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Post by barrelracer on Dec 1, 2009 10:44:36 GMT -5
Looking for ideas on what to feed 2 TBs to get their weight back up! I know alot of people on here of tons of experience with this and any help would be great! One is a coming 4 year old gelding the other is a coming 6 year old mare.
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Post by hooti4me on Dec 1, 2009 12:12:10 GMT -5
Are they OTTB? (off the track) And when was the last time they had their teeth done? I would feed them as much hay as they want, or will eat. Try and find a nice grass/alfalfa mix. DON'T free feed alfalfa. Start off feeding them afew flakes, if they finish feed them more..etc. Or you could free feed them the hay. I am not one that adds alot of grain or beet pulp, to add weight. I do the hay first. You will want to put them on a good vitamin, I personally use Dynamite products. Another good thing would to add some Probiotics to their diet too, that will help the digestion, and good bacteria in the gut.
Are they together or seperate?
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Post by cardicorgi on Dec 1, 2009 12:50:08 GMT -5
What kind of deworming program do you have them on? Have you had fecal counts done? You might consider administering a Panacur powerpak (dewormer) on both horses, if fecal count warrants.
Agree with high quality free choice hay as a first choice for weight. My TB gets virtually no grain anymore and does very well so long as he gets enough good quality hay.
You can always add Cool Calories to feed, try rice bran, and/or soaked beet pulp.
However, IMO free choice hay is your best bet.
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Post by zebradreams07 on Dec 1, 2009 13:11:31 GMT -5
I too would go to free choice hay and eliminate health problems first, but if they are just hard keepers beet pulp is always my next choice. Watch out for excess calcium though if you are feeding alfalfa as well - wheat bran will help balance it, at 1:1.
Shredded beet pulp is also available in some places, as well as the pelleted. Shredded sets up in about an hour in cold water, and less than half an hour in hot. Great time saver!
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Post by cat67 on Dec 1, 2009 13:22:49 GMT -5
If other things aren't working, treat them for ulcers. The majority of OTTB's have ulcers and they will inhibit weight gain.
If they have been off the track less than 3 months, expect slow progress. It takes a while to detox and begin gaining.
Also, how/where are they living? Do they have warm, waterproof blankets? TB's freeze weight off in a flash if they are not cozy and comfortable.
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Post by barrelracer on Dec 1, 2009 17:16:01 GMT -5
Yes they are both OTTB. The gelding raced in May and the mare in June. She looks way better than he does! I do have them separate but sharing a fence line and they both have blankets. I feed free choice grass/alfalfa hay and try to stay away from too much grain! I haven't wormed the gelding as he is pretty poor looking and thought maybe I would wait a week or two till he is feeling better. Teeth are good on both! The gelding was in with some older horses and he was getting beat up and was not able to eat. I guess maybe it is just going to take a bit to see some results! These are 2 nice horses, both well broke that were not wanted!
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Post by fototropic on Dec 1, 2009 17:46:11 GMT -5
Not to be contrary, but I don't know too many TBs that can get along with just free choice hay, especially in the winter, no matter how good the hay. My daughter's 13 year old gelding came off the track years ago. He is a very hard keeper. He's worked about 4 days a week for between 30 and 45 minutes of walk/trot, mostly trot. His teeth are done regularly, he's wormed regularly, etc. His coat looks gorgeous, eyes bright, etc. no signs of any worms, ulcers anything. He's stabled at night, out during the day and blanketed all the time. He has a nice coat that has not been clipped.
Twice a day he gets 4 quarts of Triple Crown Senior, 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 lb of rice bran pellets as well as ample amounts of hay with refills on hay at 9 pm barn check. He's ribby and starting to lose since he isn't on grass now. We've just increased the rice bran pellets to 1 lb and added a quart of hay pellets and a cup of beet pulp that has soy oil added to it to see if we can get him to hold his weight and start to gain again. I do think that our guy is an especially hard keeper, but I haven't met many, if any, TBs that can get along on free choice hay alone. For horses recently off the track, I'd be feeding them a good quality low carb grain along with plenty of good quality hay. With winter coming on, I can't imagine that the gelding will be able to put any weight on without the concentrated calories in grain.
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Post by cardicorgi on Dec 1, 2009 18:27:36 GMT -5
That's true Pam, each horse is an individual - not all things that work for one OTTB will work for another. Obviously BR you will need to use common sense throughout - and if I were in your shoes I might cut to the chase and work with a vet and/or nutritionist if what I'm doing isn't working.  We used to have some letting-down-OTTB info here, I think jennywho posted a great article somewhere too. I'll look for it. Exracers.com is a great source as well - knowledgeable and experienced posters there. |
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Post by jennywho on Dec 1, 2009 19:41:31 GMT -5
Everybody has different opinions. For me, every horse I own, from 7 mos to 25 yrs is on free choice grass/alfalfa and strategy. The amount of strategy varies, but I average 3 lbs/day. The harder keepers also get either equine senior or ultium. If I really want to get weight on a horse I feed ultium. I've had excellent luck with it. I am also experimenting with one of my hard keepers feeding Omolene 400, but I haven't been feeding it long enough to have a solid opinion.
TB's thrive on a routine. If you can feed them around the same time every day, it will help. Also what others said about blanketing and ulcers. I personally have only scoped one horse for ulcers, but I have treated several that I suspected had them and each and every one responded to treatment. I don't usually start with gastroguard since it's so expensive, instead I will try aloe juice or one of the OTC supplements, my favorite is Finish line's U7.
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Post by drsgjunky on Dec 1, 2009 21:02:37 GMT -5
While we're on the subject of nutrition.
Any suggestions for supplements (besides oil) to shine up a coat? I've been supplementing Equine Senior but that doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.
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Post by zebradreams07 on Dec 1, 2009 22:03:52 GMT -5
Loose peppermint leaves have worked great for my picky eaters - my mare just picked at her beet pulp and wouldn't finish it before, now she hangs over the gate nickering while I make it. It even convinced my mustang gelding that his mash isn't poison after all, and now I can mix the supplements in and he'll eat it fine.
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Post by barrelracer on Dec 2, 2009 0:45:18 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I think I will pick up some alfalfa to mix with his hay and he is on senior feed but maybe I need to bump it up and add some oil or rice bran pellets. He just seems to pick at his food. I guess I just need to find that combination that he will eat! He just really has the malnurioushed haircoat, big head look that I feel just awful for him.
The mare on the other hand, she is doing great turned out with my 2 yearlings. Free choice hay, a little grain and she can boss them around! I am not worried about her!
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Post by monicabee on Dec 2, 2009 14:43:13 GMT -5
I guess i have that OTTB, fototropic! He does need his alfalfa, though.
For shine in the coat, Willy gets black oil sunflower seeds - about a cup a day, and in return he helps them grow around the farm. Obviously not all of them are getting digested, but he does have a nice shiny coat. It is easy for me to add to his bags of feed and since I don't go through them very fast, the fact that they don't spoil is helpful. A healthy coat seems to stay cleaner as well as looking nice.
Other than that he only gets some alfalfa pellets and a handful (literally) of oats to mix with the mineral/hoof supplement. Probably less than a quart a day.
I especially enjoy this because my first horse was that stereotypical underweight TB who just took a loooong time to look good.
Curiously, it was when I started riding him that he started to look better. I don't know if the exercise helped his circulation and digestion, or if it was that muscle filled in the huge hollows in his hips, but the barn owner was worried, and we had some vet work done -- blood tests and urinalysis - nope, nothing wrong.
My added advice is take pictures and use the weight tape to check for progress. Keep a record when you make a change in the diet. Sometimes the change can be really slow, but as long as things are going in the right direction its okay.
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