Severely underweight horse

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nat_a_528

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Hi guys, desperately need advice , put a horse out on full loan , she came back to me yesterday lethargic every rib showing through and a dull coat :-( I don't know where to start on getting her better , I wormed her today and fed 2 small feeds of calm and condition.so where now?? Any suggestions appreciated as I'm devastated
 
I would increase to 3 or 4 smaller feeds per day, feed oil in the feed. She will take a little time to get right again, but the good spring grass will help.
We have just taken in a rescue, who looks like a skeleton, he is 17.2hh tb and fed 3 small feeds of alpha a mollasses free, fast fibre, and plenty of oil. Dr Green is the best obviously and if you have nice fields with a bit of grass, it all helps.
 
My youngster has been a bit of a nightmare to put weight on but recently put him on Afla A oil and made a HUGE difference. In only a few weeks he is looking much better!

Good Luck!
 
Equijewel. It's incredible and you can add it in addition to your current feeds.

Fed this to a ver old mare that came as a cruelty case. We were going into the winter and didn't think she'd make it. Fed her this and Alfa Oil, Bailey condit cubes 3 times and day with ad lib hay and had to CUT her feed in the Feb as she was getting too fat!! Highly recommend
 
Sounds like what you are doing is perfect, the one thing you must not do is stuff her full of hard feed. Oil is a good way of getting extra calories in.

If you don't have good grass to put her on then let her have as much hay as she wants.

Most importantly give her time and take it s l o w l y....
 
Best thing to get weight on is unlimited forage. As much hay as she will eat. 3 meals a day and a big bucket of chaff at night too. A good splash of oil in each feed plus gentle exercise in hand or on the lunge.
 
I know how you feel. I too put my mare out on full loan to then get her back late feb, in a bit of a sorry state :(. Although she wasnt underfed, she was just worked far to hard and her teeth were well overdue and her coat very poor.

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However after about 4 weeks of spring grass, regular meals of Hi fi original, Baileys conditioning cubes and oil, plenty of haylage and some much needed TLC this was her...

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She is still doing fab, but being 20 it is taking slightly longer. Good luck with yours, would love to see updates!
 
oil and linseed - look up simple systems feeds I have just changed as my mare was looking really poor and reacts badly to lots of sugary grass, I can already see the change in her
 
Linseed and Seaweed are fantastic fot coat, skin, feet, loads of minerals in them. And not exactily expensive!
Sounds like you are doing the right thing.
Pleanty of turnout, as much forage as she will eat but small and regular feeds if possible. You don't want to overwhelm her system.
Ditto others with get the vet out to take bloods, could be a medical reason for the loss of weight.
 
Wow katey you did a good job! I'll try post some pics of her , seaweed I bought today :-) she needs an immune system boost I think I don't know if the girl even fed her . You can't trust anyone with your animals
 
Perissa said:
Sounds like what you are doing is perfect, the one thing you must not do is stuff her full of hard feed. Oil is a good way of getting extra calories in.

If you don't have good grass to put her on then let her have as much hay as she wants.

Most importantly give her time and take it s l o w l y....
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Completely agree with this. Suddenly putting her on lots of hard feed will do far more harm than good. I would give her all the haylage or grass she wants and just a small feed of a good fibre feed such as Spillers conditioning fibre and Allen and Page Fast fibre twice a day. Once she starts to gain weight then worm her with one of the milder wormers and go from there.
 
nat_a_528 said:
I was advised by a worming advisor to use pancur wormer then after a week worm with a standard wormer
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Yes that would be fine. You jut need to avoid the really strong wormers such as Equimax and Equest Pramox with horses in very poor condition. Of course, they are excellent to use with healthy horses.
 
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