New to horses, new horses, skinny geldings

I'll get some pictures later today. After I groom. They've been rolling, the stinkers!

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

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