Horse Isn't Gaining Weight?

[TeamWazz]

Hey everyone!

Just wondering what your opinions are on this. I'm feeding Ready Mash Extra and Top Spec Balancer - Ready Mash recommended on the basis from a friend who is a feed expert due to her job so the feed definitely isn't the problem. I'm not changing feed so please don't recommend a different feed. However whilst my horse has gained weight (he was very skinny due to another long story) he's not gained as much as I'd like. Otherwise he's himself - not acting any differently to how he otherwise is around the stable and to ride there is no difference (still on it enough to try bucking me off round the hacking track because he's feeling fresh!).

He's in 24/7 with haylage on tap (due to stabling him at college) and he winters very poorly EVERY year without a doubt even when out. To be honest he looks just as well as he does every other year but I'd like to get some input.

I'm getting a worm count done tomorrow to see whether that is a factor. If he hasn't gained after Easter (he's going away on his holidays to grass) I'm going to get him scoped for ulcers but in the short term is there anything anyone here can think of?

 

[TGM]

What condition score is he at the moment? Have you tried weighing his haylage for a week or so to get an idea of how much he is actually eating? He might be getting ad lib, but not be eating enough of it for some reason. If you weigh how much goes in, and then how much is left in the morning, then you will have a realistic idea of his forage intake and whether he is eating enough to gain weight. If he doesn't eat a lot of forage, then you can try tempting him to eat more by offering a range of forage - for example, some hay perhaps, or a tub of soaked grass cubes, alongside the haylage. Studies have shown that horses will eat more when offered a choice of forages, and we find that one of ours eats more when offered haylage and hay.

 

[twiggy2]

I know a few (working with one currently) that cannot get on with haylage, the current one was put on it as owner wanted more weight on him and he became, stroppy/grumpy/bucking it has taken 4 months to persuade her to take him off it and within 48hrs we had a different horse, softer in himself/more relaxed/bucking stopped and he has gained a lot of weight.
just because the feed has been recommended by an expert does not mean it it the right/best one for your horse, it may be worth changing it, the same horse at work cannot get on with any whole feeds that we have tried he is now eventing (was hunting) with just having non molassed speedi beet, micronised linseed, plain chaff and salt, he was on a mix, a balancer, speedi beet and nuts and ha looked poor on that.

 

[Micky]

As twiggy2 said, what is good for one horse, does not necessarily work for another....play a bit with as suggested, hay maybe, grass nuts, speedibeet or fast fibre.....alfa a oil as a chop with top spec balancer...the only thing that worked for our old tb was thirds, but even after one winter, he didnt need it again as we got the rest of his fibre and hard feed right after playing for a few months ( obv dont swap and change drastically...gradual!)

 

[Queenbee]

Agree with the above, what works for one horse does not necessarily work for another, I would be looking at how many feeds the horse had, smaller more frequent feeds are better than two larger feeds. I would perhaps add some micronised linseed to what you are already feeding if you dont want to get rid of what you are currently feeding - I would say too that I have heard good things about readymash. I can really reccomend fibre blocks, simple systems work out £1 a block(timothy grass) if you buy 40kg in one bash, they are a great way of increasing fibre intake, they are great and fibre is the best for weight gain. Another thing is Haemavite B plus, it is a blood tonic with B vitamins, B vitamins support digestion and help a horse make the best of the food they get. Personally, from what you are saying I would feed Haemavite at the maintenance dose which is half a measuring cup - this should kick start things.

Not knowing the horse, I really can not make further suggestions.

 

[Rosesandhorses]

I have two horses who are poor doers and this time of year is always difficult! The one thing I would look into is worming for Tapeworm as this really affects weight and isn't the easiest to test for. The only thing I would say about your feed is that Readymash is what I give my oldies who are retired and it sends them as high as a kite! If your horse is a bit full of it then this could well be the reason. Adding oil will definitel help him put weight on- Microlinseed is the best but I've also fed veg oil from Aldi before. If you're getting him scoped for ulcers I would be looking at getting his blood checked as well as this will show if there's anything unusual such as a virus.

 

[Nannon]

Im struggling with my poor doer at the moment too - can't wait for the grass to come through! Ready mash is brilliant stuff but we aren't allowed it on our livery yard because it has GM elements in it
Linseed it great stuff, mine has lots of it but still thin at the moment, currently doing lots of feed discussions with different companies!

 

[wench]

Worming, teeth, get a blood test done to see if anything going on?

 

[Auslander]

Hey everyone!

Just wondering what your opinions are on this. I'm feeding Ready Mash Extra and Top Spec Balancer - Ready Mash recommended on the basis from a friend who is a feed expert due to her job so the feed definitely isn't the problem. I'm not changing feed so please don't recommend a different feed. However whilst my horse has gained weight (he was very skinny due to another long story) he's not gained as much as I'd like. Otherwise he's himself - not acting any differently to how he otherwise is around the stable and to ride there is no difference (still on it enough to try bucking me off round the hacking track because he's feeling fresh!).

He's in 24/7 with haylage on tap (due to stabling him at college) and he winters very poorly EVERY year without a doubt even when out. To be honest he looks just as well as he does every other year but I'd like to get some input.

I'm getting a worm count done tomorrow to see whether that is a factor. If he hasn't gained after Easter (he's going away on his holidays to grass) I'm going to get him scoped for ulcers but in the short term is there anything anyone here can think of?

You say that you won't change his feed and that's not the problem, but if all other avenues are covered (Worming/teeth/pain) and there is still no improvement, you may have to consider that the feed is not doing what you need it to do. It's very easy to think you're doing everything right, but for the horses condition to tell you otherwise. Sometimes you have to throw away the rulebook, and figure out what the horse in front of you is missing.

I know there's little you can do about it, but 24/7 stabling probably isn't helping. Even if he isn't stressing the weight off because he's in the stable for 23 hours a day, he's not moving around - so his systems wont be working as effectively as a horse who has plenty of turnout, and is on the move all the time.