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

All i can say is 'shocking'....

My 13year old TB is in good condition due to her being given the best care, food and excercise possible.Granted this was summer but she still looks like this coming out of winter. I would not dare post a picture of my mare looking like that poor horse.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/picture.php?albumid=85&pictureid=827
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I think I must have seen too many cruelty cases because while I agree this horse looks poor, I do think her conformation and lack of muscle isn't helping. Even in the summer photo where she is covered, she doesn't look great (sorry OP...don't mean to offend).
We do seem to get distracted by what we want them to 'look' like.
Don't get me wrong...I agree this horse needs some tlc and agree about seperating her so she can get her fair share of the grub and to stop working her.
I have a horse who got in a right state a few years back because his circumstances didn't suit him. He was sharing a field with a couple of others and apparently was fed 3 times a day, had several rugs on and had ad lib hay BUT he ended up like this:
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apparently he needed a stable but actually all he needed IMO was a stress free environment.
This horse didn't take long to turn around and now lives out 24/7/365 on a token feed and adlib hay or grass. He is mostly naked but wears a mediumweight rug through the worst of winter or when it is very wet.
He now looks like this..
summer
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winter
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but can still look a bit odd in some photo's because of his conformation...like this:
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So, OP, for what its worth....my advice would be to either move fields, seperate her from the others or have her with just one other so that you can give her an individual feed according to her needs and enough hay that she has some left in the morning. Atm, you cannot monitor what she is or isn't getting and its pretty clear she isn't getting her fair share. Check your hay is decent quality and make that her main feed. Then top up with her hard feed.
 
I am too deeply shocked by how this mare looks - let alone the fact she has actually been worked. I am not at all suprised you have been reported.
I am sorry but it doesn't appear you have the knowledge to bring this mare back into health. You need some help immediately or the horse needs to be removed from your care.
Please do something about this today OP. There is no excuse for her to be looking like this.
 
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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I am afraid I don't think that is an acceptable excuse. If OP is young I could understand that she is does not appreciate the commitment required in owning a horse. Her parents however have taken on the responsibility of an animal and they must either care for it, rehome it or decide to have it PTS.

This mare looks very poor, she needs to see the vet and I can see why someone would call the RSPCA about her. If steps are being taken to bring her back to good health and a decent weight, that is fine - these things take time. However, I am not entirely sure from the OPs posts that the right things are being done for this animal.
 
_HP_ I have to say that the chesnut in your photo looks a lot better to me than OP's mare, although to be fair I don't ahev experience with rescue horses.

I would also imagine that muscle tone is very relevant in this case. The mare has so little muscle tone the saddle must pinch her spine and it must be really hard for her to do any ridden work.
 
Oh yes...agree Booboos...I wouldn't be riding her and I doubt her saddle even fits at all.

In the original thread about my boy, people were outraged at the state of him and put him at much older than he apparently was. The owner was convinced she was doing everything she could for him and all he needed was a stable but it wasn't. What he needed was the correct environment for HIM, which is actually what all horses should have (IMO). A stress free, relaxing environment with ad lib forage and a bit of company.:)

*assuming they are otherwise healthy of course
 
I would suggest that you get the horse checked out immediately by a specialist equine vet so as to determine what is wrong with the horse. Get a full health check done and some blood samples taken. I would also ensure that it is rugged up at night and also in the day if it is cold/raining. Most certainly do not lunge the horse. How often and with what are you worming the horse? If the horse dows not come in at night it would be beneficial to bring it in at night (but have arug on it).
 
She clearly hasnt made any progress in a month, so you clearly are not doing enough!!

Poor girl wont last another 6 months if you carry on. After 4 week there should be an improvement!! Just goes to show that the RSPCA arnt doing their job properly.
 
I don't believe that this horse is healthy tbh; looking at the vids posted on the other thread and the fact that she hadn't been ridden for a couple years before she was bought without being tried, added to the fact that she 'plays up' I am convinced that this horse probably has serious back issues. The fact that she has been ridden since could well account for the change in weight since coming from the dealers, a horse with pain burns fat faster than anything! Watching the vid that horse is definitely in some discomfort and not just playiing up. Perhaps she hadn't been ridden for a few years for a very valid reason?

It is sad that a horse has ended up in such a state, but I also blame the parents for not taking any responsibility for this horse, it shouldn't be left to a teenager to sort out.
 
The mare is poor, but hardly dying. Jade you need to take some advice and start feeding her properly in order for her condition to improve. Contact a feed company, and take their advice. There are so many options out there I won't begin to offer advice regarding which one you shoud use, but agree forage is important. I have an elderly TB, 28, who has no top line at all, he has muscle wastage either side of his already high withers. Whatever I do he will not improve in thie area. He had it when I got him, and still has it now. (BUT, at the age of 22 I have a pic of him looking twice the size of your mare.) However, the rest of him looks fine, he has a good covering everywhere else, and when we occasionally go for a quite hack, he looks a different horse with a saddle on as you can't see the muscle wastage.

He doesn't really lose condition over winter and literally gets as much to eat as he wants. He has ad lib haylage, and is separated from the natives that I also keep so that he gets to eat as much as he can. They are on constant diets and get ad lib NOTHING, so keeping them apart is important.

Re the patches, my boy got a few odd patches this winter for the first time ever. Not from saddle rubs (they weren;t anywhere near saddle area) not from rain scald (good quality, waterproof rugs) so I really don;t know what they were from but they were just bald and have now grown back.

If you are indeed under 18 and do not have knowledgdeable or supportive paretns there are still things you can do. Get help from the person on here that has offered. Get a part time job/paperround whatever. Even if you only earn £10 per week that will pay for a good quality bag of feed to give in addition to whatever ewlse she is having.

There is no need in this day and age for horses to come out of winter looking that bad.
 
To be honest, if the cause of her condition is pain related (and from watching the vids I strongly believe that it is) then extra feed isn't going to put her right. This horse needs a proper veterinary examination as soon as possible as well as feed addressing.
 
DiablosGold said:
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.
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Ditto this.

I'm appalled, totally appalled, I just feel sick to my stomach. Your poor girl deserves better than this. If you can't supply it, let someone take her on that will do things properly for her.
The RSPCA, as usual are useless; they should have seized this horse and given her the care she needs or if beyond help, done the decent thing for her.
 
You've had some wonderful advice on here, and I really feel you want what's best for your mare, but she needs some big changes in her routine. When I took my boy on he was in a really bad way (he was in his late twenties):
Baxhorrid1.jpg

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With as much haylage as he could eat until I found good grazing a couple of weeks later, and 4 small feeds of Baileys topline and sugarbeet a day, with no excercise and a good rug he went to this within 4 months:
Baxbetter.jpg


I'm posting this to show you that it can be done, and it's amazing how quickly you can see the results if you put the effort in. I'd also say that I wormed him once he had gained a bit of weight, and he certainly had some nasties so make sure that her worming is up to date. Words are all very good but you need to put them in to action, now. Good luck x x
 
May I also add to my post (as it won't let me edit it) that I urge you to get a vet out to rule out any underlying issues that may be causing/contributing to her weight loss.
 
I agree there is most probably an underlying issue.

This is what Monty (a full tb!!) Looked like in December at 29 (ish) years old.

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This horse definately needs a vet. All the feed in the world will not help if there is a pain/teeth related issue. I also think she could be alot older than she was sold as. She could have an age-related illness.
 
Well, if we're sharing pics of oldies... Here's a pony i had on loan when i was younger. She was classed as a "bad doer" by her owners as once she got to about 20 she couldnt keep condition on with the Spillers 16+ food and looked quite poor. She was a tb x arab.

We only had her a year, within a couple of weeks of her coming to live with us we had her on a conditioning mix and sugar beet and her condition improved drastically. She just didnt do well on the 16+, so i think it is important to find a food that is right for your individual horse and not just go for what you feed the others, or food that is designed for an older horse.

This was her when i first got her:

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And a couple of months later:

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She was 28 years old in the pictures above, so old doesnt automatically mean they have to be skinny.
 
OP - There has been a lot of good advice given on here and it will take you a while to work your way through it all but the most important things to do are

1 Get the vet out asap for a check up - I assume you didn't have her vetted on purchase?

2 Stop any kind of work - no lunging and nor riding - until vet has been and ruled out anything that maybe causing pain.

3 Once any health problems have been ruled out you need to look at her diet - the single most important thing for weight gain is to make sure their diet has enough fibre - so ad lib hay/haylage, chaff, speedibeet etc etc and oil can be added. They are not expensice options.

If necessary fence of a section of field for her so she doesn't get bullied off her food - she needs access to fibre 24/7.

PM me - I can put you in touch with some one from the BHS who can come out and help and give you advice to help your mare.
 
I realy don't think this horse should be having any work done with it at all. I agree with those that have said the weight loss looks pain related. I think the origonal poster wants what is best for the mare and right now i think it needs some time off so that the feed can do it's work and a visit from the vet to check all is well with the horse internaly. Lucy is atleast 20 and this is how she looked in the summer :)
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A picture of health doing showing, jumping and endurance rides of up to and inclu 80km.
But this is her now :(
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She was diagnosed with a rare illness in Nov and although the vets where happy for me to still ride her i have stopped as i feel she is to thin. I am hopeing she will put weight on soon when the grass grows. She is currently on special weight gain food morning and night and ad lib haylidge (she lives on her own so i know she gets it all and her net is NEVER empty) she is putting on weight slowly but if i worked her she would use the energy from her food during the excercise instead of putting weight on. I love riding Lucy and i am sad that i can't ride her at the mo but i have to do whats best for her.
Also i agree if you can't give the horse the care it need for what ever reason you need to give it to someone who can. I mean that in the nicest possable way. Please don't take offence. I know how hard it is i had to give a lovely young cob away afew years ago due to cercomstances beyond my control and it broke my heart to do it (i also lost quite a bit of money) but i had to do what was best for the pony and i don't regret what i did because i know it was the right thing for him.
 
QR

IMHO I cant see anything really wrong with her ? Yes , shes a bit thin and her coat dull but I've seen much worse at the local riding school.

1) I would deff get a vet to check she has no problems with her teeth or digestive system that are stopping her from digesting food properly. Also get them to check there are no problems with her back ect.

2) I wouldnt ride her for a while until she's built up a bit more muscle / weight.

3) Feed her lots of meals consisting of a build up feed ,chaff,succulents(apples,carrots ect) , oil , sugar beet ect.

Keep us updated :)
 
IMHO I cant see anything really wrong with her ? Yes , shes a bit thin and her coat dull but I've seen much worse at the local riding school.
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Thank goodness you only hire horses, instead of owning them.......:cool:
 
Just to let her know I'd replied back to hers?

I'm useless and never check my PM's or notifications half the time.
 
ljpinkhorse said:
IMHO I cant see anything really wrong with her ? Yes , shes a bit thin and her coat dull but I've seen much worse at the local riding school.
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I really hope that you are joking!!!!

I would not go to a riding school that had horses in this condition working in the school, and I would report them to everyone under the sun. A horse in this condition should not be being ridden.

I've been to riding schools where I have been less than impressed with the horses condition, and simply voted with my feet but none were in the state this mare is in. At the riding school i currently ride at the horses are all without exception in excellent condition and a good weight. They have appropriate management to ensure that the ponies don't get laminitis and the oldies and poor doers don't get thin. If that means a different turn out regime or a change of stable or extra rugs they get it. If they can't be managed in the school environment an appropriate home is found for them where they can be managed. They have at least one pony that is over 25 and still wins showing classes and looks half his age, and several over 18 that are in super condition.

Do not lull the OP into a false sense of security. This mare needs attention from a vet and a full review of her management. I'm sure that if the OP is committed to her she will be able to get this horse back on track but it will take some work as she is in very poor condition.
 
If you have seen worse at your local riding school then report them. I run a riding school and would NEVER allow any client to ride a horse like that.
The pics I posted earlier are my older riding school horses.
People drive me mad when then always associate riding schools with skinny rough looking animals!
 
If a riding school has horses looking how you've described then they'll seriously be failing their vet inspection this year.
 
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