My horse is too skinny and i am past worried!?

Question

I am really worried about my 6 year old trotter x, he is 15.2 and too thin, he hasn't got worms and is on long grass 24/7 i need someone to suggest why this is and also recommend any feed that can i give him someone suggested empower - what is it and what does it do?

should i try senior feeds even though he is still young?

someone also suggested bailey cooked cereal mix.

thank you! x*x

Answer 1

Empower is made by Nutrena, and is a 12% protein and 22% fat. Here is the link for that particular feed. http://www.nutrenaworld.com/Screens/Prod...

Make sure you dont feed him a large amount at one feeding. Horses only absorb what they need, and p**p out the rest. So all of the extra feed you feed him doesnt do any good, its more than likely just sitting on the ground. Horses do better with equally divided meals 2-3x a day.

Senior is an excellent weight gain feed.

Purina's equine senior as well as Manna Pro's Manna Senior are exeptional quality feeds. They include Alfalfa in them, so you dont have to feed as much hay. Senior is also easier to digest. I use it on rescues to put weight on, regardless of whether or not they are seniors.

This is what I did to put 450lbs on a rescue Tennessee Walker: I wormed him first, put him on a daily dewormer that I mix in with his feed in the mornings. I got whole oats from my local feed mill and mixed it in with my Purina Equine Senior, and also added a few more alfalfa pellets into it. I fed him small divided amounts 3 times a day. If you cant do 3, do 2. Once is not good to get weight on him in a timely manner...it will take at least a year...depending on how underweight he is. I also had to have his teeth floated. Have you check your horses teeth?

My horse put on all of his weight in about 6 months. This was okayed by my vet, a horse his age will not be harmed by rapid weight gain. Of coarse, now that I have experimented with feed, I have found that Manno Pro makes the best selection, and gave me the best results. After he put on all of his weight, I fed him nothing but Manna Senior and kept him out on pasture 24/7, and he stayed at an ideal healty weight for the remainder of his years.

Make sure whatever feed you get has a good amount of fiber in it. Fiber is crucial for the absorbtion of nutrients.

Answer 2

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 a 1/2 CUP of apple cider 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.  

Answer 3

some trotters are high strung and naturally very thin,  Grayhound thin is the term they use on the track.

grass 24/7 is great for him.  stick with a 10% feed,  give him the grain sugessted for the weight he SHOULD be.  not the weight he is.  And look for Equi Jewel.  Its pelletized calcium and rice bran.  High in fat, but it wont hype a horse up and will help with gaining/ maintaining weight.

Also, check withyour vet and have blood work done.  for some reason trotters seem to get thyroid issues and that can keep them from gaining weight no matter what you feed them

Answer 4

i used dumor weight formula because i got my horse from a rescue and he was thin its like banana flavored or something and hes gained alot of weight from it

Answer 5

horses like short grass not tall grass keep the pasture shorter have a vet look a him also. they will know what 2 do  

Answer 6

Get his teeth checked.. he may just be having trouble eating. And have you talked to your vet?? Considering your horse is out 24/7 with alot of access to food, I would be concerned. Your horse may have a more serious problem... itd be better to catch a problem early rather than late.

Just remember as you try to put some weight on him, not to change his feeding drastically, do it slowly.

You may also want to make sure you trim your pasture... when the grass gets longer alot of horses dont like how sweet it is and wont eat it.  

Answer 7

You need to get a vet to test him for any medical issues, such as thyroid problems. If he has these, he will not get any better, he will only get worse.

The vet can also give you nutritional advice

Answer 8

Your primary resource for concerns about your horse's nutrition should be your vet, who can perform tests to determine if your horse is getting the right nutrition.

There are some good nutrition papers from university veterinarians linked from http://www.temporaldoorway.com/stable/li...

This includes a body condition scoring system which can help you assess just how thin your horse is, and several papers that provide advice from vets on feeding for horses based on their work intensity. However, these are not a substitute for vet advice, especially if your horse has a body condition score lower than 4.

I hope this helps!

Answer 9

look for weight supplements.

they have themm at all the feed shops. ask a worker to help u find the right one fer ur horse.

or u can mix corn oil into his grain. u should grain him at least two times to three times a  day. thts wat i do in the wintter.

Answer 10

High Quality (high fat) feed, quality Hay or grass in front of him AT ALL TIMES (except within a hour or two of exercise), all the fresh clean water he wants, deworm at least evey 6 weeks this is the key. If you would like maybe some weight supplements.  This will do it and it's simple.

http://www.allivet.com/?Click=88104

Answer 11

I have a TB mare who's advanced in age, when she came to me, she had a foal by her side and was quite underweight, but not so bad that she was in physical danger - just looked real bad probably from not getting increased feed to offset the needs of the nursing foal.

I tried many things - corn, corn oil, other oils, weight builders.  None of these worked as I wanted them to - she didn't gain any weight just maintained even after I separated she and the foal.

My dentist suggested I put her on Purina's Equine Senior - replacing half her feed with that and adding a top-dress of Kent Feed's Omegatin.  It worked wonders for her and is available anywhere Kent feeds are sold.

I ended up also switching all my horses from a 12-16% sweet feed milled at the local elevator to Purina's Strategy feed.  This dropped the starches they were getting, so made them less "hot" - their behaviors got better.

I have kept this mare on half a scoop of Strategy, Half a scoop of Senior, a cup of Omegatin + her vitamins and she's remained healthy almost to fat.

You may also want to check on vitamins like clovite to help him make the best of the feed he does get.  Here in the Great Lakes States our grasses are notoriously low in Selenium - a vitamin that acts like Potassium to humans.  So I've always given mine some extra vitamins to ensure they get what our grass doesn't have.  There a vitamin formulated here in Michigan called "Great Lakes Blend" that works pretty well for mine.

good luck!

Answer 12

I have a 21 year old hard keeper arab gelding.  He is 15.3 hh and about 1000 lbs in good weight, which he is with his current feeding program.  He is on pasture 24/7, with free choice grass hay (sometimes alfalfa mix, about 25% alfalfa in winter) year round.

In summer, he gets 4 lbs of Purina Equine Senior, and one cup of rice bran (balanced calcium and phosphorus...called stabilized) daily, in two feedings.  In winter, I up the Senior to 5 lbs a day, and give 2 cups of rice bran (high fat content to keep weight on).  He also gets daily wormer, and is paste wormed 4 times a year as well.  I also give him an ounce or two of Omega Horseshine daily for hoof and coat condition, which he may or may not really need.  He used to be prone to colic, but since changing him to Senior feed, has never colicked again.  My vet actually recommends Purina Senior for any age horse because it is easily digested and really does prevent colic.

Anyway, your guy would probably do well with the same diet as my guy.