Which mare is what colour? lol

Really, folks??? The horse is 33 years of age...hardly young by any means, and we do not know what it looked like before this stage at all, nor do we know how poor her teeth are, how much feed she gets each day, how well she actually digests that feed, etc...

If all you can do is sit in this thread and judge what this person is doing for this old horse, go somewhere else. There are better ways of giving advice than doling out judgement.

Unless that horse has cancer or some other severe illness, there is no reason for it to take that long to gain back weight to an acceptable level, even for a horse of that age. If the current vet seems to see no issue and does not want to investigate the issue further, then it's time for an outside opinion.

No offense but that is your personal opinion. And I wonder what will happen when you encounter an old horse that no matter what you do, it will not gain weight...

Sometimes ALL you can do is make the animals as comfortable as you can, until they are ready to pass on; they age just like people, and sometimes that means inability to hold their weight, or muscle. Any decent vet will tell you that, and not sugar coat things, telling you you can keep an old pet fat and sassy until it's older than dirt. Sorry, that's real life.

But the point is that healthy horses WILL put on weight when fed correctly. If they don't, that's a signal that all is not well internally, and it's worth investigating (if you're concerned about your horse's health, comfort, and longevity, that is).

In that case things must change! I'll get the vet from the next village out pronto.

I have a photo of a horse 36 years and still going strong her name is Patches. The trouble is she will gain to much weight and founder.
Would it hert to get a second opinoin and aleviate any fears, but well done trying to support that horse in its declining years, a number of us send them to be used as dog food. Not me personally.

Nothing wrong with mares, all you have to do is read the signs and ignore.

Yes both are chestnut.

While she is on the thin side. From what I have read her owner does as much as she can to keep this mare happy and healthy.
Think about in people, you know the ones that are stick thin, yet eat like a horse and eat healthy meals? I do believe that there can be animals like that too.
Hell, my old boy Iceman was almost 30 when he passed, he was a grey and had multiple melanomas in him, most likely riddled with cancer as well, he was happy, on the thinner side, but his coat was shiny and soft and I kept him warm and fed. When it was time for him to go, I knew it and had him put down.

I recently read a study about how it is estimated that more than 50% of pleasure horses in the UK are overweight or obese. Showing that many do not see when a horse is too big. And you could draw the conclusion that many do not know when a horse is "too thin" as apposed to "light" just because a horse has visible ribs does not mean that the horse is starved, it's when they are ribby and of low muscle tone that things get serious (of course you shouldn't let your horse get to this state, but with a rescue you are building from that and it can take a long time).
May I suggest a pelleted feed that could be soaked for ease of chewing and diggestion?

Thank you to all those who have made kind, helpful and supportive comments about Sienna’s care, I really appreciate it!


When Sienna came to me in January 2010 she was a mess. Emaciated (BCS 1.5); riddled with parasites, including tapeworm; anaemic; with a hacking cough among other things. She did not interact with her environment at all.

Her most recent blood/faecal samples (taken in January 2011) were clear/negative. BCS was 2.5. My vet was satisfied with this and I was pleased until reading some of the comments above. I have another vet coming out to take a look at her on Thursday. There is no harm in getting a second opinion methinks.