Underweight horse?

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harmony_

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Also in Veterinary but not many people in there at this time...
I have owned my boy for nearly 2 years and have had every test possible done to see why he wont put any weight on...

He gets turnout onto decent grass from around 9 untill about 5 everyday
2 big haynets of hay a night
3 feeds a day of calm and condition, sugar beat, weight gain and hifi
He is not in full work, ridden around 3-4 times a week schooling hacking and lunging with a tiny bit of jumping.

Before im at my wits end and call the vet out again, last time i was told there was nothing wrong with him... Can anyone recommend anything which will really help him with his weight?
Can post pictures of his weight if it will help.
Thanks

R
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I had TB who was like this, was on Alfa A oil, calm & condition and as much haylage as he could eat! I used Equijewel and this seemed to help him.

Vet also could find no reason why he couldn't put weight on.
 
Got some pictures taken 2 days ago:

photo1.jpg

photo.jpg


Have tried differant feeds during the time ive had him and this is the only mixture he will actually eat, he normally loses interest in feed rather quick and will refuse to eat it.

R
 
Wow hes super shiny but definately on the lean side :o

Can you list everything you have tried??? Means people arent repeating themselves :)

For the sake of the 50quid it would cost Id get a bloods panel done and get the vet out fo and VERY indepth chat.

I would also up his protein level as they need building blocks for muslce etc, high oil is great but wont cause goodbulk :)

Ive heard good things about this

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/our-feeds/weight-management/underweight/build-glow.html

and this

http://www.spillers-feeds.com/products/complementary-fibre-feeds/conditioning-fibre/

and this (I couldnt feed it to mines as Im allergic to coconut)

http://www.stanceequine.com.au/horsefeedproducts.php?CoolStance-Horse-Feed-2

I would also up the forage intake even by adding bucket of short chop forage like hifi or readigrass along with the haynets :)

Having had poor doers for years and helping a friend with a VERY poordoer TB its an uphill slog until you find summat that works :)
 
I had an Arab many years ago that was very similar, he always looked a bit on the lean side. I tried Baileys NO4 and after 6 weeks or so looked fab.
 
Does he put any on in summer? I've struggled for years & years with my horse, he doesn't help himself though by having a small appetite & cannot eat 99% of feeds as everything hots him up! Mine does put weight on best when he's out 24/7 over the spring,summer & autumn months but even then he's only just covered enough at best. 3 or 4 times over the last 18 months he's lost huge amounts of weight through having surgery & also gastric ulcers & everytime he's slowly put weight back on but then just stops at a certain weight. I think he's just programmed to be around this weight. He's full of energy,nice & shiny & when in work is well muscled. I've stopped worrying about him & just ignore the do-gooders who lecture me on his weight & tell me what I *should* be feeding him!
 
My tv was like him, baileys no 4 done the job along with micro linseed.
I find calm and condition doesn't work to great and some off my friends have found the same. Hi fi tbh isn't going to do anything for weight, will he eat alfa a oil?
I don't think he's that bad weight weight , yes bit lean but not over the top
 
He does abit but not much, heres a picture from last summer:
287123_10150423401073289_619383288_10794656_8294717_o.jpg

This was last summer when he wasnt in work.

How would i know if he had gastric ulsers? He seems healthy in himself but always have people telling me how underweight he is, i know he lacks alot of muscle but that is due to work related issues which we are ontop of.

Part of me thinks that you can see he is in good condition with his coat which makes me not worry so much as he is not dull and lathergic he has plenty of energy with his work.

His hay could be swapped over to hayledge but would this make such a differance?

R
 
We feed our skinny who looks about the same weight as yours now hes put some weight on but is also in hard work and already done alot of eventing so fsr this season he is on:
am and pm
1 scoup of readigrass
1/2 scoup spillers cool mix
1/2 scoup coolstance
and as much hayledge as he will eat

Just seen the pic of your boy in summer and I really wouldnt be worrying. He looks great, people are far to used to fat horses these days
 
He had more weight last summer didn't he? Are u sure it's not just the winter as to why he's dropped off? And will put it on again soon.
 
I think because he is a fine tb people look at his ribs and automatically make a comment, would be a much easier world is people kept their opinions to themselves as they dont know the horse but it is bound to make the owner feel bad?

R
 
I'd swop to haylage too. In all honesty, the lack of muscle makes him look leaner than he is. That's not a criticism btw, you shouldn't have to keep a horse in work for nothing more than appearances sake. If the vets have ruled everything out, then don't worry about it, just like people horses can be naturally lean or plump. He has a lovely coat & looks healthy enough.
 
Another vote for haylage. Forget all the fancy feed (you only need one or two feeds a day for his vitamins and minerals) and just feed as much haylage as he will eat.
 
lots of alha a oil and ad lib hayledge helps with my very poor doer. i think your boy although yes on the leaner side looks in fab condition hes super shiney!

anyone who actually knows anything about horses would know they arnt all built the same as with people, and he will be far fitter and healthier as he is than if he was fat esecially if he is of a fine build!

have u tried upping his work load to build up muscle and top line a bit more?
 
I find mine does best on haylage,linseed,speedibeet,spillers conditioning fibre & top spec cubes but it took me years to hit on that! I do experiment now but always go back to feeding the above. The people who say stuff to me usually have great,big porkers & I don't think they understand how hard it is to get weight on horses like this! Poss worth getting him scoped for ulcers to put your mind at rest? I suspected mine had them as he'd had 2 long vets stays for surgery, he then dropped 34kg in 3 wks & was really miserable & unhappy. Picked up quickly once on gastrogard & by the time he was rescoped 3 wks later had put 1/2 the weight back on & carried on putting weight on but them despite being fed & managed the same just stopped at around 520kg which makes me think that he's just programed to not go over a certain weight! He's always looks better when tacked up & ridden than he does standing about on the yard. I also find that too much work affects his weight so I now try & do enough work for him to be fit enough for what I want to do but not too much.
 
Also as someone said above these sorts tend to look better when muscled up. Mines underweight at the moment as he's had surgery again 4 wks ago but he's had a month off whilst wounds healed & I'm now going to start gentle work to start building muscle back up,also they'll soon be out at night which will help as well.
 
I have my ex-racer on ab lib hayledge and give him a handful of apple chaff with blue chip calmer in (he turns his nose up at hard feeds, this is just to get the calmer in). In summer he's turned out for the majority of the day and he actually gets pretty round! I found he just stresses his weight away.

He's rode 6 days out of the week for a hour a time, we mainly do dressage.

I just found what works for my boy, but ab lib hayledge seems to work with them in general. But he's such a stress head, especially when he's out of work, it just drops of him!
 
He doesn't look as bad as I was expecting from your description. Whilst he could do with a little more coverage, it's worth keeping in mind that people tend to be used to seeing overweight horses and as such yours will come as even more of a shock ;)

I agree with ad lib haylage if he will eat it, and he will look better as he muscles up with work.
 
I also think he looked about right last summer and not horrendous now so don't panic!

I'm another who thinks ad-lib haylage might really help. Assuming he'll actually eat a decent amount of course. It did wonders for my usually skinny minny this winter so probably worth a try. And, as a secondary bonus, if it works it'll be much cheaper than trying to keep his wait on with bucket feeds :)
 
i don't think he looks too bad:confused: certainly not underweight although i can understand why people who are used to seeing fatties all day would think so;) i get the same kind of thing about mine as everyone else on the farm has blobby cobs and i have a TBx and now a TB who shock horror:eek: you can just see their ribs:eek:
 
I thought I'd posted this a while ago but it seems to have not arrived.

Some horses respond badly to alfalfa and cereals, with their metabolism going into overdrive. I'd cut these out of his diet, give grassnuts and dried grass chaff with ad-lib hay/lage. If you feel the need you could possibly add Speedibeet and linseed oil. Try this for a month and I'll be surprised if you don't see a difference.

As Jesstickle said, he doesn't look as bad as I was expecting from your description.
 
No as iv put back on page 2, hes a bit lean but not bad. I also agree that people are to use to seeing fat horses and ones on my yard are obese but still on 2 big meals a day and they think some off mine are under weight. Vet says they are perfect weight.
 
He's a lot nicer weight than most!

Have you had your forage analysed to make sure there is no glaring deficiency?

Id be using Thunderbrooks basemix, bran and oats for weight gain. Whilst I think its 'too' much for a lot of horses anything underweight it does wonders for. Its also all an active feed rather than fillers and binders which are in the big names of the feeds you've listed. Its a small meal so easier for his stomach to digest.



Failing that id mix my own of micronised linseed, oats and readigrass. :)
 
A lady in my yard is having a struggle with her TB and hers looks much leaner, she had the vet out and thorough checks, nothing to report. She was told to consider adding oil to his feed as he is a fussy eater, so she can sneak it in.

Is there any chance he is not digesting his food well? I'm sure you have teeth done, but with my girl she had a ridge that wasn't picked up by the vets during her checks and was stopping her from chewing correctly....just a thought, she ended up having one of those scary looking drills!

I dont think he looks too bad, I agree there are just too many overweight horses out there. I understand your worry though...horses are a constant source of worry!
 
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