My Skinny Tb-also on After the races-pic added

[guiltygirl]

I have had my mare four months and she hasn't gained one ounce as far as I can tell. She just turned four April 10. She is in work 4 days a week-30-45 minute ring work -mostly flat. she has developed muscle but no weight. My BM is afraid to feed her grain -thinks she will get unridable-too hot. She is very laid back right now-very quiet for a TB. She is fed hay 4 times a day (looks like Timiothy ) in her stall-she is only out 4-5 hours a day-sorry but absolutely no grass-crappy dirt pasture (I cant change this unless I move and I dont want to move-I try to let her hand graze at least fifteen mintues four days a week) She is only out such a short time because the BM is feeding her the hay in the stall more often. And she is a terror to the other mares. She is on Farnam Weight Builder and did Priobitics weekly for ten weeks. Was wormed-and had equine dentist visit -and she said teeth were very good. She gets 1 1/2 quarts sweet feed and rice bran (not sure how much) once a day. BM asked vet yesterday what to do and he said give her grain. So now she is thinking of putting her on Senior Feed. I will admit I do not know a lot about nutrition. So I need some advice. When I got her she was very thin-out on pasture 24/7, no grain at all and round bale hay. I just want her to gain some weight-she is so skinny. Advice please. I will try to get a photo today so I can do a before and after.

[jleegriffith]

Tb's especially growing tb's that are in work need a lot of calories. That does not sound near enough grain to me but I am a big believe in feeding a horse that needs a lot of weight and muscle and with the right grain they should not get hot.

I personally love the Triple crown complete. It's not sweet feed! It is based around beet pulp and has a very high fat content. You are looking to add more fat into her diet. My thin horses or horses that have trouble maintaining their weight eat 6lbs or more. I also feed rice bran and beet pulp.

Example of Boppus (huge horse needs lots of calories) eat 10lbs of TC complete, 2lbs of TC rice bran (pellets) and 5lbs of beet pulp. We have a ton of grass right now but I am still feeding them as much orchard grass/timothy hay as they will eat.

Even my easy keepers eat 4lbs of Tc complete because they are in work.

For adding fat I love the rice bran. The beet pulp adds a lot of fiber. You can also add protein but I think the fat keeps them quieter but it's all personal opinion. You can also add oil and alfalfa cubes or hay.

Even my horses that are eating a lot of grain with the beet pulp and rice bran are not hot because they are being worked and are using the calories to build the muscle.

[JulieM]

I love the rice bran. I wanted to start simple (and inexpensive) in putting weight on Brig. He's been on rice bran for about 6 weeks. I feed him about 4 lbs. per day.

[gemic]

Have you considered ulcers? We started treating Dunk for ulcers and he looks like a tank now, infact that's his nickname.

[jleegriffith]

1.5qts 1x a day is nothing especially if she is getting it once a day. Can you get a weight scale? They recommend 6lbs of the TC complete for horses that are easy keepers so you really need to feed it for the hard keepers. Boppus easily gets 4 scoops a day which is almost a full 5qt bucket if not more along with his beet pulp and 3lbs of rice bran (1 scooop). It sounds like a lot of feed but all my horses are quiet well I think they are anyway ;D

I am not implying that your BO is not feeding her but I have noticed that everybody has different ways of dishing out the grain. My husband and I don't agree what 1/2 can looks like or a full scoop. My full scoop is overflowing and his is level. I have went to the can because it is easier to make sure we are uniform. One big coffee can of complete is 3lbs. I weight this on my scale so I know how much I am feeding and the same with the rice bran. All feeds can weight different amounts so the scale really comes in handy.

When I kept my horses at my mom's house she had them turned out 1/2 day but there wasn't much grass. They eat a ton of quality hay and all the Tb's got both timothy and alfalfa depending on how much work they were in.

I believe that people buy into the theory that grain makes tb's hot and it is just plain silly. I have seen a lot of horses that are just fed oats and I am not impressed with the quality of their coats or the way they hold muscle which is one reason I like the complete feed because I know they are meeting their requirements.

With the horses that come right from the track they are used to eating a lot of grain sometimes over 10lbs worth which normally is a mix of commercial feed and oats. You can't just take away all the calories and hope they maintain because they won't. The type of calories you are feeding can make a big difference depending on whether they are coming from fat or protein.

I would really put my foot down and say this is what I want my horse to be feed. With a horse that thin I would start increasing slowly but start with the at least the required 6lbs of TC Complete and 2lbs of rice bran. I love beet pulp but it can take them a while to get used to. If you go out at night you could make her a mix of soaked alfalfa cubes and beet pulp. I have had some horses come in that literally looked like death..or SPCA cases so I have done a lot of research on feeds and how to increase weight. Can you go to Sam's club and get some oil. Very cheap source of intense calories.
Here is an example. 5 yr 16.3 h tb that was thin as could be when I bought him. He ate 10lbs of TC complete, 5lbs of alfalfa cubes and 1 cup of oil a day. Quiet as could be the whole time!
When I bought him


one month later


Three months

[guiltygirl]

Yes-she does have a scale- she did start her on two feeding a day yesterday-but I see no reason to switch form TC Complete to Senior Feed. Your photos are more like what I expected my mares condition to do-obviously it didn't and I have had her four months -in fact I think she appears thinner now because she has lost the winter coat. I am also going to add the Cool Calories to her feed. I did some searches on this site and it was suggested in the past.

[jleegriffith]

I think the TC complete should be fine and no real reason to switch to the senior. You might want to give her another meal when you go out to ride. 3x a day feedings can really help. Good luck! I hate having horses that look thin. I have one right now that is not gaining as much as he should have so am working on trying some new things for him but mainly the rice bran. It think he is starting to look better.

I tried taking my big horse (boppus) off of the rice bran but he did not maintain his weight. Love the horse..expensive to feed him!

[JulieM]

Stabilized rice bran did wonders for my guy. He eats 1.5 lbs. twice per day.

[niaru]

I hate to see them skinny, too. And when you don't have access to good pasture, it makes things so much harder.
A few thoughts:

Have you had her teeth checked by a good dentist? That can make a huge difference.

Try worming her again, with ivermectin if you haven't done it in a while, and then about a month later, with Quest or Equimax.

Give GOOD QUALITY free choice hay.

Give a 3rd meal of grain, at lunch time for instance. I try to stay away from sweet feed...I have a mare who gets a bit too much horse when she's fed sweet feed! I stick to a low carb, high fat grain.

I like to use Tractgard (probiotics and antacid) and Ration Plus to help them digest their food better.

Don't forget that putting weight back on takes a lot more time than dropping weight (I so wish it were the same for us humans, haha!)

And don't forget to still moderately exercise your mare...that will help with her appetite.

Good luck! I've been there with my mare, too. It took a while but she now is in good weight and eats everything (she was the pickiest horse I've ever known!)

ps-one more thing: her neck will look a lot better when she gets worked and develops the correct muscles. She'll be so cute when she's all filled out and muscled!

[jenarby]

More frequent feedins will help a lot. Definitely needs more feed! Especially since you are riding her. Maybe giving her a power pack as well. Teeth were suggested and that is a biggie. She does look better though....her coat is shiney. I like plain old "Source" as a suppliment too.

[alisonph]

May 7, 2008 21:24:56 GMT -5 jenarby said:

More frequent feedins will help a lot. Definitely needs more feed! Especially since you are riding her. Maybe giving her a power pack as well. Teeth were suggested and that is a biggie. She does look better though....her coat is shiney. I like plain old "Source" as a suppliment too.

Small tangent:

Jen, I also use Source. I did some research and Source is Kelp. About 1/2 the price for the same thing.

[animaldoc]

Once my skinny OTTB could have grain (he'd had abdominal surgery right before I got him and was on surgeon's orders for NO grain for 3 months), he got 4 lbs Equine Senior twice a day with 1/4c corn oil twice a day + free choice hay (and he was eating about a bale of hay a day). This was all while he was doing NO work (since he of course got a laceration from a fence shortly after he was gelded and could go out with other horses). If he was doing work he would have needed more......worked like a charm (he was a little fat, so we cut out the corn oil first and then decreased the Eq Senior since he's still not doing a ton of work since I'm pregnant).

[easychoice]

I put mine on Ultium, Equi-shine, Health E oil, and a probiotic in March, and he's really blossoming out nicely. And he still has a puppy like personality. I won the Health E oil at the Midwest Horse fair and will go back to Veg oil when it's gone - only becuz it's cheaper. His coat is absolutly beautiful ;D

[dragonlady01431]

I have a ottb, when I got him he had been off the track for several years but hard keeper none the less. He had a healthy appetite and got to eat as much quality hay as he wanted and was feed grain 2x a day - 2 cans of poulin hi fat grain each feeding. Still needed to gain weight - put him on Poulin Senior and the weight came on nicely.

I think Senior feed helps hard keepers tremendously.