Worried my horse is too thin, condition and feed advice needed!

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littlen

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I've had my Arab 2 years. He came to me obese and I have worked hard to get him a good weight. He is on a paddock with poor grazing and is fed a diet of baileys lo cal balancer for vits an mins etc.
I can't move paddock as he is allergic to flies and the richer paddock has a stream, also he is prone to laminitis.

When he is standing you can faintly see his ribs, although they arnt prominant. Is this bad as a lady on my yard said you should never see the ribs ever?
He is very fit and is competing low level in endurance and small xc rides, hunts and is now starting to show this year, so quite hard work!

He has no fat at all on him, he is a little undermuscled too as e finds it hard to build topline. I would like to give him a bit extra feed to help build him up as he might not be building muscle as he needs a better diet? Can anyone reccomend something that will help him maintain a steady healthy weight without getting fat or going loopy (oil no good he goes silly on it)?

Thanks!
 
If he's laminitis prone, I honestly wouldn't go overboard on condition.

As long as his ribs aren't prominant, hip bones protruding, etc, then he sounds just a normal fit state. I've always gone for if it's fully lean and fit, then 3 ribs shadows should just be visible if that makes sense?
[Not 3 ribs sticking out....just the shadows of them sort of thing?'
For muscle, old school lunging and hillwork will really build it up.

Why not ring a nutritionist up such as Top Spec, Rowan and Barbury or similar and sort a feed regime out with them as they'll know their products best if you describe him and what you want out of his feed :)
 
Sounds like you are keeping him in ideal condition and doing the very best for him. Some people think horses should be 'well covered' which often means fat.
 
Hmm he does have prominant hip bones but I always thought that was conformation more than anything (he was bony when fat?!) I will take a better look and some pictures tomorrow.
I am worried as a few people have said he is underweight. He has little topline due to the fact he does not work correctly at the moment though, I am getting regular lessons to help with this but it's taking a long time to change the habit of a lifetime!

Just worried he is too thin I suppose, I feel guilty that I have been reatrictig ha grazing etc when he may need more! As I said you can see his ribs when he is standing , not sticking out but you can see them faintly, hip bones are prominant ish, he has little muscle too.
Saying that I didn't worry until people started mentioning it, as he has always been fit and healthy ib my eyes! Thinking harder though he could do with abit more sparkle of that makes sense, I just don't know how to give him it?
The baileys lo cal dosent seem to be doing enough, a friend suggested keeping him on this but adding conditioning cubes?
God I feel terrible now lol!
 
how about putting some pics on here so people can give you an unbiased opinion. you may be worrying about nothing and its better for him to be a little lean if he is laminitic. :D:D
 
you can always see my horses ribs! depends which way light hits her but smetimes her croup looks bony too. i had vet out to check her last year as i was worried, checked everything, bloods, weight, worm count, teeth, you name it. then we put her out and watched her gallop across the field head high and coat gleaming and my vet said not a thing wrong with her, you get skinny horses just like skinny people! lol :D you cant fatten a throughbred! made me feel daft but he was right! i do give her spillers body builder if she looks like she is drawn up a bt, its milk pellets(smells like milky bars!) and is milk based so fat but no fizz! probably not as bad as you think!
 
You will always see the bad things in your horse! I have a VERY poor doer, who, at 24 is a complete nightmare to feed. He worries the weight off himself in a matter of hours, and although he is a complete dream to hunt, he only went out four times this season because he got into such a tizz afterwards that he lost far too much weight.
He now looks "fabulous" and is "a credit" to me according to my vet, but I still see that his hip bones are more prominent than they have been in the past, that he's lacking muscle over his back (which is understandable as he's had about a month off work with two very nasty wounds), and I still worry constantly that he looks thin.
I find that because I love him and know how he CAN look, I focus totally on the negatives - I have to really step back and look at him moving in the field to realise that actually, we've come a very very long way from the horse that was constantly reported to the RSPCA for being thin.
He costs a ridiculous amount to feed, as he seems to do best on two enormous feeds a day (which would kill my other horses within about 12 hours!). He won't eat mix, wont eat alfalfa, won't eat anything with garlic in it, won't have his feed too wet, won't eat out of a bucket on the floor in his box, but will eat out of a bucket on the floor in the field, and costs about £50 a week to feed!

I would add some Blue Chip original to his feed - my boy looks horrendous if he doesn't have it - because although it's disgustingly expensive, it really does work, and you only feed small amounts, so perfect for those prone to lami...
Good luck!
x
 
Spillers conditioning Fibre I cannot praise it enough!!!

Only thing that has worked for my Arab.

The problem you have with most conditioning feeds is that Caloires = Energy and this is why they loose their head and lots of arabs then stress it off too.

You need a non cereal diet such as a high fibre one.

Also this may help you see how his weight is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYDBLXXwVOI
 
Just out of curiosity really but how long did you try the oil based feeds for as I found that my arab went really hyper initially when on a higher energy feed that was oil based but once her body settled to being fed a good amount she settled to be more chilled out than she was before as she wasn't running on adrenaline (as I've since found out with my current horse who was even worse on small quantities of feed). It's worth thinking about it at any rate. I currently have my two horses on winergy growth (but phone winergy to get advice) and they are so calm and level headed it's amazing. They are putting on muscle brilliantly and aren't being silly so working it off being silly. It is oil coated but I'd give it a try at any rate. PM me if you want.
 
ditto this. Mine is on this with the senior balancer and she is looking fab. Saying that, she is anything but fat, she is a tb and always lean and fit looking. I like the way she looks and has the most amazing shine and plenty energy and sparkle. I can't stand fat horses, I like them to look fit.
My wee welshy was laminitic prone and i always made sure he was never overweight., The vet always commented on how well he looked and was just perfect for a pony like him. He always comments on tb's condition too. It is important to keep to a low starch diet with laminitics too.
You didn't say how old he is.
 
It will be easier to judge with photos but I don't think seeing their ribs is a bad thing, as long as nothing else is showing, also Arabs are not meant to be really fat.
At the moment (without seeing him) I wouldn't up his feed the grass with be here soon and thats the best thing for them.
 
I have a 3 year old Arab who is prone to drop weight towards the end of the winter and after shopping around to find something to help him out was recommended Ready Mash and I cannot tell you how much he loves it....he used to take ages eating his dinner but now he wolfs it down and has put on condition but it hasnt fizzed him up - I would definately recommend this if you have somebody who supplies it near you.
 
Thanks everyone.

I have managed to get some pictures but would rather not post them openly (dont want people on yard knowing its me ;) )

If anyone would like to offer me some constructive crit or advice please pm me and I will pm some photos :)
 
In your position I would ask professional or very experienced people whose opinion I trusted. Reading you OP your horse sounds about right to me but the best people to ask are those who have seen him and who will give you an unbiased opinion. If he is laminitis prone, you certainly need to be careful about over-feeding. Unfortunately many people think that fat horses look good.
 
Thanks for your opinion :)

I dont have anyone experienced to ask, hence post. I have asked vet but in all honesty he isnt an expert on nutrition.

I rang all of the feed companies when I got him and settled on the Lo cal balancer, unfortunatley his work load etc has changed and he needs more only I dont know what exactly and how much more? If that makes sense?!
 
PM if you want :) I won't bite!

It'll help to ring the feeds help who sorted you last time and state how his worklload has changed and what you now want from his feed....they'll help ammend it to suit his needs now. :)
 
Have to say found it difficult with the arab we had on loan also seemed to have a huge belly but actually just had v v wide ribs, had him on a serious diet when we first got him in the winter but he did then start to look poor.

OP, if you want to PM me pics happy to give you an opinion :) I would love to have either of mine on the lighter side of what they are atm but am being really thwarted by this concrete ground rain please! :mad: ... or someone build me an arena ;)
 
Don't forget that so many horses are fat these days that many people have forgotten what a normal fit horse looks like, and think that a fit horse is actually thin!:rolleyes: It is not unknown for 'emaciated' horses to be reported to welfare organisations, and when they go to look the 'emaciated' horse is normal, it's just that all the other horses in the field are hugely fat:eek::rolleyes:

I would suggest you have a look here http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice as you may find useful advice:)

From what you say, he sounds absolutely fine! You would expect to be able to see a fit racehorse's ribs faintly, and they are not emaciated;)
 
I feed my 24 yo arab a low molassed diet but he needs extra to keep condition nowadays.
At the mo he is out at night (avoiding sunburn) and in during the day with an enormous bucket of Fast Fibre, Speedibeet, brewer's yeast, magnesium, mint, and wheat bran (he's teeth won't allow haylage at the mo).

In winter he has day grazing and haylage at night. Bucket wise he has

Coolstance copra
Speedibeet
Wheat bran
limestone flour
micronised linseed
brewer's yeast
seaweed
magnesium
yea-sacc
mint

Contrary to what you may think, it is actually cheap after it is all bought!

The wheat bran or 'thirds' as it is known around here is very cheap, puts weight on, no sugar and they looove it. It needs extra calcium though (hence limestone flour).
Coolstance is low sugar and starch and puts on condition.
The micronised linseed also the same but with a beautiful coat.
 
He doesn't sound too underweight, mine is a little rounder, but he when I got him he was the weight you describe and I didn't think he was underweight, it suits him to have slightly more weight though because otherwise he has no topline.

If the field is really bare perhap suppliment with some hay and see how it goes. I wouldn't worry unless he starts to lose weight.

Better he is on the thin side than laminitic.
 
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