I got a new horse today :) a few questions...

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Scheherezade

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Got a new horse today! He's a 3yr old ID x TB, very very sweet and well mannered.

HOWEVER

He's come from a bit of a ghetto. He's very, very underweight. Condition score 2. He's been wormed, and I was told he was "hard to put weight on". When I asked what they had been feeding him they said they didn't, because they didn't like to feed horses when they were being broken. Apparently he got carrots occasionally, and lots of hay.

SO - he's very dull-coated and disinterested, probably from being a little mite, so for the time being he's going onto a bit of chop in the morning, and then at night he's getting half a scoop conditioning fibre mix, and a scoop alfa a (NOT oil). Plus a dollop of super flex. Is this right? I don't want him to be getting too much, too soon.

Workload - he's younger than I was initially told. I had planned to get him doing long hacks, light hunting (for the low ability group), but in light of new evidence (i.e. looking at him in bright light) we're just going to lightly school once a week, and gentle hack twice a week. But I'm not sure what to work on in the school. He has NO neck or back muscle, so is it worth investing in a pessoa?

Will get pics tomorrow. Don't anyone bitch or moan - he was free, and costs me next to nothing to keep, it's just a bit of fun.
 
We bought this a couple of years ago! He's now big and dashing and doing very well in everything from show hunter to eventing.

They told us they couldn't get weight on him too - what they were doing I have no idea, as he put weight on with us and we've never struggled. Give ad lib hay/ haylage and as much good grass as you can.

Your second plan sounds best for the moment. These big irish lumps take ages to grow up, but are lovely! I did most of my schooling on hacks for the first year - he was so unbalanced and big he couldn't cope in the school. Do lots of hill work and just add transitions etc on the hack, building up to small leg yields etc. Take your time is the best rule. Theres no rush.. Have fun. He will be a lovely horse in the future if you do things right.
 
Aw, he sounds sweet. I'd cut down the evening meal a bit if it were mine, not much point giving him a full scoop of chaff if he's got hay ad lib. I'd be inclined to get a decent balancer too so that you aren't loading him with too many calories. Also (sorry I'll stop in a sec!) I'd stick to hacking 3-4 times weekly to build him up generally before attempting circles and other such difficult stuff :)

Best of luck and looking forward to seeing pics!
 
Thanks :)

We got him as mine is injured and can only do hacking/fun rides, so the plan was for my OH to ride ours and me to take the new one along so it can learn. OH is novicey so we won't be going fast or anything daft.

He is a proper little softie, big ears and big head, big legs and no body bless. He's going out onto a 40acre field, grass isn't brilliant so there'll be haylege in the field, and haylege in the stable. He's not quite worked out how a haynet works (first introduction to the contraption tonight ended in him eating a significant amount of baler twine.....!) but will get there I'm sure. I don't believe in over-rugging, especially as we have moved from the grim north east to the midlands, but he's got a fleece on to keep the chill off. Mine will be naked for as long as I can ignore his puppy dog eyes in the snow.

He's a lovely stamp for someone. I like my little TB whizzy types, but he will make a very impressive 16.3 hunter type. Definately inherited the ID legs, anyway.

:) exciting times!!
 
Sounds like he has found himself a lovely home.

He sounds like he needs a fair bit of building up but just do it carefully. As he is so poor you may find putting him on some sort of gut balancer will help no end. My friend nursed a seriously malnourished mare back to tip top health and swears by the gut balancer, alongside proper care/food and love.

I would also wait to school/hack until he has built up some strenght/ put some weight on and is feeling a lot happier and healthier. He sounds like he would benefit from a good few months of care/good diet and give him a good chance to get a bond with you without the pressure of having to be ridden while he is possibly feeling not quite the ticket.

Good luck with him and enjoy :)
 
Farrierlover - some good tips thanks :) just one thing I'd question though (sorry!) is that I didn't want to go to anything with a high protein/carb load like a balancer, just because his gut isn't used to it. I presumed that as he's just had hay all his life, he'd be best off with as much fibre-y type stuff as possible? Or is that bad - impaction colic and the sort?

The sack I got from the local feed place is supposed to be a 'complete' mix, though I still add a bit of alfa a, anyway. He's getting checked on through tonight to make sure he's settled well, so any problems we'll be on it! :) :)

(I am a bit of a happy bunny, right now!)
 
yey! :)

I'm going to put him in the school tomorrow so he can see the goats (YO collects them, as she is a little mad, but lovely) in a safe environment! Will definately post picis then. As long as nobody criticises me for the state of him - I only got him 5 hours ago! I'll put a picture of my fatty to prove I am too much of a fussy mum (though he could live on cardboard boxes and still be the size of a house - not bad for an unrugged, fizzy, young TB x!)

x
 
Ad lib hay as others have said. I wouldn't bother with the conditioning mix unless you're going to feed the recommended amount, which I expect will be a lot with a big horse, a bag will probably last about six days if fed correctly, and chaff is just filling really unless you're feeding Dengie's alfa range which is fortified with vits and mins, but again you'd have to feed loads every day! Dengie always say that if you feed the correct amount of their feeds, you won't have to feed a concentrate at all, and we find in our shop that many people are moving back to grass/alfalfa based feeds rather than grains, which seem to have a connection with stomach ulcers -food for thought.

Personally, I'd feed D&H Suregrow http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/products/horse-ranges/breeding/suregrow.html which will give him everything he needs, no chaff/Alfa A, and see how he goes on that to start with. If he doesn't start to improve his condition, consider a sales prep mix. Good luck (and I should say that I'm not connected to D&H in any way).
 
I'm personaly a believer in the back to basic's method 2 of My 5 horses came to me as 'hat tacks' and I found the best and cheapest option was Ad Lib hay - along side a rubber bucket Full of Dengie and Fibre nuts ... 3 BIG double handfulls of chaff to every 1 scoop of nuts .. once they finish I fill it up - But, this is just what I do, and my horses aren't in any serious form of work ! Do this too for my OAP's ... but having said that I also work it along with the grazing..
 
If he was mine and his condition was that poor, I would turn him away on as good grass as I could find with ad lib hay if he'll eat it. I'd give him a small feed of something fibre based like fast fibre or speedibeet with Pink powder or another balancer. I wouldn't be working him at all until his weight had improved. Just my thoughts though :)
 
I bought a three year old in a very similar condition and didn't even think about working her until she had decent condition on her. Every time I've posted about working my 3 yr old I get shot down in flames and told to leave her to grow!! Each horse is different and only you know if he's ready to do anything.

My mare is now fat and I'm trying to get a bit off!! She's also only done about six weeks of very light work and is turned away until January. She's a Feb foal so will nearly be four by then. Best of luck, it's so rewarding turning them around!!!
 
I wouldn't ride him or work him until he has beefed up a bit...I would be giving him adlib haylage or hay at night or day depending on when he is in - and good grass if u have any...also I would be giving him high fibre cubes - and bluechip balancer - very good for putting condition on horses safely...bag of bluechip will last u 4-6 weeks...x
 
Ahhh a fellow Irish Sports Horse :)
Obie is TB X ID, most of my yard consists of them!
Best breed you can get in my opinion ;)
Obie had no neck/back when I first got him. I left him for a bit to get some weight on him. I left him out in the field for as much as possible and just let him chill.
Young horses need a lot of good quality protein and this is why I feed Obie this:
http://www.simplesystem.co.uk/news/...&subject=Top Nosh - the new name for Tickover
Look forward to seeing pictures :)
I'd wait 3-4 weeks of him chilling out and then I'd begin lunging him for 5 minutes on both reins. Work up from there. Don't do any long ride or hunting with him, he's only 3!
 
if he were mine he would go be worm counted ASAP and i would give him a wormer for tape worm straight away.

then he would get unlimited good quality haylage, Topspec balancer and Alfa-A Oil.

I definitely WOULDN'T pump a 3yro full of a conditioning feed, particularly an under-nourished one as imo you are asking for growth/soundness problems.

If you feel he needs more after a few weeks i would look at adding some Speedi-Beet and if still not looking like he is coming on i would get something like the Topspec Conditioning Flakes as they are low in starch so fine to feed to youngsters (and work very well).

for the first few weeks while he is building up i would go back to doing groundwork like long reining (please don't get a Pessoa- perhaps look at a chambon instead) and would maybe hack out gently.

3yro's imo should not be doing any school work and tbh if he was mine he would be chucked out for the winter and brought into work next spring.
 
seaweed!!! Its brilliant stuff! We get huge sacks of the stuff and licks for the fields but i think NAF do one. You only use a tiny amount in the feed so lasts a long time. Would reccomend it to everyone!
 
Hi l have just bought a 3yo who is well developed and in great condition who has done a little work but l have turned her away until spring cause l think 3yo is way to young to be ridden.
 
You said he had been wormed - I assume, by you? If not I would do it again just in case they were lieing.

Then I would call Dodson and Horrell and ask their opinion on the feeding - I found them really helpful when my mare started to drop off this summer. She has a foal at foot and it turned out I had to DOUBLE her intake!

You didn't post any pictures but I would wait until he has settled and put a bit of weight on before doing regular but light and short training sessions. Lunge, longrein, groundwork with him.

Good luck.
 
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