Totally deflated - Why is she STILL so thin :(

No experience with the feed but picked up on the fact you said there was either ample hay OR grass, as I think someone else said the grass may not be enough - I would make sure there is ad-lib hay as well as grass at all times.

Hope she picks up.
 
I have a 23 year old big stressy mare that couldn't keep weight on over winter. I wormed again for tapeworm, started her on 20g of brewers yeast daily, BIG spoon of salt & cup of oil in her feed ('fienocroc' dont know what uk equivalent is but it's basically just vacuum packed chopped up hay) and noticed an almost immediate improvement.

You can still see her ribs but as she is old and lame I don't want her fat and she looks good for her if you know what I mean. Good luck with her, I used to be near in tears trying to get weight on Bessie!
 
She has lots of small meals 4 or 5 if I can get down to squeeze another in.

I have given Mag ox but it makes her poo sloppy so stopped it.

Was going to try Blue Chip Karma but at £30 a bottle for a horse who I already am paying for too much for and isn't mine I struggle spending out more on her when I have 3 of my own to feed and care for.

Frustrating and limited but I shall do what I can.
 
Beatrice5 said:
Thank you for the suggestion but the wormer she had in Jan did tape worm then she was done as per the livery yard roat just before she came home a few weeks ago.

Maybe I should feed her blocks of lard.... ;) (that is a joke btw)
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Might still be worth investigating tapeworm - a friend of mine lost her mare to tapeworm. Had on and off colic and then was found dead in field. PM showed it was caused by a perforation due to tapeworm infestation even though she had been regularly wormed. They don't show in egg counts but there are blood tests that can be done.
 
Not a TB but we put weight back on our now 30 yr old after a really nasty bout of colic which really pulled her down, with soaked grassnuts, Speedibeet, dried grass and linseed oil. This has the benefit of being fairly inexpensive and very effective. We have found that PinkPowder can cause some horses to become more stressy than without it.
I would make sure that this mare has ad-lib hay even when at grass.
 
Have you tried Readymash Extra by Rowen and Barbary? It put a lot of weight on my TB mare to the point that I had to stop her feeding it before she popped! She had previously been on calm and condition and some other build up feeds, but they did nothing. The Readymash Extra really helped her.
 
I was trying to put weight on my horse and fed cheap and cheerful pasture mix (or poverty mix as we call it!) and it worked wonders. Inexpensive, readily available, tasty and it worked. I'd give that a try if all the more expensive stuff is not working. Also increase the linseed, are you feeding this as liquid or micronised, as the micronised (I believe) is supposed to be best?
Good luck hope she picks up soon.
 
Beatrice5 said:
Thank you I will have a look into them now.

Just googled Cpra the coconut stuff but it looks like they are in Australia ?
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Don't feed coconut oil based food supplements or oil to under weight animals, coconut oil is good for up to weight horse.Coconut oil
boost the metabolism and help the body use fat for energy, as opposed to storing it, so it can actually make the horse become leaner.

Back in the 1940s, farmers discovered this effect accidentally when they tried using inexpensive coconut oil to fatten their livestock.

It didn't work!

Instead, coconut oil made the animals lean, active and hungry.

I sell coconut oil but would not recommend it in this instance for your horse.
I will pm you the info links, Oz
 
If it's anything like our grass at the moment, there's more nourishment in a tea leaf... I used Allan and Page's Calm & Condition mixed with Fast Fibre with ours...plus linseed and good haylage... The grass was marvellous though and it didn't take long...

If she's stressy in the stable, can/does she have hay available constantly when she's out? I've been bringing in for haylage time the last few weeks because the grass is so dire the horses are pretty ribby and the ponies who need weight watching are absolutely sensational... It's still early days, she's an older gal and we've not had a proper spring flush with the weather... Fingers crossed this weekend might see it coming through with the sun...

:)
 
Cremedemonthe how do u explain my mares weight gain there was no other change in her management apart from the copra and she put on so much weight quickly and has kept it all on even after changing feeds?
 
Do her teeth still work? I know two old boys, although they are more than ten years older than yours, who do great on a hay replacement, its like chopped dried grass, lightly molassed for palatability. They do really well on that, and one is a skinny type.
 
I used to feed AP Veteran Vitality to my old boy who would drop weight, 2 stubb scoops a day dry weight, keeps the weight on him when he wouldn't eat any hay or haylage. I went through a bag a week but it was worth it as he looked so good on it!
 
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