Little Monster just refuses to carry weight

[Zargon_91]

I would be interested to know how far set back is his anus?

Odd question and if you tell so will I!

erm? im not entirely sure how you mean? He doesnt have really big fleshy bum cheeks with his anus in the middle if thats what you mean? :S

 

[Shysmum]

TEETH and agree - an urgent blood test.

 

[Nightmare before Christmas]

I am sat on the floor listening to muses crappy support band laughing my butt off at the anus comment! Haha i am not sure i want to guess the logic behind that

 

[Foxhunter49]

erm? im not entirely sure how you mean? He doesnt have really big fleshy bum cheeks with his anus in the middle if thats what you mean? :S

Some horse's have an anus that is set far further back, it is not common and it might not be so with your horse, compare his anus to others and see if it is further back than most.

If if is then there is little hope of him ever gaining and carrying much weight. I cannot give you a reason as to why but it is a fact.

Told to me and also to Littlelegs by old horsemen!

 

[JenHunt]

put the sugar beet in a separate bucket and let him pick at that with his hay/haylage.

then up the chaff to alfa oil, and add linseed meal or full fat soya meal in place of the liquid oil.

IMO i'd also, get him worm counted, and treat for tapeworm.

 

[merlin12]

Turn him out . If he only goes out for 2 to 3 days for 5 hours , and only gets ridden for an hour a day . I do not think this is a healthy life style for a horse. He could be stressed and unhappy. How long have you had him ? Has he been wormed recently?

Could you turn him out all day and have him in at night. I think his management could be contributing to the fact that he is not holding his weight.

 

[Tnavas]

Some horse's have an anus that is set far further back, it is not common and it might not be so with your horse, compare his anus to others and see if it is further back than most.

If if is then there is little hope of him ever gaining and carrying much weight. I cannot give you a reason as to why but it is a fact.

Told to me and also to Littlelegs by old horsemen!

Think it may be one of those horsey myths that is not always true - My clydesdale has her anus set back and is a chubby girl

 

[Zargon_91]

Turn him out . If he only goes out for 2 to 3 days for 5 hours , and only gets ridden for an hour a day . I do not think this is a healthy life style for a horse. He could be stressed and unhappy. How long have you had him ? Has he been wormed recently?

Could you turn him out all day and have him in at night. I think his management could be contributing to the fact that he is not holding his weight.

This i agree with, unfortunately his turnout is limited due to factors beyond my control

 

[Zargon_91]

Sorry to ressurect a dead thread...

Just wanted to let people know because it seems a bit of an odd case-
Basically ive had a chat with a nutritionist and she thinks
1. he isnt actually that underweight, he is very well sprung through his ribs which makes him look ribby.
2. the lack of weight he is carrying is down to putting on too much muscle, too quickly as he has come into work this year- simply put (the nutritionist described this alot better!) muscle mass takes up alot of energy (increased numbers of mitochondria) which is why body builder are always told to 'feed muscle'
Basically im going to rough him off, and increase his carbohydrate (yes, i know!) until he doesnt have this sort of discrepency between the energy he needs and what he is getting. Then i can cut the hard feed back down and gradually increase the work again if he needs it and the conditioning stuff he gets in his feed anyway should keep the weight on.
Apparently it is safe to feed the increase carbs to a working horse, in small regular amounts because as long as you feed it slowly everything is absorbed, it is only when carbs get through the small intestine unchanged that youre problems occur.
He is also being wormed for tapes to be on the safe side, but this has happened in 2 days so im pretty sure its the right thing to be doing...

Morel of the story... professionals are there for a reason

 

[AmyMay]

There's a big difference between these two photo's - and unless the nutritionist came out and put their hands on the horse I'm not sure I'd be convinced by what they've told you.

Correct feeding and working should produce a horse that looks more like the first picture. In the original picture you posted (the second one) the horse looks poor, tbh. Admittedly he looks better in this latest picture you've posted.

Some horses can be tricky to get 'right'. But I've always found that worked properly and fed appropriately they usually look tremendous.

 

[Zargon_91]

There's a big difference between these too photo's - and unless the nutritionist came out and put their hands on the horse I'm not sure I'd be convinced by what they've told you.

Correct feeding and working should produce a horse that looks more like the first picture. In the original picture you posted (the second one) the horse looks poor, tbh. Admittedly he looks better in this latest picture you've posted.

Some horses can be tricky to get 'right'. But I've always found that worked properly and fed appropriately they usually look tremendous.

yeah, the nutritionist came out to him, well technically she was already here- im taught nutrition by her at uni, which is why i was so worried about him in the first place because i SHOULD know what to feed. But what she said made alot of sense, and he has become more covered, literally in about 2 days.

 

[AmyMay]

Fair enough. Keep us posted with his progress.

 

[Zargon_91]

Will do