I've got a thoroughbred, one of those hard keepers. He's been on cool calories, beet pulp, hay, a handful of complete feed (we just started him on equi-cal 2 days ago, taking him off cool calories) and as much hay as he can eat for almost two months now... barely made a dent in his weight. On a scale of 1-10 he's probably a 3 D: I talked to my instructor and she said that it might be time to talk to the vet about it. Now, if I do call the vet and get them to come asses the horse what will they do? How can they help me?
ALSO, if you have ANY suggestions please let me know!
I have a very hard keeper and when I got her she needed a good 100 lbs or more. The one thing that really helped was to be out 24/7 in a pasture with tons of good grass. All the grain I was giving only put a small dent in the problem until she was finally out on good quality grass.
Unfortunately I don't have the option of putting him in a grass feild, and TBH I don't like the idea either since he manages to get hurt in big pastures.
OH I also forgot to mention he's also been on oil for a month and a half!
There might be a problem with his teeth. When was the last time he got them done? If a your horse's teeth haven't been floated in a while, he might not be getting all the nutrition from the hay and feed he has been getting.
My supposed hard keeper gained weight dramatically after deworming him with Quest. I firmly believe he had resistant parasites and possible encysted strongles because he has previously been dewormed with other dewormers regularly before he came to me.
I also got great results from feeding alfalfa pellets and Nutrenas Lifestyles mare and foal or Triple Crown senior
Oh man, I keep forgeting things... Pretty sure he was started on flax today too. His teeth were floated about a year ago, I think, not 100% sure. He was just dewormed about 4 weeks ago, maybe he needs a different dewormer. I have no clue.
My Dancer lost a TON of weight right before Rain was born last June (long story, and it's already all over this forum). She gained quite a bit of it back in spite of nursing her chunky monkey. Separated Dancer and Rain on 03/19/11, and Dancer is still looking skinny.
Finally broke down and took her back to the vet - different one this time - he specializes in horses. He ran blood work (perfectly fine) and then did a fecal. It was essentially negative - no surpise there, as we had wormed Dancer just a couple of weeks before. He found one little egg floating around, then said something that floored me. The wormer (ivermectin) killed the adult worms, but doesn't affect subadults. While we do alternate between ivermectin and fenbendazole (fenbendazole kills larvae) the regularly available products like we use - that you can get from TSC or Jeffers - really only helps with control. On some horses, like Dancer, they can get so many encysted larvae that their digestion is affected. They will have negative fecal exams, but still have a major worm problem.
So, starting this week, or weekend at the latest, we are going to powerpak all of our horses, to the tune of $200. (Good thing Panacure is cheaper to get in bulk from the vet than it is to get from TSC or Jeffers!) There's no sense in just doing Dancer - they all probably need it. Even Rain, the filly, has a bit of a worm belly, and she's negative for worms.
Vet assures me that the powerpak will help my Dancer - and will help her gain the 50 pounds she still needs. I'd like her a little fluffier than that, but the vet says all she needs is 50 pounds, and getting rid of the worm belly will help her look less ribby. I hope he's right!
Call the vet. Mine just came out to evaluate my gelding who dropped weight really quickly and isn't putting any back on despite the fact he's getting massive quantities of food. My Vet floated his teeth, ran a fecal on him (still waiting on those results), looked at the hay he's been eating, the grass pasture he has turnout in and told my trainer to keep feeding him what she is but to add in some alfalfa.
Vet is coming back out in 30 days to re-assess his weight but thinks that he should start picking up weight now that his teeth have been floated.
I have a TB X ISH; and keeping weight on her is a nightmare, but since the spring grass has come threw iv noticed a massive difference! She still gets 2 feeds a day made up of (apple chaff, conditioning and build up mix, sugar beet, a handfull of pony nuts, marmite, oil and a selection of fresh fruit and veg.)
She has a big appetite and like you seam to have noticed she just doesn't get faT. TBs and other such sports horses are renound for having a fast motablism and can carry out a lot of activity before feelnig "tired" its what there bread for and there suposed to have a "lean" phoesque.
Theres no harm in getting a vet out just to make sure there is no underlining health issues and maybe get her teath checked just in case, but if your horse seams herself, and not short of energy or showing any other worrying signs try not to over think it and panic.
My workup on Friday was $180 and included the blood work, fecal, teeth, vaccinations (exept we forgot to get the one for strangles - really need that one so we will be going back), pregnancy check (negative thank heaven!) and the powerpak for Dancer.
I would look at doing as someone else suggested, either the panacure powerpac or a quick rotation of dewormers to eliminate the prospect of worms, just in case. I'd then look at a probiotic supplement, since that will help him digest the nutrients out of his feed. And finally, while the vet is there, I'd ask about stomach ulcers. If you ever watch him eat, see if he eats for a few minutes and then walks away, and then comes back to eat again, and then walks away. This is one of the easiest ways to tell, because often times there aren't signs of ulcers beyond this. If he does have ulcers, as the vet for the powdered ulcerguard because it's literally 1/4 the price of the liquid. Good luck, I hope everything goes well!
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