Skinny gelding

quarterbear · 04-23-2008, 07:22 PM

Hi everyone, I own a 2 year old AQHA gelding that I am haveing trouble keeping weight on. Not only am I haveing trouble keeping the weight on I am also struggling with quality of hoove, coat and mane/tail. I just had the vet out three day's ago, he checked his teeth and said everything is in order and other than putting a few pounds on he said he is in excellent health.
The vet said I should put him on a mineral for quality of coat ect and for weight I should up his oats. I have him on grass(spring grass in a big field with two othere horses all 25/7) and 3 cups of oats twice a day. The oats I feed are meant for growing babies from my local feedstore.

I don't usually by hay until late august when the grass has dried out and he ovcourse needs more. Im not sure what I should be doing? I have him on a regular 2 month deworming program, so I know he has no worms.

I heard I should feed bran? or oil? He is 15hh and 2 1/2 years approx 800 lbs. the vet said he should gain another 50 to 100 lbs. I was'nt too concerned before because I did'nt want to much weight on his growing joints, now I am starting to train him and he look's like a walking skeloton!

Could anyone give me some information about weight gain and a safe way to do so?
Thanks

royalrox · 04-23-2008, 07:34 PM

along with the oats you could add a ration balancer which will help tremendously with his coat, hooves, etc. And if he needs more help with weight possibly add something like BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) or rice bran.

xduckehx · 04-23-2008, 07:40 PM

Don't feed bran.. it is meant to clean out their system, it's not meant to be fed on a regular/consistent basis. Oil's will improve coat/mane/tail, and add that weight as well.. keeping it simple is the best you can do. Lots of beet pulp, and a drizle of Canola oil goes a long way!

If you can, adding a mineral supplement won't hurt, and it should help in all areas.. weight, mane, tail, hooves, etc... a good one is Hoffmans minerals.. comes in a tub, and inside is a scoop, you mix one scoop of the minerals into feed (the beet pulp if it's the direction you want to go), and feed. I've had very hard keepers and I find beet pulp is such an easy, and productive way to go. Personally, if you're looking for just weight gain and improved shine/health in the coat etc, keep it simple and straight forward.

just my 2 cents on it, it's worked wonders for my horses. If after a month you haven't seen a difference, try some 14% or 17% protein crunchies, and just mixing a couple handfuls in or feeding as treats. When they're growing, protein is important to get the maximun growth potential, but too much can be harmful.

Anyways lol, done rambling. give it some thought and good luck with what you choose!

royalrox · 04-23-2008, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xduckehx

Don't feed bran.. it is meant to clean out their system, it's not meant to be fed on a regular/consistent basis. Oil's will improve coat/mane/tail, and add that weight as well.. keeping it simple is the best you can do. Lots of beet pulp, and a drizle of Canola oil goes a long way!

If you can, adding a mineral supplement won't hurt, and it should help in all areas.. weight, mane, tail, hooves, etc... a good one is Hoffmans minerals.. comes in a tub, and inside is a scoop, you mix one scoop of the minerals into feed (the beet pulp if it's the direction you want to go), and feed. I've had very hard keepers and I find beet pulp is such an easy, and productive way to go. Personally, if you're looking for just weight gain and improved shine/health in the coat etc, keep it simple and straight forward.

just my 2 cents on it, it's worked wonders for my horses. If after a month you haven't seen a difference, try some 14% or 17% protein crunchies, and just mixing a couple handfuls in or feeding as treats. When they're growing, protein is important to get the maximun growth potential, but too much can be harmful.

Anyways lol, done rambling. give it some thought and good luck with what you choose!

your thinking of wheat bran

Rice brans completely different

ncs · 04-23-2008, 07:44 PM

My vet suggested (for my 1/2 AQHA 2 yo gelding ) to work up to 2-3 lbs alfalfa (pellets) and 1-2 lbs beet pulp daily (we have pellets too) along with the hay (there is no grass in AZ!) & the Farrier's Formula (for hooves and coat) I was already giving, as we decided that he is still growing. (The thought process is that beet pulp has about 1050 calories per pound and alfalfa pellets about 1000 calorie per pound, which is more caloric than the grass hay he eats). he said I could add up to 1 cup of oil daily too if needed.

Jessie28 · 04-23-2008, 07:50 PM

I'm having the same problem with a mare, only she's 14,

not to sound stupid but how much beet pulp would I give a 14yr old mare who weighs about 800-900 lbs and is not gaining weight like she should?

quarterbear · 04-23-2008, 08:40 PM

Thanks so much for all the replies

I heard alot about BOSS but I can't seem to find any inforamtion on it? I'd love to use an oil, I heard some really good thing's about it. A friend bought a black off the track thoroughbred, he was severly underweight and depressed. He would not eat so what little food he did eat had to be very very high in calories so he would gain weight. I'm not sure what oil she used but his oats would be swimming in it! He gained weight so nicely.
What oil is healthiest or most benificial? I want something that will make him healthy, I heard one of the oils has more omega 3?
I like to keep thing's as simple as possible because one I can't take the stress

and two I think there's less room for error if it is kept simple, I really want to keep his diet natural too.

Thanks again for all the comment's I really appreciate it

JBandRio · 04-24-2008, 04:13 AM

If your horse is HYPP, or you don't know (and then you should test him unless you are absolutely certain he is not Impressive-bred anywhere), then do not feed boss - too high in potassium.

There are no "meant for growing babies" - there are oats in various forms (crimped, rolled, whole, steamed) with the same general nutritional profile, but they aren't age-specific. The amount you're feeding isn't cause for concern, and you could increase it a bit, but *I* wouldn't go more than 2lb/day since oats are 50% starch/sugar and that is not beneficial.

How "skinny" is he? As a 2yo, you should be able to easily feel ribs, maybe even see a hint of them. If you/your vet are used to looking at halter-fat babies, or show-fat babies, then a healthy 2yo could indeed look too thin.

Your current diet is not nutritionally balanced, and while adding oil will certainly add calories (2000 cal/cup), it is adding no nutritional value to the diet other than fat. BOSS (if doable) and rice bran add fat and have nutritional value as well, but still don't really round out your current diet. A ration balancer, or a vitamin/mineral supplement, or the minimum amount (according to the bag) of a fortified grain/"grain" product meant for growing horses are your better options. I say grain or "grain" because there are several fortified commercial products that don't contain any grains (or very little), and many more that contain lots of actual grains. The "grain" products are much better as they are generally lower in sugars and starches.

2manypetz · 04-24-2008, 04:46 AM

This is what we feed, we always have a round bale out in winter, pasture in the summer, supplement good quality square bales every day also. We feed a mixture of BOSS, Beet pulp, Ground Flax and Bean Meal, mineral salt, and senior feed/RB and we have a mineral lick out at all times. We all 5 horses that are all all different weight needs from yound fatttys to old skinnys, they get fed different amount depending on where they are on the body scale and how much they are being used. We do not use sweet feed unless somone is sick and needs their powdered medicine to stick to the molasses. Their hair coats is amazing! They skinnys are gaining, slowly, nicely, with out colic or other problems. One thing to check for is tape worms, not all wormers get tapes. They can really cause havoc and make a horse thin, lethargic, anemic, bad hair coat. Check teeth a good power float can do wonders too, especially on Jessie 14 year old mare. I have heard that it is save to give from 1/2 a cup to a gallon of Beet Pulp. We give our fat ones just a 1/2 a cup to make them happy and the old skiinner guy a gallon, and he eats it all up, we have another that had a winter accidents that lost weight and we were trying to give him the gallon, but he has other things to do becides stand there and eat that long so we cut him down to 2 cups, he will eat all that up. We have got several in that were thin, wormy, bad teeth, and turned them around. Check out the picture on my picasaweb link down below. We took our hrose to the iowa Horse fair the first weekend of april our hroses looked great, they were shed out and shiny, they did not look like we pulled them out of a muddy pasture, after a hard winter, they looked as good as the spoiled horses that were kept stabled and blanketed. I know it was from the BOSS, Flax, Bean meal, Beet pulp, and minerals. Good luck!

quarterbear · 04-24-2008, 01:16 PM

My gelding has no impressive in him anywhere, he is mostly all foundation Joe Hancock, Steeldust ect. My vet and I have worked very closely together concerning his weight. My vet was like me, not overly cocerned about him. His weight was yes low but he was still growing and at the time he was a 8 month old and a colt, not gelded. I gelded him and I along with my vet, were both certain his weight would go up. He has now been gelded for 6 month's and no luck with an increase in his weight.
I have him on a good deworming program, the vet said he dose'nt think he has worms.
He is due to be dewormed again in about a week.

My vet had'nt seen him since the gelding. I think he was sorta astonished he had gained no weight. I am very concerned about growth and development, I definatly don't want to turn him into a halter horse, so heavy his joints are strained. But I definatly don't want to stunt him either. Right now I can see ribs 24/7, his bum bones are slightly patruding and I can slightly feel his spine bones. Not to mention you can totally tell he's not the peak of health by the summer coat that is comming through.

I'm just really concerned, I also understand he is still growing but the lack of nutrition he is not getting is really starting affect him. I really am ashamed it has gotten to this, I really do appreciate everyone's help.

04-23-2008, 07:22 PM	#1
quarterbear Full Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 36	Skinny gelding Hi everyone, I own a 2 year old AQHA gelding that I am haveing trouble keeping weight on. Not only am I haveing trouble keeping the weight on I am also struggling with quality of hoove, coat and mane/tail. I just had the vet out three day's ago, he checked his teeth and said everything is in order and other than putting a few pounds on he said he is in excellent health. The vet said I should put him on a mineral for quality of coat ect and for weight I should up his oats. I have him on grass(spring grass in a big field with two othere horses all 25/7) and 3 cups of oats twice a day. The oats I feed are meant for growing babies from my local feedstore. I don't usually by hay until late august when the grass has dried out and he ovcourse needs more. Im not sure what I should be doing? I have him on a regular 2 month deworming program, so I know he has no worms. I heard I should feed bran? or oil? He is 15hh and 2 1/2 years approx 800 lbs. the vet said he should gain another 50 to 100 lbs. I was'nt too concerned before because I did'nt want to much weight on his growing joints, now I am starting to train him and he look's like a walking skeloton! Could anyone give me some information about weight gain and a safe way to do so? Thanks

04-23-2008, 07:34 PM	#2
royalrox Senior Member+ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chester Springs, PA Posts: 3,145 Images: 264	along with the oats you could add a ration balancer which will help tremendously with his coat, hooves, etc. And if he needs more help with weight possibly add something like BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) or rice bran. __________________ You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows The present now will later be past, And the first one now will later be last -Bob Dylan Proud member of the thoroughbred club!

04-24-2008, 04:13 AM	#8
JBandRio Senior Member+ Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NC Posts: 21,453 Images: 131 Blog Entries: 12	If your horse is HYPP, or you don't know (and then you should test him unless you are absolutely certain he is not Impressive-bred anywhere), then do not feed boss - too high in potassium. There are no "meant for growing babies" - there are oats in various forms (crimped, rolled, whole, steamed) with the same general nutritional profile, but they aren't age-specific. The amount you're feeding isn't cause for concern, and you could increase it a bit, but I wouldn't go more than 2lb/day since oats are 50% starch/sugar and that is not beneficial. How "skinny" is he? As a 2yo, you should be able to easily feel ribs, maybe even see a hint of them. If you/your vet are used to looking at halter-fat babies, or show-fat babies, then a healthy 2yo could indeed look too thin. Your current diet is not nutritionally balanced, and while adding oil will certainly add calories (2000 cal/cup), it is adding no nutritional value to the diet other than fat. BOSS (if doable) and rice bran add fat and have nutritional value as well, but still don't really round out your current diet. A ration balancer, or a vitamin/mineral supplement, or the minimum amount (according to the bag) of a fortified grain/"grain" product meant for growing horses are your better options. I say grain or "grain" because there are several fortified commercial products that don't contain any grains (or very little), and many more that contain lots of actual grains. The "grain" products are much better as they are generally lower in sugars and starches. __________________ - JB Acres, owned and operated by Dynamite animals. - It's a wonder horses as a whole don't just kill us all and be done with their misery. - Keep your voice soothing and low - even when things get western (buck1173) - Rio feels good - he bounced an in-and-out

04-24-2008, 04:46 AM	#9
2manypetz Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Victor, Iowa Posts: 788 Images: 68	This is what we feed, we always have a round bale out in winter, pasture in the summer, supplement good quality square bales every day also. We feed a mixture of BOSS, Beet pulp, Ground Flax and Bean Meal, mineral salt, and senior feed/RB and we have a mineral lick out at all times. We all 5 horses that are all all different weight needs from yound fatttys to old skinnys, they get fed different amount depending on where they are on the body scale and how much they are being used. We do not use sweet feed unless somone is sick and needs their powdered medicine to stick to the molasses. Their hair coats is amazing! They skinnys are gaining, slowly, nicely, with out colic or other problems. One thing to check for is tape worms, not all wormers get tapes. They can really cause havoc and make a horse thin, lethargic, anemic, bad hair coat. Check teeth a good power float can do wonders too, especially on Jessie 14 year old mare. I have heard that it is save to give from 1/2 a cup to a gallon of Beet Pulp. We give our fat ones just a 1/2 a cup to make them happy and the old skiinner guy a gallon, and he eats it all up, we have another that had a winter accidents that lost weight and we were trying to give him the gallon, but he has other things to do becides stand there and eat that long so we cut him down to 2 cups, he will eat all that up. We have got several in that were thin, wormy, bad teeth, and turned them around. Check out the picture on my picasaweb link down below. We took our hrose to the iowa Horse fair the first weekend of april our hroses looked great, they were shed out and shiny, they did not look like we pulled them out of a muddy pasture, after a hard winter, they looked as good as the spoiled horses that were kept stabled and blanketed. I know it was from the BOSS, Flax, Bean meal, Beet pulp, and minerals. Good luck! __________________ http://picasaweb.google.com/pianoismy4tay http://youtube.com/user/pianoismy4tay The consequences of your life are too eternal to waste on forgettable moments Last edited by 2manypetz; 04-24-2008 at 05:14 AM.

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04-23-2008, 07:40 PM	#3
xduckehx Full Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edmonton - Alberta - Canada Posts: 130 Images: 3	Don't feed bran.. it is meant to clean out their system, it's not meant to be fed on a regular/consistent basis. Oil's will improve coat/mane/tail, and add that weight as well.. keeping it simple is the best you can do. Lots of beet pulp, and a drizle of Canola oil goes a long way! If you can, adding a mineral supplement won't hurt, and it should help in all areas.. weight, mane, tail, hooves, etc... a good one is Hoffmans minerals.. comes in a tub, and inside is a scoop, you mix one scoop of the minerals into feed (the beet pulp if it's the direction you want to go), and feed. I've had very hard keepers and I find beet pulp is such an easy, and productive way to go. Personally, if you're looking for just weight gain and improved shine/health in the coat etc, keep it simple and straight forward. just my 2 cents on it, it's worked wonders for my horses. If after a month you haven't seen a difference, try some 14% or 17% protein crunchies, and just mixing a couple handfuls in or feeding as treats. When they're growing, protein is important to get the maximun growth potential, but too much can be harmful. Anyways lol, done rambling. give it some thought and good luck with what you choose!

04-23-2008, 07:44 PM	#5
ncs Full Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Wittmann, AZ Posts: 99	My vet suggested (for my 1/2 AQHA 2 yo gelding ) to work up to 2-3 lbs alfalfa (pellets) and 1-2 lbs beet pulp daily (we have pellets too) along with the hay (there is no grass in AZ!) & the Farrier's Formula (for hooves and coat) I was already giving, as we decided that he is still growing. (The thought process is that beet pulp has about 1050 calories per pound and alfalfa pellets about 1000 calorie per pound, which is more caloric than the grass hay he eats). he said I could add up to 1 cup of oil daily too if needed.

04-23-2008, 07:50 PM	#6
Jessie28 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: USA Posts: 17 Images: 4	I'm having the same problem with a mare, only she's 14, not to sound stupid but how much beet pulp would I give a 14yr old mare who weighs about 800-900 lbs and is not gaining weight like she should?

04-23-2008, 08:40 PM	#7
quarterbear Full Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 36	Thanks so much for all the replies I heard alot about BOSS but I can't seem to find any inforamtion on it? I'd love to use an oil, I heard some really good thing's about it. A friend bought a black off the track thoroughbred, he was severly underweight and depressed. He would not eat so what little food he did eat had to be very very high in calories so he would gain weight. I'm not sure what oil she used but his oats would be swimming in it! He gained weight so nicely. What oil is healthiest or most benificial? I want something that will make him healthy, I heard one of the oils has more omega 3? I like to keep thing's as simple as possible because one I can't take the stress and two I think there's less room for error if it is kept simple, I really want to keep his diet natural too. Thanks again for all the comment's I really appreciate it

04-24-2008, 01:16 PM	#10
quarterbear Full Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 36	My gelding has no impressive in him anywhere, he is mostly all foundation Joe Hancock, Steeldust ect. My vet and I have worked very closely together concerning his weight. My vet was like me, not overly cocerned about him. His weight was yes low but he was still growing and at the time he was a 8 month old and a colt, not gelded. I gelded him and I along with my vet, were both certain his weight would go up. He has now been gelded for 6 month's and no luck with an increase in his weight. I have him on a good deworming program, the vet said he dose'nt think he has worms. He is due to be dewormed again in about a week. My vet had'nt seen him since the gelding. I think he was sorta astonished he had gained no weight. I am very concerned about growth and development, I definatly don't want to turn him into a halter horse, so heavy his joints are strained. But I definatly don't want to stunt him either. Right now I can see ribs 24/7, his bum bones are slightly patruding and I can slightly feel his spine bones. Not to mention you can totally tell he's not the peak of health by the summer coat that is comming through. I'm just really concerned, I also understand he is still growing but the lack of nutrition he is not getting is really starting affect him. I really am ashamed it has gotten to this, I really do appreciate everyone's help.