My 3-year-old mare has a very skinny neck and hay belly/no topline...

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seattle

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My little 3-year-old mare has a very skinny neck and a really poor topline (very bony back and no muscle on the topline), and below her skinny backbone is her hay belly. I was wondering what I can do (if anything) to make her neck a bit thicker because right now it's pencil-thin, decrease the poochy hay belly and build her topline so her back isn't so bony. Any specific grain/supplements that I could give her or exercises I can do with her? Right now she's pretty much a big dog and hasn't had much training done with her, and until a few weeks ago she's been living in a pasture her whole life. Any suggestions would be great!
 
Photos would help.

Sounds like she needs more protein in her diet. Has she been dewormed regularly and has teeth floated within the past year?
 
Yes just as Disneyhorse said, along with that I suggest (soaked) beet pulp shreds and I like the Nutrena Performane or Omelene 300 along with alfalfa this combo worked super for my little rescue mare who seemed like yours just no muscle,scrawny and that big belly. I rotate wormers so they get a different kind every month especially in the warmer seasons. If you can take a photo of her at the same angle every week that way you can see progress, and we can see too!!Best of luck!!
 
It does sound like she needs more protein in her diet, but to know better how to help, we need more information.

How tall is she? What is her current weight? (if you don't have access to a scale, there is a formula in the LB info pages). What is her current diet? Grain? Hay/pasture? How much of each? Has she been dewormed on a regular basis? And, has she had her teeth checked; especially now as a 3 year old, she's changing teeth and may have retained caps affecting her ability to chew her food properly.
 
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Yep, first I would think of the lack of protein. If you remember the pics of 'starving kids in Africa', they have skinny limbs but fat stomachs because they are nutrionally starving. I would make at least half her diet alfalfa. But I would also have her teeth checked and make sure she has been wormed with a good wormer.
 
I agree with all the above (protein, teeth, worming). She definitely needs more protein. Her belly is not a hay belly. She actually needs more of it. I had good luck with Equine Senior active and also Triple Crown Senior. Getting some alfalfa pellets gives extra protein that is lacking. That's how I got rid of my filly's pot-belly. It diminished very quickly when I got her on those alfalfa pellets. I never tried beet pulp, but have heard from many people that it works well. Good luck!
 
Totally in agreement with Laurie. She needs more protein in her diet, and adding pure alfalfa in any form will help her quickly make a turn-around. Worm regularly and have her teeth checked to be sure she is not having any pain or difficulty eating, and she should "take off" on a higher protein diet.
 
More protein -- alfalfa and I personally use a feed that's 14% protein. Add some beet pulp to help fill out her topline too. I also love black oil sunflower seeds for fat.
 
I would lunge or free lunge, TIME, and whatever everyone else says for nutrition. I would only add probiotics to the list. I have a 3-year-old stud colt with a pencil neck. It's driving me bananas. His problem is adolescent "uglies" and the need for more pasture time. I plan on gelding him, but I am going to wait until he fills out more. In my years with minis the age 3 is the "uglies" age. None worst, not even yearling ganglies. Year 3 uglies and whatever year the tooth bumps are worse. It always alarmed me because I came from a world of large horses where you never noticed teething.Tell yourself it too shall pass. Also, exercise is the absolute best thing to do to beautify a horse. All of the magical supplements in the world will not go where exercise can take you.

I would also second deworming. I always used ivermectin, but you will eventually find the need to rotate with something that will treat tape Spring and Fall. Pilates/yoga for people and exercise/dressage moves for horses. You will find that minor conformation defects will correct. You could even go so far as lunging with a bitting rig, as long as you do the training gradually. If you have heard the 3 days, 3 months, and 3 years saying for conformation critique, with minis I'd almost wait for year 4 for everything to even out. Almost all of mine were about at their mature height at two but they don't fill out completely until 4. Only one of mine had calcified tooth bumps. The rest the facial swelling and toothbump appearance was gone by 5. Best of luck!
 
First two thoughts were more protein and get a fecal sample analyzed to see if worms are a problem. Worm as necessary. If you can't have a fecal done, then start with panacur wormer and wait 3 weeks, then give ivermectin. If you start with ivermectin, and she has a load of worms, then you might cause a massive die off of worms, which will colic your filly. How long have you had her? Do you know her health history?

Safest plan is to have a vet look at her.

Gradually change diet to include alfalfa hay or pellets. Might also want to add a fat supplement.

If her back is bony and neck is thin, then she is thin. Gradually change her diet. Also, if you can feed additional feedings (3-5 per day, adjusting size of the feeding), this will keep her gaining top line and help reducing belly. You might also think about adding a general vitamin/mineral supplement, which are fairly inexpensive.

Best of luck!
 

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