Bringing home two horse tomorrow Pics added post 16

[Countrymom]

Have you had their teeth checked yet? I guess I have to respectfully disagree with the fact that they do need to add a lot more weight. Both have pretty strong points to their shoulders and the mare seems drawn up a bit in the flank from lack of weight. They do not have the normal fat build up on the withers and their necks are ewed from lack of weight. The dullness of their coats (even being a winter coat) makes me think worm gutt too. Don't want to feed the worms, but feed the horse...... Sometimes once in a while worming just doesn't do the trick if they have been allowed to go for too long.

Have the vet or equine dentist do their teeth. Get them a good power pack of Panacur and worm them with that for 5 days. Then add free choice all they can eat hay of the best quality. Grass hay. I am one to top off with a flake or even half a flake of alfalfa when needed a day. Treats by hand I would not suggest...and they really are not going to help you with weight gain nearly as much as hay. Purina makes a feed called Horse Chow 100 that is nice to add in ... it is high in fiber.

Good luck and work closely with a trainer to help you determine how much these guys know. Safety being number one. The ground is a lot harder and a lot farther the older we get! It hurts a whole lot more. Better to pay a trainer who knows what the heck they are doing to test ride the first time or two.

 

[lupinfarm]

I will admit, I am guilty of handfeeding treats to my horses. The difference is that I don't put up with *any* nibbling, biting, lipping, nothing. Some people I've found think its adorable. So it's not that you hand feed that is the issue, its how you train them to take the treats and what you expect of them, ie. no biting your hand off!

I grew carrots last year for my horsies, little ones, and I cut them up and hide them in their food otherwise they eat the carrots first and the other food later. They love little treasures LOL.

Our little Lunabean, the pony here (she's 13.3hh lol) came to us really underweight and rather sad looking. I started feeding her up on Purina High Fat High Fibre. You may have to talk to your Purina dealer as I believe at least in Canada that the product has now got a new name. With my pony I fed free choice Alfalfa/Grass mix hay that had been baled off our own pasture that year. I got her at the worst time too, in the middle of February so she often had a pile of hay as tall as her.

 

[debiraymond]

Have you had their teeth checked yet? I guess I have to respectfully disagree with the fact that they do need to add a lot more weight. Both have pretty strong points to their shoulders and the mare seems drawn up a bit in the flank from lack of weight. They do not have the normal fat build up on the withers and their necks are ewed from lack of weight. The dullness of their coats (even being a winter coat) makes me think worm gutt too. Don't want to feed the worms, but feed the horse...... Sometimes once in a while worming just doesn't do the trick if they have been allowed to go for too long.

Have the vet or equine dentist do their teeth. Get them a good power pack of Panacur and worm them with that for 5 days. Then add free choice all they can eat hay of the best quality. Grass hay. I am one to top off with a flake or even half a flake of alfalfa when needed a day. Treats by hand I would not suggest...and they really are not going to help you with weight gain nearly as much as hay. Purina makes a feed called Horse Chow 100 that is nice to add in ... it is high in fiber.

Good luck and work closely with a trainer to help you determine how much these guys know. Safety being number one. The ground is a lot harder and a lot farther the older we get! It hurts a whole lot more. Better to pay a trainer who knows what the heck they are doing to test ride the first time or two.

Hi! I too think they need weight. They have been vaccinated, wormed and teeth floated. They are in pretty good condition considering they have been in a field for 8 months and who knows what their diet was before that!!!!

 

[big brown horse]

Congrats!

If you want to show us the photos, you can use your uploads that you have on BYC. You don't have to upload again over here.

I never knew that! *runs to BYC*

Doodle - we bought carrots and apples. Are those ok? So far we have only been giving them 1 apple and 1 carrot each per day. I need a bucket.

(And if you join all of the Nifty fourms, think of all the photo space you can have all together!! SS has lots of room for tons of photos.)

We are so lucky to have such knowledegable horse folks over here aren't we??

Love your new horses!

-Sally

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Have you had their teeth checked yet? I guess I have to respectfully disagree with the fact that they do need to add a lot more weight. Both have pretty strong points to their shoulders and the mare seems drawn up a bit in the flank from lack of weight. They do not have the normal fat build up on the withers and their necks are ewed from lack of weight. The dullness of their coats (even being a winter coat) makes me think worm gutt too. Don't want to feed the worms, but feed the horse...... Sometimes once in a while worming just doesn't do the trick if they have been allowed to go for too long.

Have the vet or equine dentist do their teeth. Get them a good power pack of Panacur and worm them with that for 5 days. Then add free choice all they can eat hay of the best quality. Grass hay. I am one to top off with a flake or even half a flake of alfalfa when needed a day. Treats by hand I would not suggest...and they really are not going to help you with weight gain nearly as much as hay. Purina makes a feed called Horse Chow 100 that is nice to add in ... it is high in fiber.

Good luck and work closely with a trainer to help you determine how much these guys know. Safety being number one. The ground is a lot harder and a lot farther the older we get! It hurts a whole lot more. Better to pay a trainer who knows what the heck they are doing to test ride the first time or two.

I definitely don't disagree with you at all. I think they need weight, but I think muscling will also help fill in a lot of the areas of their body that look "sunken". Our stetson also has those bony withers but that's mostly because he hasn't been worked as much as possible. He definitely needs some hill work!

Worming is a good point also. Our filly was wormy when we got her and gained weight rapidly as soon as we got rid of them.

 

[WallTenters]

They look like they've got pretty good covering in the rib, and I agree that the necks do look a little meh. Overall not too bad. It's very possible they were previously starved, which resulted in a lot of muscle loss, which is just now starting to come back.

I think the mare looks a bit sucked up in the flank as another poster pointed out, but I think if you keep good food in front of them they should look better every week.

Don't you just love bays?!!

 

[Countrymom]

They look like they've got pretty good covering in the rib, and I agree that the necks do look a little meh. Overall not too bad. It's very possible they were previously starved, which resulted in a lot of muscle loss, which is just now starting to come back.

I think the mare looks a bit sucked up in the flank as another poster pointed out, but I think if you keep good food in front of them they should look better every week.

Don't you just love bays?!!

You know, bays are my favorite and at this moment I don't own a single one! I sold my big bay mare to the neighbor kid since she didn't have anything to take her lessons on and go to the local shows. I wasn't riding her because I was riding everything else, so now she is well loved and used.

On the rib covering, it is really an illusion. With such thick winter coats, you are not going to see the rib cage as easily. And if you are truly looking for weight issues, you look more at the points of the shoulder and hips and then at the fat pad areas....such as over the withers, down the back and the most basic one is up the neck. That is the reason the mare looks ewe necked. She probably isn't if she was up to her proper weight. And many times you will see a horse that has good build up of weight in the areas I have mentioned and maybe a bit ribby looking. Horses are built different and some just have bigger girth areas than others. Meaning the ones that have to wider rib cage bones will show them quicker than a narrower horse. Muscling them up will also help their appearance, but really will not fill in the areas they need fat to build. These are not horses in good weight who are just flabby. LOL Sort of like me! LOLOL

Debi, you are on the right track if you are taking it slow. It seems to me a good home is really what they needed most of all. Loosing weight for horses is easy, but getting it put back on is another story. And once up to weight, they will have more energy and may even be more of a handful undersaddle. Best get started with a trainer soon.

 

[debiraymond]

We are very lucky indeed that family members are long time horse trainers. The nephews FIL works with the Sheriffs posse and is willing to be there for us.

These two are kinda funny, like kids!! We open the door and there they are in a flash. And not because of treats because we have beein offering those with meal time. I think they really needed some consistency!!! Funny moment tonight, they are not penned as we want them to get used to their surroundings. I was sitting here on the computer and Duchess came up to the window and stared at me! LOL!

 

[meme]

I`m very happy you are getting two a horse. I have always wanted a horse. You are lucky you are getting two horses. by the way can you post something on my thing? im logged in as meme my post is called my friend and her trouble whith horses. thanks.