My horse has wierd symptoms, so what is wrong?

Question

We have this 15-year-old mare and she's absolutely wonderful, but just lately we've noticed that her ribs are showing but her neck is very thick in the crest area. She's eating a normal diet and we've recently wormed her and her pasture buddy. Then, she started getting white rings around the top of her hooves.I've never seen this before and I'm very curious and cautious as to what to do about it. So, if anyone can help me I'd really appreciate it. We would really like to keep this horse around if you know what I mean.

Answer 1

I think she has developed metabolic syndrome, also called insulin resistence, also called Cushings, but now being better understood...you can find it on the internet. I own two 20+ year olds with it...one is a too-easy keeper type and the other is a too hard-keeper type.  Neither has developed problems with shedding yet, but both are being well managed with diet and products tuned to their individual needs.  Our skinney guy's first and only symptom was a slight crest forming on his neck.  Then we noticed a weight loss with ribs showing.  That was a number of years ago, and he looks normal today except for the slight crest.  His coat has shed perfectly again this year...so it is not advancing (some horses rapidly go downhill).  He gets a product made from chasteberry, kind of an herbal remedy...I can't think of the name and it's out at the barn.  He eats Purina Senior with the chasteberry, grass hay, pasture and rice bran to keep his weight up.

He was diagnosed by a blood test that revealed out of whack hormones and glucose levels.  The white lines are not something I have seen on my two, so it may not be related.

Answer 2

just call the vet

Answer 3

Ribby horse with a cresty neck? Might want to have her checked for Cushings disease/thyroid disorder. Did she shed out her winter coat normally?

Answer 4

I would have the vet check but it sounds like a thyroid thing to me.

Answer 5

Watch out for too much grass intake. If necessary buy a grazing muzzle on both of them so their grass intake will be much less. A cresty neck is the first warning sign of founder. Talk to your vet for more advice.

Answer 6

CUSHINGS!!!

Have the vet out and do a blood test to confirm it. Cushings horses get crest necks and fat in strange places.  They may be harder to keep weight on.   The may also get laminitis (usually lower level), which is probably the rings you're seeing on your hooves.    

If the bloodwork confirms it, your vet will give you a drug to give to her daily.  Her diet should also be adjusted.

It's important to find out for sure if this is cushings or insulin-resistance(IR).

Answer 7

anytime an animal looses weight for no apparent reason-get to the vet-

Answer 8

Your horse needs a veterinary exam and a diagnosis.  You can't help this horse if you can't identify the problem.

Answer 9

"white rings" - new growth....like your cuticles.

warmer weather will decrease appetite

Answer 10

I would have your vet do some bloodwork on this mare- she sounds like she might have a thyroid or pituitary problem. She's also old enough that she could have Cushing's Syndrome, and you need to have her evaluated for that.

Good luck.

Answer 11

I agree with the others that said those might be signs of Cushing's Disease. She may also have some tooth problems. The only way to know for sure is to have the vet do a blood test. If that is the case, her symptoms can probably be controlled for quite some time with medication although there is no cure.

Again, you will need a vet to find out for sure and to advise you on treatments.

Answer 12

go to the vet hunni they will know.

Answer 13

I've seen a LOT of those rings when a horse is standing in mud for any lenght of time, if you're talking about the white mushy ones that appear between the hoof and the coranet band.

What you didn't say is what you are currently feeding your mare.

I'm in California and if I have a horse who's starting to look a bit "ribby" or I've purchased some rack of bones,  I go out and buy a 50LB sack of A&M (Ground alfafa and molasses) (In the mid west they use beet pulp BUT I've been informed that you HAVE to add water to it or it will swell in a horse's belly causing colic), dump it into a tub or feeder in the horse's stall, then top it with some rolled barley corn that is mixed with corn oil and apple cider vinegar. (I feed a 3LB coffee can of the barley corn mixture once a day.) The horse will normally devour the first couple of bags of A&M, but then they will slack off as they get used to it (Never had an issue with colic or founder)...

I haven't fed oats or any mixed feed in decades, basically because I've had running horses and TBs I'm trying to keep quiet, so I feed the rolled barley corn mixture to them for weight, NOT heat.

I also give my horses a hot bran mash twice a week with the vinegar and corn oil (I can mix the barleycorn into it.).  I feed 1/2 a 3 LB coffee can of red wheat flakey bran and add enough water to it so that it looks like oatmeal in consistancy.

I make sure that they get 2 flakes of alfafa hay per feeding.