Is the easiest and best way?

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jodiew

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Hi all, i just wanted yor views, I have had my horse about 3months he is a 17h Thoughbred x, when we got him he was very poor but has put weight on since, but now seems to have come to a halt.

So we are going to get the vet down to get a blood sample so he can see if everything is ok, as we have spoke to our feed man an he said it would be the easiest and best was as then they can see if he is lacking in anything, an if so can then home in on it and get a feed that will provide it.

Just wanted to no if people thought this was the best and easiest thing to do.

Thanks jodie xx
 
I very much doubt if your feed man will be able to address a problem that shows up in a blood test. If you are going to have bloods done it is obviously a good time to check over general health including teeth. Pink powder is a good general supplement and aloe vera juice is also effective if nothing specific shows up. It is also worth reassessing the quantity of feed given to match weight gain
 
Sorry i ay have wored that wrong the vet is coming to do the blood test the feed man had just suggested it.

He has had his teeth checked, and only had a five stage vetting 3months ago, He gets haylege morning, afternoon and night and is on spillers conditing mix, chop, spillers condition cubes (which are supposed to promote weight gain) and sugar bet at moment, he gets a big scoop of all. I wouldnt say he doesnt get much feed, he has the bigger feed manger which is 3/4 full.

jodie xx
 
it was Rainbow vets who did it for me, it was Yi ( sorry i have no idea how to spell his name. lol)

Yeah i think it is one that is in the villae i have totally forgot his bloody name now! lol
 
There are a few things you have not told us,

How much work the horse is doing?
How much haylage you are feeding him?

Also I assume as you are feeding that much hard feed, it is split into three or four feeds? If only fed into two feeds, I would think a vast majority would be passed through without being digested. Each feed should be no more than 4llbs in dry weight for a horse to digest the food correctly.

What about worming?

Pink powder is very good as stated above.
 
Well Rainbow are the best in the area for the vetting. I meant who's doing to bloods?
Bloods will show a deficiancy, but I believe you have to test for specific things.
Maybe increase the number of feeds a day he gets, some horses just don't carry much weight. Duncan used to eat for England but never carried much weight at all no matter what we tried. Vet said they're like people some are slim ant others fat! lol
 
First of all you need to check he is getting enough food - he is a big boy and probably needs a lot if he is to gain weight. Weigh how much haylage he consumes in 24 hours and weigh all his hard feed too - then ring one of the feed helplines (perhaps Spillers as you are using their feed) to see whether his diet is sufficient for his needs.

Teeth also need to be checked as if he has problems there he may not be able to eat enough haylage.

A blood test is a good idea and you can also use the opportunity to discuss your worming programme with the vet to see if that is satisfactory.

Is your horse an excitable, stressy type? If so he maybe using up lots of calories on excitable behaviour, so it will help to try and keep him calm and restrict activities where he is likely to get het up.

Keeping him warm (without over-rugging) is also important, as horses can expend a lot of calories through heat-loss.

My last point is that you do need to ensure he really is in poor condition - we are conditioned to think that a healthy horse is a fat horse but that is not so. You want to aim to be able to feel his ribs easily but not see them.
 
We have had it teetch checked and done and he said all was fine, my yard owner does the worming and he is done every 6weeks i think it is.

I wish i could get some pics up as i do no what you are saying that you seem to think that a healthy horse is a fat one. You cant see his ribs but if you did feeel his side then you can feel them abit. his worst part is is bum, which is quite boney, an he doesnt have much topline.

I couldnt tell you how much haylege he is getting as it is just in large bags the size that a bale of shaving comes in, he is worked about 5hours a week, and has 1hour of play in the oudoor a day as field is abit wet at the moment.

Dunc_n_Toby he looks vey much like your horse, just not as big a bum. it is rainbow that is coming to do the blood tests.

He does just get all of his feed in one go and i have never thought about splitting it down, will have a word tonight.

Thanks for all of your help, it just baffles me with all of the different feeds and things you can do, just trying to get my head round it all.

Jodie xx
 
[ QUOTE ]
You cant see his ribs but if you did feeel his side then you can feel them abit. his worst part is is bum, which is quite boney, an he doesnt have much topline.

[/ QUOTE ] Sounds like he is not really under-weight then, but just lacking muscle. Does he work in a correct outline and really get his hocks under him? If not, then whatever you feed is not going to make a huge difference to his bottom - he needs to learn to work correctly so he can build muscle in his topline.
 
Yeah he does work in the correct outline, an i am going to try and work him more in the next few months to try and get some muscle.

It is just soooo confusing cause some people ar tellin me is underweight and others say he is fine, he is my first horse i have every owned and i worry that i am doing things wrong for him.

Jodie xx
 
I agree, hard to say without a picture, but sounds unfit rather than under fed..although splitting down the meals over the day will make a big difference.
The bigger issue might be why he isn't using his back end and building muscle there
 
Thanks for the help and will havea word about spliting the feeds as to be honest i did think it seemed alot to be getting in one go, an thought he may get bored of eating it (if you no what i mean)

An instructor on my yard has said that we should start a training routine with him, which will invlove pole work which will make him use his hock.

I am als going to try and pessoa him.

Jodie x
 
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