A horse losing weight and cant gain

[nallassister]

I have a horse that will not gain weight. I am a little nervous with the way she looks. You can see her spine and ribes real well as well has her hip bones. We have tried everything and have taken her to the WSU vet. They gave up on her and just told us to wait and see what happens. It has been a year now. I was hoping someone out there might have the same problem or did. If you have any ideas that would be great.

[gypsysmama200]

I have a 8 month old TWH who I rescued out of an auction house. When I got her she was about 4 months old, extremely emaciated (level 1). Per the reccommendation of our vet, we put her on Purina Omelene 300 and Calf Manna.  She did really good until she hit a growth spurt. Now she just seems to grow but no weight being put on. Is this normal?

[lindasp62]

Horses can lose weight for a variety of reasons. It is concerning that your horses are losing weight rapidly, and even dying. About food.. Have you weighed it out?  The amount of food you feed one horse in a day should be about 2.5 percent of the horses' body weight (the weight you want teh horse to be). For a 1200 pound horse , that would be about 8.2kg (18.0lbs) of forage (hay)  per day, and 5.5kg (12.0lbs) of concentrates(grain)  per day. You should aways feed more hay than grain .  Here is a helpful website to figure out how much of each:

http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/feedingexplained/calculator.htm

So, what you need to do is get a weight tape (from your feed mill or even TSC), and weight your horses.  However, the amount of what to feed them is based on how much the best weight for the horse would be.  1200 lbs is average weight. It is apparent that at this point they are underweight, so you need to make sure you feed for what they should weigh, NOT what they weight right now..
There are other reasons a horse could lose weight...one is internal parasites (worms). A regular deworming program is very important, otherwise the hay and grain you give the horses will only be feeding the worms and not the horse!! It is best to consult your horse Veterinarian about what de-wormers to use when...it depends on your region in the USA, time of year, etc.  And, there is not just one de-wormer that will kill all worms.  Please consult your Vet.  Also, while you have your Vet at your farm, please have time take a look at your horses' teeth.  Over time, horse's teeth get worn in such a way that they have points and unevenness...it makes it extremely difficult or impossible to chew the hay and grain, and most of it falls out of their mouth, or they end up not eating as much as they should. This could lead to weight loss. The Vet. can "float" (file" the teeth to make it easier for the horses to chew and will also lead to better digestion.
When you feed hay, is it in flakes/square bale or a round bale? Sometimes, one horse in a herd is very pushy, and so will overtake the hay, leaving the more timid horse(s) pushed to the outside and not having access to the hay. If you are feeding flakes, make sure you have 1-3 more piles than horses, and that they hay is spread out A LOT in many small piles.  If you have more than 4-5 horses eating one round bale, you might consider putting another round bale in the field.
Please let me know if you have any other questions, and let me know how your horses are doing with my suggestions.

[jaxral]

Everybody keep saying what to feed but only a couple say how much ?? So what, 84 pounds of soaked beet pulp, mix with 62 gallons of corn oil and 12 bottles of de-wormer 57 times a day right ???    will this work ??  please you gonna help, give some real help !!  thanks

[rodeomom24x7]

I just rescued a horse that is 30 years old and his ribs and hips are showing,.  you need to put your horse on equine senior and mix in dehydrated alfalfa and also use corn oil for weight gain.  You need to make sure the horses feed is soft by moisniting it  and you need to increase the feeding to 3 times a day and it works.  You should use a zpak on it ti make sure you have gotten all worms and monitor its water intake to make sure it doesnt dehydrate.  It is working on the horse I have, in a week I have noticed a difference.  also keep them out of the heat of the day and let the graze at night.

[Vikki88]

Wow, I am amazed that so many of these stories are the same as mine.  My boarder has a 13 year old paint mare.  Always an easy keeper, in fact we were only feeding her a Natures Essentials (supplemental feed from Purina) at little quantities because she a horse that had laminitis in her past.  She gained weighted way too easy.  About 2 months ago she started dropping weight.  She has no worms,  teeth are fine, has had all her shots.  In fact, she is energetic, glossy coat.  She is just not like she used to be.  One morning about 4 months ago when I came into the barn, I she was having a seizure.  Never seen one before, but when I described it everyone said it was a seizure.  Lasted only about 20 seconds, and then she was completely fine.  I keep wondering if this has anything to do with her weight loss.

[talonco]

I have a 18 YO QH horse that is losing TONS of weight. She has always been a fairly fat horse. She started losing a lot of her weight after I sold one of my other horses (can they get depressed?). I had her teeth floated and she is wormed regularly. I have been trying to take her from about 10-12 lbs of grass/alfalfa mix up to a 12-14 lbs of grass/alfalfa (also added about 4 lbs of straight alfalfa), a pound of beet pulp, and 3 lbs of senior. I have been feeding her this way for about 2 weeks now and yet it appears she is still losing weight. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should try next?