1. “My horse just relocated from Southern to NorthernCalifornia……….he is losing weight…..”

 2.  “My quarter horse is 16 and every year around this same time she drops alot of weight….”

3. “Hello, I have two elderly horses. One is a 42-year-old Appaloosa mare (Ginger), and the other is a 35-year-old Walkaloosa gelding (Cody)…”

4.  “Obstructive AirwayDisease (COPD/Heaves), just recovering from uveitis, & has lost a significant amount of weight this summer despite my best efforts to increase his weight…”

5.    “My quarter horse is 16 yoa and every year around this same time she drops alot of weight….”

6.  “Hello, I have two elderly horses. One is a 42-year-old Appaloosa mare (Ginger), and the other is a 35-year-old Walkaloosa gelding (Cody)…”

7.

 

1. “My horse just relocated from Southern to NorthernCalifornia….he is losing weight…”

My horse just relocated from Southern to NorthernCalifornia. He had bulked up before the trip and looked great with a diet of 2 flakes of alfalfa and a scoop of senior feed with Molasses. The day he arrived, there were tons of balled up hay in his stall and it was suspected that he was “quitting.” I changed his diet to 10 lbs of Nutrena Senior feed and 5 pounds of alfalfa pellets, all soaked and he eats all of it. However, he is losing weight. He is a young looking 28-year old male gelding, but I am concerned about the weight loss. He is 15.1 and the horse weigh tape indicated 864 lbs, which may be about 40- 50 lbs from when he arrived. He is in a run stall and often runs when the other horses do, which is often. I thought for his age, it would help to get more exercise, though he seemed more comfortable in the stall he was in. Any suggestions on what to change with his diet or add to it for weight gain. Also, do you think the run stall is okay. It is about 60 feet long.

Dr. Bill Schurg’s Answer:

The change in diet is a reasonable alteration. You may find that this horse needs even more Senior feed to get the body condition back to where you were. Another option may be to add 1-3 cups of rice bran to the grain mixture along with a cup or two of beet pulp (soaked). I have also added corn oil or soaked flaxseed to this mixture to increase caloric density and have seen improvement in weight. However if your horse will consume the soaked mixture you may find that increasing the senior and alfalfa pellets to be the most convenience way to alter diet. The increased exercise is probably good as well, but with the increased activity your horse will need increased calories daily to meet all of his needs. Best of luck.

 

2.  “My quarter horse is 16 and every year around this same time she drops alot of weight….”

This year is really bad. You can see her rib cage and her backbone up by her withers. We have dewormed her about two weeks ago and she does not look like she is putting her weight back on. What do you recommend I try?

Dr. Bill Schurg’s Answer:

The combination of heat/humidity and insects along with summertime activity increases may all have an impact on your horse dropping some weight. You should always be proactive in that place the horse in maybe a bit higher body condition prior to the summer so that any drop will not be too harsh. I would indicate that if this horse is on pasture you may need to supplement with added hay and some grain. If you are feeding hay currently you need to check to make sure it is good quality. If not get a better product. If you are feeding grass hay alone you may need to try some alfalfa and/or some grain combinations. Your horse should be eating at least 2% of it’s body weight each day in total feed. The critical thing about weight gain will be to supply additional calories to this horse by increasing feed either more hay or adding grain. The time frame of improvement will depend on how far your horse needs to go to get back to what you deem normal condition. But generally a minimum of 45 days to 120 days may be needed to see significant improvement after slowly adapting your horse to a more calorie rich diet. Best of luck.

 

3. “Hello, I have two elderly horses. One is a 42-year-old Appaloosa mare (Ginger), and the other is a 35-year-old Walkaloosa gelding (Cody)…”

Both were rescues, the mare from an auction five years ago, and the gelding from a feedlot this last year. Both are slightly skinny, the gelding being the worse off as he was nothing but bones when I adopted him. Right now their diet consists of 4 meals of soaked Allegra complete, mixed in with Millenium Gold supplement. Cody gets 24/7 free choice alfalfa pellets, soaked, since he is in a pasture all by himself. I’ve wanted to do this with Ginger as well, but she is the seeing eye horse for my 27 year old blind Appy mare, so I can’t take her away to do this. So my question is, is there anything else I could add to their diets to get them to gain weight quicker and keep it on? Cody has gained weight since being here, and I can almost not see his ribs, but his back still looks bad. Both have been seen by vets and were deemed healthy other than the lack of weight. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Dr. Bill Schurg’s Answer:

Horses that are the age you have are very challenging to both put and keep weight on. Many times you will be able to get some rib covering but due to age the backbone area may never return to where you would like it to be. The use of moist alfalfa pellets along with additions of rice bran (1-3 cups/day) and even some soaked beet pulp may be ways to improve weight gain. I like the use of soaked flaxseed poured onto the alfalfa pellets, rice bran and beet pulp as well to increase energy density. Some horses may not like the mixture and at the age your horses are you have to try several things to find what they will consume and begin to show benefit. I am not familiar with the Allegra and Millenium Gold products but I suspect they may have some of the ingredients that I have suggested and I would indicate to continue their use. The addition of the soaked pellets for Ginger may be useful and not complicate your feeding program. It sounds like you are doing the right things and these horses are lucky to have this great attention.

 

4.  “Obstructive AirwayDisease (COPD/Heaves), just recovering from uveitis, & has lost a significant amount of weight this summer despite my best efforts to increase his weight…”

I have a 15 yr. old foundation Appaloosa gelding (no tail, mane, small forelock) who has health issues. Obstructive AirwayDisease (COPD/Heaves), just recovering from uveitis, & has lost a

significant amount of weight this summer despite my best efforts to increase his weight, he receives 4 lb per day of senior performance texturized grain. Pasture 8-12 hrs per day in SE Mich, I have increased his hay to free choice at night, he is getting more than he can consume, still no weight gain. I am devoted to this horse, I still try to keep him physically fit by riding him. The bugs bother him so much he would rather seek comfort by the gate or gets so upset he paces the gate while out with his small herd.. I protect him with fly clothes (sheet, leggings & mask) when it’s not too hot/humid to do so. I MUST keep him outside to manage his respiratory condition. I am so frustrated because I have researched equine nutrition relentlessly, I have tried increasing his hay, pasture time, grain increase…still nothing works. I am at a loss what to do next. I am not saying he is special because he is mine, he is truly an amazing equine. Do you think putting him on a full retirement schedule may help him gain weight? I am more than willing to stop riding/ exercising him if it will help him gain weight. I ride him at the walk, trot mostly on trails 2-3 times per week. Max 2 hr.’s. I also play games with him to keep him mentally & emotionally fit. His breathing is better when he is ridden & conditioned but I don’t want to do anything to prevent his weight gain. I am very interested to know your opinion. Thank you, Jo & Coyote

Bill Schurg’s Answer:

You may need to increase the Sr. Feed to levels where it is meeting nearly all the nutritional needs of your horse. Make sure that it is a senior feed that contains at least 16% crude fiber on the feed tag. Then you could feed small meals (2-4 pounds) about 3-4 times per day along with hay and pasture. Another option would be to add 3-4 cups of rice bran, 2-3 cups of beet pulp and 2-4 ozs. of flaxseed to your senior feed. I would soak the flaxseed and beet pulp with water for several hours prior to adding to the grain mixture. The fact that this horse is bothered by insects forces him to use a lot of energy just to maintain body weight so you must increase the calories going in daily to compensate. Any changes to the diet should be done gradually over a 7-10 day adjustment period. The use of soaked beet pulp and flaxseed with the rice bran added and a bit of senior feed should aid in creating a weight building opportunity. The soaked materials should be helpful as well for the respiratory conditions as it will reduce dustiness and increase palatability. The key is to make sure the horse is ingesting the needed nutrients daily. It may be that the hay and pasture doesn’t contain enough nutrients or is course and mature which your horse cannot digest efficiently.

 

5.  “My quarter horse is 16 yoa and every year around this same time she drops alot of weight….”

 

This year is really bad. You can see her rib cage and her backbone up by her withers. We have dewormed her about two weeks ago and she does not look like she is putting her weight back on. What do you recommend I try.

Bill Schurg’s Answer:

The combination of heat/humidity and insects along with summertime activity increases may all have an impact on your horse dropping some weight. You should always be proactive in that place the horse in maybe a bit higher body condition prior to the summer so that any drop will not be too harsh. I would indicate that if this horse is on pasture you may need to supplement with added hay and some grain. If you are feeding hay currently you need to check to make sure it is good quality. If not get a better product. If you are feeding grass hay alone you may need to try some alfalfa and/or some grain combinations. Your horse should be eating at least 2% of it’s body weight each day in total feed. The critical thing about weight gain will be to supply additional calories to this horse by increasing feed either more hay or adding grain. The time frame of improvement will depend on how far your horse needs to go to get back to what you deem normal condition. But generally a minimum of 45 days to 120 days may be needed to see significant improvement after slowly adapting your horse to a more calorie rich diet.