May rescue a horse...underweight........

[StacyV]

I am feeding grass hay right now. I do have alfalfa bales as well, so I thought about adding a little of that in too. He eats very well. He eats all of the hay we put out for him as well as all of his grain. He doesn't seem to have a problem as far as digestion is concerned. I wormed right when we got him around 1 week ago. I will look for the senior feed at tractor supply when I am in there. That may be good for him. Thank you all for your suggestions. He does seem to be pretty active and eats well so that is a good sign!

 

[ducks4you]

Senior feed is excellent for nursing younger horses.

 

[dianneS]

to senior feed!

 

[StacyV]

Well I believe I am noticing a slight change in my horse. He is starting to look better. Nothing drastic, but any change is good with me. I did notice this weekend that his skin is awful. when you run your hand over his back and and back end it is full of bumps. I used the curry comb and can comb out all the dead patches of skin. I used a medicated shampoo and bathed him well. Any ideas what this could be? Doesn't look like ringworm.

 

[dianneS]

Could be rain rot. Sounds like it. Head and shoulders shampoo works for that, or a medicated iodine shampoo.

If you really want to improve his skin condition add black oil sunflower seeds to his feed! It worked great on my mini. Actually, I give them to everyone now, even the goats and the chickens when they molt to help with feather production.

My mini's skin was in terrible condition too. I gave him black oil sunflower seeds AND corn oil during the winter and his skin cleared right up! He was sleek and black under that coat in the spring and has looked great ever since!

 

[()relics]

Could the skin bumps/scabs be from insect bites that he may have recieved over the summer before you got him?
Change for the better is good, even if it is only a slight change because " the only change that takes place overnight is the bad kind "....

 

[dianneS]

Here's some info on rain rot, also called scald among other names. My mare had rain rot and it was visible on her back where it was really bad, the other parts of her body, just felt like bumps.

Those sunflower seeds and corn oil cleared her up too!

http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/rain-rot.html

 

[Kitiarra]

I am posting here. Just cause I am new to the horse world and, I have three horses, one thin rescue. The feeding guidelines on the bags are confusing. They are definitely not like feeding dogs, where I just do a scoop etc. I suck at math, and this 10% of body wieght etc, is confusing for me.

My rescue is a 16hh, paint (whom I think has TB) and I am fighting putting weight on her. My neighbor means well, but if it isn't top of the line feed (pure alfalfa etc) it's not good enough. I put a roll out there for them, so they can forage 24/7 (winter pastures stink). And I plan on supplementing with TnA or OnA, also I have been feeding Seminoles PerformSafe. But am now planning on switching to a senior feed, after all the suggestions you have said.

You guys have put in tons of advice, so I am posting so I can find this thread again. I am excited to try the sunflower seed, and the homemade dewormer trick.



Sorry for stealing the thread, but thank you.

 

[LauraM]

I am posting here. Just cause I am new to the horse world and, I have three horses, one thin rescue. The feeding guidelines on the bags are confusing. They are definitely not like feeding dogs, where I just do a scoop etc. I suck at math, and this 10% of body wieght etc, is confusing for me.

My rescue is a 16hh, paint (whom I think has TB) and I am fighting putting weight on her. My neighbor means well, but if it isn't top of the line feed (pure alfalfa etc) it's not good enough. I put a roll out there for them, so they can forage 24/7 (winter pastures stink). And I plan on supplementing with TnA or OnA, also I have been feeding Seminoles PerformSafe. But am now planning on switching to a senior feed, after all the suggestions you have said.

You guys have put in tons of advice, so I am posting so I can find this thread again. I am excited to try the sunflower seed, and the homemade dewormer trick.



Sorry for stealing the thread, but thank you.

Absolutely do NOT feed straight alfalfa to a severely undernourished horse. It is way too rich for them and can easily cause colic or founder. Feed only a good quality grass hay. Start out with a flake every couple of hours until you build up to the horse having free access to all the hay she wants.

If you switch over feeds, do it very gradually, mixing a bit of the new feed in with the old feed and slowing changing it over during the course of a week or 10 days.

I suggest having a vet out to look at her and give advice on what dewormer to use and what sort of schedule to do it in. If the horse is very bad off, deworming with an agressive dewormer can cause colic or founder. When a large infestation of worms are suddenly killed off, they release enough toxins to completely overwhelm an malnourished horse whose system is already compromised. You can also have her teeth looked at. If her teeth are bad, then most of what you feed her will be wasted. Even healthy horses can lose weight with poor dentition since the food cannot be digested correctly.

I've worked with our state vet and local vets with rescue cases (we've had several very large herds of very emaciated horses confiscated in our area) and they are generally fed grass hay, with beet pulp, and whole flax seed ground up immediately before feeding (the essential fatty acids are very volatile and are easily destroyed by oxygen and sunlight within a few hours, so if it is ground, it should be ground and fed right away). Eventually, a ration balancer or senior feed is added in.

Lastly, if you are new to the horse world, and feeding horses in general, I highly recommend you buying the book "Storey's Guide to Feeding Horses" by Dr. Melyni Worth. You can get the book on Amazon, at any Barnes and Nobles, and at most tack shops. Dr. Worth is a good friend of mine, and she's EXTREMELY knowledgeable and is one of the premier equine nutritionists in the country. She's got a number of articles and Q&A 's here:

Dr. Melyni Worth

Some of the Q&A's deal with rescue horses, too.

The book is very easy to read and understand for novices, giving a "bottom line" and a "basic summary," but also provides in depth information for even experienced equestrians,....all in an extremely easy to read and practical format.

 

[FarmerChick]

I know horses and have raised them a while back.........honestly, when you have a severly thin horse that is thru neglect---the best thing to do is call a vet. Tube worming is better than regular worming etc. Vet style.

best to get teeth floated and all that to ensure that the food being given is truly getting to the horse.

and it is best to get a simple bloodwork up to see if the horse has other underlying problems that a vet can only check.

just feeding a super thin/neglected horse is not the right path to just assume he is not fed and skinny because of that....there could be tons of reasons he is not healthy on top of less food.

So for the 2 rescue horses I got my hands on----I called the vet and did what he said and got the animals tested for some nasty diseases etc.....then once knowing they were clear and OK etc......I moved forward with good food, regular hay and good pasture etc. Then it is a slow matter of feeding up the horse to weight.

just what I do