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New to horses, new horses, skinny geldings

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Corporal 
#1 ·
Hello to the forum. I'm a new horse owner - finally achieved my dream at 40 years old.

I "inherited" three beautiful horses - a mustang mare, a paint thorough bred mix gelding and a thorough bred gelding

Although all healthy, the geldings were too skinny. They came from an area of Colorado known for sand, and the former owner recommended I run same clear in their grain to help them gain weight.

In addition, my friend, who is an experienced horse owner, told me to isolate them in the corral, away from my mare and her two mares, who we are boarding, and feed them a bale of alfalfa a day.

The paint is responding wonderfully. He is no longer "hippy," you can't see his ribs and he looks to be just about at the perfect weight. He's 20, by the way.

The thorough bred, who is eight, is not coming along as quick. He has not been on sand clear as long as the paint - and I'm having to sand clear them both as he steals the paint's food. I can no longer count his ribs, but he still has pronounced hips.

Like I said before, currently, the boys are standing in their food in a 60x60 corral, so everything they eat is being packed on in pounds. I feed the 60/40 alfalfa, and they get sweet grains and sand clear every night. Their teeth are good, otherwise, they are in excellent health, just a little skinny.

I'd like to start legging my thorough bred up for hunting season, but he needs more meat on him before that can happen. Am I being impatient, or is there something more I can do for him?
 
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#3 ·
The previous owner had their teeth done, dewormed them and had their feet done a week before I got them. I've looked at their rear teeth, as has my friend, who gets all up in a horse's mouth first thing when she meets them. They're sound.

One thing I've read about thorough breds is that they "run hot." He is gaining weight. Just not as quickly as the paint. Perhaps because he's got a higher metabolism, he's just not gaining as quickly?
 
#4 ·
I'd deep six the sweet feed in favor of something more nutritious. Blue Seal, Triple Crown, Nutrena, and some of the Purina feeds would be a much better choice. All of my horses get Blue Seal Trotter, and my TB is doing fabulously on it.

The alfalfa mix sounds goods, but your TB probably has a higher metabolism and more sensitive system than the others, which is why he's not gaining as well.

Still, if they're underweight, slow and steady gaining is what you want, not immediate poundage packed on.
 
#12 ·
in the growing seasons, especially, horses should be wormed more than every 6 months..how often depends on who you talk to and with what can be regional because different wormers kill different parasites.. do recommend calling the vet in your area who will know which wormers are necessary in your area or have a fecal exam done..its inexpensive. I rotate wormers every other one between 2 because of the particular parasites found around here. it will clear an easily fixable problem if its keeping your TB from gaining weight. also it is so easy to "worm" them but they spit out most of it..who knows since it was a previous owner
 
#13 ·
Since you're new to horses you should be using your Vet to answer all health questions with your horses. Shortly after I bought a small herd of 6 in 1985, I realized that my owner-vet skills were lacking. I took a horse-health class at our local Community College, and really learned a lot. I learned how to give IM and IV shots, how to correctly wrap with polos, how to take their temperature (100.5 degrees F is normal), how to test for stress with capillary refill timing on their gums, and how to check their heart rate at the elbow and other places on their bodies. We also got to see many horses who were being treated by this (all Equine) Vet--he became my Vet until I moved too far away for practicality--including chronic colic cases (the breath smells sour) and chronic lameness. We learned to walk your horse on gravel to look for suspected lameness, which I will never forget. In 2006, my mom still watched Triple Crown races. I had taped the Derby, without really intended to watch, but she insisted. When I watched Barbaro walk cool after the race, I glibly told my mother that he was nodding, like he was lame. (They use their head and neck to help when one foot/leg is sore.) I was aghast, but NOT surprised to hear that he had a back R leg lameness immediately after bolting from the gate at the Preakness, bc I saw it. YES, he was put down bc of laminitis, but I STILL think the trainer was aware of his problems and had too much $ in his eyes to think about the horse. After awhile you can learn to spot these things, but your VET will help you much more than this thread. =D
 
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