[My Salty Pony]

I’ll try to get better pics, but he’s usually pretty shiney. He rolls in the sandy part of the field so he’s always super dusty so he looks dull in that pic, it’s like the more I brush him the more the dust comes to the surface and it’s like oh my! I could brush him for hours and never get all the dirt/dust out. 😂🙄

yesterday when I was with him he did a big shake and a ton of dust rose up outta his coat, saved me some brushing, but he is the type of dusty where I’ll put my hand on him and it’ll leave a print 😅😅

He’s on lots of supplements with vitamins that should do the job.. I haven’t been giving him a bath as frequently anymore. Probably I just need to curry him, I just use a flick brush a lot (though I do brush him everyday just never use the curry that much)
Thanks y’all

As in lots of supplement, what type's of supplements?

 

[baysfordays]

As in lots of supplement, what type's of supplements?

My one supplement helps with hair/coat health, shiney etc. and I believe my two others “supposedly” help with it too, but he’s getting enough nutrition that I would think he’d be healthy coat wise.

 

[walkinthewalk]

My one supplement helps with hair/coat health, shiney etc. and I believe my two others “supposedly” help with it too, but he’s getting enough nutrition that I would think he’d be healthy coat wise.

So he isn’t getting “lots of supplements”, he is getting three.

Specifically which supplements, what kind of feed & how much. He may not be getting the correct nutrition for him. My two horses eat completely different; what is nutritionally correct for one could possibly founder the other one.

Correct nutrition in this day and age is not a guessing game, so just thinking he’d be healthy coat wise, might actually be a big miss. One has to do their due diligence and learn to read labels on supplements, which is why I am curious as to which three supplements and what kind of feed he is eating.

 

[baysfordays]

So he isn’t getting “lots of supplements”, he is getting three.

Specifically which supplements, what kind of feed & how much. He may not be getting the correct nutrition for him. My two horses eat completely different; what is nutritionally correct for one could possibly founder the other one.

Correct nutrition in this day and age is not a guessing game, so just thinking he’d be healthy coat wise, might actually be a big miss. One has to do their due diligence and learn to read labels on supplements, which is why I am curious as to which three supplements and what kind of feed he is eating.

He’s getting Bio Ez (helps his ulcers, hooves, etc,I think it’s by Giddy up girls)
One scoop in the a.m (its one of those little little scoop that comes in the container with it)

Essential K by tribute (which is more a regular feed but I feed it as a supplement because my last trainer recommended it, I feel like it’s useless) one “cup” a.m. it’s a tribute cup that I got. I think it’s a 1/2lb
and K finish, by tribute, which helped a lot with his weight. A.m. 1/2lb.
And then his main grain is kalm ultra
One full scoop, a.m.

p.m he just gets the scoop of kalm ultra.

I’ve added and took away some feeds, and it took about a year playing around with different grains and supplements that’s right for him to grt at a healthy weight, and I felt like he looked really good, but are y’all seeing something else I am not?
so I would really hate to mess with his feeds again, and my trainer said he looks amazing currently.

I felt like he’s on the right feeds, because he was extremely skinny when I got him and he’s came a long ways weight wise, but I might have to change it for the long run.

he’s getting tons of hay and alfalfa, and grass 24/7, we’re about to switch out to a new pasture for them that we’ve re planted so they would have grass in the colder months.

 

[QtrBel]

So this is the Bio EZ blurb. Nothing about ulcers. Nothing in it that targets or prevents ulcers. Not that having prebiotic and enzymes isn't a helpful thing but he gets plenty if he's on good grass.


"Specifically for horses, BioEZ® is a blend of probiotics, digestive enzymes, and prebiotics, that increase nutrient absorption and maximize bacterial digestion.
BioEZ® can help a wide range of digestive challenges and can be a lasting solution to persistent conditions like diarrhea, poor body condition, healthful weight, and colic.

A healthy digestive system is key to overall well-being. With BioEZ® horses will feel better, perform better and train easier. Whether you are addressing a persistent digestive problem or simply looking to boost your horse’s digestive efficiency, daily BioEZ® is your affordable and easy to use answer."


Essential K is one of the higher poundage ration balancers and the likely serving for his size and activity level is 3 pounds. 1/2 pound shorts him of the nutrients you are trying to get in him if he truly needs them.

K Finish is a supplement for weight gain. Like most fat supplements on the market I'd bet it's an up to 3 lbs a day for weight gain but 1/2 pound will put a good shine on a coat.

Then you are adding Kalm Ultra but don't give a scoop size or weight which is how it should be measured. It should be at a minimum of 6 pounds up to 12. Similar to other high fat feeds. It is meant to be fed by package directions. All three of these have vets and minerals so it is quite likely you are over feeding some. Under feeding others and he's not getting a balance if you aren't feeding at least 6 pounds of the feed.

Tribute has its own enzyme and prebiotic add ins so the likelihood is you don't need the BioEZ and don't need the K Finish or Essential K. You just need to feed the Kalm Ultra to package directions.

 

[horselovinguy]

If he is that dull coated I would be having concerns when he is fed feed and all that supplementation products....

My horses roll daily in sandy soil and there is still a gleam on their coats of health and vitality...bit dusty but you see healthy through dust.
Your horse just looks mousey in appearance. Trademark of cutting off the tips of a coat with clippers and sadly to many clip with a blade to close a cut and really scalp a coat of its beauty....
Takes about 2 - 3 weeks for that blunt to start to fade as the horses body works hard to regrow what you just stole..

If you do decide to clip you will and must be a slave to sheets and blankets cause you stole Mother Natures coat and temperature control mechanism....if you don't sheet/blanket the horse pays the price in losing weight and possibly ill when it can't regulate its coat for the current weather conditions....be careful what you decide to do.
🐴...

 

[rambo99]

For everything your feeding something isn't right his coat looks dull. You have to weigh the feed. Every Comerical feed has directions on it how much to feed per day. It measured by weight not volume.

I feed a condensed vit/min mix it with soaked alfalfa cubes. It has everything he needs vit/min wise so I don't need to feed any kind of hard feed. My boy is slick an shinny. Here's my boy yesterday not clipped just slick because he's not shedding summer coat. The dark coloring is sooty palomino not dirt.

 

[walkinthewalk]

Agree with “qtr”, “HLG”, and “Rambo”. Something is off on your feed regimen.

IMHO it’s too many things and not feeding enough of any of them. I also agree that the BioEz could be dropped since there are probiotics in the Kalm.

if you saw the video of my two seniors in this week’s Friday night conversation, the easy keeping sorrel is a Tennessee Walker. He only eats a couple of cups of timothy pellets daily so I can mix in his supplements which incLuke’s a condensed vit/min supplement from The same company @rambo99 buys from.

The bay is a Dutch Warmblood who came here from SoCal for full retirement due to injuries. He was well cared for in his previous home but he really stressed during his three day journey once he realized there was no show and he wasn’t going home. He lost ~100 pounds, it’s a good thing he is 17H so he didn’t look as bad as he could have. His ulcers flared in ways I have never experienced. I am not used to hard keepers or horses with such serious ulcer issues, so I was really struggling to find something nutritious that he would eat and to get his ulcers under control.

He gets fed by the quarts - Rolled oats, Nutrena Safe Choice Senior, and Camelina oil which is rich in a perfect/natural balance of Omegas & Vitamin E. He also gets supplements for his arthritis.

My point to all that ^^^ is your horse needs more of one Nutritious product, not a little of this and a little of that. Your purpose in helping him is being defeated, in spite of what your trainer says.

Like your horse, my Ducth Warmblood has a very short coat by nature and he spent his entire life in (26+ years) in SoCal, so I worry that he may not develop a good winter coat for Middle Tennessee winters, which are mild but not near as mild as SoCal. He has a very short, very tight coat by nature. So far, his winter coat is coming in thick. It is very short but it is thick and, as you see in the video on the other thread, he is every bit as shiny as my Walking Horse.

The Dutch Warmblood has only been on my property since March 31st, so he is eating nutritionally correct, elst his coat wouldn’t have the natural sheen it has. The 28 yr old Walking Horse stays healthy & shiny on timothy pellets, a condensed vit/min supplement, extra Vitamin E, and an arthritis supplement

Tribute has good products but IMHO it is time for a revision of your horse’s diet that will better benefit him and probably save you money because you won’t be buying a handful of different products, although he will be eating more of the one product.

Also, I did buy lightweight and a medium coats for my horse for those few days we have freezing rain blowing sideways. Due to him being a hard keeper, I don’t want his Senior self burning calories to stay warm.

 

[baysfordays]

Thanks all.

I still don’t see how he’s been shiney, and then suddenly not shiney and “healthy looking”
I haven’t changed his feed, or anything else, usually every fall when he’s growing his coat he turns a darker/grayish bay and then turns into a pumpkin orange bay until spring. (That’s what he did last year, but now he’s healthier I don’t know what will happen this year)

not trying to argue with any of y’all, because you all know more about nutrition/coat health then I do

but, different lighting, him rolling, etc, can make him look dull, especially because he was really dirty and rolled in the sand in the picture, and I did not brush him thoroughly.

I’ll also ask my trainer about how his coat looks, she’s been saying he looks great, but she’s been seeing him irl and not through a picture.

Also- not trying to argue with the feed thing, but online i do not believe Bio Ez says ulcers online, correct? On the lid of the container it says “ulcers” and lists a couple other things that aren’t in the description.

Once I put him on the bio Ez, his sensitivity with his ulcers stopped.

and K finish put lots of weight on him, and now he’s being worked a lot, I don’t want him to get skinny again.. but I’ll still look into the feed thing, I don’t want to be giving him something that’s not helping him.

Here was a picture of him i took the 16th of September. Does he looks shiney? And healthy? Or no? Because if not, then my eyes are definitely messed up. Lol.

also.. I just noticed.. The picture when I post it to here, looks totally different color wise compared to how it actually looks in my camera roll!

 

[keelan]

To help with getting dust out while grooming I lightly mist my horses with water.
Also I started adding a half cup of black oil sunflower seeds to their dinner as did another boarder. Her black mare no longer sun fades and is glossy as if she has just been groomed. Mine all have great coats and shine.

 

[jaydee]

MOD NOTE

Some posts have been removed from this thread and some posts edited.

The back and forth about whether or not the horse had or hadn't been clipped was irrelevant to the thread once the first question about it was made and answered

Please focus on the topic of the question - which is: 'Keeping a horse's coat nice in colder temperatures'