Losing the will with mare's weight :(

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Nicole-Louise

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Due to an ongoing medical condition I was too ill to see to my girl for a week, and regrettably left her in the care granted by friend's on the yard for a single WEEK.

She's a rising 4 year old Irish Sport Horse, but holds her weight like a thoroughbred.. AWFUL!

She is on oat straw, Dodson & Horrell pasture mix, Dodson & Horrell conditioning mix and sugabeet. As well as her 365 complete powder. 2 Big feeds a day split into multiple small ones. And ad lib hay... I left her in a good weight, it's taken me weeks to build her back up, and get decent muscle on her. She was doing so well!

I went up today and found that in a week, she has lost covering on her ribs, her bum is gone and her hips are slightly sticking out, and the top line I built up is now gone too.. I feel so upset and let down!

Will be doing nothing but work to build her backup from here, but can anyone suggest anything to help build her back up? Either top line, muscle or general weight/condition?
 
I have a 5 year old sport horse who for the first time has struggled to maintain his weight this winter, although not yet looking amazing he is starting to improve since I changed to haylage from hay, have also changed from molichaff to dengie alfa A oil so he gets ad lib haylage and 3 feeds a day each with 2 round scoops of the dengie, 1/2 of a scoop of baileys top line cubes and 1 scoop of speedi beet and a generous dollop of oil.

Perhaps have a look on the feed bags or websites and look at the nutritional value and energy level you are giving and see if you can change to a feed with higher values if they're not already high? Linseed is apparently meant to also be good for weight gain although have no experience with this myself. Oil is full of calories so also good to give. Exercise wise I am just gently hacking over hills at the moment and his top line is building up beautifully but slowly.

Not very much to suggest but a few ideas chucked out there to have a think about :) hope she picks up quickly for you!
 
Fast fibre and micronised linseed. My mare looks great on it. Also ad lib hay. The stuff you are feeding is high in sugar so the body works harder to process them. Stick to low sugar high fibre. Also stretching can really help the muscles and conformation and top line. So things like tail pulls carrot stretches. Check out holistic horse works April battles.
 
Ditch the molassed mixes, keep the beet and the chaff and add micronised linseed and 365Complete as a base. From there you can then add whatever else you need for weight/energy.

How big are your feeds? Too big a feed and the horse cant process it.

I've had great success recently with rice bran (KeyFlow KeyPlus) and there are a few variations of that on the shelves - Omega Rice and Equi Jewel. My TB's are holding weight beautifully on what looks like tiny feeds.
 
There's a lot of sugars in the mixes that I'd try to avoid really. I'd use alfa a oil instead of the oat straw, speedibeet or ready mash solutions, 2 mugs micronised linseed, and the 365. Copra is also good I've heard. fibre fibre fibre is the key. Feed as many small meals as you can and can you switch to haylage? If this fails, you might want to get the vet to have a look and do some bloods etc.
 
Call the feed companies and get professional advice. Show Improver Pencils containing equi jewel work amazingly for an ex racer I knew that was a nightmare to maintain condition on
 
thanks for your advice Charlotte. I have a 14.2 thoroughbred and cannot get a top line on her. She has a lovely shiny coat, lovely clear eye but a top line like a hat rack. I am feeding her ad lib hay alfa a, baileys low cal balancer, cider vinegar. I did think of adding micronised linseed but someone said not to because it would make her hyper. Would all the advice I can get
 
I am having difficulty getting a top line on my thoroughbred mare and was going to try adding micronised linseed but was advised against it because they said it would make her hyper.

She has alpha a (3 scoops) baileys low cal balancer (3 bailey scoops) cider vinegar, handful sugarbeet and adlib hay. Would appreciate any advice. Apart from no neck and a no top line she has a bright eye and a shiny coat and seems to have plenty of energy
 
myra46 said:
I am having difficulty getting a top line on my thoroughbred mare and was going to try adding micronised linseed but was advised against it because they said it would make her hyper.
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WHO said that?? Feed company by any chance? What a load of Bo-locks! Never seen it make a horse hyper. Have seen it add condition to a horse, give it a nice glossy coat, good strong feet and joints though - many times...

OP you are feeding WAY too much in the way of sugar and starch there and I can totally understand why you are struggling to put weight on her. Cereals are much harder for the gut to digest than fibre. Ditch both mixes and swap to hi-fi mollasses free (high in oil and provides long chewing time), Speedi-beet and add a good mug or two of micronised linseed ... Fibre fibre fibre all the way... Dodson and Horrel ERS pellets are also good for condition - they are high fibre, high oil and most find them very tasty! :)

But do be aware that the lack of exercise will have affected her muscle tone and condtion too so it isn't all down to feeding :)
 
Plenty of good quality hay/haylage as much as she will eat, turnout, linseed. I also have my guy on Pure condition which I highly reccomend.
 
Ready mash extra, alpha a oil, linseed, fenugreek and haylage. My TB mare went from a 1 (on the 1-5 scale) to a 2.5 in just over a month :)
 
FEEL YOUR PAIN! (((Hugs))) I have a poor doer mare as it happens im just about to post about changing feeding for yet more weight gain and ready for this year’s show season (ha ha long way to go yet!). She was on loan for 10 weeks over the summer and they managed to undo a year’s hard conditioning work in that time :eek:! Also when i went on holiday for a week (6 days without seeing her) I left her on single generous feed a day on 24/7 turnout on good grazing with no work and came back to a horse with ribs, in 6 days! Just seems that some more anxious ones (even if not outwardly demonstrating stress) just “stress it off" possibly due to effect on gut flora? once it starts to go it can be hard to stop it even with good feeding! I am currently on TopSpec balancer and simple systems but do need extra to this to get showring condition and improved topline… give me strength! :rolleyes:

Also try not to guilt trip your friend if you’re not used to complex horses would be quite a shock to deal with one like mine, most people would be horrified if they thought they had done harm when trying to help.
 
myra46 said:
thanks for your advice Charlotte. I have a 14.2 thoroughbred and cannot get a top line on her. She has a lovely shiny coat, lovely clear eye but a top line like a hat rack. I am feeding her ad lib hay alfa a, baileys low cal balancer, cider vinegar. I did think of adding micronised linseed but someone said not to because it would make her hyper. Would all the advice I can get
Click to expand...

My mare with a tendency to be hyper / stressy due to feeding is on Micronised linseed 2 mug fulls in each feed (approx 400g per feed!) so far this is not heating her up when even un molassed sugar beet pulp and too many carrots do...
 
I had a SF X ISH gelding who was awful with gaining and keeping weight and just had to look at feed to fizz up,
We used to feed Hi Fi with basic cubes(seriously fussy eater and I mean seriously) and Bailey's Outshine.

The outshine was a miracle worker, we were really struggling as was my vet, so we started ringing the major feed companies for advice, I rang the people at Baileys and they sent me out samples to try and we never looked back, after just over two months he had built right up and got a glossy shiny coat and there was no fizz. After a year on a the low dose and in full eventing work we then only had to use it during the winter to help him out

I'd always recommend ringing some of the bigger feed companies and asking their opinion, there's no harm in asking,

Hope this helps :)
 
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