TB owners advice needed

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kezzy

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I was attending a local sales with 'horse looking' friend and we were reading the sales list the night before and I commented on Lot 33. Googled her reg name and it appears that she had 4BD points to her name. However she was reg with Weatherbys so as being a TB was crossed off my friends list.

However when we got to the sale we were looking at the more suitable equines that my friend was interested in and there half way down the line was Lot 33 ...my heart fell apart. Little Dark bay 15.2hh TB mare, very poor condition, quite a few 'bite' marks on her neck and shoulders,
But the most beautiful dark brown liquid eyes. I think you all know what comes next ....... yes, she came home with me !!

She needs some serious feed to get some condition on, Will contact feed companies but TB owners what do you find is a good feed, what works for you? where do I start? I have natives so 'dont feed '!! lol

Also she has a 'sore' about the size of a 5p on her bottom lip - round, red not weeping, now somewhere in the back of my head, I have a inkling that this maybe worm related ? So would an Equimax wormer be best or Panacur 5 day? Will also get a worm count done as probably high.

Which would be best Hay or Haylage?

Any other advice or information would be gratefully recieved from knowledgable persons !! Many Thanks
 
I'd go for haylage over hay, and in plentiful quantities.

In terms of feed - everyone has a different opinion of course. As a general rule I would go for conditioning cubes, plus a high oil supplement like Bailey's Outshine or Omega Rice :)
 
Before you start pumping food in to her - ensure she has adlib haylage (access 24/7).

Get your vet out to give her the once over, and also advice on what to worm her - as she is in such poor condition.

I would be inclined to contact Janet George on here who is currently rehabing a TB mare bought in very poor condition - she will have some good suggestions regarding feed etc.
 
amymay said:
Before you start pumping food in to her - ensure she has adlib haylage (access 24/7).

Get your vet out to give her the once over, and also advice on what to worm her - as she is in such poor condition.

I would be inclined to contact Janet George on here who is currently rehabing a TB mare bought in very poor condition - she will have some good suggestions regarding feed etc.
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Thank-you for the referral. I will see if I can contact her
 
I should also add, well done for buying her. I hope that she turns out to be a nice little horse for you. Sounds like she's landed on her feet!
 
Haylage over hay, and look towards a more fibre based low sugar diet if you can. Pink powder wont hurt either. Rug appropriatly so that she isn't burning her calories keeping warm. When I did this my hat rack TB ended up being more chunky monkey
 
Firstly, well done for giving her a home, I hope you have a great time together.

Ditto the Haylage over hay, particularly as the weather changes, and following a low sugar;high fibre diet. For weight gain I have found boiled barley excellent. TB's can get nice a porky!!

For a new horse of unknown worming history i would go for a 5 Day Panacur.
 
Haylage over hay ad lib aswell. Also we put my TB on calm and conditioner and he piled on the pounds. Fibre is definately the way forward for getting them to gain weight. Also get into a routine straight away. That will help them settle. And dont be afraid to rug her up to help her put on weight, if she is warm then she wont use her food for warmth only for gaining weight. My TB is currently in a MW combo day and night and he is warm still living out 24/7 will do until the snow comes although he comes in daily fo a few hours of haylage.
 
Yes just allow her time to adjust to a routine, walk her out in hand and start off long reining to build up communications and a nice mouth, grid work, loose work, anything she enjoys and don't push the boundaries, in six weeks she will be happy little horse and you can start her in to work, but keep it all at a low level and wait for spring to take her out and about to her competitions.
Be very wary of feeding any feed with sugars, if she shows any sign of hyper-activity soak the haylage, and add some MgO to her feed [natural horse supplies]
C&C is great for most horses, easy to feed and palatable
don't forget to book the EDT and also prepare for worming, if you have doubts about her recent management, wait till she is established with you, and ask the vet for his recommendations, you don't want anything which could cause colic if she has a massive worm burden.
make sure you have her insured straight away, two weeks before the worming!
Take pictures every week and measure girth and lenth from point of sholder to point of buttock
this will give you accurate weight change.
girths squared times length divided by 300 in nches gives weight in lbs
She should be about 480 now and go to 515 to 525kg
 
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Mine came to me in a similar state, winter bunged out rugless in the snow, made him look more hat rack than horse! He is on boiled barley, amazing and cheap, ad lib hay (haylage sent him a tad loopey but haylage does add condition better) alfa oil and some calm and condition, spread out over three feeds a day if his condition dips. He even now has some top line! Mine didn't pick up as quickly as I would have liked, did the worm count etc, wormed correctly but then decided to call in equine dentist and he had to have a tooth removed, following this he soon perked up. If you have some nice grazing this will also help, plus it helps keeps them nice and chilled out. Mine is currently in a H/w T/O and a fleece (he's clipped) so don't be frightened to rug up, this really helped him when he first came to me! Good luck and well done you!
 
Good luck with her, sounds like she's fallen on her feet.
Would echo the adlib forage advice, panacur 5 day wormer and keeping them warm. Would also do the ususal teeth check. Fibre is the best way to feed them, mines on alfa oil/high fibre cubes, pink powder and as much hay as I can stuff into him and its working better than previous efforts! Outshie is also another great way to add weight without silly :)
 
Well done you for saving this girl. As advised above, fibre, fibre, fibre! Ad lib hay (my tb went loopy on haylage!) ,Calm & Condition by Allen & Paige and speedibeet (not ordinary sugar beet) soon put the weight back on. TBs generally have plenty of their own energy so I would wait and see how she does before putting her on any hard feeds. Obviously as well as worm count, have teeth and back checked.

Good luck!
 
Calm and condition may work for some - but you have to feed huge quantities to see any significant improvement.

Sometimes feeding good old fashioned straights feed is better - like the boiled barley mentioned earlier.
 
Well done for saving her - she sounds really lovely. I would go for as much good quality hay you can get her to eat - I have an old TB and wouldn't advise haylage as it is more acidic and if she is a stressy type it may not suit her.

In the winter my TB has as much hay as as he will eat and two meals of high fibre cubes, hay replacer cubes, Happy Hoof, lots of sunflower oil and pink powder all soaked together several hours in advance.

Good luck with her. Bet she turns out a sweetheart.
 
How lovely

When our TB came back off loan like a hat rack (1 week before xmas!) this is what we did

- Turned her out 24/7 with nice company (she had been stabled 24/7 and was stressed)
- Gave adlib haylage
- Fed 3, then 2, then eventualy just a single small mealper day of speedi beet and alphapha pellets (could try alpha beet which is a combo of alphapha and beet).
- Used a general purpose vit and min suplement with pro and pre biotics to help with gut bacteria. If her guts are out of balance no amount of feeed wil help her. We used equmins ultimate feed balancer.
- Wormed
- Had dental, vet and later physio checks

She was a nice weight within 3 months and had built her muscles back up to pre loan condition within 6 months without any brain blowing.

Good luck with your project - piccies would be nice
 
Well done you for bringing her home!

I also have a 15.2 dark bay tb mare (6 year old, bought as a 5 year old) who wasnt in "great" condition (if you have a look at some of my previous posts youll see photos of her) ..

When I got her, I gave her a while off work, wormed every 3months good quality haylage and hard feed was allen and page calm and condition, hifi origional a bit of alpha beet (in winter) garlic and corn oil ..

this done some improvement but I then changed her onto alpha a oil which was fantastic .. really helped with her condition and weight ..

She had been on this for a year (i bought her august 2010) but this year although she was in good condition I wanted something else to give her the little bit extra going into winter so she had better coverage over her ribs ..

She is now on 3/4 scoop of redmills cool "n" cooked (I thought this would make her a bit hyper but not at all) and 3/4 hifi orgional garlic ..

The cool n cooked is making a fantastic improvement on her I will get a picture of her tonight she has been on it for 2weeks and has already made an improvment ..

The only thing now is muscle .. topline neck muscles that i need to get working on!

This winter she will have the same breakfast, a haylage net .. go out in the field .. have dinner and another net at night.

Well done for bringing her home I want to see photos! :D
 
Certainly head down the teeth check and worm count routes! Assuming you won't be looking to ride her until she has put on some decent condition then I wouldn't worry about feeding her decent haylage. Without any goodnes in @doctor green' at this time of year haylage is a fab way of keeping the nutrition trickling through.

I have an elderly TB mare who has been retired from breeding this year, long story short we knew something was going on with her and couldn't control her weight loss for some time. Now we know where we are at she is starting to bounce back for a healthy retirement... but it has taken time.

As others have said, I personally would ensure she is kept warm (but not too hot either!!) and dry, allow ad lib access to haylage if you can and feed little and often. I have successfully used combinations of Baileys no4, Baileys Outshine, Baileys Endurance Mix, sugar beet, A&P Calm and Condition and Alpha Oil. To start with, the emphasis was on providing calorie rich feeds that werent too big for her system to digest, now she is improving we are slowly switching to slightly larger feeds with more Alpha, etc.

amymay said:
Calm and condition may work for some - but you have to feed huge quantities to see any significant improvement.

Sometimes feeding good old fashioned straights feed is better - like the boiled barley mentioned earlier.
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I have to say, in this instance, I feel the C&C has worked really very well and my vets agree. My lady has seemingly put on much more weight and faster since being fed this food - and not at all in vast quantities, I added just a level scoop a day (gives you three scoops once soaked) and she has really come on - not expensive at all, she loves it and is now being maintained on mostly this and Alpha oil.

Really well done (you nutter!! :D) and hope she comes on really well for you - you both deserve it! Do we get and pics....?!!
 
panacur 5 day drench definitely.
Haylage over hay.
boiled barley is fab but for a really non heating feed, get some copra feed, soak it like sugar beet and feed it with a basic conditioning mix. Its brilliant stuff. Its £15+ per bag but you only use a very small amout each day (introducing it very gradually) so last a good while.
The mark on her lip could well be ringworm, very contagious so keep everything seperate from other horses and watch your own skin too. Vets can get you a shampoo for all over her or tea tree oil is very good too. (canesten cream on the spots does the job too)
Good luck, any problems/queries etc dont be afraid to PM.
 
I have a 26yr wb x tb who wintered very badly last year and i've only just found a feed that actually improved his ccondition. He came out of winter looking very poor and although he put weight on and looked a little better he wasnt improving how i would have like. I had to be careful what i fed him as he fizzed up a lot on certain feeds. I found Spillers conditioning fibre, A&P calm and condition and speedibeet worked wonders and he is in at night and has 2 haynets jam packed, and is on fairly decent grazing during the day.
 
When poor Ruby Treasure arrived here, (she's also TB) first step was a 5 day Panacur and 2nd step was to have my vet give her the once over and do her teeth (which were appalling.)

Be careful not to feed too much too soon - you'll give her a bad case of the squits! Keep good quality haylage in front of her ALL the time, but in a small hole haynet so she doesn't gorge. We used Bailey's No. 4 mixed with Graze-on (grass chaff) - small feeds but 4 times a day.

It is counter-productive to shove too many different things into a poor horse in an effort to put the weight on quickly. The system has to get used to having food going through it again - keep it simple and be patient! You'll see the coat improve before you SEE a decent weight gain (about 2 weeks.) If you're still struggling to see ANY weight gain in 4 weeks, get vet to check heart and take bloods.
 
I have to disagree with some of the posters!! I would feed ad lib good quality hay as haylage can be too much for some horses. The first thing I would do is get a worm egg count done and possibly treat for tapeworm - this can cause a violent reaction so I would be tempted to leave that until the Spring. I would get her teeth checked and then, if all is OK, start to feed her a high fibre low starch diet. The worst thing possible would be to stuff her full of hard food and then find she becomes unmanageable. Speak to one of the bigger feed companies for advice and stick with what they say! If you are feeding the correct amount there should be no need for any supplements. I agree that having her well rugged is a good idea although two of mine are very hot horses and I find that they can get sweaty (and lose weight). The hay is the most important bit. I really hope she works out well for you.
 
Congrats on getting a lovely horse and providing her with some much needed TLC! I hope it all goes well and wish you all the best.
i would agree with the above....ad lib hay...worm, teeth, consult vet (also getting a bit of an MOT on her), don't overdo the food initially as may be too much forher to take and you can build this up gradually as you see what quantity and advice you get from the vet/feed companies. Rugging her will help her a lot t ogain some condition and giver her a chance of using the food correctly. iwould get all that sortedbefore thinking of supplements.
Some good turnout in a field to give her a chance of being a horse and relaxing...a routine will be reassuring to her through all the change.
Please post some pictures...would be great to see this lovely little horse.
 
First can I say a HUGE MASSIVE THANK-YOU to all you lovely kind hearted people. Your comments and advice has been amazing and the support I feel is fantastic.

I have sent off a sample for a worm count and have bought Panacur 5 day for her. the dentist is booked for a couple of weeks time.

feed wise many of you seem to have sucess with C&C so I shall purchase some tomorrow with Alpha A Oil. I have some good quality hay which I am giving her and will slowly introduce haylage over a period of time. I think that will be best as I'm not sure when she last had a square meal !!

She is very quiet and 'thoughtful' at the moment - probably adjusting to everything. I have kept her in for the time being as I need to sort out fields and separate from my own three - just being sensible as not wanting to mix until worming has been sorted and make sure she doesn't have any coughs and sneezzes.

Thought I would leave Farrier / back person for a wee while so she can settle. Her feet need attention but not a RSPCA case yet!!.

I am so excited to have her at home and I will get some photos and maybe somebody will remember her and have a bit of history. She has been schooled well in the past as she has 4 BD points so someone loved her once.

She really does have a forever home, even if she too much for me to ride (I'm 54) I'm sure we could find someone to help!

Again a huge thank-you and you are all so wonderfull x x x x x x
 
Well done for buying her, and I wish you the best of luck with her.:)
If she was mine, I'd be doing 5 day Panacur worming, followed by Equest Pramox or Eqvalan Duo about 2 weeks after.
If she's really quiet I would consider getting the vet to run some bloods too.
I'd also get her teeth done ASAP, and then I'd give her as much good quality forage as she'll eat, along with 3 feeds a day of Speedibeet, Alfa A Oil and a feed balancer, such as Top Spec Comprehensive or Bailey's Outshine.
I'd also consider giving her a course of NAF Pink Powder, which will sort her gut flora out and help her get the best from her feed.:)
 
Haylage - as much as she will eat, treat with the panacur and then have a look at readymash extra:
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Pictures are 1 month apart, it's a complete feed and I used 2 bags a month at £12 each.
 
well done for buying her. good advice given, however I would get teeth done asap, worm for tape worm now, and encysted redworm come dec, and adlib hay and grass, and a small fibre based feed and balancer. feet asap (shouldnt stress her as someone obvs loved and cared for her properly) and start quietly lunging, hacking, quiet schooling in walk and trot. 10 to 20 mins max 3 to 4 times a day. If you give her loads of haylage (sorry but can be rocket fuel!!) and bucket grub and get her fat and shiny before you get on she COULD be a fruit loop.(then you might regret havuibg her). done slowly with work and food (after basic teeth feet worming) you will still see a significant improvement in a few weeks. Best of luck .. let us know how you get on. Photos are an excellent reference to improvement, as when you see them every day you dont always notice the subtle changes.
 
Also a light rug to keep wet and windy weather off her. she will improve quickly i am sure. TB s are really quite tough and can happily live out unrugged if given chance and have weight on before the start of winter. i worked on tb stud .. mares out all winter in foal ..fat shiny and hairy but fed loads of bulk. yours probably needs a bit of help this winter as going into it lean. next year will be different. Enjoy your project.
 
I am sure you will, but please dont go in the stable with a brush, fork or shovel until you know what she is like - my little lad had obviously had the wrong end of these implements across him a few times and was a nervous jibbering wreck when I like a fool just brushed his shavings bed back.

Well done you - and as others have said - introduce things gradually, too much hard feed to soon could have all kinds of bad reactions.

cant wait to see photos !

Oh and for the feet you cant beat the old style cornucresin (sp)
 
When i brought my 13 yr old TB almost 2 years ago she was another that looked more hat rack than horse. Sadly the yard i had her on insisted they were stabled at night otherwise i would have let her live out 24/7 but as it was she had as much time out on good grass as was possible and ad lib, good quality hay through the night. She was fed 3 small feeds through the day consisting of alfa-a oil, bailey's top line conditioning mix and fibre beet which did the trick gradually without sending her loopy. If it's at all possible at your yard i'd let her live out and see how she goes, a lot of TB's are hardier that they are given credit for given the chance :) Mine grows a coat similar to my friends Welshy and hardly needs rugging through winter, she's still naked at the moment and will be for a good few weeks yet before the rainsheet goes on i would have thought. She holds her weight well in the cold weather as long as she has lots of fibre going in, over-rugged however she sweats it off in no time at all.

Also if she fails to gain weight get a vet to scope for ulcers- quite common in TBs that have raced or been competition horses due to lifestyle, although lack of weight gain isn't always a sign. Mine gained weight lovely but still had ulcers, nothing a month on Gastroguard didnt fix though. Just something to keep an eye out for.

Good luck with your girl, i'm sure she'll be a different horse in no time at all. TB's really are the best :)
 
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