Thin Half-Arabian Pony, what to do?

[CookieCoco]

I have a a half-Arabian pony who simply won't put on weight. I bought him three months ago. He was a rescued pony and already was underweight when I got him. I've been feeding him around 450 g of grain twice a day (ready made horse food for building muscle) as well some lucerne mix (around 300 - 400 g), hay (I estimate around 4-5 kg a day) and some carrots. I also have been giving him vitamin E and selenium supplement as suggested by the vet after a blood test. I have been giving him deworming and before me his previous owner had been deworming him regularly too. I started the lucerne mix and vitamin E supplement around one and a half months ago.
Any suggestions on what to do/feed him?

 

[TPO]

Where in the world are you?

How is the horse kept/managed? How much turnout does he get? What is the grazing like?

Had he been seen by a vet to rule out pain? A horse in pain will often lose weight and/or struggle to put condition on.

How old is he? When were his teeth last seen to and grasped etc?

 

[CookieCoco]

Where in the world are you?

How is the horse kept/managed? How much turnout does he get? What is the grazing like?

Had he been seen by a vet to rule out pain? A horse in pain will often lose weight and/or struggle to put condition on.

How old is he? When were his teeth last seen to and grasped etc?

He's turned out full day though there's not much grass in the moment. The dentist checked his teeth and announced that they were fine. The vet saw him and said he needs more muscle. He suggested exercising him everyday for 30 minutes.

 

[splashgirl45]

i would give him as much hay as he will eat. fibre is much better for them than huge feeds...if you can split his feeds to 4 times a day, little and often is a good way to build them up. i assume you are not in the uk? do you have sugar beet or similar that usually is good for bulking them up, must be soaked though. can we see a pic of him ?

 

[TPO]

If theres not much in the grazing I'd put hay out with him. I'd feed adlib hay when he is in.

I'd stop the grain as that is hard in the digestive system.

I would feed 3, if possible, feeds a day.

Personally in your position I would feed Keyflow Pink Mash, grass nuts, micronised linseed, unmolassed chaff and a good vit/min supp like Equimmins advance.

If you cant get pink mash and/or micronised linseed then Coolstance/Copra

I wouldn't feed a selenium supplement unless there was a diagnosed deficiency and you knew the selenium content of soil/grass/hay and feed.

There's a difference between needing condition/weight and needing to build muscle.

If the horse is poor not in work then increasing his calorie output isnt going to put weight on

 

[criso]

You say you've had him for 3 months and he was poor when you got him. Has he put on any weight in that time? Was he turned out on reasonable grass during that time? If he was and he hasn't improved then I would wonder about an underlying issue.

I would also look at the hay you are feeding. One of my tbs doesn't have a huge appetite and if the hay isn't rich then it's difficult in winter when the grass is poorer. If the hay is poor then no matter how much I feed and how much high calorie feed I try to get him to eat, it's a struggle.

Even if he's been wormed I would do a worm count and a tapeworm test if you haven't already just to rule it out.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I would be feeding as much hay as he will eat if the grazing is poor he won't put on weight with just a bucket feed.