TB a bit ribby - tips on feeding/rugging please

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lucky7

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My TB was doing so well out 24/7 and after a decent summer went into winter chubby and well covered.
She has been turned away till spring so in no form of work.
With the mild weather she has been in a MW turn out combo with a woolen blanket underneath, she has felt warm and at times i had to remove the neck as she was sweaty. She is fed 5 handfuls chaff, scoop of sugar beet and a scoop of barley twice per day per feed and has been having hay am and pm with my other horse as well as whats left of the grass.
Now, its dropped a bit cooler so i took her rugs off to change them and was surprised to find she has lost a bit of weight (within 5 days i went away and had someone looking after her) shes a bit ribby now :( i have upped her hay to ad-lib so putting alot out at night and finding they have lots left in the morning and just topping it up (started this friday). She is now in a quilted combo under-rug with her MW turnout combo over and she feels warm.
The temp in the day has been between 6 and 10 degrees and of a night between 2 and 6 degrees over the past few days/nights.
Am hoping the weight will creep back on, but she is a notoriously poor doer :rolleyes:
Shes with my cob whos fat and naked :rolleyes:
Any tips would be good, thanks
 
Rowen and Barbary Readymash Extra - superb - I had a TB which looked like a cruelty case when she came home from hospital. A couple of months on this and she was obese.....I am still trying to get the weight off her! I can't rate the food enough.
 
Is she clipped? If not then I'd be slightly concerned that she is sweating the weight off, my wimpy TB is only in a 200g over night and he's hunter clipped!

Feed wise it sounds ideal so hopefully changing to ad-lib hay will put the weight back on her.

Good luck, I know what a pain it is to keep weight on TB's over the winter!!
 
3WiseBeasties said:
Is she clipped? If not then I'd be slightly concerned that she is sweating the weight off, my wimpy TB is only in a 200g over night and he's hunter clipped!

Feed wise it sounds ideal so hopefully changing to ad-lib hay will put the weight back on her.

Good luck, I know what a pain it is to keep weight on TB's over the winter!!
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No, shes not clipped.

Doesnt seem to be sweaty neither, normally i can tell if shes been sweating by her coat - i check her throughly as in rugs off every other day just to keep an eye on her.
Fingers crossed for the ad lib hay then!
Such a contrast between her and my fat cob :rolleyes:
 
This is my neices 18 year old TB....

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He get Coolstance and chaff with hay - is still out 24/7 in a mw rug.:)
 
She's been in a medium weight with a woollen blanket and a neck and its as warm as it is?!?! WHY in gods name why?!?!?

She shouldnt feel WARM to touch at all, warm to us = hot to them.

Youve rugged her far to early and far too heavily, especially if she is living out, what on earth are you going to put on her when its -15 and snowing like last year? A radiator?!

Sorry about the rant but over rugging is as much a cruelty issue as not feeding. They cannot escape from it, cannot cool themselves down aside from sweating (hello weightloss) Then the sun comes out and beams down on them and cooks them a bit more. Then it gets cold over night and theyre damp to start with from being sweaty so they get a chill. Then the cycle repeats.
Please tell me there is a salt lick in your field so she can replace the salt she is sweating off?

A horse is far better off cooler as they can move around to warm up, stand next to other horses, eat more to convert to heat stand against a hedge etc etc

What have the temps/weather been like with you?

Micronised linseed puts weight on.
 
TigerTail said:
She's been in a medium weight with a woollen blanket and a neck and its as warm as it is?!?! WHY in gods name why?!?!?

She shouldnt feel WARM to touch at all, warm to us = hot to them.

Youve rugged her far to early and far too heavily, especially if she is living out, what on earth are you going to put on her when its -15 and snowing like last year? A radiator?!

Sorry about the rant but over rugging is as much a cruelty issue as not feeding. They cannot escape from it, cannot cool themselves down aside from sweating (hello weightloss) Then the sun comes out and beams down on them and cooks them a bit more. Then it gets cold over night and theyre damp to start with from being sweaty so they get a chill. Then the cycle repeats.
Please tell me there is a salt lick in your field so she can replace the salt she is sweating off?

A horse is far better off cooler as they can move around to warm up, stand next to other horses, eat more to convert to heat stand against a hedge etc etc

What have the temps/weather been like with you?

Micronised linseed puts weight on.
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wow - how can you rant when you haven't even read my post correctly?? i have highlighted your question regarding temperatures as i have clearly stated this in my original post.
How do you know shes too hot? you don't know my horse........every horse is different, so therefore every horse has different rugging requirements.
I assure you she is far from sweaty in the current climate :rolleyes:
 
I have almost an identical issue with my tb. He looked great coming into winter but lost weight really quickly recently.

My horse is in either a lw or mw ( no neck) and has been quite warm on a few days. Im going for a lighter rug whenever it's predicted to be a mild day.

I'm trying him on alfa a oil and alfa beet to get weight back on. He's out on excellent grazing and gets ad lib hay. I might try putting it on the floor rather than in a net to encourage him to get through a bit more.

My welsh x Arab pony is fully clipped and a perfect weight (in a mw with neck)
 
As others have said, I think you've over-rugged her, if she isn't clipped. These mild days, whe it's 11-14 C (50-56F) she shouldn't be wearing ANY rug in the daytime, and just an LW at night, in cse it rains or the wind gets up. Our 17/2 TB steeplechaser, who's out 24/7 for the first time in his life has now just gone into an MW at night and either an LW or nothing in the daytime. He doesn't get half the feed yours does and is ridden (hacked) 3 times a week.

He gets about 1.75-2 lb mollicahff, 1.50 lb coolmix and 2x 1.5 pint pots (they were cream cartons) of sugar beet twice per day, plus a 6lb haylage haynet night and morning and all the grass he can eat. He was a bit skinny, but since the haylage is starting to put on weight again.

Don't over-rug. It's not good for the horses, they will sweat the weight off, be extremely uncomfortable, and also if we get weather like last year, you are going to run out of extra rugs to put on her. Stay cool - all you need with temps. like this is a wind/rain turner
 
I found grass nuts, sugar beet or alfabeet to be very useful for keeping the weight on my TB in the winter, she used to go off them after a few weeks hence having 3 to alternate between. Ad lib haylage helped too although that might be tricky with your cob but you know best about that.

With regards rugs yours sounds in about the same as mine and she's comfortable and not too hot, you just need to judge by the horse and how they feel, not what you should be doing, hence why my clipped tb is in a 200gm combo and my unclipped ancient welsh cob is in a 400gm high neck, the welsh despises cold and doesn't move around enough to keep warm on her own, she's no warmer than the TB is when they come in!
 
My old tb came back from loan home like a bag of bones, he had been over rugged!!!! And had sweated it off, tbh I do think you are over rugging ATM , she may feel cool, that is a whole world apart from being cold, please don't forget that the heavier the layers, the less chance she has from using her natural defences , ie being able to fluff up.

A medium weight is more than enough for a tb living out 24\7, mine lived out to te grand old age of around 35!!!

Also feed, little and often, this worked for mine... Alfalfa, sb, and build up.

Good luck x
 
I think she's ok to be honest, perhaps a little on the light side and sure you wouldn't want her to lose anymore. But I don't think I'd be concerned about her.
 
rlhnlk said:
With regards rugs yours sounds in about the same as mine and she's comfortable and not too hot, you just need to judge by the horse and how they feel, not what you should be doing, hence why my clipped tb is in a 200gm combo and my unclipped ancient welsh cob is in a 400gm high neck, the welsh despises cold and doesn't move around enough to keep warm on her own, she's no warmer than the TB is when they come in!
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Spot on rlhnlk!!
Theres no way i'd over rug a horse! my tb is a comfortable under her rugs, i know her well after 6 years :rolleyes: my cob is naked and even when she was clipped (neck and belly) she was still out naked and felt toasty.
They are all different arnt they........

Hopefully the ad-lib hay should be better for her now, she is seperated from the fatty cob too so she gets the full lot whilst the cob gets rations :p
 
Goodness, you rug what is right for your horse that particular day/night. We don't always get it right but I try my best! Every horse is different so there is absolutely no point in saying OP is over rugging. I've had horses who really feel the cold and need rugging in Aug/Sept and the TB I have now is a really hot boy who has a full neck chaser clip and has been fine in either a LW or half neck MW until the last couple of days when the temperature has really dropped.
Personally, I would have a chat with your instructor or feed merchant and ask their advice. Good luck and ps she has a gorgeous coat. Not surprised you haven't had to clip, it's that lovely fine coat you can hopefully avoid clipping!!
 
I only thought you may be over rugging as you stated that she had been sweating under a neck cover which to me would indicate her being over rugged.

She looks good to me :)
 
Wow, i thought my boy was a wimp, he's blanket clipped and out in a m/w with neck attachment at night, mostly has a rainsheet over a cooler during the day! However it has been warmer here - 8 - 12 degrees. I have heard great things about milk pellets for putting weight on, although this is second hand, no idea where you get them...Maybe haylage? Or just hay hay and more hay...Can you increase her feeds to 3x a day (obv smaller portions in each) as i've heard this increases weight? Also maybe consider a conditioning cube as well? My tb has alfa a oil rather than normal chaff which is super super conditioning, and also has topspec cool conditioning cubes, and he's keeping his weight ok.
 
I personally think its over rugging. My ISH is out in the day and in at night, clipped (high trace) and shes in nothing at night and lightweight in the day. She fat! Well, only because shes not in work at the moment but Im only just starting to think about rugging at night now! No idea what you will do when it gets really cold?
 
I used to board/spell racehoses for a track based racing/breeding operation. They were given 1 cup of full fat soya meal per day, divided between feeds. Most horses find this more palatable than a liquid oil. They kept weight on beautifully and had gorgeous coats.

I was told the first three ribs should be visable on the turn. When the horse is standing straight, the ribs should not be clearly defined.
 
We have a 27 yo TB. She is doing really well on the following:

Alfa A Oil
Hi-fi cubes (you could replace for spillers slow release energy cubes if needed)

and most importantly - as much haylage as we can get into her :)



ETS - my younger TB who is about 13 now gets about the same! Course she is ridden a lot too.
 
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my TB's in m/w full neck during the day he feels normal to touch once the rugs off hes covered just a little more than your mare and hes fine hes on happy hoof and biotin and speedibeet.

at night in stable he wears a l/w stable rug with his fleece underneath and he seems fine in the monring before turn out.

working them tends to keep the weight on too. i work mine 6 days a week and he doesnt get a big feed very small compared to some peoples, and he only gets 1 net of haylege he doesnt have a morning net. stays out untill 6 gets ridden at 6.30 for appx 1 hour then 35-40 mins with out food (just fuss) then he gets his net and feet around 8.30 9pm depends really then hes out by 7.30am.

this ismy 1st winter with him, i put him on the speedibeet as begining of october he lost loads of weight randomly one day i noticed and paniced, hes done well since :)
 
I also think your horse looks fine for now, beautiful shiney coat!

My is a 6 and fully clipped out, ridden 5/6 days for around an hr.

He gets HiFi, D&H fibre nuts (love these!!) and kwik beet. He also has a mini scoop of pink powder and a glug of sunflower oil in each feed.

Rug wise at night he's wearing either a fleece under a 360 full neck rug or of it's very cold (minus 1 the other night) he wears a MW under his full neck.

In the day it's still quite mild so he has either a 200g full neck OR like today where it's peeing it down and windy he is wearing a HW with neck.

He has ad lib hay.

I think they are all individual. Mine drops weight really quickly if he gets cold, he hates it. My mums TB on the other hand gets hot easily.
He's fully clipped and has been wearing either a l/w or m/w during the day and a 300g high neck quilt rug at night. He doesn't eat up his grub like my horse and is a picky eater so he gets spillers conditioning cubes, Alfa a and linseed oil to get more calories in him in a smaller feed :).
 
We have a 13 yo TB mare who has dropped off a bit in recent weeks. She feels the cold terribly so is in a m/w and is fine in that.

I've just moved her onto Spillers Slow Release energy cubes, Mollichaff conditioning, and speedibeet twice pd plus ad lib hay.

With the ones that feel the cold, I've always tended to feed more hay and beet so the hindgut generates lots of warmth.
 
My TB is in a 200g Turnout (no neck) with a fleece underneath and a MW Stable with fleece underneath overnight. He's not clipped and always seems OK temp wise when I check him.

With regards to feeding, he gets A&P Calm & Condition/Speedibeet/Alfa-A. I found NAF Pink Powder helps when he's getting a little ribby. I have just moved him to some better grass and he gets as much haylage as he likes overnight :D

I think your horse looks fine at the moment :D
 
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