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Weight?

3K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  PaintedBrat 
#1 ·
Hello,

Hows his weight look? His a TB, off the track and was just in a paddock several months before I got him. So he was rather skinny as the paddock lacked grass. But what do you think of his weight. His 16.3 and sits on a weight of around 500 - 510 kg.


 
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#2 ·
Definitely needs weight, but what makes him look worse is his total lack of topline.

Probably needs around 50-70 pounds to look nice.
 
#3 ·
Definitely needs weight, but what makes him look worse is his total lack of topline.

Probably needs around 50-70 pounds to look nice.
Lack of top line, we're working on it. His back on his full diet now, although hay quality is no longer A (Neither me, nor my parents are happy about this. But there is no A/Prime hay in the whole of QLD at the moment). His being rugged again and we're planning on (hopefully) getting him round a round bale and he'll go back on corn bran.
 
#4 ·
No worries on the A-quality hay. I've got a hard keeper and I do with a pretty crap-quality hay. Safe, but not nutritious. ;)

Do you guys have beat pulp? It's almost all fiber and is great for putting on weight. I would also suspect ulcers if he doesn't put on weight-track horses are notorious for them.
 
#5 ·
I definitely agree that he needs 50-70 lbs. and muscle. But you know that :D

I have an extremely hard keeper as well. She's hot by nature, but even when she's not competing, I keep her on competition horse formula feed because that's the only thing that keeps her weight on. She hasn't gotten hotter so I think it's working. Just shop around and see if you can get a competition formula. May help him.
 
#6 ·
I agree that I think he looks worse than he may actually be because he has no topline.

I would be careful about the corn. Corn can make horse's hot, and from what i have heard can be hard for them to digest fully. I was told to put my TB on corn and I noticed a huge change for the worse in his attitude. As soon as we took him off the corn he went back to normal after a week or so. Of course every horse is different, but that's just how my TB reacted to it.
 
#7 ·
I agree about the corn. It's hard for horses to digest and it's not very nutritious. And also, make sure he's getting his feed every day. Back in the summer, you said he was only getting fed on the days that you ride. That may be contributing to his weight loss and could possibly lead to an ulcer
 
#11 ·
Then you are not feeding him the right feed. Find him something that will not make him go crazy. Feeding him only on the days you ride is definitely contributing to the fact that he is underweight and he can develop serious ailments such as ulcers or colic from not having a consistent feeding schedule.

A senior feed may help him. I have my 6 year old OTTB on a senior feed. She's a very hot horse by nature and would go crazy if I fed her anything else. A senior feed is good for maintenance and will help his weight even out
 
#12 ·
His feeding routine was made for him, his ridden seven days a week. So it doesn't matter that he is only fed grain on riding days. When I said he only gets grain on riding days, I typed incorrectly and should have added that fact that the only time the grain will be removed (and extra hay is added) is when he is not ridden/exersized for a long time, a week plus.
 
#13 ·
ok. I didn't realize that he was ridden every single day. I stand corrected :D Still, even if he isn't ridden for a long period of time, he should be on grain if he is used to having it.
 
#15 ·
STUFF him with meadow hay. Doesn't matter if it's good quality or not. Source out a round bale of crappy meadow and let him eat it constantly. Then try him on Speedi Beet (LOVE it, I swear by the stuff. If I need to fatten up a TB, that's my feed of choice. I have not found it to heat up any horses I have put it on, and one of those was a 3 year old chestnut mare who was straight off the track and naturally very 'antsy')
You'll need to feed another hard feed with the speedi beet, I'd go for something like Mitavite Breeder (yep designed for mares and youngstock but I find it an excellent feed for cool weight gain).
Lucerne is also very good, but some horses may get hot on it (the 20yr old tb we have goes crazy on the stuff!!)

But I would certainly be ad libbing him meadow hay, a round will be the cheapest and easiest option usually. Hard feeding should be a regular thing if you want to be giving it to him, not just something when you're riding. Just decrease the amount of
 
#17 ·
Coming back to this post, I was thinking about adding a protein supplement. A lot of them are really cheap (like Fat Cat), and sometimes, you can stuff a TB till he's blue in the face with hay and grain, but they still look...lean. A lot of TBs I've seen (and I've been very close with track people), BLOOM under a protein supplement. This would especially help with his lack of muscling!

Good luck again!
 
#18 ·
Coming back to this post, I was thinking about adding a protein supplement. A lot of them are really cheap (like Fat Cat), and sometimes, you can stuff a TB till he's blue in the face with hay and grain, but they still look...lean. A lot of TBs I've seen (and I've been very close with track people), BLOOM under a protein supplement. This would especially help with his lack of muscling!

Good luck again!
Corn Bran worked wonders for him last time, then he got fat and I took him off it, well we now know he needs to stay on it, maybe reduce it in summer. By the way, I believe it has no corn in it. :lol:
 
#19 ·
Speedi Beet (beet pulp) is economical, filling and non-heating. I feed it to my TB along with chaff and a pelleted food like Economix Mitavite - Scientifically Balanced Feeds
Equi-jewel or Copra (rice bran) are high fat feeds that you can add in as well if he needs that bit extra, and they are cool energy feeds that won't make him silly. I've fed all of the above to my horse at one point or another and so I can vouch for them, and you should be able to get them without trouble as they are Aussie feeds.
 
#21 ·
how much grain does he get (in pounds)? also how much hay (in pounds)? also how much and extent are you riding him?

if it were me i would not be riding this horse much until he gets more weight on him (especially to pad that spine)

also the calories you are adding might be getting "ridden off" so instead of gaining he is "maintaining". (depending on how much work he is truly doing).

how much turnout is he getting? turnout (in pasture or with hay thrown out) is a good way to add weight while helping them get a base of muscles to start with. then you can start refining those muscles with riding when he gets enough weight.
 
#23 ·
He looks good compared to what Ive seen. I think he really just needs a top line and muscling like everyone said. He will of course need more calories to get that muscle though. Tbs are ment to be lean and being a little ribby isnt bad.

I would just try alfalfa pellets, cubes or beet pulp in addition to what hes being fed right now, along with corn oil.
 
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