exercise for an underweight horse.

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serena2005

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In regards to my previous post, I'm helping with an underweight horse.
But never had to deal with underweight before!
How much exercise to do? I'm currently exercising 2-3 times a week in hand either walking in sand school over a pole or 2 or going for a 20-25 min walk on the roads.

She has no neck or top line, ribs are showing and has little coverage all over.

She's fed alpha hi fi grass and cool mix large scoops and linseed oil, 2 haynets and hay on the floor. In at night and out during the day.
 
serena2005 said:
In regards to my previous post, I'm helping with an underweight horse.
But never had to deal with underweight before!
How much exercise to do? I'm currently exercising 2-3 times a week in hand either walking in sand school over a pole or 2 or going for a 20-25 min walk on the roads.

She has no neck or top line, ribs are showing and has little coverage all over.

She's fed alpha hi fi grass and cool mix large scoops and linseed oil, 2 haynets and hay on the floor. In at night and out during the day.
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Am intersted to watch this thread as my new girl is poor.. sorry I have help X
 
Ditto amymay & pearlsasinger. Plenty of turnout, with adequate rugs/ shelter & ad lib forage would be the only exercise I'd have it doing till a healthy weight. And the ad-lib forage would be 24/7, & decent haylage.
 
I have an underweight 16hh mare, cob. Had her 2 months now and for various reasons she hasn't been exercised (she's very green and will be going for re-schooling) she's turned out in the day with my other fatties so not on Ad lib hay in the day (though there is still some grass) they get morning hay (fatties get a tiny net!) and after I turn the others out she gets a morning feed (fatties are non the wiser!!) She then gets an evening feed and adlib hay overnight. I've been giving her ready grass, speedi beet, micronised linseed and a suppliment and introduced a bit of cool mix. All introduced slowly so she's only been on it fully for a month. So far she put on about 30 kgs on weigh tape (we'll be at the vets soon so can do a second weigh bridge check and be more accurate) she looks more filled out in general, still a little ribby and not much on her bum! I can really see the difference though. Obviously no top line etc at the minute! I was wondering about exercise as well, so far I'm happy to see the answers of none as I thought maybe she was missing out not gaining muscle. So it seems get up to a good weight first and then build on fitness and top line?
 
serena2005 said:
Can someone please educate me about ad-lib!!
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Ad-Lib means that there is always forage available to your horse 24/7 and they are never without any forage to eat.

Don't do what I did and ask the local farmer whether he supplied "ad-lib hay" as this was the type you had been recommended! ;)
 
Walking her out in hand will do her good, preparing legs for ridden road work, and also perk her up mentally if she is a bit miserable from being poor.

Keep plenty hay or haylage in front of her so she's got something to eat all the time. Spring is potentially just round the corner so she should start to fill up when/if it gets here.

Make sure she's warm but not overheating, i know, hard to find a happy medium but don't want her to sweat off weight.
 
Ad-lib just means that they get as much as they can eat. So ad-lib haylage would mean you always give her enough that there's a good handful left when you put in more, so she never runs out. By ad-lib forage in the field, I mean I'd make sure she always had haylage out in the field to eat too, not just when stabled.
 
Undertheweather: lol in that case yes she has access to hay at all times :) and the small amount of grass when she's out. Hay is occasionally put out when its been really bad.

Singing dawg: that's what I though. It's just a little mosey round the lanes, she's so bored.
And She all ways feels warm enough :)
 
I would make sure that she has good quality forage at all times and no more exercise than she gives herself in the field. If she is out with other horses then the chances of her getting bored are zero. I also wouldn't be tempted to try and put weight on her by feeding large amounts of anything other than forage, as often this is a waste of money and does the horse no good.
 
Having 'rescued' several very poor horses, believe me, they need all the time they can get before they are exercised at all so I would leave her in the field TBH. I would want her to be just over her ideal weight before I even thought about exercise as well. In the meantime make sure her teeth are OK and she's wormed regularly, give her ad lib forage and a decent feed at least twice a day, three if you can manage it. In the old days it would be micronised barley, sugarbeet and bran (which I probably would still use TBH!) but you could use Barley Rings with soaked grass nuts and a decent balancer like Top Spec or Blue Chip which will give her the building blocks to start her recovery. If you start working her too soon she'll lose the weight she's trying to put on.
 
Maesfen- thanks that's great info.
Iv fed blue chip once and it sent him barmy! In worried it will have this effect on her? she's highly spirited as it is. Out of the ones you mentioned which would be the least heating one?
 
Why is she looking poor? Is she a former neglect case or has she been unwell or just struggling to get through winter?

When mine was looking poor much of the problem was with stress, and continuing to work her gently helped manage her stress levels and keep her sane. I was careful not to work her too hard though, just gentle hacking and some steady schooling working mainly on halt/walk bending etc.

I have found that micronised linseed works really well for keeping weight on mine. I have also found that ad lib forage is normally much more than people expect. Weigh your forage and make sure you give enough so that she always has some left over. If she is fussy and messy you may need to top up several times a day to avoid waste. Mine has gone through as much as 25kg in 24 hours, she gets as much as she can eat but the weight of it is monitered. I have also found an improvement this winter with feeding a vit&min suppliment that contains Yea Saac.
 
how underweight is she?

wether to excersise on not depends on the answer to the above question, i am another one who does not give hard/bucket feed for eight gain. just hay and grass or haylage if thats whats avaliable
 
A mixture of things really, fields suffered with the heavy rain, plus its over grazed.
2 months box rest due to kick. (Muscle loss)
And someone not noticing soon enough that she was getting skinny.
That's interesting about vit/min supplement. Will look into this all so.
She's on linseed oil but what's the difference between that and mirconised linseed?
She's very clean and prefers haylage over her feed so I can't actually give her enough, unless I could get a whole roll of it in the stable lol.
 
Jouls1234- I am going to get a weight tape and measure, but as far as looks goes she has no top line a very skinny neck. U can feel every rib, can't really sell them but that just maybe because her coat is so thick and fluffy.
Her hips are sticking out and she doesn't have a nice round bum.
Her shoulders have no coverage and her breast bone is visible.
Iv been told she has recently been wormed and teeth are on the to do list.
 
Oh, am concerned reading the advice here. I know of a very underweight TB and he's still being ridden a couple of times a week. Ribs are visible and has lost lots of muscle on top line and rump. Owner has him on various conditioning and high cal foods bit has been a bit resistant to upping the number of feeds per day. She does not seem to realise that what was ok last year when the field was dry and lots of grass is Not ok this year when they've been living in mud. Friend who rides him, very gently which is all he can manage, has tried everything to get owner to listen to advice and feed more often but it's taken weeks to get her to take heed. I've looked at the body score charts and I'd put him at less than a 2 at his worst. Yhink hes picked up a bit recently. Please let the grass grow soon!
 
TrasaM-what Is your advice!? I'm not riding her, just walking in hand. And iv only been helping out with her for a week, so I'm sure its not done any damage.
Trying to get owners to feed more is slow progress, but progress none the less, her haylage has tripled at least, and her feed is slowly being increased, iv introduced linseed oil. And am currently weighing up the options of what else I should be feeding.
 
serena2005 said:
prefers haylage over her feed so I can't actually give her enough, unless I could get a whole roll of it in the stable lol.
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If that is what she'll eat then that is the best way to put weight on her. No point feeding her loads of expensive conditioning mixes and limiting her hay. It would be cheaper to give her a couple of extra nets. She shouldn't be standing without haylage for any time at all. Getting the quantity of haylage right is really important.

I believe that micronised linseed is better than the oil, so perhaps when you run out get some micronised instead. You can get it mail order from charnwood milling.

The suppliment I use is pro-hoof from progressive earth, it is a complete balanced suppliment so I don't bother with any other branded bagged feed I just add that to speedibeet and micronised linseed. It doesn't sound much but she's looking so much better than she was last year when she was on conditioning feeds with added oil. You could also look at Coolstance Copra as a good feed to put some weight on her, I had decided to try it this year if feeding the maximum 500g of micronised linseed wasn't enough.
 
I disagree about exercising. Looking into the circumstances in this particular case I think it would be best to exercise.
Firstly the walking in hand is good- especially if you can take her where she can pick at grass. No point in standing in a cold windy field or bored in the stable.
Secondly, I would even start gentle roadwork, if her injury permits, to help build muscle. i would keep hacks short to start with, 10 minutes, and all in walk. Building up the time first, before trotting etc.
I would not do any schooling, and definitely not cantering etc.
By doing more exercise you might also increase her appetite.
I don't see how doing no exercise is helpful when it comes to building top line, yes increase her calorie intake, but by doing gentle exercise you will also build muscle, not just put of 'flab'.
Fast work (cantering, jumping galloping) will strip off weight, but CORRECT FEEDING AND EXERCISE will help build a horse up.
 
Reading your posts I think you still dont fully appreciate what ad-lib actually means. It means at ne time is the hose without hay/haylage and if that means roling a bale into her stable then do that. The grazing is poor so you need to be putting a round in the field and replacing it regularly. Mine who are all out 24/7 get through 1 every 4 to 5 days.
 
It's really very simple why its not a good idea to exercise a horse who is underweight, as opposed to just lean. Exercise burns calories, & every calorie burned off through exercise is one that can't be used to gain weight. Once it is a healthy weight in terms of having a healthy level of fat, you can worry about building nice topline muscles to make it look better.
 
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