horse not working, holding weight but looks terrible

asbo

asbo

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jays now had 4 months off due to spavins, hes out 24/7 rugged as he hates to be stabled, hes on 17 acres and has access to adlib haylage. he also gets fed srn hifi, 16+ mix,barley, no bute, mobility lick & alpha beet daily.

hes around 567kg on the tape, which for him is good as hes a poor doer(hes a 16.2hh idxtb MW), but hes very sunk in at the backend and his hip bones stick out terribly
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anyone got any suggestions as to sort this?
 
alot of it is muscle waste, but being on a very large hilly field i wouldnt expect him to lose so much in 4 months
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My tb is the same, hes just been diagnosed with spavins too
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hugs to you and him xxx
 
My 17 year old TB X started looking a bit poor a couple of years ago. The biggest change was loss of muscle mass but as he is getting on a bit I thought this was natural. On a routine visit the vet mentioned Cushings. Although he didn't have most of the symptoms which are listed he was prone to abscesses and loss of muscle mass around the shoulders and quarters. I started him on Vitex and have noticed a big improvement.

Just a thought...
 
Does he move around alot? Are his spavins affecting the amount he is moving and therefore preventing him from benefiting from the hilly field.
 
thanks everyone.

nope, he moves with the herd, haylage is at the bottom of the field, stables at the top as is water, so they walk up and down the hills atleast twice a day, this AM they were at the bottom, came up for feed then went for a drink and wandered off to the other side of the field, when i left they all had headed down to the haylage, then where back up the top grazing this pm
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I have got a TBxID that has hi-fi senior and sixteen plus (old git mix as i like to call it) and he is the same always drops a bit of weight and condition in the winter i just think its normal for the oldies so wouldnt worry to much. As long as he seems to be happy in himself
 
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