Before and After.

Before



After




Also does she look fat I put her on a nutrition grain but have been just giving it for a treat now. Is giving it to her for a treat ok?




We put her on the nutrition grain for giving her more nutrition. Kind of like a weight imbalencment. It kind of looked like she was getting fat so we started just giving it to her after she does a good day of work. She was also getting kind of greedy for it too.

WOW. You did a great job with her. How long did it take to put that weight on her?

It's hard for me to tell if she's fat from those pics. I'm sure someone else will be better able to help you with that.

She looks beautiful. I would continue giving it to her as a treat. While she isn't fat in my opinion (i like a 'chunky' horse) if you keep giving her grain, she will get fat in a hurry! She looks amazing. You did a great job!

Hi,

Agree with others, that she looks good & obviously much improved. The colour change says a lot too! But can't tell from those pics whether she's now overweight. Looking at her in relation to something like the Henneke Condition scoring will help you decide whether she's gone a bit over the top. As with any of us, slightly under is generally a lot healthier than overweight.

Re grain,(firstly to clarify, I'm assuming grain means grain - just got told off for assuming that, as, to the person in question, grain means anything fed to a horse besides hay/grass!) I would not be feeding it. It is *generally* not good for horses, as with any feed high in starch/sugar. There are other better & safer options for putting weight on a horse. BUT so saying, if you're now feeding very tiny amounts(say a handful) and the horse isn't IR, Cushings or otherwise lami-prone, it shouldn't hurt as a treat.

The above seems a bit confusing. Assuming you're feeding it for nutrition wather than weight? Yes, horses do need supplementing with something for balanced nutrition, as pasture/hay is generally deficient in a lot. But it depends what they're already getting(grass can vary greatly, for eg) as to what they'll need. For eg. If they get lots of green forage, they're not likely to need extra biotin. So I'd advise at least a basic analysis of her diet before deciding what might be best. I subscribe to a great service/program called FeedXL.com which is fantastic value & extremely helpful. You also tend to get what you pay for & the most expensive bag of supp may work out to be the most economical at providing well balanced nutrition. (Eg I found the best supp for my horse's situation is $180/20kg :-0 but they only need a tiny 60g/day(near half what the lable says) & works out to around 55c per horse! You can also get palatable(important for my fuss pots) feeds & supps these days with no grain or sugars added.

A LARGE improvement. Like others said - hard to tell if she's starting to get too heavy - but you shoukld easily be able to feel her ribs when she's the correct weight.

So since you had to get her heavier now you can decrease how much grain you're feeding her - do so until you can barely see her ribs, then slightly increase it from there - then you'll be feeding her the correct amount. When you work her harder she'll need more calories, when she has time off or does easier work then bump her feed down a bit. Plenty of hay and grass is good for any horse.

Nice job!

Yeah I have this grain that compliments grass hay I just remembered that but she acually had all her weight on before I put her on the grain/suppliment what ever youcall it. She did have a hay belly and a friend sugested putting her on a grain that complimented grass hay to balance her weight because it was all in her belly but now that i'm working her more i'm thinking she'll look better. Musle wise I think the grain also is helping her coat because it was very un heathy when I got her she had lice and was underfed because they didn't have enough money for five horses.

That is not a weight/calorie issue. There are a number of reasons for this, including heavy worm burden - tho her coat is a fair indication you've most likely been effective in treating that - or just lack of muscle/fitness, or too much sugar/starch in her diet already(hind gut acidosis, for eg), which is a common problem, of which obviously more grain/starch is definitely not helpful. So again, grain is not the answer. I'd be looking for a grain/sugar free(or at least very low %) supp to balance her nutrition & feed more hay & perhaps add a little oil if she needs extra weight.

Alfalfa/lucerne is a great source of easily digested protein & is high in calcium, potassium & other nutrients. Just make sure it's fed in a balanced way - she's not getting too much protein, calcium, etc - & it's a great diet ingredient. Again, finding a service such as FeedXL.com is a great idea - & may actually save you money as well as keep your horse healthier, as it did for me. Feeding & nutrition can be such a confusing, frustrating area, given so much conventional or common advice has been found to be not at all in the best interest of the horse.

Ok I do get what you guys are saying so I should check to see if what i'm giving her is low fat? Also this is very confusing because all I really know is she already gets hay almost ever day like snack hay and an hour of grass right now. They just started putting them on grass. I did daily give her a grain/weight imbalencement everyday once a day but now I only give it to her if she does a good day of work like a treat. When I got her I got help from a friend put weight on her easily but once she was heathy I didn't know if she really needed anything to help her heath then another friend I had helped me with her feet and heath because she has cracked feet and just didn't look like she had enough nutriouns so we put her on this nutrion grain/suppliment. So should I just leave it for now untill I move her and acually know what there eating and how much work she is doing?

Certainly if you don't want her to put on more weight, don't add fat to her diet, but it's low *carbs* - ie sugars/starch that is more important to keep in mind. That will effect her negatively - particularly her feet, regardless of her nutrition & weight. I know, you're probably confused & suffering 'information overload' at the moment There's just so much to learn & much recent research into digestion & diet has caused us to rethink much conventional 'wisdom' about the subject. That's another reason why I highly recommend a service such as FeedXL.com to take some of the confusion out of it & explain the whys & wherefores behind contradictions of opinions, etc.

?? Not sure if I get what you mean there, but it sounds like she's kept in a bare paddock or stable & not given free choice hay?? If so, this needs to be changed. Horses have evolved for eating low grade(compared to 'improved pastures) forage in small amounts, near constantly. It's very unhealthy for them to go hungry for long/regular periods & not get enough roughage/fibre. A few full hay nets around the paddock or one in her stable is the easiest option generally. If she's stabled & only gets out for an hr a day, this is also not good for her. Horses need free movement & the more exercise the better, so 24/7 paddock with run in shelter is best, but if that can't be done, as little time locked up as possible and extra exercise as much as you can manage to break up the hrs she's stabled is important for her health, not to mention wellbeing.

Again, horses have evolved for tiny & near constant feeds, and especially when feeding something like grain, which is not the best, or easy for them to digest anyway, it's particularly important to feed little & often - 3 small meals daily is the minimum you should aim for if feeding high-carb rations. She likely put on weight despite this feeding, rather than because of it.

If feeding grain or high-carb feed occasionally just as a treat, keep it to a handful or 2 max, as that amounts not likely to effect her negatively. Oats are about the safest grain to feed horses.

It's a steep learning curve, when you're new to all this, isn't it?? Hoof care is another huge subject that it pays to do your own research on, rather than just following people's advice. Cracked feet for eg. Is generally due to incorrect &/or infrequent trimming. I'm a hcp & there are others here that are knowledgeable on the subject, so you can post hoof pix if you would like any advice & opinions on that from us.

What a PRETTY girl!!! She looks A LOT better!