Skinny TB- What do we think?

Blaise

Blaise

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Hi guys, Just wondering what your opinions were (re weight) on my new girl. Have had her for a few weeks now, came to me very skinny (from a dodgy dealer) and generally quite poor. Was quite aggressive over food, didnt like being groomed & just a very 'moody mare'. She's turning out to be such a sweetie, coming round to grooming and even starting to enjoy it now, far less aggressive over food and has turned out to be very sensible. Took her on a walk (in hand) the other day down a bridle path she's never seen before, past tractors, bikes, dogs jumping up from behind gates etc.. and she really didn't bat an eyelid
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Just wondering what you all thing about the wieght she's gained & how she's looking now. Have taken photos over the last 3 weeks so i can see how much she's putting on.

Week 1

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Week 2
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Week 3

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She's currently on 3 feeds per day, 2 stubbs scoops of mollichaff showshine, 2 reg scoops of Baileys Top Line Conditioning Mix and 2 scoops of Dengie Alpha Beet + apples & carrots. She also has as much hay & haylage mixed as she can get through at night, turned out in the day. Vet came out on tues to do vaccs & didnt think she looked too bad but she hasn't seen the progress pics to comment from.

Soooooo what do we think? She's a 10 year old TB by the way. No idea about where she's come from or what she's done in the past sadly
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Do know she's been out of work for at least 9-10 months though so has lost any muscle she had.
 
Good progress
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The muscle will come with time and plenty of hacking initially, in 6 months time you'll probably be overwhelmed when looking back at the first photo!
 
I think you have done really well with her and she looks much better already. You can tell she hasn't been in work as she looks very weak. Take it steady bringing her back in to work, as you don't know her history then I guess there is a possibility she was out of work due to an injury. Hope it all goes well for you.
 
Well done you for rescuing her from whatever sort of home she came from in the past. She looks good and things can only get better. It will take time and if you have that and patience the end result should be a very nice horse.
 
Now that's shown what a good wellfed Tb can look like (bought tears to my eyes), it just goes to show that they are not all thin naturally. Utterly fantastic. Well done. You have worked wonders in just 3 weeks!!!!

... and just to prove the point, about skinny TB's - here's my skinny one!!

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She looks so much better - well done.
She now looks a bit 'pot bellied' - I'm not sure what you've done re worming. But I would suggest sending as dropping sample off to (poss Westgate, but there are others...) labs for analysis.
Obviously still very poor on the top line (partic her neck) but you are feeding Conditioning mix. I would slowly increase her hacking. Do plenty of work in walk & build up from there. Working correctly & the Conditioning mix will help to build the top line.
Hope this helps.

PS mine started off like this 7 years ago (he was 5 - looked 25) - complete with lice! We've never looked back since! It is a long (ish) process but well worth it in the end!
 
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It will take time and if you have that and patience the end result should be a very nice horse.

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We've got all the time in the world. There would have to be very extreme circumstances for me to ever sell her. She's stuck with me for good
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Rotchana- your horse is beautiful. Is that her foal behind?

Thanks for all of your comments & advice guys, all appreciated
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Did a FEC as soon as i had her as i guessed she prob wouldnt have been wormed but came back clean surprisingly! Did her with an Equest Pramox last week & will get another count done in 12-13 weeks so the result doesnt throw a false negative. Glad to hear your boy came good too-
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I would try Panacur 5 day course as that usually seems to sort out the last of any worm problems- I think in some cases it works better than any other similar wormers.
Good luck with her and keep us updated!!
 
well done she looks considerably better ,by summer you wont even recognise those 1st phots, best of luck with her x
 
Well done you for putting weight on her so quikley and realising she will be food protective for awhile and when the summer grass comes through, she will put weight on nicely. Just be carefull about feeding her as I have a youngster that was in poor shape and he gets stressed come feedtime. He means no harms just wants his food and left in peace while he eats it, he does a lovely tap dance in the mornings while I make up their feeds, but at lest he's stopped rearing and trying to climb over the stable door.
 
Looks like you have done really well!! Just needs work to get the top line! Very rewarding but had work! Don't be afraid to cut the food back as the weather warms and the grass starts to grow, you want a nice balanced neddy not a raving loon and after such a skinny start it is hard to stop feeding up! Says she who fed blue chip midsummer and had a completly overcooked pony!! Good Luck!!
 
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