Help! Weight gain!

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helsam

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Help I need some advice with putting some weight on my horse!

Hes a warmblood x, hes 15.1 but i am struggling to put any weight on him. Hes being fed twice a day atm each feed consisting of half a stub scoop of calm and condion and a scoop of alfa a oil. He also gets brinnicombe think pink as a supplement.

His coat and skin is shiney, he does have a blanket clip but is well rugged. Ive checked him all over and cant find anything wrong with him. Only thing is he sometimes gets a little stressed and tucked up (not even once a week)

he lives out during the night and comes in during the day where he gets ad lib haylage (and he eats over a nets worth most days) At the moment he only gets hacked at the weekends. I cant understand why he is not gaining any weight. I am thinking of putting him on Blue Chip as this worked with a TB a used to have and he looked amazing on it.

I just cant understand why he wont gain weight, any help is gratefully received.

Thanks
 
Have you had a worm count?

Is it possible to feed haylage in the field when he is out, so that it is available 24/7? I always think ab lib haylage is the best way to keeping/getting weight up.
 
how big is the net in pounds? you have plenty scope to up the bucket food i think. good luck. dr green is just around the corner if we get some rain.
 
I havent had a worm count, but he is wormed up to date.

It is not possible to put haylage in the field as he is out with 10 others, however he is roaming about 15 acres and there is a small amount of grass as when i see him in the field they all seem to be grazing.

Thanks
 
I would check all the above and then I would add oil into his feeds, its brill for putting on weight and making them look lovely and healthy, and also sugarbeet. Is it possible to add a third feed in, in the middle of the day? That often works wonders.
 
I think it would be worth getting a worm egg count done as well as an Elisa blood test for tapeworm.

How big is the haynet you are giving him?

If you are very worried it would be a good idea to speak to your vet.
 
All of the above. mainly add oil, like soya oil, add sugar beet if hes not too fizzy and speedi beet if he is already fizzy. barley is also brilliant. A lady on my yard goes to a livestock shop and gets the pure barley that they feed cows. About a fiver a bag, last ages and really does the trick!!! Other than that id go for barley rings. Id feed adlib hay/haylage.

Im having the same issue with my mare, in the end we stuck her in a field thats HUGE and FULL of grass and that has worked magic!! Now shes back in with my boy and getting ad lib hay every day and two feeds.

Good luck :0
 
Calm and Condition doesn't do much, it will maintain the current weight but won't actually put it on.
Dodson and Horrell Build up cubes
Topspec cool conditon cubes (if you want to keep him calm)
Topspec super conditioning flakes (brill for weight gain but may wind the horse up)
Blue chip is also fabulous.

Obviously don't use all of them at once but I have found that they are all brilliant for weight gain. Topspec bag didn't last as long as the D&H though. The Blue Chip lasts for ages and is really worth the price.
 
his teeth are done and its not like hes not eating he eats loads lol! i cut his hard feed down as he was getting a whole scoop of calm and condition twice a day but he was just pooing it all back out again, so my friend suggestted to half his feeds, which i have done and he hasnt lost weight nor gained any.

I havent weighed his haylage however i make sure he has two large full haynets and he eats most of it.

Thanks
 
helsam said:
I havent had a worm count, but he is wormed up to date.

It is not possible to put haylage in the field as he is out with 10 others, however he is roaming about 15 acres and there is a small amount of grass as when i see him in the field they all seem to be grazing.

Thanks
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Do you have a worming policy at your yard? Sometimes, even if your own horse is wormed, if others are being lapse about it then they may be susceptible. Ask your vet about a worm count :)

Also, is it possible to fence your horse separately so that you can feed haylage during the day? Depending on your field the grass at the mo may not have much goodness. It's no good upping hard feed if he just isn't getting enough good quality forage. I have to keep my oldie in her own paddock for just this reason.
 
Just thought I would update,

2 months ago I moved my horse from a yard I had been at for a quite a while due to winter routines etc, moved my horses to a family friends yard who has pigs and other horses). My horse, who is normally a dope on a rope, went mental when we got there, bronking in his stable kicking out etc, rearing when being led. I thought this would go away as he settled in. I thought he ad settled but he kept loosing weight,

today I moved him again (i promise i dont like moving my horse about) to a lovely relaxed yard close to my house. he settled instantly and it was almost like a sigh of relief in his eyes. Im now thinking that something at the yard in the last 2 months was really stressing him out (maybe pigs) and he lost weight.

Ive wormed him today and keeping him in 24hrs to clear up poo's, then going to weight tape him once a week and fingers crossed now that hes happy will pick up weight again.

I will keep you all posted, and again thanks for your advice.x
 
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