I've adopted..... another horse

[New_Image]

A friend from the barn I'm boarding at and I felt the need to take on a rescue after animal control was called to our boarding stable over him.

There are around six horses pretty underweight at this barn, but this guy is the worst.

His owner bought him at this weight last summer and they have "been un-able to bring his weight up" His owner hasn't done much other then leave him on pasture board eating hay. I was told he was responding to eight pounds of Senior feed a day. But over the course of two days the same person also said he was being feed ten pounds of Senior feed and the next minute it was sixteen pounds. I've gotten the impression the owner of this horse hadn't taken responsibility and the owner of the stable had gotten sick of feeding him. He was in a dry lot with hay fed once daily, or in a stall fed once daily.

Were covering all bases however and having an ultra sound done this week to be sure there isn't internal problems like some seem to think. (I say I've seen the care hes been given and he NEEDS more food!)

We are also having his teeth floated and hooves trimmed this week as well as putting him threw a Safeguard powerdose of de-wormer.

His NEW feed schedule which we will be seeing to personally as we do our own horses daily, will work up to:

Beet pulp

Corn oil

High fat senior feed

Focus WT

& Lots and lots of HAY

We hope to see a weight increase with in the month per "animal control regulations" So we can keep him

He is a 17.1hh registered Thoroughbred, 9 years old. Very well trained, sweet, sweet boy.

Any additional ideas for weight gain and management? This was just so much better of an option for him than being taken by animal control, hes too good of a horse and there are already too many taken there.

Also *good news* me and his co-owner will be working on fencing in our own facility and putting up run-ins this week, we hope with any luck to have our six horses moved OUT of that place with in 3 weeks! She has been running into the same situation as me, NO boarding stables are taking care of horses, so we went in on a place for our horses together and will be starting boarding and training eventually. I'm so thrilled!

 

[nootka]

It sounds like you are on the right track, even gradually, to adjust his weight the way you need.

I would be surprised if he doesn't show a huge change within two weeks.

Good luck and congrats on the new facility!

Liz

 

[laughingllama75]

Hi,

good luck with your new boy, sounds like he needs a lot of TLC. That said, may I make a few suggestions/comments?

Most TB's need WAY MORE food than other horses.....it is thier metabolism. My sister feeds an ungodly amount of feed to hers, and if you change (lessen) it much, they lose weight at the drop of a hat. Also, if he is underweight, I would not do the PowerPack right off.....he may be loaded with worms, and it they all die and pass quickly, he could get major impaction problems. i have seen a horse die from this.....I would get a stool sample done, before worming.....IMO. He may not need the drastic dose.....

I got a new horse in January (10th), he was about 200 lbs underweight. I gave him all the hay he wanted, he got 8 pounds of grain (4# of senior, 4# of 10/12) and a half cup of rice bran per feeding. I gave this all with the approval of my vet, as I was not sure how to do it safely....... the vet was just up last week for shots, she almost didn't believe it was the same horse. Now, 12 weeks later, he is 100%. I look at before and after pics, and you would never know.

I hope your guy checks out vet wise, and good luck "fattening" him up, and have fun with him!

 

[New_Image]

Thanks

I've had Thoroughbreds before, I know what it takes to feed them and plus this guy is HUGE!

Which is why I am 99.8% sure all he needs is food, food, and more food.

He did have the power dose of de-wormer in February but has been move around a few times with other horses since.

 

[laughingllama75]

I cant wait to see pics of him, hint hint

 

[Boinky]

Thoroughbreds are notoriously hard to maintain. I have a 17hh TB gelding.. i think he's about 11 now. he was OTTB. You may want to check and treat for Ulcers (even if he doens't have ulcers try to go on a prevention therapy). With all the grain you'll be giving him he'll probably need it. My TB is a horribly hard keeper. some years he'll go through the summer looking emaciated (but we have prooven through the vet that there are some health issues surrounding this horse). I keep him on 6 Quarts of Cracked corn 6 Quarts of Sweet feed, 12 Quarts of Alfalfa Pellets, 2 Quarts (dry) of beet pulp, 2 quarts of Rice brand, Electrolytes, Vit E and Selenium. to maintain him. Cracked corn has been the best thing i've found for him but it WILL make them HOT HOT HOT. This boy is relatively mild mannered anyways but comming out of hte winter on all that he is a terror! lol. I usually get bucked off every year because of it.

 

[Bunnylady]

A friend of mine bought an 18YO QH mare a couple of months ago, that she had previously owned. She had sold her to a guy with a couple of kids, and they were gaming her. I saw her back in October, and she looked OK then, but when I saw her in January, I was shocked! I had no idea a horse could go down so fast without being ill. His other horses looked fine, but this girl was wa-ay thin. Protruding ribs, backbone standing out a couple of inches. He's had her for a couple of years, I don't know what was so different about this year, but my friend bought her back mostly out of pity for the horse.

She has her on Senior feed, 10/10, beet pulp, and T/A hay. I get to look after her when my friend is out of town (pretty frequent occurence) and the change has been wonderful to watch. You can just barely see a few of her ribs now, and her back is flat again. She has almost finished shedding out her winter coat, and her new coat just shines. Amazing what a difference two months of good feeding can make!

17 hands is a lotta horse, but it sounds like you know what you're doing. I'm sure Animal Control will be satisfied when they check on him in a month. Good luck with him, and also on getting your own place going!

 

[Miniv]

I agree with Liz/Nootka.........I bet you'll start seeing an improvement in 2 weeks.

We've done almost exactly what you are doing........The only difference is we didn't do the Focus W/T and we mixed some alfalfa pellets into the Senior Grain.

Keep us posted!

 

[Casnos Minis]

Oh Nicole, your so good. I"m glad your helping him. I'm alos glad you and your partner have found some place to put them all.

Christy

 

[Marty]

I think you are right Nic he just needs more feed and hay. Beet pulp should surely help too.

Sonny gets 16 pounds of Purina senior plus soaked beet pulp and hay/grass and he is not 17 hands, but half Thoroughbred. Those TBS can be hard keepers so be prepared to increase slowly and don't get him foundered. You might want to rinse your beet pulp and try to get sugar out of it so you don't get him diabetic on sugar overloads. Just go slow and don't get in a rush. Good luck.