What to do with thin horse?

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littlen

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Hi.

I have a problem with my horse and would appreciate some opinions please.

He is 10yo and has had laminitis a few times previously. He was obese when I first got him and after the second bout of lami he was put on a bare field with 2 companion ponies, one with ringbone and the other who is also laminitic. All was well for a year but since the end of winter (and the running out of haylage) my horse has dropped a conciderable amount of weight and I am starting to worry about him. The paddock is very poor quality, enough to nibble on but thats it. The other owners dont want to rotate as it suits their horses.

So I have spoken to the yard owner and I have the following options:

1. Leave him as he is where he is happy and content with his 2 friends and bring him in every night to ensure he is getting enough hay etc to keep his weight up.
2. Put him out with other horses, not an option I want to take especially as he was horrifically bullied last time and the field is very very rich and I am worried he gets lami. But then again he would definatley put on weight. He stresses and paces without his companions.
3. Put him on a richer field on his own, but I fear he will pace and stress on his own and this will make him drop weight faster.

There is nobody else willing to put their horse on a richer field with mine and also there is no way I can hay the bare field as the other 2 owners wont allow it. I also cant get any more haylage until July.

Would he put on weight eating the main bulk of his feed at night rather than through the day and is it possible for him to put on weight without eating tonnes of grass?

He is fed a diet of conditioning mix, linseed oil and a balancer twice a day alongside 2 haynets and also a large bucket of chaff for him to munch through during the night.
I have also given him time off work to gain weight.

What would you do ?

Any ideas?
 
Have you had his bloods checked? Wormed recently etc?

Sounds like a tricky one to manage- but aren't they all!!
 
Hi.
Yes I have had all necessary checks done. Bloods, wormed, worm count, teeth, physio, vet etc.etc.
All negative. I have also had a nutritionist out who said its a lack of fibre causing him to drop weight. The cereal was helping but not as much as a high fibre diet, hence the lots of chaff. I need to find a way of getting the neccessary amounts of feed/hay into him without putting him on a field full of grass where he might get laminitis.

Tricky one it certainly is :)
 
Hmmm

Is there anyway you can split the poor paddock and put him in it next to his companions? Then you can put out hay etc during the day for him as well.

Or anyway of doing some sort of strip grazing using electric fencing next the the other guys?

I'm no feed expert but i'm sure someone on here will come back with better advice than me!! Good luck, hope you find a way of getting some weight on your guy without problems :)
 
Certainly is a tricky one! I think bringing him in, even if it's only for a couple of hours to have a munch is a good idea. Is it possible to fence of a section for him in the field if that makes sense, so he is still with the others but they cant get to any of his hay/feed?
Other than that, it's a hard one. Horses eh? who'd have 'em?
 
Is the richer field next to the poor one so you can strip graze?
Give lots of hay during the day too and hard feed (kwik beet is relatively cheap) with a good dollop of oil three times daily?
 
The richer field is almost a mile walk from the poorer one.

The poor one is also small so no way of strip grazing I am afraid. It is tucked away behind YOs house so no fields next to it either, and he has been known to pace fences all day trying to find a way back to his friends.

The owners of the 2 companion ponies refuse to let me hay the field so I have to bring him in to feed him.

I thought about adding something like speedibeet but he is already getting conditoning mix, hi fi original, linseed oil and hay and I dont want to overload him with a million different things! He is currently only fed twice as I am at work but I can ask someone if they wouldnt mind feeding him (but it would mean that he would have to come in as other horses fight if he is fed near them)

Its so difficult to know what to do for the best.

My instinct says put him back in poor field and bring in every night and ensure he is getting lots to eat overnight, surely they eat this way in winter when the fields are bare so it must work in summer too? But other liveries say its cruel not to have him on good grazing during the day?
He is so unsettled without his companions he is worrying himself into a frenzy and has changed from a loving settled horse into a weaving screaming lunatic. I feel so awful for taking him away from his herd and putting him on his own (he is on his own until sunday in lush paddock until we can decide what to do long term)

Ive never had a poor doer so have no clue what to do
 
What are you feeding ? the laminitis trust website shows recommended feeds, I would say to bring him in in the night for hay (NOT HAYLAGE) if you feed haylage you should soak it as well as soaking hay to get rid of the goodness.

I love spillers high fibre cubes and increase/decrease depending on level of grazing, mine is also on Alfa A lite and speedibeet (in the winter) you could feed that now to put weight on but make sure you weigh everything so you can alter diet accordingly when he puts weight on.

Defo give Lami trust a ring, they can tell you how much to feed so you have a starting point, I think its £1 a minute but WELL worth it IMO, they were a life saver for me, when I was the panicing mother a few years ago when mine had it.

He is muzzled when turned out, so that might be an option for you, but if you want him to stay with his mates then I think the only option for you is to bring in at night or vice versa, really it would be better if out over night and in in the day.
 
I would add some sort off high fibre cube.
Definitely keep him in at night with ad lib hay, the bucket of chaff over night is great, you can mix it with Kwik Beet, for his brekkie and supper, keep giving HiFi, oil and add Fibre nuts or something like that. Also, look at either a balancer or GP supplement.
 
Another vote for kwik beet or other low sugar sugar beet, its realy good fibre.

Another thought - how about electric fencing off a small paddock in the rich field with the other horse who used to bully him/her, he will be in company but they wont be able to get to him, if you are worried about lami try turning out in a gazing mask or just letting her have an hour or two until the bulk of the lush grass has gone.
 
Also try a balancer with pre & or pro biotics. If he hasnt been getting enough fibre during the day he may have lost his good bacteria. We tried this with a skinny TB who had been starved of fibre over a winter and it brought her on a treat. We used equimims ultimate feed balancer
 
Could also try adding Baileys Outshine to his feed, it has a very high oil content but with slow release energy (so doesn't fizz them up) but does help put on the weight. My girl arrived to me thin and with no condition, she has now been on Outshine for 6 weeks and looks like a completely different horse.

Can't recommend the stuff enough, it is quite pricey though, although I would say it is definitely worth it. I have bleeted on about this stuff quite a bit on various places here and honestly don't work for Baileys, am just so impressed with Outshine. But would definitely contact their feed experts on amount to be fed.
 
I'd bring him in at night and give him some hay there. I'd be a bit worried about giving any extra hard feed especially conditioning mix as he is likely to get fat again from that. I think you nutritionist is spot on, if he's low on roughage bringing him in at night and giving him plenty of hay will fix that problem. I'm sure that will be enough to give him some condition and remember he shouldn't be putting weight on quickly.
 
Was a bit confused by your post - this bit -

He is fed a diet of conditioning mix, linseed oil and a balancer twice a day alongside 2 haynets and also a large bucket of chaff for him to munch through during the night.


Indicates you are already bringing him in and feeding him overnight? Thats is a fair amount of food I'd say.

Can you not strip graze a small section of the grassy field?
 
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