[belle4]

Every year I do lots of farm chores when people go away for the winter. I have one pony in my charge. He is a small pony, not mini small, but shetland small. He has foundered in the past on grass. Owner keeps him in an enclosure with minimal grass and feeds hay. She has kept him like this for years. He is not overweight, older. Recently he got an infected tooth and lost a ton of weight. Had vet out, treated with SMZ's, did blood work and now has cushings too.

Now the owner is feeding Nutrena Senior and second cutting hay. Her instructions to me were to feed 4 cans a day. The can is a Campbells soup can, really small. I bet the 4 cans don't weight a pound total.

My question is....is a RB good for a previously foundered, small pony with cushings that needs to gain weight? I know she is not feeding enough senior to bother with.

[gaitedboomer]

Insulin resistance (metabolic horses can easily turn into cushings horses - they are all metabolic issues), exploded on my 22 yo TWH 2-1/2 years ago.

They need supplements and something to help keep weight on if they are a horse that wants to lose weight, like mine did.

1. They absolutely do not need anything with corn and oats in it.

2. Their protein source should not be from soy and of course no horse should be eating anything that has urea in it, which I don't think any horse feed or supplement does.

3. The less iron the better as iron blocks the minerals that aid in stabilizing glucose. That means taking away the red trace mineral block (if it has one) and replacing it with a white salt block.

4. If the horse needs to be on arthritis medicine it should not have glucosamine or anything else that blocks certain minerals from stabilizing the glucose. Chondroitin and MSM are fine, I don't know about other things, like HA, that are on the market.

5. Soaking the hay in cold water for 30 minutes helps to reduce the sugar and starch intake - sorry to say "cold" because it's winter, but it has to be cold soak

My IR horse gets a vit/min supplement and pelleted rice bran. He weighs 1,075# and eats 4 carefully measured ounces twice daily of rice bran. He eats 8 carefully measured ounces of pelleted vit/min supplements daily.

He also gets supplements that are specifically geared to his insulin resistance.

He is on pasture turnout 10-12 hours daily and gets a high quality, locally grown grass hay at morning turnout and when he comes in at night. This horse has never foundered, but his turnout situation is very unique due to the "lay of the land".

I wouldn't feed Nutrena Senior to a Cushings horse and I know others with Cushings horses that won't either, but it's up to the individual and their vet.

I do not feed ration balancers but said all that because I felt expanations are needed, since you are asking a very legitimate question.

Read the RB label and check the minerals. If iron isn't listed, call the manufacturer because, trust me, there IS iron in there.

Every IR/EMS/Cushings horse will need fed differently because of that word "metabolic".

What works for one may not work for the next ten. It is trial and error, but for sure they do not need oats and corn or even "normal" amounts of iron in their diet.

I hope this helps some

Dr. Kellon's Yahoo Equine Cushings Group has some great information if you can stand to read thru all the drama. I can't, so I rely on my good friend whose Paso Fino is Cushings to keep me updated - lol lol lol Who, by the way, feeds Triple Crown Lite to her Cushings horse. I would too, if I could get it but the closest Triple Crown dealer is hers which is 97 miles away. I can get Nutrena in town ---- thanks but no thanks

[oldhorsehome]

Good post, gaited.

I have a Cushings/IR/previously foundered pony. She is muzzled during the day so she can roam with the others. She is penned at night with hay. She gets Enrich 32, MagOx, flax seed, chastetreeberry powder, and duralactin. Sadly, she's never needed to gain weight.

I do feed rice bran and senior feed to my Cushings horse that is a hard keeper. He's never had a problem with laminitis or founder though.

Plenty of hay is probably all this pony needs to gain weight. Anything with sugar (grain) is going to set off laminitis and possibly founder again. Beet pulp would help but definitly soak and rinse it to get the molasses off.

Has the pony been tested for Cushings or IR?

[belle4]

Ya, I don't know what tests were done, all I heard was 'cushings'. I will find out more info in Feb when I take on chores for 6 weeks. He does have a red mineral block, I will mention that.

His hay is not soaked, I can't imagine soaking hay in the winter. It would end up one solid mass of frozen green stuff. Oh, the issues these horses bring on.

What great replies so far, thank you!

[PeggySue]

I wouldn't use a ration balancer after some of hte issues we had with Shawnee1020's Buddy
make sure your Iron:zinc are balanced

PM Shawnee1020 and find out what finally worked for Buddy Pain pills have me foggy