I have a horse who i have been feeding well but she doesn't seem 2 ever put any weight on i am worried?

Question

I don't no what to do can some 1 plz help,any advice will b appreciated,thank you

the horse is a 13 year old mare,not a tb,who just had a colt last august.she eats all of her feed and is out every day and i woud descibe her as high strung.By the way i would like u all 2 no i wormed her 2 day so will c if that is part of the prob

Answer 1

i have the same problem with my mare off and on. I went finally and got the book 'How to be Your Own Veterinarian (Sometimes)' This book is priceless. It will seem as if they have seen your horse, and know all about her. Of course, it's written collectively, and addresses many problems common to horses.

I ended up having to give her several different grains, and you must provide free choice hay and fresh water at all times, of course.

Also make sure her (his?) coggins and West nile Virus shots are kept up to date, as well as keeping her wormed. OTC wormers work OK, but the vet we have makes housecalls, and can give a shot that is much more effective.

If you live in a sandy area, or if there is a lot of sand or dirt in her area, give her a gallon of bran once a week to help move any that she may ingest on out of her. I mix mine with mineral oil to make it a kind of mash, and she will readily eat it. This will help keep her digestive tract cleaned out.

Answer 2

A little more information about the horse in question would help:
How old is the horse?
Is it regularly wormed?
What is it's work load?
What is it's temperament like (laid back or stressy)?
Have you had it's teeth checked out in the past 12 months?
Is it a fussy feeder?
Does it receive regular turn out?
Does it get along with other horses?
Has the vet looked at it (perhaps blood tested it)?

I would suggest you ask your vet to give the horse a basic health check. It really isn't too expensive, and could save you money in the long run. If the horse has a clean bill of health, I would then look for advice from an equine nutritionist. Many of the feed companies have these on their staff and they give free advice (though they will ask you the questions I've posted above, and recommend a vet check, before advising you on the best feed for weight gain)...

Answer 3

If you're not a deworming schedule right now, you should be. You have a couple options with that, you can use a paste or a pellet. In a paste worming schedule, you would give her the wormer every other month for a total of six times a year. You should also rotate the type of wormer you use, so the active ingredient is different every other time. That means you should be using three different wormers with three different active ingredients. Pellet wormers like Strongid are given orally every day in the horse's grain. You still have to worm them with a paste twice a year, and the active ingredient should be different than what's in your pellet. Strongid costs more, but comes with $5000 worth of colic insurance.

If she's being wormed according to a rotational schedule already, or if you worm her and she's still keeping the weight off, you should try to evaluate her individually. Some breeds and some specific horses have higher metabolisms and don't keep or put on weight easily. Thoroughbreds in particular can be very hard to keep weight on. You have a few different options here. You can up the amount of grain she's eating, switch to a feed that has a higher fat content, add a cup of oil to her nighttime grain, or add soaked beetpulp to her nighttime grain. No matter what, make sure she has fresh water and lots of hay available at all times.

I'd hesitate before upping the amount of grain, as it can get costly and horses shouldn't be getting most of their food intake from grain. It should come from forage, either hay or grass. You may want to take a look at what you're feeding her, though. Some pelleted feeds contain ingredients that don't always agree with all horses, like starches. I like to keep it simple, rolled oats and sweet feed, for instance. A cup of oil may be high enough in fat to give her a bit of bulk, and it will also give her a shinier, healthier coat. But what you really want to consider is the beet pulp. It does wonders for bulking a horse up. But remember, it has to soak for at least an hour before feeding it out, otherwise it can be harmful to your horse. We used to start soaking ours when we fed lunch, then six hours later we fed it out for dinner. That way we knew for sure it was safe to feed. Beet pulp is a great weight builder for hard keepers. It does wonders for some of the finicky TBs we've had.

Answer 4

First off, does your mare finish her feeds?

If she IS finishing up, then it could be worms, in which case I'd take a stool sample and send it to your vets for evaluation. then put her on a recommended course of dewormers.

If your mare is "hot" then she probably burns up alot of her feed very quickly - much like people who have very high metabolisms, they eat and eat and never seem to put on any weight.

If she ISN'T finishing up:

1>>she may have stomach ulcers - these can be caused by stress - i find that mares tend to stress alot more easily than geldings, and sometimes for absolutely no reason that you can figure out. Speak to your vet and ask him to prescribe her a course of "anti-ulcer" medication.

2>> she may have a virus, a horse may appear perfectly healthy, no temp, feels normal to ride etc, but can still be carrying a virus, so ask your vet to take a blood sample and have it evaluated, then treat accordingly.

Be sure to take your mares temp regularly, this way you'll know if it goes up beyond the "norm".

3>>she may not like the feed you're giving her - horses are unbelievably fussy!!! try a different feed.

hope this helps.

Answer 5

Just as an addendum to previous answers that are correct concerning deworming, performance level, and general health . . .some horses (TB's in particular) just don't keep weight on well. Corn oil is great, but I seem to get better results with beet pulp. Be sure not to overfeed while trying to increase your horse's weight . . . a horse should get 1 lb of food (1 flake of hay = 1 lb) per 100 lbs of body weight.
Ex. 1000 lb horse = 10 lbs of hay/grain per day

Answer 6

we've a 23 year previous TWH who drops weight around iciness time. She on senior feed and getting yet another severe in fat grain thats normaly for best overall performance horses. Beat Pulp could additionally help as properly. having stated that it rather is real her age could be placing in. you may tell our mare is previous even nonetheless she had positioned returned on her weight. She gets hay the two T&A or alfalfa.

Answer 7

You need to talk to your vet. There are MANY reasons a horse drops weight or has trouble maintaining it. The horse might need to be wormed, may need its teeth floated or may even need a different feed. When your vet comes out to do the exam, he/she can work out a feeding program that would be best suited for your horse and its situation.

Answer 8

I used to have an older standardbred mare that would never put on weight. I had to feed her supplements in her grain. Also corn oil pored into there grain helps. The vet said that lots of carrots wouldnt hurt also.

Answer 9

Have you wormed her latley?

Are you giving her the right type of food to help her gain weight

Don't be doing any serious exercises with her wile she is still unstable in her size

ask a vet for help

Answer 10

First thing, deworm her. Second, add more fat into her diet in the form of corn and/or beet pulp. Third, make sure she has free choice hay at all times. And forth, raw eggs and/or vegetable oil mixed with her grain will improve her coat and make her slick and fat.