Horse going ribby overnight

[Agent XXX999]

Really worried about the bear!

He is a 14yo tb…not clipped, owned by 65 year old man – he lives in (straw bed, which he eats but not a lot) but goes out daily. He is wormed regularly. He is unclipped and ridden for an hour daily, hacking only, walk and trot and the occasional canter. He wears a Rambo mediumweight with a fleece underneath and he is roasting…and he goes out in a heavyweight with a neck.

He eats Chaff and Barley and ad lib high protein haylage….

He has always been a bit of an odd shape (he has got a huge gut but not much muscle owing to the light work he is in)

Anyway – I saw him being ridden on Saturday and he looked like his normal hairy self, happy, with a shiny coat. When his rugs were taken off last night we got a shock – he actually has dropped off so much he looks like we have been starving him for months, we were all really worried – and shocked because it was a literally overnight thing…nothing has changed with him, in fact he is probably having a bit more haylage if anything as the weather has dropped a bit, and the 14 other horses look really well on it.

Has anyone else heard of a horse turning into a hatrack overnight – what did you do, and what could it be?

 

[Sags_Deer]

id call the vet if i wear you or get the teeth checked.

 

[the watcher]

Anyting this sudden would suggest dehydration..food passing through quickly and wet droppings would be quite apparent, I guess he is actually eating his food and not just dropping it in the bed?

I would suggest keeping a very close eye on what is going in and out for 24hours before calling the vet..they will want to know this anyway..and adjust rugs if he is overheating..obviously if there are serious clinical signs then don't delay

 

[Agent XXX999]

Droppings fine, he is not too hot, teeth fine but surely it would not be this dramatic overnight?

He has only been with us a year so I was wondering if it could be old worm damage?

 

[samp]

Have you taken his temperature? Perhaps he has go some kind of infection? Is he regualrly wormed? Eating happily? The vet would probably suggest having bloods taken and perform a rectal

 

[Agent XXX999]

As I said, he is completely normal – temperature, everything. I will get the vet down but am worried he will be as in the dark as the rest of us…

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
He wears a Rambo mediumweight with a fleece underneath and he is roasting

[/ QUOTE ]
That would be my first thought. To hot, and getting somewhat dehydrated.

Let us know how you get on with the vet.

 

[Agent XXX999]

Roasting as in toasty warm….not over rugged – wouldn’t he sweat then?

I will let you know what the vet says…

 

[SSM]

Not wanting to scare you, but Chronic Grass sickness?

These are the symptoms from the grass sickness website

In chronic grass sickness, the symptoms come on more slowly and only some cases show mild, intermittent colic. The appetite is likely to be reduced and there will be varying degrees of difficulty in swallowing but salivation, accumulation of fluid in the stomach and severe constipation are not a feature. One of the major symptoms is rapid and severe weight loss which may lead to emaciation. Previously, it was thought that nearly all such cases died and that the few which survived made only a partial recovery and were subsequently useless for work. This is now known to be incorrect (see section on treatment).

 

[AmyMay]

Would still be concerned that the horse is overrugged - regardless tbh. TB's are warm horses, and even though we've had some horrid wet weather - it hasn't been cold. Certainly a stabled horse with a good amount of hay (and unclipped) is unlikely to be cold in a lightweight stable rug. However, I do appreciate that each is an individual - and I can only go on my own experience with my TB.

Good luck - hope it's nothing serious.

 

[Llwyncwn]

My first thoughts were over rugged. How is he in himself? Is there any depression? Please let us know how he is hunni.

 

[Agent XXX999]

I agree – He seems fine in himself, he is fairly laid back but I would say no different from normal – still got his quirks, such as turning round to face you when you go to his back end to do his leg straps up (something to do with the polos in my pocket no doubt…)

Poor love! I swear if any of you would have seen him yesterday you would have thought that he hadn’t been fed for a month!

I will see about the rug – but now he has less weight I don’t want him to get cold, and he really seems fine in what he is wearing, no warmer than any of the others?

 

[GatefieldHorses]

Get a vet asap. Out 2 yr old did that last year, he turned into an rspa case overnight - we had to hide him in the back staboles as if you saw him you would of reported us! yet he was on loads of feed, endless haynets etc etc. We never found out was wrong with him, everything was tried. In the end he was given a steroid injection which would either kill him overnight or cure him.
LUCKILY the next day, he has made loads of improvement

 

[spaniel]

Faced with such dramatic change literally overnight I would definitely get the vet as a matter of urgency.

First thought was grass sickness but this could be any number of things and it isnt worth risking losing the horse for the sake of a vet visit.

 

[brighteyes]

I'm on the edge of my seat.....

 

[cazza]

get the vet out, happened to one of ours and it was chronic grass sickness, unfortunately 6 weeks later she died. Good luck hope it isn't grass sickness

 

[henryhorn]

yes I have seen thishappen, and very scarey it is too.
From your description are you sure he hasn't literally sweated it off if too well rugged? It sounds to me as if he is too hot.
The other thing to do is take his temperature over a few days and see if it is raised.
It may be he has picked up a virus which is making it's way through his body, and often this is the only sign until it hits properly.
I'd go for the too hot I think as a cause!

 

[Petrie]

Even if he is too hot in his rug, surely this wouldn't cause him to lose weight dramatically over night like that?

I sometimes got my rugging a bit wrong when we had such a mild Autumn, and I would find my horses sweating in their lightweight rugs, but they didn't turn into hat racks overnight.

If it were me, I'd be straight on the phone to the vet.

 

[S_N]

Like SSM and Spans, my first thougth was Grass Sickness. I did a case study on this condition/syndrome/disease at college and from what you describe, I'd have the vet out sharpish!

Sorry, I really don't want to scare you, but there are 4 types of GS and only one is often not fatal!!

I'm not trying to diagnose what this horse has on a forum, but if the weight loss is as sudden as you say and you are struggling to find a cause, then please call your vet out ASAP!

Let us know the outcome. Fingers crossed it's something really simple!