TB dropped weight in the last couple of weeks. What else can I do?

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horsegirl

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After holding his weight really well he has dropped enough that he is looking really ribby again. We are not doing anything different, I just don't know what to do
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My old TB mare used to do this even though her feed and workload were not altered.

I would change for a while to Spillars conditioning cubes and add hayledge to her hay. I also increased her other feeds to 3 a day so she got more food but not overloaded her gut and added sugarbeet - luckily she could be fed this ok.

What I found in the end really worked was to keep her on equimins pro-bio - saved me a fortune in feed as she could stay on hay and her hard feed was cut down by a good third. The pro-bio really made her gut work better and she stopped the weight drop.

Finally I also used to keep her nice and warm but not hot when in or out.
 
I had a tb gelding a couple of years ago that dropped weight dramatically at this time of year. the first time he did it i tried everything, worming, different feeds , fed ad lib etc but nothing helped at all. I had the vet out who did blood tests that showed up nothing and by march was so worried about him that he thought he might die. Finally spring arrieved and i put him out in a not brilliant field and he soon put weight on and within 3 weeks looked fine again. Still don't know why it happened but he did the same thing the next year. Don't know whether your horse might be the same but whatever the problem sunshine and grass I'm sure will help !!
 
My mare used to drop weight.
She's been on blue-chip for a year or so and since then, I've had no trouble.
You could try Barley, but it can fizz-up some horses.
 
Fleur dropped a lot of weight over this winter purely because there was not enough in both the grass and the hayledge due to the poor summer. Tried her on a few conditioning mixes/nuts but most caused her to blow her brain which we have blamed on the barley as now she is on baileys No.4 and Pink powder and has put on a significant amount of condition, although not at perfect weight she no longer looks poor and more important is not overflowing with excess energy feeling like she is about to explode!!!
 
Make sure horse is getting adlib hay/haylage, think about introducing an extra feed per day, and add a source of oil (which is dense in calories) such as a vegetable oil, oil rich seeds (linseed/sunflower seeds) or a commercial oil rich supplement such as Outshine or Saracen Equijewel.
 
I had problem with my TB in the winter months so i had him and now have all mine on a high fribre diet since firbe will be like a central heating for them and keeps them warm and weight will stay on..makes any sense ????
So go in and have a look at www,dengie.com or try http://www.simplesystem.co.uk/ I use Dengie on mine plus Alfa Fibre Beet since i did find Dengies range easier to get..Linseed is also a great supplemnt for weight gain.....Good Luck
 
MY TB has done exactly the same thing. He is now on 4 conditioning ( ie ingredients )meals a day with the adlib hay he always has had, but he still seems to be dropping. He did this to me last year at this time but it wasn't as dramatic as it has been this year.
 
my tb (doesnt do a lot of work, but normally loses weight over summer) is doing excellently on calm and condtion, readigrass, show shine chaff, handful of another type of chaff (for a bit of extra taste), and a good handful of carrots three times a week.
 
I feed him:

3 scoops alfa a oil
half scoop dry volume alfa beet
massively heaped scoop alfalfa pellets
scoop spillers nuts
As much hay as he will eat all the time
plus apples, biotin, pink powder, garlic and about 100 grams linseed & cider apple vinegar

He is very sensitive to feed and this combo seemed to be working keeping the weight on him and keeping him sane but the problem is he often leaves a lot of his feed and sometimes his hay too, he always has some left in the morning. I have found added oil makes him silly and if I feed him conditioning nuts then I can't ride him as they make him too spooky
 
Also I can't really give 3 feeds a day except at the weekends and he does probably an hour of work a day mostly trot with probably 10 mins of canter and quite a bit of jumping at the weekends, but only tiny fences (2ft max)
 
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the problem is he often leaves a lot of his feed

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I'm not suprised - he sounds as if he's getting massess - most of which will pass straight through him without giving him any benefits at all.

Little and often.
 
Sorry to state the obvious, but have you wormed him for encysted small redworm (only Equest or Panacur 5 day will kill them) and tapeworm (quite a few wormers available specifically for tapeworms)?
And are his teeth ok?
If you've dealt with these issues, then maybe restrict his grazing. IME horses often lose weight when the grass grows in late winter/early spring, because they eat it in preference to hay/haylage etc, but it has very little nutritional value until later in the spring.
So, I know it sounds contrary, but restrict his grazing and feed him more hay/haylage, and perhaps sugar beet...or add corn oil to his feed.
S
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If he is leaving feed and hay uneaten then I would definitely get his teeth checked ASAP. And if his teeth have been done recently then I would get a second opinion on them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry to state the obvious, but have you wormed him for encysted small redworm (only Equest or Panacur 5 day will kill them) and tapeworm (quite a few wormers available specifically for tapeworms)?
And are his teeth ok?
If you've dealt with these issues, then maybe restrict his grazing. IME horses often lose weight when the grass grows in late winter/early spring, because they eat it in preference to hay/haylage etc, but it has very little nutritional value until later in the spring.
So, I know it sounds contrary, but restrict his grazing and feed him more hay/haylage, and perhaps sugar beet...or add corn oil to his feed.
S
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He had his teeth done in may and is wormed often, Equest was the last one we did in Jan and equitape is the next one. Yes he is getting masses of feed but it is mainly fibre/forage, horses are designed to eat almost constantly. He has no grazing at all but there are large bales of hay in the field, I think it is having hay all day that has helped him so far. He has alfa beet which is alfa and sugar beet mixed
 
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And do you know the nutritional values of the hay? It wasn't a very good hay year last year...
S
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ah that may expalin my problem!
 
If your buying hayledge in small bales try a diff brand i found some of them no diff to hay and some smell lovely. Hay this year is very poor in some areas , i had to give mine all away as it was not up to the standard i wanted for my horses and have bought hayledge ,they love it !!! Good luck
 
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