Underweight Horse

allyj

allyj

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Hello :)

This weekend I got my first horse on loan. YAAAAAAAAAAAY!
He's a 10 year old Thoroughbred, ex racer, lives out all year round and hasn't done much for the last 12 months, therefore lost most of your muscle mass.
The problem I'm having is that he's underweight. He's currently on conditioning cubes and chaff, and his owner tells me he'd but some weight on.He's a total dope on a rope so he's not getting stressed and losing it again, and he's rugged up at night time, so not shivering it off either. All worming up to date and saw the dentist 3 months ago.

Can anyone give me some advice on feed, fitness plans, and top tips?
 
Just keep going with the feed! Add some sugarbeet or speedibeet(unmollased) if you think he needs a bit more. With his work - start slow and work up! Lots of walk work, then start to introduce trot then canter. Putting weight on is far slower than them losing it! X
 
What is is grazing like?

I've found the best thing for gradual and sustainable weightgain is access to add lib forage so I would suggest supplementing his grazing with some hay might be a good idea. particularly at night time now the temperatures are dropping. It acts like fuel in a furnace. I echo the suggestion of some speedi beet too. it's cheap and a great source on fibre.

You could try adding one mug full of micronised linseed to his bucket a day too. brilliant stuff, for coat, joints, hooves and general condition. Other than that make sure he has access to a multi vit and mineral suplement. either in block or powder form.
 
CBFan said:
What is is grazing like?

I've found the best thing for gradual and sustainable weightgain is access to add lib forage so I would suggest supplementing his grazing with some hay might be a good idea. particularly at night time now the temperatures are dropping. It acts like fuel in a furnace. I echo the suggestion of some speedi beet too. it's cheap and a great source on fibre.

You could try adding one mug full of micronised linseed to his bucket a day too. brilliant stuff, for coat, joints, hooves and general condition. Other than that make sure he has access to a multi vit and mineral suplement. either in block or powder form.
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Grazing is quite good considering the weather we've had! Not even poached round gate and only slightly around the "preparation" area.
He lives with a load of ponies 14hh and under, and they have about a bale a day scattered around the field for them all just as something different!
 
If he is living with ponies under 14 hands unless they are all overweight your horse will most likely not be getting enough grass, ponies generally need far less than tb horses, if I gave my ponies a bale of hay between them they would all be huge, they get nothing apart from grass at this time of year.

Can you bring him in each day for ad lib hay, give him 2 feeds, at least each day to get more benefit from it being divided up.
 
add some fast fibre to his feed as this is a good bulker. what kind of chaff are you feeding? you could change it to a higher feed value one like alpha or readi grass. remember some tb's are a natural size 6 and will never get fat! oil and/or linseed are good additives as is rice bran, copra, blue chip. obvs dont add them all!
 
be positive said:
If he is living with ponies under 14 hands unless they are all overweight your horse will most likely not be getting enough grass, ponies generally need far less than tb horses, if I gave my ponies a bale of hay between them they would all be huge, they get nothing apart from grass at this time of year.

Can you bring him in each day for ad lib hay, give him 2 feeds, at least each day to get more benefit from it being divided up.
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agree with the above
 
Yes, I agre with the comment about hay - a TB's requirements are far greater than that of a 14hh and under pony... and if we are talking a standard sized rectangle bale of hay, your TB could probably do with a third to half of it all to himself - not shared with lots of little ponies!

I would try and give him at least a section - more if possible, morning and evening in addition to what he gets out in the field - either that or section a corner of the field off for him, stick him in there overnight with half a bale of hay, then let him out with the others during the day... You will find it very hard to meet his feed requirements otherwise... and no amount of 'hard' feed will make a difference.
 
allyj said:
, and they have about a bale a day scattered around the field for them all just as something different!
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People vary rarely suppliment grazing with hay just to give the horses something different to eat - it's simply to expensive.

So, I would suspect that your grazing isn't great, which if that's the case more than a bale is going to need to be put out.

In your shoes I'd be having your horse in overnight for hay.
 
CBFan said:
I would try and give him at least a section - more if possible, morning and evening in addition to what he gets out in the field - either that or section a corner of the field off for him, stick him in there overnight with half a bale of hay, then let him out with the others during the day... You will find it very hard to meet his feed requirements otherwise... and no amount of 'hard' feed will make a difference.
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I gave it a go last night, and he started throwing a tantrum because his best friend (a miniature shetland) was on the other side. Added a bit more hay in there and put Simon in with him. Settled right down, and had munched most of the 2 sections in the time it took me to fill up an extra water bucket and cart it accross the field. Decided to wait until he'd finished it all and I'd let him out when he'd finished as it didn't seem fair to keep him in a little section if he'd finished.
 
allyj said:
I gave it a go last night, and he started throwing a tantrum because his best friend (a miniature shetland) was on the other side. Added a bit more hay in there and put Simon in with him. Settled right down, and had munched most of the 2 sections in the time it took me to fill up an extra water bucket and cart it accross the field. Decided to wait until he'd finished it all and I'd let him out when he'd finished as it didn't seem fair to keep him in a little section if he'd finished.
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He sounds hungry, eating 2 sections of hay in such a short time, it would take most horses a fair while one of mine gets about that in his field and it lasts him all night, he has some left in the morning as he just picks a bit at a time.
Is he going to live in over winter because otherwise sharing with such small ponies he is unlikely to get anywhere near enough to eat unless he is the boss and can have the main share but even then he may struggle to hold his weight if he is poor going into winter.
 
if the minature shetland is turned out in the same field as you tb and for the same amount of time then there is nowhere near enough grass for your fella, a minature shetland needs a bald small paddock in order to stay healthy your tb needs to eat plenty.
with regards to the difference the mini shettie would need 1-2 slices/sections of hay soaked in 24hrs, most tb's especially if needing to gain weight would be getting a bale to a bale and a half of dry hay at mine.
it sounds like you need some advise on the best way to keep your boy, it may be worth phoning the vet and having a chat, we cant see him so are only giving advise from what you tell us
 
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