skinny horse

[Lloydyne]

My 12 yr old gelding looks to skinny...especially after he got his summer shave. He has been getting pretty much all the orchard grass he wants because I feed him a full flake in the morning and when I go out in the evening he is still nibbling it up. At night he gets another full flake and 1 1/2 cups of Purina Omiline Performance.He doesn't have ribs but he just looks like he needs some meat on his bones. What do you feed to fatten one up?

 

[chandab]

Are you saying he's thin along his backbone and hips? If so, then he needs more protein in his diet. You could add some alfalfa to up his protein, or one of many protein supplements on the market. What percent protein is the Omolene you feed? 1-1/2 cups isn't much, only about 1/2#, so he might need more of this. Do you have a picture of him, so we can see just where he might need more filling in; perhaps that will help to determine if it mostly diet related or if he needs exercise to build muscle.

 

[Marty]

This is why during the winter months you really need to be squishing in his fur coat and feeling his body. Are you providing good shelter so he's not been cold or wet? Are you blanketing or sheeting him right now? You probably should be. You can try to increase his food to 2 cups for a while and see how that goes. Check your de-worming schedule and his teeth too.

 

[Allure Ranch]

You should really weight his grain and feed him accordingly.... Worm regularly and have his teeth checked.

 

[Lloydyne]

Had his teeth checked last month, they were fine. He is wormed regularly. He has been clipped and it has been cold but he is blanketed at night. When it was really cold he kept his blanket on during the day and I doubled his blankets at night. I think I will grain him in the mornings so he will get grain twice a day and also give him some kind of alfalfa beet mix pellet. Thanks for the input.

 

[Carolyn R]

Pictures are helpful, but if it is just a matter of him lacking and needing more calories, regardless of the age, I have always liked equine senior feed for it's easy digestability.

Calf manna is great for giving them that extra kick of calories and that extra something they seem to be lacking.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I like BOSS for adding weight but it needs a careful hand for sure. Too much of a good thing equals fat horses It also helps with the coat and makes a horse shiny (as will any fat I guess) but a small handful added to the regular ration will put on weight. It does sound tho like you horse may need more protein rather than anything to help with weight gain.

 

[wingnut]

My experiences with my "skinny" horse are quite involved so bear with me:

If you can't provide pics, can you give us a body condition score (here's a link: http://www.trfinc.org/mc_images/category/4/eqfeb09bodyconditionscore.pdf) ?

How is his over all behavior? does he seem sluggish? tired? not himself?

Is he eating normally? When you feed him hay or grain, does he really "dig in" and get to it or does he "nibble" and rest between "sessions" of eating?

When was the last time he had any blood work done? Specifically looking at protein level indicators.

I too would recommend the idea of weighing his feed and having a good idea of his intake. If he is otherwise behaving normally, I would temporarily up his daily calorie intake until you see improvement then watch to see how you should adjust his feeding (up or down) based on whether he seems to hold steady or gain/lose at that point.

Our 15 yr old mare has taken us for quite a ride down this path. Her weight loss was finally determined to be medically induced (condition caused her digestive tract lining to swell and not allow nutrients from feeding to be absorbed). You can search for "hard keeper" or "Cha Cha" in the title of my posts from last year for more details.

 

[Boss Mare]

If you've ruled out teeth, deworming and any medical condition -- increase feed.

I like using calf manna, beet pulp, BOSS and alfalfa for hard keepers or those that need weight.

I've never had minis that got fat on air -- mine actually get quite a bit of grain and extra stuff plus good quality grass and/or alfalfa hay. I always wonder how others have minis that do good on a cup or two of feed.. I weigh my feed and volume wise it's quite a bit.

 

[chandab]

I've never had minis that got fat on air -- mine actually get quite a bit of grain and extra stuff plus good quality grass and/or alfalfa hay. I always wonder how others have minis that do good on a cup or two of feed.. I weigh my feed and volume wise it's quite a bit.

Out of 15 minis: I'd say I have 3 that lean towards the fat on air category; two mares (mother and daughter) and a gelding; 2 are very hard keepers (both have been diagnosed with Cushings, one over a year ago, he's doing very well now;, one more recently, still working on her - mare gets 2+# low carb feed, gelding gets just under 2# plus hay). And, the rest are average keepers with average needs (I feed minimal grain, 3/4# of an extruded feed, and pretty much all the hay they need/want). [Oh, and one senior that gets senior feed, but I wouldn't really classify him as a hard keeper. 1.5# of senior and free choice hay keeps him good, he mostly gets the senior and has hay as he wants. He's 175# at good weight.] Three are coming yearlings, so they get just over 1 qt (I had weighed it at one time, but don't recall how much it is) of feed daily each (they share 2qts 2x daily topdressed with calf manna).

 

[Jill]

Have his teeth been looked at (and / or) floated the past 6mos? If not, that would be my first go-to.

What about is deworming routine? If that could use some updating, then that's the next (or equal) thing I'd consider.

I'd also consider switching his grain to a complete senior feed pellet.

Good luck!