Anyone have a horse they simply cannot keep weight on?

[kit279]

I have one such and while he is keeping his weight and doing well, he just doesn't seem to pick up like most of them. It means being very careful with him, not to working him too hard as the weight drops off him. He is on some omeprazole for possible ulcers (vet suggestion) and is being fed like a prize goose but doesn't seem to be putting on weight.

Can anyone suggest something to help with this? He is interested in food, albeit a slow eater, and has as much haylage as he can eat. Overfacing him with haylage seems to put him off a bit so the head girl very nicely trickle feeds him small slices throughout the day.

Just wondering how anyone with a comp horse keeps the weight on through the season? It's a concern that he will lose condition a bit if we're not careful.

 

[LEC]

February I always think is a month where they drop off very slightly. The hunt masters wife told me it costs her £200 a week to feed 5 horses at the moment as all hunt twice a week.

I love Badminton Horse Feeds Triple Top Up because its a powder and can be so easily mixed into the feed rather than have to be chewed but adds the additional calories they need. I have upped my horse to 3 scoops in his feed as he has dropped back very slightly. It also helped a horse who just would not put on weight but was very spooky so you had to be careful about what you gave him.

I think I would worry more in May and they are good grass and still not putting on weight.

 

[mrussell]

Kit, is he a stressy sort ? Wefeed Chester Simple Systems Lucienuts (soaked) and add Brewers Yeast and Spiller HDF Mix. 3 meals a day. The TB's really seem to shine on it. The yeast settles their tums nicely.

You could also ask Winergy if they would let you do their trial - they send you a free months feed as long as you keep a photographic diary. Doesnt cost anything

 

[Jane_Lou]

I am sure you have explored this and apologies if you have but - have you considered old worm damage/and or a heavy redworm/tapeworm burden? I had one once that was just not thriving, like your boy he was an ex racehorse who had been with top trainers and was only sold because he did a leg, so I never really considered this. In the end we did bloods which showed despite my current worming regime he did in fact have tapeworm and his other results suggested long term worm damage. We treated him with panacur for 5 days (this was the days before Guard or equest I hasten to add!) and them wormed him for tapeworm twice, 4 weeks apart and within weeks he started to pick up. I fed him just on chaff, sugar beet, boiled barley and linseed (as I said this was years ago but I am old school anyway I must admit!) and the weight and general condition piled on to him. I had to be really careful about his worming going forward and interestingly when I sold him to a friend she was not as careful and the condition dropped off him again until she got her programme sorted out properly.

 

[alwaysbroke]

OH's boy used to look dreadful every Feb, no matter what he was fed over winter, doesn't help that if he thinks his feed is too big he wont eat anything. Started adding Fenugreek from Natural Horse Supplies two winters ago, the difference is amazing at 15 he has never looked so good at this time of year. Don't know if Fenugreek can be fed to a horse if ulcers are suspected, but it might be worth contacting NHS they have always been helpful when I have asked for advice.
Plus side for us is that its cheap, far less hard feed is being used, but horse smells like the local Indian takeaway!

 

[Booboos]

F has been thin since the summer. No ulcers, blood tests (twice) fine, worm count clear, can't quite find out what it is but he is bright and energetic and doesn't appear ill other than the weight loss. Pink powder seems to help a lot.

 

[racingdemon]

i used to have a P2Per that would drop weight like anything, & Jan/Feb was when we would be racing him, so it was a constant juggle to feed him enough to keep the weight on, but not so much he got chubby, and he would drop weight after each race, & he wind sucked for england, we fed him spillers power cubes, ad lib haylage, Excel Digest & Xlint (a flax jelly), generally this worked well, as we could increase the Xlint for the week post racing to help replace the weight he lost, but he stayed sane & he'd gallop all day

 

[bmw]

Simple system feeds seem to do the trick with horses finding it hard to put weight on. I know quite a few people on my yard who in the past have struggled to keep weight on their horses but have seen an improvement this year since changing feeds. www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk I don't personally use this feed as my horse is doing really well on the feed he is already on but if he ever went downhill this would be the first thing i put him on. Hope this helps

 

[TarrSteps]

I would investigate the worm damage angle - worth a shot and there's no sense pouring expensive grub into him if he's not getting the benefit. And the fenugreek is interesting - there was a study done not long ago on which flavours/additives horses prefer and it won hands down so maybe it's more than just the taste.

Also, is there anything that could be stressing him out? Just like people, some horses don't act out, they just keep it all in and do themselves damage.

If he's otherwise healthy, I've had good success with a low starch/forage based diet with rice bran added as a supplement. (Equijewel has Vit E added, which saves worrying on that front.) I find if I add it slowly until the horse is the desired weight, I can then dial it back to a fairly small amount so it's reasonably cost effective. Also, some horses eat soaked nuts/forage more readily so that's always worth a shot with one that isn't cleaning up or seeming to get the most out of its food.

 

[Honkey : )]

Full Fat soya, puts weight/topline on and once you get the inital gain on lower the aount you give and it keeps them looking great! It doesnt make them fizzy or hot and they all seem to like it- even the fussy ones!

 

[Mike007]

If you have concerns about ulcers change to good hay,not haylage, and plenty of it. Also cut the carbs and increase the oil content of his diet .Equijewel (saracen ) is great stuff , but also so is good old sainsburys corn oil.A high oil diet may well benefit him.

 

[kit279]

That's the thing - the horse won't eat hay, I have tried him with it to no avail.

 

[Wheels]

I used to have this problem with my tb although that was to do with stress while stabled. I turned him out 24/7 with ad lib forage and he did much better

 

[Mike007]

That's the thing - the horse won't eat hay, I have tried him with it to no avail.

Whateven the good stuff

 

[martlin]

That's the thing - the horse won't eat hay, I have tried him with it to no avail.

I think you own Grumpy's long lost twin brother...
I give ad lib hay, which he won't eat much of, so he gets 3kg of sugar beet a day, 2 kg of Just Grass, 4 mugs of outshine and his anti-acid supplements, and magnesium. I can now eventually say he looks decent.

 

[seabsicuit2]

Whateven the good stuff

I think hay is the key - have you tried lots of different hays from different farmers? Eventually you'll find some from one farmer that he will eat. Sometimes I have to change the hay 3 or 4 times to find some that a TB will eat- they are so fussy! But once they start eating it they will pile the weight on in a week.

 

[Firewell]

My mums horse drops off around feb. Forage is key, he gets fed a high fat diet but if he doesn't eat his hay/haylage he drops off real quick. Problem is he is very fussy and just picks at his hay/haylage so feel your pain! He does pick up a lot when the grass comes through though.

Also old worm damage can not always be spotted. My old mare was pts with repeated colic from worm damage sustained as a foal. She was racing bred in a very large well known stud who obviously didnt worm their youngstock (not uncommon on large studs unfortunatly). I knew something was wrong so had a worm count done (clear) ultra-sound and an MRI on her stomach and nothing unusual could be found. It was only when they opened her up that they could see what a mess it was inside with adhesions years old
However the vet did say that horses with this problem do poo a lot!! And my mare was filthy in her stable the whole 5 years I had her. So if your horse doesn't poo more than normal it's doubtful it's worm damage.

 

[TheMule]

My eventer used to be a nightmare to get through the winter- she's rubbish at eating hard food/ hay and will stop eating at the slightest hint of stress.

She now lives out on the best grass I can find in the area (on a cow farm) and I have not had to feed her a single pony nut for the past year and a half. She had haylage in the snow but thats it. She's almost porky and happy as larry but I've had to sacrifice nice facilities!!
Saves me a fortune

 

[Ella Bella]

Had the same problem, my mare turned out have EPSM. She ate all day(3x grain and hay) and was still so lean. I added fat (oil) to high fat/fiber pellets, beet pulp and free choice hay. The trick with her was to cut out starch/carbs and replace it with fat as the main energy source. She's in heavy training and I'm happy to say nice and round. Not fat (she'll never be chubby) but in really good flesh and she has a cooler head.