Which Supplements?

Alright well Junior just came back and he is in horrible shape, possibly the worst condition he has ever been in since my friend has owned him. I have offered to pay to have the farrier out to fix his feet and pull the shoes that the leaser had put on even though we told her to keep him barefoot, the chiropractor for multiple reasons and supplments again for multiple reasons. I will post a thread soon with pictures and the story off his condition soon.

Anywho which supplements are good? Are these good choices?

Weight Gain and Muscle:
Vapco Fat-Cat 5 - Statelinetack.com
Or
Ani-Med Muscle Up Powder - Horse.com

Joint:
GLUCOSAMINE HCL PURE - Horse.com
And
MSM Pure 10 lbs. - Horse.com

He is going to be put on both joint supplements because I have already heard and read wonderful reviews about people that use them together.

He is currently on a crap load of hay and we are VERY VERY slowly starting him on some beet pulp with senior feed mixed in and we are starting him on a cool calories regime. I am also getting either hoof heal or turpentine for his hooves.

A quick overview of his issues right now:
Underweight
Ribs and hips showing
Flank and loin sunken in
Heat and minor swelling in both front legs due to incorrect trimming and shoes
Spine and rump contain hardly any muscle, same with neck
Wormy [we are getting him Quest wormer]
Something in his poll or back is out as is his right shoulder

So yeah any help is appreciated, suggestions and comments. As I said I will post the full detailed story once I start his progression thread.

Oh and on another note, I do not have all that much money so anything good and fair priced is welcomed :]

Bumpers

I can only suggest as I have not seen the horse.

If he is in truely bad shape, you might consider starting him out with just free choice hay for a few day or so, to wean him back onto eating food instead of himself. Too many nutrients at once can cause a load of problems, including shocking his system, colic and laminitis. Keep his diet simple and in small doses with thre or four tiny feedings a day for a couple weeks or so. It won't be overnight that you see a weight change but you wouldn't want to put the weight on too fast anyway, not good for their heart or other organs.

IF he is significantly under weight and has been like that for some time, it is likely that he has been sustaining himself by absorbing his own body. Muscle will waste and atrophe slowly breaking down to support the body where no other nutrients are present. Food feeds all body parts: no food, the fight to survive begins. To offer a loaded food stuff to a straining body will cause the body to grab at all the goods and potentially clog up the absorption mechanism. This in turn can start a whole list of problems.

I know how hard it is to look at a too thin horse and NOT want to feed them everything under the sun but don't. Slow re-introduction of proper foods will be your best friend, and the horse's, too. Once the horse is in better weight, THEN consider what supplements he might NEED. At that point, he might NOT need any anyway, saving you a fair amount of cash for other things : )

Once he is steadily eating and showing at least maintenence of current weight, talk to a VET about a de-worming plan. That, too, can be an adventure if not done carefully and in a limited way the first few times on a horse that is compromised.

Take him for short walks, graze when/if you can, and groomgroomgroom with soft brushes : )

This post is based on a horse that is significantly low on the BMI scale. I have not seen the horse so this please to be taken with much consideration to the actual circumstances.

I would use flax meal and alfalfa pellets for weight gain. It worked wonders for my Anglo Arabian when we was too thin. He was a "hard keeper" before, and now he holds his weight on very little extra food (with free choice grass hay).

Instead of senior feed and beet pulp, I'd feed him a meal of alfalfa pellets, 1 cup of flax meal (or 1 cup of Cocosoya oil from Uckele), and SmartPaks' SmartVite Senior. The Senior vitamin formula has all of the vit/min he needs plus pro- & prebiotics.

Alfalfa pellets will help him gain good muscle weight while providing real nutrition, and the flax or cocosoya provides quality fat.

Thanks guys. Yeah we aren't planning on putting him on full supplements for another month or so. I want to put him onto the supplements once he goes back into light work to help build his muscle and help ease any soreness he might have. But for the next month or more depending on how it goes he is just being a horse with pretty much daily grooming, hand grazing and very little in hand work just to keep up with his manners.

Most importantly have a fecal floatation done to make sure he's not full of worms as well (even if the leasee was treating him, you don't know that it was for the right parasites).

I really love cool cals 100 for my hard keeper. It puts great weight on him and being an OTTB, he tends to get hot but that suppliment does not change his attitude at all. It also makes his coat really shiny, I get complements on him all the time! The best thing you can do for weight though is to make sure there is not a parasite burden and stuff his face in a round bale of quality hay so he has as much forage as he can possibly eat, and make sure he's getting all the trace minerals and Selenium that he needs. Good luck with him, looking forward to getting the whole story and seeing pics so we can watch him recover!