what is wrong with my horse?

Question

my horse just all of sudden got skinny over the winter, i feed her every day and give her grain and water, but still the same..... what should i do?

Answer 1

Is it 'all of a sudden'? Or 'over the winter'? What concerns me is that it would appear you haven't noticed the weight loss until now.
Also of concern is that you come here to ask instead of getting the advice of a veterinarian.

Since you've asked, as others have mentioned, have you wormed her with different 'families' of wormer, rotationally, every 6 - 8 weeks? Have you had her teeth floated in the last year? Have you fed adequate amounts of hay to compensate for the colder weather? To that end, when its' colder, horses burn more calories keeping warm, so to help a horse stay warmer (and fatter, eventually) it's helpful to keep them in adequate shelter, or blanketed in severe weather.

It's possible the grain doesn't have adequate nutritional values for her any longer. If she's over 14 yrs old, it's possible she needs a higher fat & protein content, typically found in a 'senior' forumula. Also, you could add soaked hay cubes and beet pulp if she's older an having trouble chewing long stemmed fibers. You could add a splash of vegetable oil for extra fat for now. I'd stay away from corn oil as the carbohydrates arent' always healthy for horses. I like cocosoya oil from uckele.com.

If all those items have been addressed, and even if not, a call to the vet is in order right away. Weight loss is sometihng that can get out of hand quickly, so you want expert advice. Good luck.

Answer 2

You really need to consult a vet if she just all of a sudden got skinny.

Sudden weight loss is normally more medically related than feed related. She may have stomach ulcers, EHV, or any other type of equine virus.

Start off by worming her and getting her teeth checked. Even if she does not need her teeth floated yet she may have cavities or sensitive teeth causing her to lay off her feed.
Get her shots UTD and if she is an older mare you may need to switch her to a senior feed or a more complete feed such as Safe Choice or Strategy.
If you aren't, get her on a horse quality hay and if you are able feed her free choice. You may also choose to add alfalfa or a mixed hay, depending on your region or your choice.
Soggy beat pulp is a great way to add weight and nutrition to your horse and is safe.
Make sure she has salt and mineral blocks available to her and also in loose form with clean water everyday.
And make sure that your equine's feet are actually healthy enough to help her move around and graze.

Over all, have a vet check done. You should be having one done at least twice a year and if you aren't you should start to prevent you having to ask questions like this.

Answer 3

The first thing you'll want to rule out is a medical issue. If she has any other signs of illness-- a temperature, runny nose, glossy eyes, etc.--you should call the vet for a check up. If he rules out any type of sickness, you have a few options.

First, weight loss could be a sign of intestinal worms. Is your horse on a rotational worming schedule? Remember that with horse, you have a few options. You can worm them orally with a paste every other month (six times a year total). Just make sure that you rotate the type of wormer you use after every other use. Look at the active ingredient in each and select three different types of wormers. You could also worm your horse daily with a pellet supplement to his feed, like the Strongid brand. This costs more and you still have to worm them twice a year with a paste that has a different active ingredient than what's in your pellet. The benefit of pellets like Strongid is the five thousand dollars worth of colic surgery insurance it includes.

If you've been worming your horse, you have to remember that some horses tend to lose weight in the winter. You need to make sure that your horse is getting enough feed. The most important part of her diet is forage, usually in the form of hay. Let her eat as much as she wants, put no restrictions on her. As for her grain, what are you feeding her? Do you have her on a pelleted feed? I find that some of these are less balanced nutritionally than they lead you to believe, and they can be high in things like starches that can upset the stomachs of sensitive horses. I like feeding a mixture of sweet feed and rolled oats. The sweet feed will help bulk your horse up, but it also boosts energy, so if she's on the hotter side, you'll want to watch yourself with how much you feed out. If you decide to switch her to a higher fat feed, though, you need to make sure that you do everything slowly and gradually so as not to cause colic.

Regardless of whether or not you switch over her grain, there are a few things you can add to it to help bulk her up. You could add a cup of corn oil with her evening grain to help add a bit of fat. This will also improve her coat. But what would benefit her more is the addition of beet pulp to her evening grain. Beet pulp is great for adding weight to hard keepers. It's important to remember that it needs to be soaked for a long time or it can expand in the horse's intestine and cause severe damage. If you start soaking it in the morning and feed it with her evening grain, you'll be fine.

These are just suggestions. You should talk with your vet or someone with personal knowledge of your specific horse, as they might have other ideas.

Answer 4

In the winter horses need extra hay and grain, but mostly extra hay. They need more hay because in the winter they cant graze on grass daily. So, my miniature horses lost weight last winter. So this winted I really gave them extra hay, but not too much and they are a little chubby. So just start giving them extra hay. I wouldnt worry for too long because spring is on its way and your horse can be turned out into a pasture daily, for daily grazing.
Best Of Luck

Answer 5

You should worm her if you have not already. But you should also put corn oil in her food. The age of your horse could also be an issue, one of my old arabian geldings needs a suplint in his feed to keep weight on him. Good Luck!!

Answer 6

Parasites? Was it a particularly hard winter? Is a dominate horse keeping her away from her food? Is she getting enough hay to keep warm??

Answer 7

Do you give her plenty of hay? too much grain & not enough hay could cause her to die. Horses shoul dhave hay avaiable to them 24/7.

Do you worm her? Getting skinny all of a sudden could be a sign of worms.

Answer 8

My final 2 horses--which covers the time from age 12 to now (just about 25) have been offered as greenies who knew no longer something, so as that wasn't extremely an argument...i did no longer could harm any behavior or adapt to a distinctive type. My mom in basic terms offered a sparkling horse some months in the past after lots debate. She have been using/showing her older, reliable gelding who grow to be fantastically much as good as they arrive yet no longer extremely fantastically or fancy, and it grow to be proscribing her ability interior the coach pen. She grow to be waiting to go up. We got here upon this horse who had quite a few AQHA factors, grow to be risk-free and robust yet grow to be slightly fancier than the previous horse. She tried him out and besides the undeniable fact that he had quite a few "buttons" she did no longer comprehend (ie, he had a spur stop, and her previous horse did no longer), she extremely liked him. We introduced him abode...and the topics began. the biggest is that he's been lame for weeks, beginning up a pair of weeks after she introduced him abode (and we had him thoroughly vet checked, so as that wasn't something shall we've prevented). it extremely is been distinctive themes. We knew he have been injected till now so we weren't extremely shocked approximately that and desiring to do it back, in spite of the undeniable fact that it extremely is been a conflict to maintain him sound. We additionally got here across he had ulcers. She's additionally struggled lots greater desirable than she estimated with using him--i think of she grow to be waiting for a lots greater handy, "pushbutton" horse and he's fairly taken great factor approximately her. no longer risky in any respect...yet no longer winning ribbons interior the coach pen, the two. i do no longer think of he's the "incorrect" horse for her, yet i think of it extremely is lots greater of a undertaking and not as undemanding/at present alluring as she grow to be waiting for. In her case, she's asked our coach to artwork with the pony some to discern him out a touch so he can help her greater useful (and likewise to your best option any undesirable behavior she's allowed the pony to advance) after which he helps her discover ways to experience him greater useful to make him do it the way he's familiar with how. She's additionally working heavily with the vet and farrier to compliment the stability themes, and we are hopeful that as quickly as he's one hundred% sound a number of his education themes will pick.

Answer 9

Worm her and float her teeth as soon as you can. If her weight doesn't start to pick up shortly after that, call the vet.

Answer 10

You need to worm it go down to your vets office and get a wormer kit follow instructions