To clip or not?

TheresaW said:
Not sure if this should be in here or somewhere else, but think it’s best suited to here.

Mac is very thin. He has had a full Mot, and basically, his bloods show a healthy horse. His main problem is his teeth, they are very worn, and the vet told me his teeth make him appear 10 years older than Dolly who is 24. He is 20. He is fed twice a day with conditioning mash, copra, and some chaff, and vet has recommended adding vegetable oil as well if he will eat it. He also had lice, which have had one treatment, 2nd treatment due tomorrow.

He is very very hairy now, and my plan was to leave him unclipped and naked, light rug should we get a lot of rain. They live out 24/7. Over the last week, a few bald patches have appeared all over him, and giving him a good look today, he has quite a few sores on his skin. I know the lice would have made him itchy, plus he’s always been a mild sweet itch sufferer. We are still having mild days interspersed with it getting colder, and he’s always been quite a sweaty horse.

So, should I clip him, give his skin some time to breathe and heal, or leave him be? I have a selection of rugs from lightweight to very heavy should we have a very cold winter. At the moment, I am very concerned about him making it through winter.

Would also add, I still have a lot of grass, plus am putting hay out as well.
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My mare get's really wet and sweaty in her jump training class with the trainer who works her hard, she is wet all over after well 80% of her but that is the only time she really swets like this, so at the moment we are not clipping as it doesn't seem justified for the one day a week.

I have yet to clip her since I got her in 2015
 
Thanks everyone. Am going to ask someone about giving him a 3rd feed during the day. I don’t want to clip him if at all possible, and at the moment his coat and skin are looking heaps better, so will just put a rain sheet or lw on if needed. I am worried about him being too hot as well, as that won’t help his gain weight either I wouldn’t have thought?

FfionWinnie, I have already spoken to my OH about what is fair to him. I’ve said if I don’t see any real improvement by the end of November, I will make a decision. It’s made harder because he is very happy in himself.
 
TheresaW said:
he is very happy in himself.
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This is the most important thing.

At the end of the day many elderly people I see in the street don't look particularly healthy/well covered - but there are definitely many who have a good quality of life and are happy. (Edited to add - I have a little dog who appeals a lot to children and old people so I chat to some of them very regularly now!)
 
From experience with my 25yo Cushings TBxWB, when he really dropped off when first given his Prascend. It was amazing how much weight/condition he lost in such a short space of time - it was really alarming.

Apart from finding him a feed that he would actually eat and that wasn't too high in sugar (Topspec Comprehensive Balancer and Topspec Cool Condition Cubes), I think the thing that made most difference to him regaining his condition was upping the number of feeds per day - we went up to four per day for a few weeks. My personal theory is that when their teeth aren't as good as they should be, we then feed soaked feed, but they can end up as big/heavy feeds which doesn't aid digestion. So, breaking the feeds down into smaller feeds makes it easier for the horse to make best use of the nutritional value of the feeds.

Ref rugging, my horse finds it hard to regulate his body temp. He is stabled overnight, but I find that he's prone to rugrash/rainscald if he gets too hot under his rugs which is a pain to get rid of (I use Nizoral anti fungal shampoo from Tescos which clears it quickly).

It's a bit of a nightmare tbh, so you do have my sympathy as it's a really hard balance to achieve. I am going to fully clip him out again in the next few days and then he'll have a 40g or 100g rug on depending on the weather - I use Premier Equine turnouts with their thin 100g liners. I'm not a huge fan of using no-fill rugs as apart from keeping the wind / rain / mud off them they don't offer any insulation, so I do try and put a thin rug on once the weather turns in the autumn - even if it's the 40g.

I went to a fascinating lecture by Prof knottenbelt who is the equine specialist - primarily in sarcoids, but any other skin conditions. His biggest criticism is that we over-rug horses so they get too hot which results in all sorts of undesirable skin conditions. He recommended cutting down rug weights as far as possible, but to always have a cotton liner or sheet between the horses skin and the rug. Tbh, I've tried putting a cotton summer sheet under his turnout rug but find that they slip back and rub the wither / shoulder. I'd be very grateful if there are any recommendations on ways to get around this but still having cotton next to the skin?
 
agree
GirlFriday said:
This is the most important thing.

At the end of the day many elderly people I see in the street don't look particularly healthy/well covered - but there are definitely many who have a good quality of life and are happy. (Edited to add - I have a little dog who appeals a lot to children and old people so I chat to some of them very regularly now!)
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I took these today, can anyone see any improvement, even if it’s a small one?

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He looks much better. He is really tucked up with what I would call an empty hind gut in the first lot, he looks like he has something in his tummy now.
 
Thank you. You know how I’ve always struggled to keep the weight off him!

Because I see him every day, even though 5 days a week it’s now dark, I’m not sure if I see an improvement or just wishful thinking.
 
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