Brought Home New Mare Today & She's Underweight. . .

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Well you got the general story from the topic title, I guess! 

Anyways, my NEW beautifully conformed and marked 15 y/o 37.5" black splash overo mare is pretty underweight for her body build. Ribs are barely covered but backbone, hip bones & tail bones are sticking out pretty badly. She just had her 2010 foal pulled from her about a week now so her udder is still full and hard and they said the baby brought her down pretty bad...and I can believe it......there was also some circumstances that lead to her not being fed like she should have been (not going to discuss on open forum) and so she has suffered from it. 

They have been feeding her 3lbs of Strategy per day at my request over the week and I weighed her as soon as she arrived and she is about 330 lbs. and I feel she should weigh in the 450-550 range, therefore I have upped her Strategy to 2lbs. morning and night (at 1/2 lbs. strategy per 100 lbs. of body weight I am feeding her for an 800 lb. horse) along with free choice hay, 1/4 cup loose minerals & 1 scoop Mare Plus at every feeding. 

I am looking for any weight building supplements that work fast and preferably aren't terribly expensive.....She's not a fan of beet pulp......so anything other than that would be appreciated!

I am going to do before and after pictures of her progress!!

Thanks Lil Beginnings!

 

[Magic]

You said that you want something that will "work fast" but you don't want to move *too* fast on putting weight on her. Slow and steady would be best. What kind of hay do you have? I've found alfalfa to be great for adding protein to a diet, highly necessary when adding weight. I've also bought horses who turned up their noses at beet pulp -- odd when the other horses will dive into it like it's grain! -- but they just aren't used to it. Every horse I've had has learned to like it or even love it, given just a tiny bit with their grain and added more slowly over time.

BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) and/or flax seeds or flax seed oil would be beneficial for her. I'd be careful not to overdo it with the grain, as it would be devastating to have her founder. Just realize that it can take a LONG time to get a horse to their optimal weight when they've gotten too thin. They can and will start looking better immediately but it will take many weeks or even months to get them back to where they should be. This is why my horses tend to be just a touch on the heavy side, if anything, because it's faster and easier to take weight off than it is to put it back on. Good luck with her!

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

**I am wanting her to gain weight pretty nicely because she has been exposed to a stallion from April through June and could be due as early as February - she has NOT come back into heat as of now**

I would use alfalfa but I don't have any around here that is available except for pellets...would that work and how much should I giver her per day?

She is getting coastal bermuda flakes along with fescue hay right now....

Is 4lbs of Strategy per day too much or should I cut it back down?

As far as the beet pulp goes, they've tried starting her on it by just a teaspoon at a time and she turns her nose at up at it, so it's a no go with her on this one. .....

I have been thinking of maybe using SmartPak supplement such as COOL CALORIES 100 or FAT CAT. . .check out their info here: http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductComparisonResult.aspx?CategoryId=10

Which one do you think would work best?

 

[kaykay]

Get some Equine Body Builder. Great stuff with amazing results.

 

[Jetiki]

I know where to get some nice alfalfa at a decent price $8 bale, its between Spartanburg and Green Creek, NC pretty much on the state line but in South Carolina, if you are interested send me a PM. Private farm and locally grown.

Karen in Gaffney

 

[bevann]

I know where to get some nice alfalfa at a decent price $8 bale, its between Spartanburg and Green Creek, NC pretty much on the state line but in South Carolina, if you are interested send me a PM. Private farm and locally grown.

Karen in Gaffney

You will just have to go slow and be patient so you don't cause other issues by too rapid a weight gain.alfalfa pellets are great-I use them on my older mare to keep weight on her(she eats 10 times what my other mares eat)I give her 2 cups alfalfa pellets AM&2 PM plus her other feed and lots of alfalfa or grass hay.If you can find chopped forage Triple Crown or Dengi are 2 brands.If you have southern States in your area they carry it.All alfalfa or Grass mix chopped hay sprayed with light molasses and shrink wrapped.Keeps well and most horses love it-feed in large bucket or tub sop they don't waste it.good luck and be patient-it takes a while to see progress.Also add a little corn oil-calories that are good for her.

 

[Shadows Fire]

Pellets are as good as hay. You can soak them if your afraid of choke. And if she is in foal the added calcium and protein of alfalfa is needed. BOSS is good, and a good vitimin supplement too since probably along with weight loss she lost minerals and vitamins from her bones. It will take some time before she is back up to par.

Looking forward to before and after pictures. You know some mare milk like cows and they lose no matter how much you feed them. Add in a new pregnancy and its really hard on them.

You know one of my favorite supplements is the Source ones.

 

[Ellen]

Springtime, Inc. makes a similar to product the Equaide Body Builder that KayKay mentioned. The price is half of the Equaide product and it comes in a gallon size rather then Equaide's quart. Just syringe feed it, don't top dress her grain. Horses love it.

 

[Genie]

Could she have a worm problem?

 

[MountainMeadows]

Good old fashioned corn oil - pure fat, 1/2 cup morning & nite on her feed - won't hurt and will give her some much needed fat reserves so that she can actually put her food to good use - cheap and easy

Stac

 

[HGFarm]

Yep I agree, good old alfalfa hay! It took mine a few days to get used to the beet pulp. I started out with just a handful, shreds, no molasses and soaked it. After a few days they started cleaning that right up so I gave them a bit more each day and now they love it.

I would also be concerned about her possibly be wormy, and I would also have her teeth checked! If she cant chew, or is feeding others hanging around in there, she will not gain weight like she is supposed to either, and could have contributed to her losing weight so badly while nursing a foal.

Sorry to hear she is in this bad condition.. make sure you take before and after pics. I think you will find with a good worming, diet and floated teeth (if needed) she will be a different horse soon!!