Skinny Mare...Hows She Looking?? + HACK FROM HELL (Long Sorry)

Poor lass looks like she is not doing very well at all. How old is she? Is her rug completly waterproof as it looks though she may have rain scald. Teeth checked by equine dentist? Worming programme up to date?
If she were mine she would not be ridden or lunged untill she can put some weight on, its just not fair on her when she is so poor.Sad.:(
 
3Beasties said:
I don't think she looks any better in the 2nd lots of pictures either :confused: :(

3 weeks should be long enough to see a difference, my horse has had a tough winter and was looking like **** not so long ago (not all diet related!) I changed his feed and gave him ad-lib hay and he went from looking like this
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A week later he was looking like this
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As others have said I would give her ad-lib hay, bring her in at night if you can and give her a good conditioning feed. She really needs some TLC.
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Wow! that was a great turn around! what did you feed him?
 
I have a 24 year old 7/8 TB mare who also has muscle wastage due to arthritis in her hindlegs, but although she lacks muscle on her hindquarters she is still far more covered than your mare is, so that is really no excuse for her looking so poor.

I know you are already giving her Build Up, but you ought to make sure she is getting the correct amount for her size, so give Dodson & Horrell a call or an email to get their advice on how much to give. By the sound of things, though, the real reason she is poor is because she is not getting enough forage. I understand she gets too stressed being stabled, but you need to either electric fence a separate paddock for her so you can give her adlib hay or haylage OR if that is not possible, then everyday (and ideally twice a day) take her outside of the field for at least an hour and let her fill herself up on as much good quality haylage as possible. Yes, it will take up a lot of your time to do this, but surely your mare is worth it.

I agree with the other posters that she shouldn't be worked at the moment, especially if she is getting sweated up and stressed as she will be burning off even more calories.

I do hope that in a month's time you will be able to post some photos showing a real improvement in her condition, and good on you for being brave enough to come back on here and ask for more feedback and advice.
 
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I didn't reply to your previous post but read most of the replies which gave you helpful advice. I am afraid that I think your mare looks worse if anything. If she were mine I would certainly not be riding her or lunging her. She needs her teeth checking and a worm egg count doing. If her teeth are bad and/or she has worms - no amount of feeding is going to help her. You obviously haven't any grass (and most of us haven't), but there is no sign of hay in the photos - and this may just be how they were taken. Once her teeth and worming programme have been sorted out, get in touch with an equine nutritionist or failing that, all the main feed companies have helplines. She needs access to ad lib good quality hay and a proper feeding regime. She is an old mare and it will take a long time to get her back into reasonable condition.
 
oh Jadeyy, i really feel for you. you are obviously a lovely girl, you've come on here, and been really honest. not got defensive, and tried to listen to the advice given.

but, i don't think you can do this yourself, without the help of someone a bit more knowledgable. why don't you take Weezy up on her offer? she will be able to help. and i'm sure she'll be nice, friendly etc.

i know it all sounds scary and expensive. but there are ways of doing it more cheaply, if the cost of things is a concern for you - someone mentioned earlier about buying the feed as straights instead of branded mixes etc. people on here will gladly lend/give you rugs (i offered on the last post and so did someone else). at the end of the day, the worse you let it get, the more expensive it is going to get... and the more damage you'll do to the horse who you love dearly. this really is a serious case, and could easily result in you losing you horse (either RSPCA or she could die)

no one is doubting that you love your horse and you want to do your best for her... but you're damaging her. and making her poorly. look how beautiful/strong/healthy she was in the summer photos. don't you wish she was like that again? just sitting doing nothing won't get her back to that. my horse is a 'bad doer' and doesn't winter well. and i'm sure there are hundreds of people on here who have bad doers... but i doubt anyone's horse looks like Lady.

Good luck, pleeeeease PM weezzy and ask if she can come and take a look for you. xxx
 
I read your last post, and have to say I think your very brave for coming on here and asking what to do. Now you just need to pick out the good points that will help.

We have a TB thats 22 years old and lives out, he has a big bale of haylage and 2 feeds a day. (Spillers seinor, build up) This is him. (Chestnut)

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I also had an arab that was 20 years old when I got him he looked like your mare, I didn't ride him for 6 months!! I just groomed him and feed him, he had hay but he had as much as he could eat, so hay can work. He was also fed on Alfa A Oil, Spillers Cool and Conditioning, Speedi beat and a big blob of oil 3 times a day. I started working him when he looked like this... (still on that amount of feed, and still thin)

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I had to ride him as he came at you on the lunge, but we hacked loads in walk and a little trot as he got stronger.

Good luck to you both and I would ask the H&Her on here to come round, theres nothing wrong in asking, as you know. :)
 
I agree she looks worse and the fact you are still riding her is awful to be totally blunt - that horse needs a few months off to recover - her saddle must be really painful as it won't be fitting properly!! I would ignore the RSPCA - they are useless and haven't a clue about horses. You come on here asking for advice - so you must be old enough to realise something is wrong so you can't blame ignorance here - yet you have ignored everyones good advice!!:(
Where are your parents - get them to read the posts on here if they are not horsey people as they need to step in here and take responsibility for this poor animal - legally it is their responsibility if you are under 18 anyway - it is not a toy just to ride when you feel like it!!

This horse needs add-lib haylage NOW - add-lib means as much as she can eat 24/7 - most of my horses are good doers, even the TB's, as I feed them properly, they have half of one of those big round bale feeders bolted to the wall in their stable and the whole thing is full of haylage, so about 2 small bales worth - this lasts 24 hrs for 1 horse!! Feeding a feed just because you feed the others on it is a pathetic excuse when you have been given sound advice from everyone here that you need to tailor a feed to an individual horse.

You should of had the vet out weeks ago when you first posted which you said you were going to and have still not done that.

To be totally blunt you know this horse is in really bad condition yet you have done nothing, you seem to think getting a ride out of the poor old animal is more important than its welfare - PLEASE either find a better home for her where someone does actually care about her, or do something NOW as it is a welfare case - don't care what the RSPCA say that poor horse WILL die if you continue the way you are going - this is not people getting at you for not doing your homework this is an animals life!!!!! Take up Wheezy's offer and get someone who knows about horses, and yes it will cost you a lot of money to get her back on track but horses are an expensive luxury you have to have money in the first place other wise you shouldn't own one. Sorry to be so blunt but it looks like this is the only way to get through to you how serious this is - everyone who has posted only has the horses best interests at heart and it makes a lot of people angry when they see this sort of neglect.
 
She does look very poor still and that is with a very fluffy coat on her. Hopefully she is getting more hay than what I read about last time if not please add more. I to, would not ride her (purely because to ride they need extra energy (or any energy) and she really needs this forherself just to try and build up, you don't want to take away anything from a horse that looks like that)

Long line her at walk and slowly start to add some topline. Break everything down into stages. Have you got a weigh tape? If so, jot down the results and keep a tab of your progress.


I will say though you obviously care very much about your Mare. So best of luck and keep us posted on how she comes on.

xxxx
 
I hope you don't mind, but I have to say, why longline her? Let her get a bit of flesh on her bones before worrying about topline. She can't build muscle until her body stops eating the muscle it has. The other downside with suggesting longlining is that it would be easy to overdo it and for it to become "work". She just doesn't need it. The only walking I'd do with this mare would be to take her out in-hand and let her eat some nice grass for an hour or two while I sat reading a book.
 
Hey first of all well done for seeking advice which can't be easy as people are bound to be judgemental.

I sympathise as my young gelding is hard to keep weight on but you do have to do further investigation into your mare as she is severely underweight. Get a worm count done and get the vet to check her over as she may well be older or have an underlying condition.

If she is ok I agree with not riding her and increasing her forage.
When I first got my gelding I had him on conditioning feeds and was riding 6 days a week and while he wasn't loosing any he wasn't putting on either.
Through winter I cut this back to 4 times a week and changed his feed to alfa a oil redigrass and multi vit supplement. This has worked.

Good luck you obviously love your horse but you do need help.
 
Looking at the ridden pics makes me feel very uncomfortable; this is a horse needing specialist care and is not getting it

OP please get some competent adult help - your girl deserves it.
 
I saw the last post but didn't comment. I have a WB who is loses weight at the drop of the hat and know how hard it is to keep weight on but I am not sure that you are still doing everything you can (sorry)

Please don't exercise her, she needs to keep all the calories she can. If you feel she is getting bored or stiff then do some in hand walking with her.

Please make sure she is rugged well - at some points if the winter gets bitterly cold I had to triple rug my horse to keep him warm - those patches look like rain scald so somewhere the rug is leaking.

Cannot recommend alfabeet enough for putting weight on - it did wonders for my horse. I used alfa beet, alfa a oil and topspec conditioning cubes, plus veg oil three times a day. Plus unlimited (good) grass and hay at night. Like someone else suggested - could she be fenced off in the field so you know she is 100% getting the hay you put out for her. She isn't strong or fit enough to really stop other horses from pushing her off the hay out in the field.

Good luck and looking foward to the next update
 
She is far too thin. This horse is 16 yrs old ( so not much younger than yours) We bought him before xmas having wintered out for 2 yrs with no rug on:
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He had muscle wastage and has scabs ect.
We have fed him ad lib hay, Chaff, Sugar beet and Nuts and he has thrived. He has been very well rugged.
We also got him wormed and teeth done. I didn't ride him until he was looking better.
The picture was taken 2 weeks ago
 
Jadeyy,

You obviously love this mare and want the best for her but you are not accepting advice. Your horse is very very poor and the RSPCA will keep coming out while she looks like this.

You need to do something urgently.

It is clear from your posts that you don't have much in the way of support from knowledgeable horsey adults and I think the best thing you could do is PM Weezy and take her up on the offer. She is very knowledgeable and will help you understand what is best for your mare.

You need to take action to help this horse.

Horses are expensive and it might cost you a bit of money to get her right but if you can't afford to feed properly her then you shouldn't keep her. Get some help with her NOW and give this mare the help she needs.

Please keep posting and letting us know how you are getting on, but you MUST ,ake some significant changes for the sake of this mare.

Contact Weezy, it will make all the difference in the world to have some help in real life from someone who can see the mare in the flesh and give you proper support.
 
Hello again, from reading your previous posts you bought this horse unridden from a dealer and she hadn't been ridden for 1.5 yrs and then had a broncing session when your brother sat on her? To me this is shouting pain issues, is this also the same mare that lost a foal and has been diagnosed with arthritis? To be honest I suspect she is much older than the eighteen years you have been told.

I'm not trying to have a go, but pointing out that I think that this mare has deep seated issues that can only be possible to resolve with professional help, and you need an adult to step in and take responsibility.

Would your parents be happy to pay for veterinary treatment? What do they say about the mare's condition? Consulting a nutritionist is also a must, most feed companies will give free advice and you could e-mail pics for her condition, they will be better and less confusing than loads of different recommendations.

Whatever you do you need to do something, even if it's just to get the all clear to set your mind at rest that correct feeding will get her back on track.
 
Jadeyy

I am sure you love your mare but I am sorry to say that The Beatles got it wrong and you do need more than love.

Having read through both posts I think that you are still not aware of the urgency of the situation. In your first post your concern was over your dispute with the neighbours who had called the RSPCA and posted pictures on facebook and not over the condition - or lack of - of Lady. It was only after you posted the photos that we realised what she looked like.

You have been given a lot of positive advise and support to assist you in overcoming your ignorance of horse care and management. Please follow up on it and do get your vet out soonest.

I also agree that Lady does look older than 18 and if so, will definitely require specialist help. I have a 25 year old TBx who has wintered out - he has arthritis from being a polo pony - and with appropriate rugging and feeding looks well.
 
Dorani - Thanks :) I changed him to a fibre only diet (he had been on build up cubes) so he is now fed

1 scoop of fast fibre with a handful of Just Grass - in the morning
1 scoop of Topspec Alfa Chop with some sugar beet - at night

I also give him a tub trug of Just Grass to munch on over night as well as ad-lib hay.

None of the above feeds are expensive and my feed bill has now gone down since I changed him over, wasn't expecting such a change in a week so I was really pleased :)
 
OMG she looks awful, can't believe it, no wonder you were reported.

In the time you have to implement the advice the forum has given you, she should be much better than that - and you should be feeding 3 meals a day, each with sugarbeet.
I find you appalling, and will not post on this threa again as you don't properly take advice
 
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I applaud you for coming on here with 'live' photos of your mare. You knew you were going to get it in the neck from alot of us, so it is a very brave thing to do. You are well aware of your skinny mare, and the fact that you are asking for help is one step in the right direction.
Some TB's are very tricky to get weight on, they have their own 'stresy' minds! This is often a bad time of year for mares too, as the first season of spring is often enough to put them off food - even when they most need it. (silly mares!)
What we would really like to hear you have done is the following;
1, Stop all of the mares work - let her chill out in the field.
2, Ad lib hay (even better would be haylage)
3, Worm her
4, Get vet out to run routine blood tests
5, Get her teeth checked and confirm her age
6, Up her feed, including adding barely (good for weight gain) oil and feed her as an individual, not part of the herd. (possibly even 3 feeds a day)
7, Make sure her rug doesn't leak and fits her without rubbing
8, THEN check her tack fits.

In the meantime, try your best to keep her stress free.
Good luck, looking forward to progress reports.
 
This is a wind up right??

You firstly start a thread about how you are always being reported to the rspca, and how you feel its unfounded. Then you start another thread, to have a moan about how she misbehaved when you rode her.

This horse did not get in this condition over night! This has obviously gone on for some time. As for those who are posting about the OP being a careing worried owner??? Are we reading the same posts?

The Op is not on here asking for advice, they are on here moaning about how bad there poor mare is behaving under saddle, and how much of an inconveinance it is to be reported by the rspca. Every bit of advice has been palmed off with a blaze' response or a pathetic excuse. i dont for one miniute beleive this horse is getting any more feed, or that money is being spent on it. it seems to me that for as long as the poor thing is able to stand you will continue to ride her. You are now at a stage where you are just tellign us all what we want to hear to shut us up. I woudl be mortified if i had a horse in yoru condition, i woudl nto be putting photos up and moaning about how bad they went for me under saddle. Is this some sort of perverse attempt of attention seeking?

Im sorry but if i lived near you, i would call out every horse charirty that would listen, intill this mare was removed from your care. Its one thing that your mare looks like a redwings case, but to be riding it as well!!!! you are having a laugth!!

I guess the op wont have wheezy come out to help becasue either they are a)in denial b) dont want to loose out on the attention this poor mare is gaining the op or c) dosntt want anyone to know how this mare is really kept!

This horse needs help asap!!!! A vet out now today, is a good place to start!!!
 
Im wondering if OP has actually read or is reading any of the brilliant advice that has been given?! Poor mare :(
 
KingCharles said:
This is a wind up right??

You firstly start a thread about how you are always being reported to the rspca, and how you feel its unfounded. Then you start another thread, to have a moan about how she misbehaved when you rode her.

This horse did not get in this condition over night! This has obviously gone on for some time. As for those who are posting about the OP being a careing worried owner??? Are we reading the same posts?

The Op is not on here asking for advice, they are on here moaning about how bad there poor mare is behaving under saddle, and how much of an inconveinance it is to be reported by the rspca. Every bit of advice has been palmed off with a blaze' response or a pathetic excuse. i dont for one miniute beleive this horse is getting any more feed, or that money is being spent on it. it seems to me that for as long as the poor thing is able to stand you will continue to ride her. You are now at a stage where you are just tellign us all what we want to hear to shut us up. I woudl be mortified if i had a horse in yoru condition, i woudl nto be putting photos up and moaning about how bad they went for me under saddle. Is this some sort of perverse attempt of attention seeking?

Im sorry but if i lived near you, i would call out every horse charirty that would listen, intill this mare was removed from your care. Its one thing that your mare looks like a redwings case, but to be riding it as well!!!! you are having a laugth!!

I guess the op wont have wheezy come out to help becasue either they are a)in denial b) dont want to loose out on the attention this poor mare is gaining the op or c) dosntt want anyone to know how this mare is really kept!

This horse needs help asap!!!! A vet out now today, is a good place to start!!!
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Well said - but prob best not to give OP (troll?) any more attention
 
I didn't comment on the last post as I felt plenty of people had given good advice.

I am only commenting to say that I think posters should stop urging the OP to contact Weezy. She is not going to and why would she? I think it is irresponsible to ask a random stranger off the internet to advise you on your horse. (This is not a dig at Weezy - she may know heaps- I have only the opinion of a forum users I have never met, nor seen their horses).

The OP should stop riding their horse and get their vet out to discuss her condition and take it from there.
 
I am sitting here sadly shaking my head. I am not sure that everyone is seeing the same horse that I am, but she certainly hasn't improved in condition since the last photo, and the thought of her being saddled and ridden is just appalling. To suggest that she be lunged in a Pessoa is just astonishing to me!
There is no point in me 'offering advice' because there is plenty already, and sadly I am not sure that OP is able to follow it. I have no idea what adult backing she has, financially or otherwise, but any responsible adult who would watch a pony get into the sorry condition that this one is, certainly is not supportive.
A child without means would be unable to fund the diet and care (vet, wormers, saddler, feed) necessary to help this poor horse. And I wonder what the mare's field mates are like?

Sorry. I guess I have said enough, but I am frankly really upset by this.

I would add that the horse in my signature is 25 years old.
 
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OP, I appreciate your heart is in the right place, but you do sound a bit young and lost with respect to this mare.

The mare is in very poor condition, she may well have an underlying problem and you need the vet out ASAP (not next week, not next month, TOMORROW). If you are under 18 your parents need to take responsibility for the welfare of this horse because something needs to be done now.
 
Do bear in my if op is under 18, and parents dont know anything about horses/animals they probably wont be willing to pay for lots of vets visits/expensive feed!
 
I run a riding school. We have old horses here. They look well. They are wormed regularly, they have the dentist, the are kept clipped and tidy so the rugs don't rub, they are worked according to their condition. They wear plenty of good rugs and are fedd adlib quality hay. The older horses have sugar beet, barley, build up and alfa a oil as well as a veteran supplement or 16 plus.

We would not have a horse in the school who looked like that in any work.
This is Ally- she is in her late teens early twenties:
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This is Tosca- he is in his mid/late twenties:
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This is Brandy- in his twenties:
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This is Jasper- late twenties:
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And this is Sox- she is in her mid twenties:
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April- twenty:
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There is no need for a horse to look light that. If you have taken the advice and she still is that poor then she needs the vet to blood test her.
 
wench said:
Do bear in my if op is under 18, and parents dont know anything about horses/animals they probably wont be willing to pay for lots of vets visits/expensive feed!
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In which case they shouldn't have horses and the mare should be removed, and they obviously have more than one.
 
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