My new extremely skinny TB! Any advice gratefully received

kirstyl

kirstyl

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My new horse arrived yesterday.he has been a flat racer and hurdler, quite successful, he last raced in September 09. Since then he has been turned out and is sooo thin. You can see and feel every rib, shoulder blade + back bone.
I have owned and ridden several TBs from racing but none in this state! Following advice from my feed merchant he is having 3 meals a day of conditioning cubes, alfa a oil and speedibeet, (building up amounts slowly) and ad lib haylage. He's going to be just turned out for mornings then in for lunch and hay (we don't have any grass to speak of at the mo).
He is extremely nice natured and i feel that he could start doing work in hand to keep his brain engaged while his physical condition catches up. I would be so grateful of any advice from anybody who has been through this situation.
 
Sounds fine what you are feeding, I assume teeth and worming have been done. Its just going to take time and not happen overnight. We will need some before and after pics of course! Good luck with him.
 
Sounds like a sensible diet to me, it won't happen overnight but be patient and you will see a difference in about 4 - 6 weeks.
 
Yep been there!

My TB hurdler seemed to have hollow legs

4 meals a day and ad lib haylage (italian rye)

D&H build up
D&H fibergy

Never bothered with the sugarbeet as nothing is in it now adays (its just pulp to slow the horse down when eating)

I did have bloods done by my vet though every 6 months to make sure nothing was behind his 'weight loss' - he just seemed to lose weight over night sometimes
 
Sounds good. I'd add some linseed meal/oil too, with some garlic and a multivit. I think the oil is important for extra calories. I'd split the food into 4 feeds too if he's that thin.
What make conditioning cubes are you using?
 
Mytb has an endurance mix,barley and alfa a with as much haylage as he will eat and he looks good on this (maybe even a bit who ate all the pies
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) I don't know if it is just my horse but he always looks like he holds more weight if he is in work. I can feed him by the bucket full on his holidays and he never holds it (ribby,skinny neck etc ) but as soon as he is back in work 5 days he seems to put it on even if he is being fed the same . This is mine on his diet (have no idea why he is shiny - think someone else must be looking after him
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If he might find barley too heating the top spec conditioning flakes are really good - I stopped using them as there was a bit of an issue getting my feed shop to get them so I felt it was better to swap to something that I could continually get . The ndurance mix is good as well as it provides its energy from long fibres and oil so is a more sustained energy and mine doesn't run up like a greyhound on it like he does with normal competition mixes eg saracen speed mix, baileys comp mix etc . I just alter the amount of barley accordiing to the work he is doing
 
Good plan! Most important thing is paitence - it took a good 6 months for me to be happy with my ex racers weight/condition, partly because of rubbish weather and partly due to back/chiro issues. Also if he has come straight from being turned out I found mine loved being groomed. Good for bonding, gets rid of all the scurf etc and they love just standing there. Never done it but if you are not planning to ride for a while, maybe groundwork would be a cool thing to keep his brain engaged? If not maybe gentle lungeing so he can find his balance etc without rider? Can we have a picture?
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Good luck!
 
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Never bothered with the sugarbeet as nothing is in it now adays (its just pulp to slow the horse down when eating)

[/ QUOTE ] This is not true at all! Sugar beet (whether molassed or unmolassed) is a useful source of fibre-based calories containing about 12.5 MJDE/kg (dry weight) which is a similar calorie count to many conditioning cubes! I use it very successfully to keep weight on my elderly mare!
 
Ive always seemed to get lumped with the poor doers, the best feed ive found so far is dodson and horrell build up, so if you dont succeed with his current diet , try that its fantastc , after a winter of struggling with top line cubes im v pleased
 
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the best feed ive found so far is dodson and horrell build up

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Totally second this. My horse gets a very small amount of this daily with his feed and looks fantastic.
 
I have recently been using Allen & paige Fast Fibre as a sugar beet replacer for my TB to keep his weight up (built up b4 xmas by adding a cup of build up to his usual feed) It has less energy than sugar beet but its higher in fibre (just what an ex racer needs to when just out of training) and contains 2.8% oil plus extra vits and minerals. I think my boy looks great now and my daugher even commented the other day that he looks tubby lol!
 
You might want to look into the possibility of stomach ulcers
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Good luck make sure you get before and after shots! you wont believe what he looked like before so you must document!!

x
 
I did this too, got an ex racer looked like a coat hanger!
Giving him three feeds is definately the best option, I also found readigrass worked quite well seeing as there's no real grass! I used to give him around 3-5 large round scoops at bed time per day. What you said about keeping him engaged, Id get him out every day and do something, whether it's just brushing him for twenty mins or taking him for a little walk, its something. Obviously you have experience with ex racers and as you know every one is totally different, I had the best tempered one but reared when alone, the next one was a complete night mare all round but I definately found spending one on one time with the horse helped, trust and building a bond.
Good luck with everything hun x
 
What about adding a broad spectrum vitamin/mineral supplement to his feed to give him a boost of everything essential, something like Codlivine or Equivite - they must help. Good luck - some before and after piccies would be lovely
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I have found that Allen and Paige Calm and Condition is so good, my gelding is a fairly poor doer, and he gets a scoop and a half (dry feed) then you add double that of water, and it has kept the weight on Wings really well. You can feed them up to about 6kg dry weight I think, but I've found it is amazing even in smaller amounts
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My Oh has an ex-racer and he is on calm and condition and looks great.

during the really cold weather he had 2 meals a day but has spent most of the winter with just one emal and ad-lib hay.

You can also add warm water to help keep them warm if the weather is particulaly cold....he loves his warm teabut then he loves it when it is cold as well.
 
not quite the same, but when I had my TB back after surgical colic, he had dropped so much condition I actually walked past him - having owned him at that point for 5 years (and on DIY). He was put on 4 meals a day and on Dobson convalescent mix which put weight back on quite quickly without firing him up at all - the difference was that I had a horse recovering from major surgery - effectively on box rest but who needed the food.
 
A vote here for D&H build up! done wonders for my TB exracer who was v v under weight, difference was noticable within about a fortnight. call the nution line they were really really good, they suggested just build up and alfalfa, keep it simple, build up the quantities over a period of time feed and split feed over as many feeds as possible, 3-4 is preferable as it gives the body a chance to digest and make the most of the feed plus it doesnt overwhelm the gut. plus plenty of good hay.

All horses are different and I am far from an expert when it comes to feed but would definitely recommend
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PS - Get some pics up !!
 
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I have found that Allen and Paige Calm and Condition is so good, my gelding is a fairly poor doer, and he gets a scoop and a half (dry feed) then you add double that of water, and it has kept the weight on Wings really well. You can feed them up to about 6kg dry weight I think, but I've found it is amazing even in smaller amounts
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Ditto, I found this very good for putting weight on.
 
i totally agree with the allen & page calm and condition - i swear by it after trying every conditioning feed on the market!!! this one was the only thing that worked and i have never looked back. alfa a is a good chaff to put with it. hope this helps - good luck!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have found that Allen and Paige Calm and Condition is so good, my gelding is a fairly poor doer, and he gets a scoop and a half (dry feed) then you add double that of water, and it has kept the weight on Wings really well. You can feed them up to about 6kg dry weight I think, but I've found it is amazing even in smaller amounts
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ooh great - just bought this for my TB
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another vote for allen and page calm and condition-also get micronised linseed to add, you can get it for 30 quid a bag 15kg!! also might be worth adding naf thrive to held aid the digestive system.
 
NAF Thrive contains natural Montmorillonite clay and Calcium carbonate to help slow down the rate of passage of food through the digestive system.

This supports more efficient digestion and promotes a natural acid balance

Ideal for stable kept horses that are prone to box walking, anxiety and rug chewing.


NAF Pink Powder is a concentrated feed balancer containing naturally occurring yeasts and probiotics, essential for the maintenance of correct gut function.

thrive is good and cheaper.
 
Oh yes forgot to recommend Pink Powder!!

Im now on BlueChip and highly recommend it, but think you should stick with what you are feeding....in a few months if its not having the desired effect then slowly change it
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