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MrC

MrC

https://m.facebook.com/MrKiasLife/
Nov 10, 2014
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Ok Kia and I have been around for a while so I don't think any major backround issues and info but here's a little.

24yrs old welshDXAppy not a good doer, teeth all fine, not sick nor sorry cereal intolerant, fed hay and turnout daily from 8.30am - 4pm with five other horses on ten acres. Currently having two feeds per day and a 10/12kg Haynet at night.

He has a racing clip (back, haunches and back legs on everything else from head backwards off) wearing around 500-600g of rugs so plenty warm. Ridden twice or three times a week weather permitting for an hours hack.

So based on the above how would you explain weight loss??

Thanks
 
There's nothing obvious, is there. I suppose his droppings are OK as you didn't mention them. Could it be just down to winter grazing? I think if the weight-loss carries on I'd be inclined to call the vet.
 
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Has he held his weight fine on those feeds before? I know you said teeth are fine, but when was he last checked? And have you had him worm counted? Does he have hay left in the morning and does he get hay while turned out?
 
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LindaAd said:
There's nothing obvious, is there. I suppose his droppings are OK as you didn't mention them. Could it be just down to winter grazing? I think if the weight-loss carries on I'd be inclined to call the vet.
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

Poos are fine, normal consistency and amount I remove about six or seven lots of droppings every morning from his stable.

He has lost about 27kgs on the weight tape if it it's 40kgs then he will be below 450kgs which is when i start to be very concerned.
 
Laura_107 said:
Has he held his weight fine on those feeds before? I know you said teeth are fine, but when was he last checked? And have you had him worm counted? Does he have hay left in the morning and does he get hay while turned out?
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Worm counted four times per year by yard. He was last wormed with a pramox in Nov.

Teeth were checked in sept. Somedays his Haynet has hay in it somedays it doesn't. There is still grass to graze on even with the snow. With five other horses in the field dividing up hay would be hard.

Yes normally holds fine on these feeds. He's very fussy and being cereal intolerant I do struggle to find weight gaining feeds that are not stuffed full of grains.
 
I totally understand that hay in the fields can be a bit of a nightmare. Is there any way you can give him a section of the field and put adlib hay out? We didn't feed hay during the day at my last yard and they all coped fine (I agree they can always get something), but none of them were poor doers. Can you chuck a couple of big round bales in and divide the cost 6 ways?

The only other thing I can think of is ad lib hay at nights and possibly a 3rd feed if you can. If you can't keep the weight on after that I would be calling the vet.
 
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Laura_107 said:
And have you got him on micronised linseed? Might be worth trying.
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Yep he has (larger round scoops)

1 x scoop of spillers senior fibre
3/4 scoop of soaked veteran vitality
1 x scoop of beetpulp
150gs of linseed
30g of turmeric/MSM/glucosamine mix
30g of chasteberry

Twice per day this makes a pretty decent feed but not too much that it's in one end out the other and very fibre based :)
 
If on chaste berry do you suspect Cushings?

Might checks to do (even though fairly recently done)

Worm count
Dentist
Then look at bloods for tapeworm/Cushings and maybe a generic blood exam - he may have a virus or similar and be run down
 
Like pfb I immediately wondered if the chaste berry meant you suspected cushings, and that can cause weight loss. A simple blood test will tell you if that's an issue.

I don't know where you are, but where I am that level of rugging would have even most clipped horses sweating off weight.

How quickly has he lost the weight? If it's been over a week or two I'd be calling a vet today.
 
I wouldn't be concerned about a 27kg weight loss. Almost all horses will drop weight in January, its natural for them to do so. I read somewhere that it is normal for the average horse to drop 50kg in winter, and they will generally put this back on in the spring.

I wouldn't be too worried at all, especially as your horse is still eating hay and pooing a decent amount. It's only 6 weeks until 1st March and the grass will start coming through again.
 
I feed the chasteberry as a preventative measure but also because the mares in his field are very tarty and wind him up. He is happy to oblige them but it makes him very grumpy with any new additions to the field and also quite fence aggressive with other geldings. This is a new thing he was never like this previously.

Dentist in sept
Wormed with a pramox after a worm count in Nov
Tested for cushings in sept (vet does teeth) negative result (levels fine)

I'm in scotland which at present is covers in snow and averaging -4 at night and 0/1 during the day at present.

I would say I have noticed the weight loss over the course of the last three weeks, now I don't take the weigh tape as accurate I use it for checking and gettig rough gains and losses but I can tell by the look of him he has lost some weight.

I'm not discounting what people are posting im looking for things I havent thought of before I start looking at solutions.
 
I wouldn't be too worried at a 27kg weight loss as MP says above - I would be more concerned at this time of year if piling it on- then again you are concerned enough to ask so it is obviously out of the norm and bothering you- each horse is an individual but as everything on the surface with management/health seems fine then just keep an eye on - there is no chance that hes too warm under the rugs is there - our 24yr old mare lives out 24/7 unrugged (obviously not clipped) and copes fine on a daily feed and only a flap or 2 of hay if snow down or real hard frost - a few years ago she dropped a lot of weight - she had a lightweight rug on - we took it off and added Alfa A oil to her feed for a couple of weeks - she put the weight back on, then came out of winter overweight - so the following year we left the rug off, didn't need the A Oil and she lost a tiny bit and came into spring as she should - we have managed her the same way since.

I appreciate hes got a clip so he needs some protection - just a thought!
 
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I must admit, I agree with Lemme. I know it's cold up here, but that weight of rugs must be heavy, he will be using calories just carrying them around.
 
200gs of that is a liner for his rug.

I'm going to remove that but also I think I'm going to revert to an old favourite of a bucket of beetpulp and oil(linseed meal) mix in his stable over night for calories and fibre normally I would add barley to this but he cannot have cereals.

Many people are recommending oats and saying that they will be less than the 12% that is the ceiling for starch in his diet but I'm doubtful this will be the case :(
 
I would take the liner off him and give him the extra feed you are planning. The temperature is meant to start picking up on Friday (and perhaps this stupid snow will melt!) it had dropped quite dramatically over the past 2 weeks. I was thinking our winter had been quite mild so far!
 
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I wouldn't be concerned by 27kg weight loss at this time of year, as other said its perfectly natural and healthier for them to drop weight now ready to gain some in the spring.
I would also question the ammount of rugs, I know its chilly but horses don't even feel it util it gets crazy cold because of their thermoregulation, something like -17. Oats are actually lower than you might think but I wouldn't be going that route yet, could you perhaps switch his hay for some good quality haylage if he keeps dropping fast?
 
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I think the big bucket of beet is a good idea, I'm trying that with mine at the moment, but he just stuffs his face and finishes the bucket in one go.

Might be worth trying a grass chaff?
 
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Well I brought him in at lunchtime and whilst he was having a feed I stripped him off. He was quite warm to the touch on the clipped places and only slightly warmer than neutral on the hairy places. I have removed the liner but I have left it in the stable so as it's easy to pop back on.

He has a feed in his stable and will get that when he comes in tonight. I finish at 7pm so I will pop the beet in then and see what he does. He is used to this method I've used it for years and doesn't normally guzzle it in one go as its quite bland compared to his feed.
 
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