay, try soft hay. Alfalfa cubes are good as they are easier to chew and digest. Oil supplies 100 calories a tablespoon, compair that to a weight gaining product. You will be surprised. Karen

 

[bluerose]

Oil is pretty much the cheapest way to add fat. AVOID corn oil- too processed. We try to avoid soybean as well for the same reason as well as it's most likely genetically modified, so we feed canola (get it in 1.5gal jugs which works fine for us).

AVOID sweet feed!!!!! YES it can put weight on them but horses are NOT MEANT to digest sugar like that. It can trash their feet as well (weakens the lamina). I would also avoid alfalfa (cubes are usually OK) as any major portion of their diet for the same reason (it also upsets the Cahos balance).

Your best bet for adding weight IMHO is HAY. Free choice. Hay cubes, soaked unmollased beet pulp, or something of the like a few times a day with oil, pre/probios, what have you. We feed lots and lots of bermuda, and for 'grain' they get timothy pellets and Ultium.

How are their feet? If their feet hurt, they're not going to be standing comfortably, and that can really burn up calories fast.

 

[Kanchii]

Be sure that they are wormed, and that their teeth are ok and dont need to be floated.

I had a tb mare that was hard to put weight on. HERES WHAT SHE GOT DAILY!

at least 1.5 scoops of those big scoopers (no idea how much they actually hold) of EQUINE SENIOR
1 scoop of rice bran
1 cups of corn oil

that usually helps stick some fat to thoroughbred's ribs.

 

[helmstead]

I appologize as I don't have time to read all these posts...but I DO have some weight on this topic (pun intended) as I have nearly 20 years experience with OTTBs and aged horses.

A) horses cannot process that much feed in one sitting. Elderly horses should receive NO FEWER than 2 feedings a day.

B) your horses aren't getting nearly enough forage. In our area (and the SE in general) you have to allow approx. 5 acres per horse at the current drought level. Notably, the grass your horses are likely on is burmuda, which is not very healthful. Hay should be available free choice 24/7 for hard keepers. This comes to about one ENTIRE square bale PER DAY PER HORSE.

C) elderly horses need their teeth floated every 6 months

D) check out my neighbor Elizabeth's website for deworming and feeding advice...I can't say it better: http://www.bitsandbytesfarm.com/training_notes/trainingnotes2007/training082707.htm

Please feel free to email me. Thoroughbreds are my passion...I've rehabed a bunch of them. I just don't have a lot of time to be online this evening!

 

[EggCentric]

I'm going to throw in my two cents here. All the advice I have read on here is great. We have a 36 year old arabian mare and a 46 year old qh/twh/morgan cross and they get 4 meals a day morning, noon and evening and I get up at 3 am to go out and feed them also. Here is what they get:

1. Two scoops of Blue Seal Senior
2. 2 4 ounce cups of rice bran
3. 1/4 cup of corn oil
4. A handful of chopped hay (Denji)
They have very few teeth so they cannot eat hay, they chew it and spit it out.
5. I then add water to the mix and make soup out of it.

They have been steadily putting on weight.

We did have to "Power Pack" them both. We gave them an entire tube of "Safeguard" wormer for 5 days straight. (They are smaller horses, 14 hands and about 600 lbs) To power pack your horse, you weight tape them, and double what the normal dosage would be. This is safe to do with either "Panacure" or "Safeguard" wormer only. Check with your vet to see if this may help your horses. Good luck with them! And thanks for taking them in!

 

[bluerose]

14h and 600lbs???


are they emaciated? (half-kidding)

I have two 14.1hers and they are around 900-1000lbs- a barnful of the same height were always in that weight range too..

 

[s6bee]

14 H and 600 lbs shouldn't be too off it's an Arabian. I have a 15H Arab/QH cross and he's 850lb and a little fat!
However on the note of weight loss, the one thing I didn't read is to make sure your one "healthy" horse isn't running the other one off of the feed or pasture. Sometimes another horse won't let the other get to the hay or grain and constantly be chasing them off. So make sure they cohabiting nicely.

Good luck

 

[EggCentric]

Quote:
One is 36 years old (arabian) the other is 46
years old. Both are just about toothless. Are your horses in that age range? The arabian arrived here skinny, the 46 year old's health has started to decline and I'm aware that I am battling the inevitable. I feed them as posted to help them gain weight, not maintain it. I work for a horse rescue, these are rescued horses that I take care of.

 

[helmstead]

Quote:
Are yours obese? Remember - obesity is just as harmful if not more harmful than being lean. Also remember - here is someone asking for help not asking to be slammed.

For light breeds (like Arabs, TBs) 600 lbs at about 14 hands is not far off. The average 16.2 hand TB weighs about 1100 lbs. A FAT Welsh Sect. A comes in at about 550 lbs at 13 hands. Remember, too, that TBs are not comparable to stock breeds in any form or fashion. Our 15 year old Arab/Paso gelding, who is 14.1 hands, comes in around 800 lbs with a few more fat deposits than I'd prefer - but his Paso breeding added a bunch of bulk at the quarter and shoulder area. He's much rounder than a typical Arab or TB would be.