Condition question - how do I get weight on her???

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icklemadame

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My little mare always goes very skinny during the hunting season - she is naturally fizzy and just, well, fizzes off any weight she has!! In the last week though she's dropped to the point she has absolutely no fat on her at all, and I didn't hunt her yesterday even though I'd taken the day off to do so as I just felt she was too skinny and looked more like a neglect case than a hunter!! She is the fussiest eater in the world - she just couldn't care less about food, the world is far too exciting to eat
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All I seem to be able to get down her is a conditioning mix (Saracan Show Improver or something) and she will eat most mixes, but refuses chaff, alfaalfa etc. and sugarbeet... she has haylage available 24/7 but she has to be really concentrating even to eat that sometimes!! Help!!!

A couple of photos from yesterday...

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And just because I like it...
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She just looks so scrawny
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she's all hips and ribs, with no neck!!
 
Some horses do run up very light when they are hunting fit. We have one on the yard that has absolutely nothing spare at all by the end of the season.

How many feeds a day do you give your mare? And do you feed electrolytes?
 
Have you tried Linseed (the old traditional way of cooking it etc) worked wonders for my old girl. Or midlings? I have never tried it but seen it improve so many horses
 
If you can get her to eat Baileys No. 1 then that works wonders. I give it to Baron, he has looked like your mare for over a year as nothing I fed put weight on him. Now everyone keeps complementing his condition. I also add barley as that is good for weight gain and a cup of soya oil a day.

He does get alfa oil and fibre beet aswell though. Could you try adding something to temp her a bit like apple juice? I find that the more fibre I can get down baron the better he gains and keep his weight.

And split your feeds into as many as possible. Baron gets 3 per day, but only 2 if hes turned out all day. Ideally I would like it to be more but I can only get the yard twice and then someone throws his lunch in for me.
 
If she gets turned out she tends to charge around the field and not eat a huge amount, and come back in hot, sweaty and even skinnier!!

No I haven't tried electrolytes - I seem to remember getting warned off them???? She gets 3 feeds a day, but she takes hours to finish them, she gets distracted and forgets about them... she has haylage all the time, but again although she kinda munches on it its not at any great speed or with any enthusiasm!!

Midlings?? Whats that?
 
As a matter of routine, all the hunters on my yard are fed electrolytes. They work hard and need the salts replacing. It could help your girl look a little less tucked up. You could also perhaps try feeding her boiled barley????

I actually think that she just looks like a fit horse - and wouldn't be too concerned if she were mine. However, she would look 100 times better if you pulled her mane nice and short, as it would give her neck some form.

It's good that she doesn't bolt her feed down, and the fact that she takes a long time to eat it means that it will get digested and used properly. Can you simply up the amount you give her in her three feeds??
 
Ditto AmyMay, think she looks really fit. Some people might think she looks scrawny but she just lacks fat, rather than actually being ribby. Have you tried adding oil to her feed?
 
I def. recommend electrolytes - my horse always gets them before and after hunting.

Have you tried Baileys Outshine? My horse went on that as he is very hard to put and keep weight on and it has done wonders, he has kept a healthy weight this winter (yes he is on alfabeet too) and his coat and skin are in very good condition.
 
Try her with soya oil from any supermarket. It'll cost you less than a pound for a litre. If she'll eat it you can build up to as much as a pint a day over time (but would need to add vit E and selinium if feeding in large amounts)
 
I agree with the other posters - she just looks fit rather than skinny. I have a similar horse (a tb) who is very fizzy and very fussy with eating. When we first had her she had to have a manger on the stable door as she just wanted to look out all the time - she settled to a corner manger eventually. If I up her food too much she won't eat any of it and I have to start again with a small amount and build it up. She has a conditioning mix and if I want more condition on her I add boiled barley, boiled linseed (or linseed flakes) and Blue Chip. She loves her forage and will often eat that in preference to her short feed. She loves to be out and even when she was at a racing yard they would turn her out each day so she didn't get to stressed.
 
Midlings is a bit old skool! It is a wheat derivative used to gain condition as it is almost pure fat. Feed it soaked, it should look like lumpy porridge (maybe warm to encourage her?), is addition to the horses normal feed and introduce it gradually as you normally would with a new feed. It doesn't always agree with all horses, can cause diarrhoea and occasionally colic but shouldn't be heating. Another option is to feed barley rings soaked but these are more heating.
Also maybe add some black treacle to encourage her to eat? Hope this helps
 
I don't think she looks thin, just hunting fit. The spring grass will soon be through which will quickly make a world of difference
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In the meantime, have you tried boiled barley? It's very palatable, especially when it's still a bit warm.
 
We have a big gelding who drops weight like that. I swear by Dodson and Horrell build up cubes (the cubes are apparently less heating than the mix) and barley rings - soaked or not, depending on what the horse prefers. Like a previous replyer (is that a word?) i also like apple juice to moisten the feed up and make it taste good.
 
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