What would you do? Horse on stall rest losing weight?

Question

We have a horse who is a hard keeper (A Thoroughbred, go figure!). He normally eats 5 scoops of grain per day (2 for breakfast and dinner, 1 for lunch) and is on free choice T/A or O/A. We can't get him to be a nice "hunter fat" like we would like, but he's fat enough. In fact, people that have known him for 15 years say they've never seen him look so good.

So here's the issue: He has been on stall rest for the last 6 weeks. I cut back his grain to 1 1/2 scoops twice a day (none for lunch) to reduce his excess energy while confined. He was getting stocked up in all 4 legs, so I cut it to one scoop twice a day (still free choice hay). Now he's losing weight. What would you do in this situation? I dread him losing weight cuz it is soooo hard to put it back on him. But I don't want him to be unhealthy standing around with stocked up legs and too much grain for an inactive horse. And he's the type that will jump around in his stall and hurt himself, so he needs to not have much excess energy. Oh, and he's not really eating his hay as well as he used to - he used to go through 4-5 flakes a day, now he's eating like 3 even though I offer him as much as he wants. Should be on stall rest for at least a few more weeks, if not longer.

Answer 1

Horses can get very depressed on stall rest. It can affect how they eat and it can affect how their body functions in general. Even though we do stall rest to help an injury heal, stall rest also creates mental, emotional and physical stress.

If it's an option, I would get him out to graze more often, to hand walk a little more, or to have him out for relaxing grooming and just visiting time. Beyond that, I would have a talented massage therapist work on him as often as possible, to help him be more comfortable in his body. If you can find someone who does Reiki with their massage, that would be even better, to help him relax, to help him remain connected with his body, and to invite his body to heal itself.

Chiropractic and acupuncture treatments will also help his body relax and be more available to not only heal the injury but keep his digestion efficient and help him remain mentally and emotionally relaxed.

I would also offer that you could buy a T-Touch book. There is a lot of very simply body therapy to support him through this stressful time.

Many times we treat the outside of the horse forgetting that, just like people, the state of mental and emotional health has just as big an effect on total health.

Most horses like rice bran, so you might include that in his bucket. But ultimately, the more comfortable you can make him on all levels, the faster his recovery will be.

Answer 2

Once he is better and moving around he should put on more weight because he is using energy. But if you are really worried then get a vet over to take a look at him.

Answer 3

try adding a different type of feed with his normal feed to bulk him back up, such as plain oats. this way hes getting more feed, but without all that wirey protein and the like. continue with the free choice of hay. is there anyway to get him out of the stall and walk him a few minutes each day? or is he recovering from a injury?

Answer 4

My first suggestion would be to try rice bran. It has a higher fat content than any other feed, and you can feed it to them in bulk without having to worry about colic. It is about the only thing I've found that can put and keep weight on my 18 year old TB mare. For weight gain, I have to feed 3lbs of it a day mixed with 3lbs of Senior. But she is a pretty hard keeper so you might be able to get away with less than that.

Rice bran contains a lot of calories from fat to put the weight on a horse. It has 1/3 more calories than beet pulp, by weight. (i.e. you'd have to feed 1.3 pounds of beet pulp to get the same calories as you'd get from 1 pound of rice bran). This is a big reason why I prefer it...it's more cost effective. However, rice bran can have a mineral imbalance, so if you feed more than about 2 pounds of it, you should make sure a horse's diet is supplemented with a mineral block and/or a complete feed (hence why I feed Senior as well). I'm sure the MannaPro would be fine.  I'd mix his feed up as half MannaPro, and half rice bran.  If he doesn't like the bran and picks through it, try adding some molasses or oil to improve the taste.

My horses don't like the powdered bran, they like the pellets (nutrena makes one called Empower) so I would try the pellets first.  They don't have to be soaked, just mix them in with your other grain.

Answer 5

Try a vets opinion, they're the expert, and will be a BIG help.

For the time being, add a half cup of corn oil to each of his grain meals.

Hope he gains weight :)

Answer 6

try giving him 1.5 scoops in the morning and just 1 scoop at night..

thats a happy medium..

but i do understand the feeling.. my mare is tb x qh with more tb and she will drop weight if i change her grain like its nothing but it will takes weeks/months to get the same weight she lost in a couple days back on her. i hate it, but what can you do?

Answer 7

The horse you see as my avatar is just coming off of founder. We gave him bute and it attacked his kidneys, and we almost lost him. He spent eight days in the equine hospital, and lost a lot of weight. We have to be very careful about what we feed him. My vet suggested that we get the senior feed and mix 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in with his feed. Much to my surprise, he loves it, and our other hoses do too. I think you should cut his feed down to 1 full scoop twice a day and mix the vegetable oil in with it. Be very careful with the alfalfa, it could get you in a lot of trouble. Also, try the orchard grass hay, I bet he will like that better than regular grass hay too.  

Answer 8

I sympathize with your situation. One of my jumpers pulled a suspensory and was on lay-up for 8 months before he could go out again. He too was TB and a hard-keeper.

Definitely keep grain to a minimum. The bulk of his diet needs to come from forage or it will just make him hyper and it really won't add weight. If he's picking at his hay right now, you might want to check the quality of it. Even if it looks good, its nutritional quality might be poor. If you talk to your hay supplier, see if they have a report of the nutrients. If they don't, you can talk to your local or state Department of Agriculture and get a hay analysis done. This will give you a better idea of the quality of your hay. Talk to your vet about the minimum nutritional content you should be feeding your horse right now.

Also remember, your horse will probably lose some weight no matter what. TBs can lose weight and condition quickly. It's a hard balance, because you don't want him getting too hyper and hurting himself. If he's jumping around his stall, you may want to ask a vet about sedatives. We started my jumper on a Reserpine regimen every two weeks, but he built up a tolerance to it. Eventually, we moved to giving him 1 cc of Ace twice a day in the muscle. I don't like drugging horses, but when it comes to their safety, sometimes you have to do it. When he's out of stall rest and back in work, you can wean him off the drugs. But again, talk to your vet about this horse's specific needs.

Answer 9

I would give him some alfalfa every day and rice bran with his grain. Also, see if you could walk him a few times every day.

Answer 10

i think u might be worrying way to much. but i do think you need to keep feeding him almost the same amount of feed as you did. its not good  alter the feed back and fourth. his stocked or swollen legs are from the lack of exercises. just run cold water out of the hose on his legs for about 30 minutes a day. and its good to let them graze. that is vitamins. just as the sun is too. good luck.

Answer 11

I'd have the vet out, actually. He may have a thyroid issue that is causing him to drop weight.

Answer 12

I had a t-bred who got kicked and broke his left front splint bone, after surgery he was also on stall rest.  He got very depressed and wouldn't eat.  We started mixing molasses with his grain and adding any fresh veggies he would eat.  

you may also try massage therapy or acupuncture

Watch out for founder since he's on stall rest, I would try and get him to move at least a little

Answer 13

Get a vet to come over ASAP! Horses are very fragile animals.

Answer 14

Why is he on stall rest?? Could you take him for a short walk to reduce the stocking in his legs?? He is probably eating less because he doesnt need as much energy...If you can, take him for a short walk to let him stretch a little & get some fresh air and work his feed back up a little so he wont loose any more weight?? Im not totally sure what to do seeing as hes a picky guy!!  

Answer 15

Can't change feed, I hear ya, my horse is the same. Too bad though because a high fat low energy feed would be best. Will he eat hay cubes? Dry or wet, throw them to him. Oil on his grain an option? Flax seed (ground)