26 YO but in excellent condition with energy but can not put on weight - why?!?!?

056775

056775

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Hello as title really

Very naturally fizzy pony, being worked 5 times a week religiously

Teeth check - slightly worn at front but fine
Feed twice a day, 16 +, Alfalfa High Oil, Blue Chip Pro, Barley Rings and Linceed Oil

Wormed 2 weeks ago

In great shape, happy, bright eyes, competing, loads of energy, jumping, amazing shiny coat, not stiff, rugged - in at night on ad-lib haylege (through has spent a week or so out but now back in at nights)

However - he is really quite skinny - having vet out Wednesday but any thoughts?

Has only been back in work since Dec after 6 years off and has been a little fatty throughout those years. I just cant believe bringing him back into work (and I'm aware grass has had no content but has been on haylege all winter) has made him drop weight so bad...

Think we are going to need blood tests etc as he is just so WELL in him self. Or... am I being pedantic and hes just showing a little rib and little age?

Going to have vet any way but what do you think?!
 
How often are his teeth checked? My oldest OAP's are done every four months now due to tooth loss and one got a thorn stuck in her gum which got infected between vibist s and dropped weight really quickly.
 
would be worth doing a worm egg count, there is increasing resistance around so even though you have wormed there might still be an issue. Only costs around £9 and results back quickly.
 
Thanks Both

Teeth checked in Dec - and dentist said to wait 10 months as there's was nothing to really do from 6 months earlier and looking good

Hes also eating hay and his food OK and appears to be grazing in the field in the day

Our yard has organised egg count so thanks for mentioning that
 
Was he wormed for encysted small redworms in the winter? I had a new horse in December who lost a lot of weight in Feb. We treated him with Pramox (tape/ESRW don't show on a worm count) and found hundreds of them being passed in the days which followed. He's put the weight back on since but it was pretty scary at the time, knowing it was worms that caused it.
 
What's his breeding? You say naturally fizzy - any arab blood in there? They are prone to going rather lean as they age. My friend had a part bred, he was really fit and well, full of muscle but his croup and buttocks were like the Matterhorn in shape.
 
depends how skinny you are talking, my friend has a couple of older horses, who despite plenty of feed over the winter, just don't look as well as they used to. not as thin as rakes but not the same coverage any more, however hard she tries! I think this does just tend to happen with age, obviously worth looking into a hidden problem, but you may find nothing.
 
Had a similar problem with my 13h 30 year old companion pony. She was being fed more than my 16.3h boy but was looking ribby. I had her tested for Cushings which has proved positive. I now have her on .5mg a day of Prascend and can already see the difference and she has only been on it 3 weeks. Will now reassess her feeds and start to decrease. Good luck
 
I used to feed my horse on D&H 16+ mix with alpha oil etc and found he wasn't really maintaining weight, I swapped this to D&H Build Up Mix which is slow energy release and high calorie for weight gain.

After a few months of feeding it, he began putting on weight and now looks fab :)
 
They sometimes are just unable to absorb nutrition from food as efficiently as they age; I'd try a good probiotic to maximise what he is getting as well as doing the usual checks
 
This is sooo useful thanks

Will get some Pramox and worm him Monday as hes competing this weekend and don't want to upset his belly.

Yes - he is arab and by skinny - you cant really seen ribs but can feel them very easily.

His hips are not covered and top of him bum looks a bit boney

He looks lots better in mornings then after being out all day and also looks worse and tucked after being ridden

Was going to book physio for end of the month - hadnt thought pain could cause it

Again thanks for all comments...

Was worried some one was going to say their perfectly healthy horse went skinny and it had awful complications the nest week - have owned him 23 years!!
 
Had same with my guy come Dec 12. Since then hes had 3 x bloods, wromed religiously, diet change, physio, saddle checked and hes just starting to look decent now. He is also having his teeth done end of the month.

His diet change has done him the world of good - he is on pure condition which i rate highly :)
 
ktj1891 said:
Had same with my guy come Dec 12. Since then hes had 3 x bloods, wromed religiously, diet change, physio, saddle checked and hes just starting to look decent now. He is also having his teeth done end of the month.

His diet change has done him the world of good - he is on pure condition which i rate highly :)
Click to expand...

Hummm - was there any thing of note with bloods and back/body /saddle checking?

What make is pure condition?

Cheers
 
It might be worth a try swapping to 16+ cubes instead of the mix?
I did with my slightly too skinny old boy and he looked better for it. The vet asked what i'd done differently and that was my only reply! Apparently the cubes are already half broken down so their body has to work less to get the goodness out of cubes.- Its harder for them to efficiently digest mixes.
Is it skinniness or just lack of muscle tone? If you cant see his ribs it might just be his old age body shape!
Lastly well done for having such a happy sounding well looked after veteran! :)
 
056775 said:
Hummm - was there any thing of note with bloods and back/body /saddle checking?

What make is pure condition?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Oh now your asking can't remember exactly what was wrong and technical terms, but his white cells werent completely right and enzymes in his liver were slightly high - but the general view was that his bloods weren't anything of concern.

He is under investigation with toe drag but obviously his condition was of concern too, physio hes not right through sacriolliac joint, but the general tightness etc of a horse in work, saddle needing a re-flock too.

But generally everything was okay, just needed the usual check up and some tweaks, I think due to the horrible winter and the fact he was in a very long time, made him drop weight.

Pure condition is by The Pure Feed company and so far its the only feed I have seen make a benificially different in his appearance, its a complete feed and its based on the high fibre low sugar/starch concept. Its not cheap but so far it has been worth it, I supplement it with some extra linseed just as an extra boost.
 
Hello

I thought I would just give an update as to the vets prognosis after so many of you kindly offered your advise

After original consultation the vet advised possible increase to the thickness of the walls of Bob's small intestine meaning that all the goodness he's being fed wasn't getting through or that his liver wasn't functioning as it should.
He has in the past grazed on land shared with sheep and cattle and this in it self lends to certain possible problems

The following day he was fasted for 8 hours and blood sample taken. He then had a large dose of glucose and two hours later bloods retaken

If every thing was functioning the reading should have easily doubled

It didn't

Only increased about 70% and protein levels in first set of bloods were up

Its been advised to change his whole diet to D & H as they specialise in low protein food and have to give him a daily dose of Vitalise, Milk Thistle and flaked maze.

We are doing a cushings test Wednesday to rule this out

Starting a low dose of steroids daily

Double dose of Fasinex to treat Liver Fluke (8 weeks apart)

Dose of Equest Pramox (in case red/tape worm present) (is already on a worming program)

Retesting in 8 weeks time

Other changes for the low protien diet include no fresh "green" or dewy grass and has to be fed old clean hay not haylege (which he will hate)

So big changes to routine!!!

Thanks again for all posts
 
Yes, work certainly can cause them to lose lots of weight. A horse here that was on a diet and not losing an ounce, lost 50 kg in just one week of me riding him every day for 30 - 40 minutes in the school. Work speeds the metabolism. I would probably drop some of the sessions until he was less skinny then slowly build up.
 
056775 said:
Was worried some one was going to say their perfectly healthy horse went skinny and it had awful complications the nest week - have owned him 23 years!!
Click to expand...


yes mine did, also an arab. He died from laminitis caused by undiagnosed cushings.
Don't want to worry you but if you cushings test is borderline make sure you pursue it. Borderline is between 20 and 39.
 
pippixox said:
depends how skinny you are talking, my friend has a couple of older horses, who despite plenty of feed over the winter, just don't look as well as they used to. not as thin as rakes but not the same coverage any more, however hard she tries! I think this does just tend to happen with age, obviously worth looking into a hidden problem, but you may find nothing.
Click to expand...

It could just be the bad winter which seemed to go on forever, do you have decent grass? My horses all look skinny even now, just because we still had a bout of snow in April (!) so the grass is only just starting to grow now. One horse looks particularily bad so I'm worming him just in case and have started adding a high spec vit & min supplement to his usual conditioning feed. Still feeding lots of hay too.
 
paddy555 said:
yes mine did, also an arab. He died from laminitis caused by undiagnosed cushings.
Don't want to worry you but if you cushings test is borderline make sure you pursue it. Borderline is between 20 and 39.
Click to expand...


Happy to go with EVERY thing the vet suggests, so even if borerline will get him on the treatment

Thanks for the advise
 
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