[SunRock Sage]

I have a horse that I rescued 2 weeks ago that isn't shedding at all and his hair is really long and shaggy looking. Looks don't really matter to me but I want to make sure that he is gettting what he needs.

Jordan is a 9 yr old TB gelding. He was really starved and has probably gained 150-200lbs in the last couple weeks. He gets 7lbs of distillers grain 2x a day, salt/mineral and calcium mixed in 1x a day. He has free choice grass hay and a sliver of alflafa. Yesterday I turned him out to pasture. He gets groomed every other day and he has tons of energy and as I said before he is gaining really well.

Is it just going to take time or should I consider clipping him to make him more comfortable? It got up to 80 degrees yesterday but is about 45 today. Love Nebraska spring

[JBandRio]

His coat is his protection right now.

14lb of hard feed a day, even distillers grains, is a lot. Can you cut that with some beet pulp or alfalfa pellets?

It's going to take some time for his health to catch up and allow him to shed that coat, but if he's having trouble with the heat, clip him, and then blanket him as appropriate.

[Red roan rider1]

Have you wormed him? It seems to help them let go of the hair too. Not sure why this is thought.

[Kicks]

In my opinion it's way too early to be thinking about clipping a horse UNLESS they are in a heated barn and/or blanketed. Yes - it get up to the high 70's/low 80's yesterday (I'm in western SD) - right now it's 35F and raining with high winds - would be far more stressful on a horse today that was clipped than the temperature was yesterday on a none clipped one.

[JBandRio]

Good point Red roan, I didn't mention that

Yes, if you haven't gotten him into a good deworming schedule, do that. If you have gotten him past the initial "let's kill some things but not everything so we don't cause a colic" deworming, then think seriously about a 5 day double dose of fenbendazole, ie a Panacur PowerPac, or another company's
Power Dose, or other methods of doing the same thing. As long as the product is a 10% fenbendazole solution, you can go with whatever works out cheaper. It's a double dose, based on the horse's weight, every day for 5 days. An alternative is moxidectin (ie Quest) - your choice.

[2manypetz]

Yes, I ditto everyone else, get some good worming done, supplement with beet pulp, flax, BOSS, or Bean Meal. Lots of love and brushing. good Luck

[Buckshot]

Would Cushing's be a possibility?

[SunRock Sage]

Buckshot, I am not sure what the other syptoms of Cushings are.

Others, thanks for the advice. What would the difference be of feeding either beet pulp or alflafa pellets versus the distillers.... From what I know, a little and learning every day, they are all protein and we get the distillers for free. So I am curious what the others offer that we aren't getting with the distillers.

Again thank you all.

I have wormed him once, a few days after we brought him home. I am going to be ordering wormer for the rest of our herd and will look for some of the products you all suggested.

[JBandRio]

Originally Posted by SunRock Sage

Buckshot, I am not sure what the other syptoms of Cushings are.

At his age, Cushing's is unlikely. But, other symptoms would be excessive drinking and subsequent excessive peeing.

Others, thanks for the advice. What would the difference be of feeding either beet pulp or alflafa pellets versus the distillers.... From what I know, a little and learning every day, they are all protein and we get the distillers for free. So I am curious what the others offer that we aren't getting with the distillers.

There ARE good things about distillers grain products - many benefits of the grains themselves with most of the sugars removed. But there is still some sugar, and it's more "grain" than forage. It may be working fine for you, but *I* would try to swap some of it out. That's just me though I would be a lot more "suggestive" about it if you were feeding whole grains at that rate

I have wormed him once, a few days after we brought him home. I am going to be ordering wormer for the rest of our herd and will look for some of the products you all suggested.

What did you use for him? How long ago?

[Lopinslow]

many times, it takes more than one worming on a really thin horse. I got a boarder in with a really thin TB, I had to worm her twice before i saw any weight gain at all. first was with a basic liquid ivermectin, second 2 weeks later was with Zimmectrin Gold, and if that had not worked, we were going to do a panacur power pack.

personally, i do not know anything about Distillers, as i feed all mine a good ration balancer with alfalfa pellets and added fat if they need weight. and my show horse gets a low starch, high fat, high fiber feet. just remember, free is not always better

i did google it, and did find this on distillers:

Distillers grains (the solids remaining after fermentation in brewing and distilling processes) are a good protein supplement to the horse’s diet, but not recommended in large amounts. They are typically high in protein (25-30%) and their respective amino acids, and they also have a moderately high level of fat (5-10%) and B-vitamins.

The problem is that many of these grains don’t have adequate, balanced levels of minerals for horses. For example, horses require a 2:1 calcium/phosphorus ratio (two parts calcium to one part phosphorus). Most distillers grains contain more phosphorus than calcium (1:5 or higher). Feeding distillers grains in large amounts could throw off the mineral balance of the diet. Typically, a daily ration containing 10 to 15% distillers grains (about 2-4 lbs per day maximum for an average 1000-lb horse) will adequately provide supplemental protein without affecting the mineral balance.

I have found two recent publications on the use of distillers grains in horses at http://www.ddgs.umn.edu/info-horse.htm. Studies along these lines are ongoing; more research should be published within the next year