condition score...

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amandaco2

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my horse has dropped quite a bit of weight this winter with the awful wet weather.
i was wondering what others think of his current weight..? if he was yours would you increase his feed?
on the tape he is 502kg, he is 17.2hh. in the summer he was 590 ish on the tape and looked really good.
you can see his ribs most of the time, the outline.
i am adding some more calories into his feed in the form of ers pellets which will come next week.
atm hes on fast fibre, linseed meal and a powder suppliment for mineral and vits. the linseed was increased 3 weeks ago when his weight dropped a bit. he gets about 4 slices of hay per day when he comes in (which is as much as he will eat, theres always some left) i give them some in the field but he is a slow eater so the others hoover it up twice the rate!! and they are well covered- he wont stay in a section or in the yard on his own)

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I will be keeping a loom at the reies you get. Looks about the same as my mare does. She came to us a bit thin in September so not a good time for getting weight on. I have recently added 1kg soaked grass nuts per day and split feeds into 3 instead of 2. I too wonder if to add feed more but with grass starting to grow think maybe I should hold off for a while.
 
Will get some side on.
He's dropped condition off his neck too.
He is up to date with wormers and teeth, his coat is good and he has energy so I'm not worried about him in that sense.
Just match can be bad with snow etc sometimes so is rather not battle to get weight on.
He's never one to put weight on easily so I'm not worried about spring grass and getting fat.
 
How much dried quantity fast fibre is he getting? He would need an awful lot to actually put weight on with that feed. Is there a reason you can't feed a more conditioning type of feed?
 
He is intolerant of molasses and most cereals.
The only conditioning thing I can find without those in is ers pellets, hence I am planning to add them in :)
The conditioning feed he is on atm is the linseed and veg oil.
He's only got a small appetite so he just wouldn't manage big feeds (plus I prefer small ones due to their stomach size)
He's kept at home so I plan I give him the ers pellet feeds 3x day to keep them low volume.
 
Have you looked at Equijewel? It is brilliant for putting weight on and as its pellets you only have to add mug full into each feed, so would help with his small appetite. It has no molasses or cereals

Also look up Winergy Condition, no molasses or cereals and is great for putting weight on.
 
He does look underweight to me, And has lost quite a bit going by your weigh tape, how old is he? Is he having trouble eating hay if so could be his teeth, 4 sections is not much for a horse that size my 16.3 will eat double that.
 
The problem with the hay is the other fat Hoover heads eat really fast. I normally give him a pile and the others just a bit (he is boss so they won't take it if he's still eating it)
He's always eaten slowly, he gets distracted lookin at things so the way he eats hasn't really changed...
His teeth were done in November and due in July now....
Last year I had a lot more grass and less mud so I think this is the reason. He's bright and normal in himself, his coat and skin are really healthy/shiny.
 
amandaco2 said:
The problem with the hay is the other fat Hoover heads eat really fast. I normally give him a pile and the others just a bit (he is boss so they won't take it if he's still eating it)
He's always eaten slowly, he gets distracted lookin at things so the way he eats hasn't really changed...
His teeth were done in November and due in July now....
Last year I had a lot more grass and less mud so I think this is the reason. He's bright and normal in himself, his coat and skin are really healthy/shiny.
Click to expand...

If you have little grass and you think this is why he's dropped off then why not add something like readi grass to his feed? I've been giving my poor doer tb this in her feeds (3x a day) and I often give her a bucket while she's being groomed or tacked up etc.. She's holding her weight really well on it.
 
Can you not bring him in for a while and give him extra hay that way you know what his eating, you could try uping the fast fibre as it can be fed as a hay replacer if he will eat this, my friends horse is in his twentys and she has his teeth done every 3 months or he is unable to chew hay, still didnt say how old he was? Soaking the hay can also make it easier to eat as they get older.
 
I've got a spreadsheet I created myself showing the a breakdown of all the conditioning feeds on the market. If you PM me your email address i'll send it to you.

I also have a 17.2hh 7yr old WB gelding that's not the best doer. He also isn't keen on large soaked feeds which ruled out alot of things. He can't tolerate barley either (gets filled back legs) so he sounds alot like your lad.

When I spoke to feed reps they all said the same thing... You can only feed 2kg (dry weight) per meal. You need to use the 2kg wisely and feed the most calorific feed you can.

I'd drop the Fast Fibre as the calorie content is low at only 8MJ/KG. There are plenty other options with much higher calorie contents that are still safe to feed.
 
I was just recommended to try Allen & Page Veteran Vitality for my 18year old skinny mare it is high in calories but low in sugar and starch. Have been using Baileys Outshine which has been helping this winter too, although it is quite pricey so been looking for alternatives and think I may try the Veteran Vitality one :)

I also got some good advice each time I have asked around feed nutritionists.
 
Thanks guys :) he doesn't like to be in on his own so I doubt he'd settle/ consume more calories than he uses.....
I've given him a bigger pile of hay in the field and when he comes in to try to up his intake.
I use the fast fibre to give him the linseed, oil and vitamin/minerals so I can drop that for the ers pellets to keep the volume low....
:)
 
Personally I would have him in more so you can give him ad lib hay and/or haylage as well as another feed or two throughout the day so he has 3/4 feeds per day. So prehaps only turn him out for 6 hours per day, and if he doesn't like being in on his own put a friend next to him.
 
Do you not have a better full body pic?

He looks ok. Bit scrawny and lean but I wouldn't worry about it too much. The grass will start growing fairly soon.

Why not swap the fast fiber to copra meal? Also try adding alfalfa and oil. And unmollassed sugarbeet (which apparently helps them digest hay better.
 
He can't tolerate alfalfa very well either due to skin reactions.
I've added some more pics at the bottom on page one that shows how visible his ribs are.
The ers pellets are something I can get locally, so I am going to try them.
I think he would struggle to finish copra due to the volume and may not eat it as it has a strong flavor.....
 
The newer pictures aren't much use either. Condition score is taken over the whole body. It needs to be a decent side on pic too.

ERS pellets would be a good start. Also try speedibeet. If he's in for any length of time the dried grass (Just Grass, Graze On etc) is higher calorie than hay and can be fed adlib in bucket. Id replace the Fast Fibre with something else as it's a low calorie feed designed for fat ponies.
 
As above, really. He's on the lighter side, but at 17.2, and just coming out of winter, I think he's looking quite good.

You say he's normal and bright in himself, and it doesn't seem like the weight has suddenly dropped off, so I don't see anything to be concerned about.
 
He's only getting fast fibre to give him the linseed and suppliment with veg oil. I plan to either swap entirely or partly with ers pellets.
Will try to get a better pic
He's lost some condition on his neck too. Will put pics up from October for comparison.
He won't eat large volumes of sugar beet either, just picks through it to eat the better bits :p
I think give the ers pellets a go as he is only on linseed and veg oil (he will only eat feed with a slosh of that in too!) for calories.....
I think the ers plus bigger pile of hay should do it esp if we are lucky and get a warm dry march/April...?don't want to over load him too much.....
*off to hunt for those pics*
 
I found my lad struggled to finish a stubbs scoop of Copra as it soaks to such a large amount. It gives an incredible shine to th coat and defo helps with weight but I just didn't hv th time to stand waiting for th hour it was taking him to finish it. He gets a cupful soaked now with his cubes and oil just to finish th bag. He's enjoying that amount.
 
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