Cob dropping weight... how best to combat?

fuze

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First things first, he's wormed, teeth done, no medical problems. Hairy cob, 6yo. He's a very active boy who razzes round a lot in the field, and isn't as food oriented as you'd expect a cob to be. He often sweats up, and he's usually making a pain of himself playing with the other horses, shouting to ones going past, tarting at the mares, etc.

How would you best slow down the weight loss? He had a little bit of podge to lose, which has now gone. He's not underweight, he's probably just right but I'm aware of him dropping down the other side... he's looking lean, as far as cobs go, and the girth holes are still sneaking up. Grazing is average, he has access to hay in the field. He's on a small feed per day, fibre only, no hard feed.

So... upping of food? Clip the fluff off and rug? Perhaps slow down the sweating? I'm not sure how to play this, I've always dealt with fatty cobs :D He's 14hh and taping around the 370(ish?)kg mark.

Thanks guys!
 

be positive

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If he sweats a lot he will probably be losing most condition this way so I would do a minimal clip, possibly just a bib, irish or trace so you can keep rugging to a minimum or even leave unrugged if he is still likely to rush about. if taking a small amount off is not enough you can take more but if you take it all off then he gets cold it may prove difficult to get him eating enough to keep warm, piling on rugs may not be the answer if he continues to rush around it can be unhealthy if he still gets hot at times.
 

holeymoley

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I'd up the fibre slightly and see how that goes. You could maybe add a small token of speedi beet or fast fibre to his feed just over the winter. I would say up the hay but if he only gets it in the field and isn't too interested then I don't think that would help.
 

ester

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was the pic you posted the other day recentish? I don't remember thinking he looked particularly lean and it is not always a bad thing for them to loose a bit over the winter..
 

fuze

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Just typed out a long reply and lost it :( Ergh.

If he sweats a lot he will probably be losing most condition this way so I would do a minimal clip, possibly just a bib, irish or trace so you can keep rugging to a minimum or even leave unrugged if he is still likely to rush about. if taking a small amount off is not enough you can take more but if you take it all off then he gets cold it may prove difficult to get him eating enough to keep warm, piling on rugs may not be the answer if he continues to rush around it can be unhealthy if he still gets hot at times.

He's chaser clipped at the moment (low) and left naked due to sweatiness. It was done in October, and really needs re-doing, I'm just torn as to whether to take more off? I can't decide whether it will help or hinder.

I'd up the fibre slightly and see how that goes. You could maybe add a small token of speedi beet or fast fibre to his feed just over the winter. I would say up the hay but if he only gets it in the field and isn't too interested then I don't think that would help.

I did start him on fast fibre a couple of weeks ago on recommendation of another livery. He seems to be a bit hit & miss on whether he'll actually eat bucket feed, though. Some days he'll lick the bowl clean, other days if he's slightly distracted by anything, he'll barely touch it. I have a feeling he's the same in regards to grazing / hay - everything else is more interesting.

is he gelded?

Heh. Funny you should say that. He is, but he's very riggy. The vet us being booked this month to check him out, as I'm not entirely convinced his behaviour is gelding-like.

was the pic you posted the other day recentish? I don't remember thinking he looked particularly lean and it is not always a bad thing for them to loose a bit over the winter..

:) They were taken around a month or so ago, his girth has gone up a couple of holes since then. If I can work out how to get pics on here via my phone, I will do :p as I say, he's not underweight, but I don't want much more off him at this time of year.
 

fuze

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If this works, this was taken last night. When you compare to the pics on the other thread, he is looking a fair bit lighter.
02416432-37d1-4f14-af59-908cf39fe401_zpsd7c906bc.jpg
 

Pearlsasinger

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Swap the fastfibre for grassnuts and feed them soaked with dried grass chaff. Most horses really like the taste and will eat a small feed up. Fast fibre isn't a feed for weightgain, or even maintenance in a horse causing concern, as it contains straw chaff. But you should also remember that it is better for horses to go into Spring under, rather than over, weight.
 

JillA

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Just turning things on their head - with a clip he could be feeling the cold and burning calories to keep warm? Does he roll if he can find any mud? Some horses roll to add a layer to keep the air inside their coats - a rain sheet could do that for him. You know the saying "if you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got".
Maybe add micronized linseed and/or vegetable oil for more calories but TBH bucket feeds are really only the icing on the cake. Make sure the cake (i.e. forage) is good quality and he has access to plenty.
Worth blood testing for hormones too if he gives the impression of being riggy.
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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I think he looks good and from how you describe his behaviour he may be a rig, often they carry less weight are less settled/interested in food
Lets hope he is not a rig [blood test]
Weight loss is OK is after end Jan, imho, but if he is losing condition now and is expected to do more than an occasional light hack, it needs to be controlled : I always feed linseed [charnwood milling]for coat, skin, hooves, joints and condition, also provides fibre and vitamins. seems to me all horses benefit from balanced minerals. I don't go with the "handful of chaff" approach unless the horses are just browsing in a large field with herbs and stuff.
I'd tend to try a rig supplement to see if it helps.
Amigo do a good lite rug, lite weight but stays in place, depends on your outlook.
 
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windand rain

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I would add a small amount of linseed to his diet Funnily enough the sweating may well be a vitamin deficiency. So if he is hard to give a feed to he needs a small feed with lots of calories leave his fibre to the hay and grass and give him a tiny feed of soaked grass nuts to carry the rest and add linseed and a good balancer like topspec or the forage version someone makes.
Nearly lost my boy when I was in my late teens due to lack of sunlight to his skin he wore a rug and we had very short days I was ignorant of the need to supplement his diet with vitamins and he nearly died as a result. That was in the good old days of oats and bran as feed so no supplemented compound feeds were available
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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Nearly lost my boy when I was in my late teens due to lack of sunlight to his skin he wore a rug and we had very short days I was ignorant of the need to supplement his diet with vitamins and he nearly died as a result. That was in the good old days of oats and bran as feed so no supplemented compound feeds were available
Gosh oats and bran, yes those were the days .... I was considered pretty innovative feeding a tiny scoop of Equivite in winter, though a linseed and bran mash after hunting with a handful of salt was normal.
 

fuze

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Thanks for replies :)

My phone is acting up, so just gonna pick on main points here. I know his weight looks okay at the moment, as stated, he's not underweight. My concern lies with the rate he's losing, and that we have a fair few months left of winter before spring hits. He's living out 24/7 in all weather.

He's not generally a cold pony, and he doesn't make a habit of rolling - its rare he comes in plastered. I'm 50/50 re: rigginess, he does act like a stallion so I want to get him checked out regardless. He does have linseed oil in with his feed now, and I'll look into vit supplements. We have rugs to hand ready to use.
 

windand rain

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Personally I would stop the linseed oil and use micronised linseed about a mug full so it lasts a long time and a mug of balancer it will be small enough for him to eat and give him just about everything he needs bar forage which he will get from grass and hay. As he is so stressy I would find out when you have his bloods done if he is magnesium deficient too
 

fuze

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Personally I would stop the linseed oil and use micronised linseed about a mug full so it lasts a long time and a mug of balancer it will be small enough for him to eat and give him just about everything he needs bar forage which he will get from grass and hay. As he is so stressy I would find out when you have his bloods done if he is magnesium deficient too

That might be a good idea. I've never used micronised linseed... I've always struggled to get the wait off in the past!

He's not overly stressy, he just shows typical rig symptoms. It's when he sees strange horses or mares going past that he kicks off, other times he is pretty chilled out and easy.

In regards to rugs, they're there ready. Might trace clip him and start rugging, see how we go.
 

AmyMay

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He'll be cold clipped without a rug on. So rug him.

How does he access his hay (ie how is it fed?)? And is he stabled overnight?
 

ester

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Thanks for the pic yes he has dropped a bit, I would second how much forage is he getting? I also used micronised linseed (very cost efficient way of adding some 'safe' calories.). Just be careful not too throw too much at him all at once if he is normally a good doer.
 

fuze

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He'll be cold clipped without a rug on. So rug him.

How does he access his hay (ie how is it fed?)? And is he stabled overnight?

He's got a low chaser, which is half grown out - we came to the conclusion that he was probably better off being a little cold, than dripping under a rug. He does race around a lot, hence wondering taking the lot off and rugging accordingly?

He has a haynet when he comes in, and they have a large round bale in the field. He's out 24/7.

Thanks for the pic yes he has dropped a bit, I would second how much forage is he getting? I also used micronised linseed (very cost efficient way of adding some 'safe' calories.). Just be careful not too throw too much at him all at once if he is normally a good doer.

See above :) Grass is possibly starting to get a little low now (large herd out 24/7), but there is hay available and he's not coming in hungry. I'll look into the linseed... do feed stores usually stock it?

Thanks!
 

Tobiano

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If you think the rugging might be the problem have you thought of a Coolheat rug? they are supposed to help the horse regulate its own temperature better than a normal rug, as they are more or less a no-fill rug with rubber strips on the inside which hold the fabric off the horse's skin and allow it to raise its hair to keep itself warm if it needs to, or not if it doesn't. I have one for my horses, although they are fatties so I dont know how well it would work on your cob - who I agree does look as though he wouldnt want to lose too much condition over winter, from his photo. Good luck.
 

fuze

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Thanks ester :)

The coolheat rugs sound interesting... I'm guessing they're a pretty penny to buy? lol. Do you find they work well?

We've found that he's quite a fan of fibre blocks / lucie bricks, he's quite happy to munch through them, so I've been out and bought some. Spoilt.
 
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