Weight gain & lameness...?

1. ok, teak is 30 and has lost a lot of weight. we have just got out of winter, so it's understandable, sorta, but i'm guessing she's around/ between 25- 100 lbs. underweight. (i know that's a large range, but i'm terrible at estimating!) anyways, so far she's getting 2-3 flakes of 1st cutting grass hay per day and at least 3 hours per day of grazing good, tall grass. she also gets 1/4 gallon (2 lbs. maybe?) of beet pulp per day mixed with an equal amount of sweet feed (she doesn't like the taste of beet pulp). she's dewormed regularly and she eats everything she gets. is there anything i'm doing wrong or something more i need to give her? if i should give her oil, what kind and how much? thanks for all help.





also...





2. chrome's feet are getting fairly tender and sensitive since she's been standing in nothing but really soft and deep mud all winter long. she's getting stone bruises really easily, while during the summer she walks on gravel and such perfectly fine. so far, i'm giving

Weight gain %26amp; lameness...?
I find Hay Stretcher to be an excellent way to gain and maintain weight. Most horses like the taste too; I haven't yet found one that doesn't want and love it. Corn oil works to put on wieght too so you don't give her too much grain (prevents colicking). Really green grass that is tall and thick might not be the best thing for your horse. you might want to cut it so its a little shorter and give her 2-3 flakes of coarse or 1st cut hay at breckfast and dinner and grazing for lunch.


As for the feet, she is probably getting really soft feet from all that moisture and for the bruises I would get the pads under her shoes; her feet might not be fantastic in the first place and that will help. Try and do something about the mud. Don't hesitate to leave her in the barn (if you have one or lock her in a shed) maybe on bad days or rainy, snowy, cold days to keep the mud from getting worse.


Good luck and i hope for the best for you and your mare!
Reply:any type of oil will do even cooking oil


A good mug full a day with the feed


Unlimited haylage


16+ senior mix twice a day mixed with sugar beet plus oil +happy hoof +powder flexi limbs


This should help


My horse also gets lame in winter it will pass its all down to the older horse
Reply:Okay for the older horse Im not really for sure but you can try her one some senior feed that may help since it is more easily digested, I give my TB 1/4 cup corn oil he is a hard keeper you can try it. Now for the other horse, you need to get her out of the mud if you can. Mud is very bad on a horses feet I had to learn that the hard way, my friend had a horse that stayed in the mud and I kept telling her that she was going to cripple her horse and she never belived me and he came up lame and now she will never be able to ride him again, the vet ask her would she have known what was wrong with him and she told him that he was in the mud and water through the winter and and he told her thats what cause it!! For her feet being really sensitive you can try putting on some pine tar I use it when my TB feet gets soft it works really well. I hope that I helped you out some
Reply:Hi, I have horses and have fought weight/feet issues myself. Horses need fat to get fat, so first you need to look at the percentage of fat in your grain. I give nothing less then 6%fat. Older horses Need to be on a senior feed. Senior feed has about an 8%fat content. Beet pulp works best in the winter and you should always make sure you are mixing it in warm water.Then it needs to sit for hours, so it can swell up. Dry beet pulp doubles in size in the horses stomache and can cause issues/death. Depending on the breed of your horse will determine the amount of grain it should have. If your feed has a low fat quality...like 2.5% -- 4.0% then you will need to double the amount of grain he is getting. A higher fat % and then you can cut the amount some. I have an arabian who gets a 6% fat textured grain. I give him about 2 1/2 lbs twice daily. (thats 5lbs daily)Then I have a thouroughbred who gets the same feed 2 times daily, but his portion is much larger(6lbs), so he is getting 12lbs daily. We have some ponies, and one gets 1 lb twice daily. I have an older pony who gets a senior feed and she gets about 2 1/2lbs twice daily, etc. You should also be giving your horse 1 1/2 to 2 flakes of hay twice daily, unless your horse can graze on grass all day long. Also, horses should have their teeth floated about every 2 years. Horses chew their feed from side to side and not up and down like we do. Their teeth grow all the time and form sharp points that causes them to not be able to properly chew the grain. The grain will fall out of their mouth and what they swallow goes down hole. The grain isn't getting digested properly, and they don't gain weight.


Your question about oil.....oil does NOT help a horse gain weight. A tablespoon of corn oil daily in their feed will help their coat get shiny...but that's about all.





Now, Chrome's feet could have white line disease. This is caused by the mud they stand in with the winter weather....and all the rain we have had this winter. Spray straight bleach on the soles of her hooves 2 times a week, but ask your farrier if it's white line to make sure. If that's not the problem, then try putting front shoe's on her. Shoes will help her not to get the stone bruises. Hope this helps.....Happy riding!
Reply:for your older horse i would suggest putting her on a senior feed. they're designed to be easier for an older horse to digest and are full of fat and protein. as far as the lameness goes i can't think of anything except maybe thrush. it's really common in wet areas. if it is thrush her feet will have a bad smell and start turning black around the frog and eventually most of the hoof. if it is thrush your farrier can recommend something for it like kopertox or a clorox mixture. hope this helps