How long to see an improvement in an underweight horse?

slumdog

slumdog

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I can't really post any details atm and I know its one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions, but how long would you expect to start to see results in a very underweight horse with no underlying medical problems once it's being fed and managed properly?

Sorry for the vague post and I will explain as soon as I can.
 
My new horse was on the slim side when i got him. I've now had him 5 weeks, hes been on 2/3 hard feeds a day, ad lib hay and as much grass as he can stuff down his neck. Hes improved a great deal. theres still a bit of weight to get on him before it starts getting really cold though. I cant really give you an answer to your question as i've never seen the horse, but I would say about 2ish months to get mine back to his optimum weight.
 
As you say 'how long is a piece of string'. I can only advise not trying tofeed up too quickly. We once bought horse who had been bought back by the breeder as a 3 yr old because she was very underweight. Breeder fed her on everything she could throw at her and 6 months later when we bought her in the March, you would never have known that she had been thin. That mare went on to have all sorts of digestive problems and after many years of behaviour difficulties was found to be sugar and cereal intolerant.

ETA, I would avoid hard feed if possible and give ad-lib forage with soaked grass nuts and Speedibeet with dried grass chaff if necessary - that's what the horse's digestive system can cope with best.
 
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A very knowledgable person told me if you dont see a change in six weeks something in the diet or management needs to change then you try the new regime for a maximum of six weeks and so on till consistent improvement is seen

I tried Top Spec feed for six months with no real improvement before getting that advice then gradually changed to Baileys, tweaked supplements a couple of times, changed his exercise and pony has come on in leaps and bounds
 
Every case has different circumstances and is also age related, however, I bought an underweight young (4) horse from Ireland in April. After 2 weeks he started losing his edges (as my friend put it!) and in 6 weeks looked a diiferent horse. I would stress that is important to introduce/increase the feed very gradually and not to fill them with rocket fuel straight away, however tempting that may be!
 
Thank you, and sorry I have to be so vague.

He's been on baileys number 1, Alfa-a and sugar beet, 2 tiny feeds a day since Monday, he's also now out 24/7 with decent grass. He's obviously been wormed. I'm making a photo diary so I can hopefully start to see improvements. There's always such a difference of opinions when it comes to feed, I just want to do the best by him :(
 
I think it depends a lot on the age of the horse- I got my horse as a very underweight 4yo- although we fed him supplements and clam and condition, baily no4 and oliy alfa a he took a very long time to put weight on- I think a lot of this was down to the fact he was still growing. he is now 7 and almost fat, and I don't mind seeming though we are heading in to winter. I also thing it depends if the horse has a one point in its life been at ideal weight- if they have they will put it back on quicker as fat cells always remain only shrink when condition is lost, if the horse has been underweight its whole life it will have to make new fat cells, so it takes longer.
 
slumdog said:
Thank you, and sorry I have to be so vague.

He's been on baileys number 1, Alfa-a and sugar beet, 2 tiny feeds a day since Monday, he's also now out 24/7 with decent grass. He's obviously been wormed. I'm making a photo diary so I can hopefully start to see improvements. There's always such a difference of opinions when it comes to feed, I just want to do the best by him :(
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Yes, there are so many feeds available it can be difficult, it sounds like a very sensible regime you have him on...good luck with him.
 
It depends on how underweight the horse is however even an emaciated horse should be up to it's normal weight within 6 months. If it's just a thin horse then you are able to up the feed a little quicker than you can with emaciated horses so you should see the thin horse up to weight a couple of months quicker than the emaciated horse.

My biggest piece of advice is to make sure the teeth are in good working order as that helps enormously.
 
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