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 Veteran
Posts: 231
 
Location: On My Horse! | Having a hard time keeping weight on my horse. Once off the track (QH) he has seemed to deflate. He eats anything you put in front of him, but just seems to look “ribby” to me. He currently gets 4 to 5 pads of T and A Hay. 1 ½ scoop of Race Ready twice a day with DAC Oil and Calf Manna. Not seeing much improvement. Any ideas? Supplement recommendations? Thanks in advance! |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Free choice alfalfa and 2 lbs of rice bran, then adjust accordingly.
I've never understood feeding equines something designed for bovines. Why do you feed Calf Manna? |
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  Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I would get rid of the race ready feed since it's designed for high performance. Find a feed higher in fat then protien, and free choice alfalfa hay. You can also try adding flax seed.
I have an VERY hard keeper who has blossomed on alfalfa hay. |
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 The BHW Book Worm
Posts: 1768
 
| Free choice hay, throw in a couple flakes of alfalfa, toss out the race ready get something higher in fat preferably with a mcal of 1.6 per pound. Just for insurance to make sure his gut is working as it should give a couple good doses of jumpstart/probios. While on something like forco. I personally dont like calfmanna but that is just me. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| For my hard keepers or horses I get that are skinny
I give a complete feed, I weigh and feed the recommended amount.
For instant calories I will add some whole oats
For fat I add 1/2-1 cup of whole flax, if I believe digestive problems I will grind it up immediately before feeding.
Fr additional fat. Buckeye has a 100 suppliment I give the recommended amount which is a small scoop (2 tbl)
I will add red cell if I believe malnourished
If the horses is not keeping weight, and to the op yours was from the track, I would do 30 days of omeprazole, then 30 days of probiotics. |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | I would also do the alfalfa, flax and rice bran. If no improvement in 15 days, deworm, if no improvement in another 15 days then treat for ulcers. Take pics, sometimes it's hard for us to see the improvement. Alfalfa for protein and rice bran for fat, flax because every horse should get it-it is that good :)
You may not have to go this drastic, it may just mean upping the hay. you say 4-5 flakes of hay, is that hay all gone before feeding again?? If so, add a flake until there is a little left that he hasn't touched. I think hay is one of the things most people don't take into consideration enough. For example, my horses have pasture (yes it's brown winter pasture) that they can graze on all day-especially since we do not have snow cover. BUT, we also pitch approximately 50-60 pounds of alfalfa (3rd cutting with a little bit of grass) daily for each horse. If they completely clean up their hay one day we pitch a little more the next, seems like we have it figured out but it takes a lot of hay especially if the weather is cold or you have a hard keeper. (my horses get less than a pound of grain a day, just enough for their flax and a vitamin) and to keep them out of the way while we pitch hay :)
Also, teeth ok?? |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | This-- https://qheventer.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/old-horses-hard-keepers/
I've had better luck with alfalfa with these types of horses. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | Animal Element Performance Detox has helped every hard keeper I have ever had. It gets the toxins out, fills the topline, helps with hooves and coat! |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| I really struggled with mine until I switched to Bluebonnet Intensify Omega Force. It's 12%protein and 12% fat. $22/bag but 2 bags last me almost 3 weeks. Then free choice coastal with 2 flakes alfalfa am/pm. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | I have 2 OTTB who were very skinny when I got them. We feed a pelleted feed called MG 12/8 according to body weight and activity level, 2 scoops of cool calories once a day and free choice coastal. My vet saw them the other day and she couldn't believe they were the same horses. They look like QH's in disguise. Of course we had their teeth floated, vacs done and wormed as well. |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | my first questions are.....have his teeth been done, has he been checked for ulcers...............i am a fan of calf manna it works well, maybe try some beet pulp and like everybody else has mentioned good alfalfa hay and some flax.....simple it down a bit for him and you......................
m
Edited by mruggles 2015-02-11 3:59 PM
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | classicpotatochip - 2015-02-11 8:13 AM Free choice alfalfa and 2 lbs of rice bran, then adjust accordingly. I've never understood feeding equines something designed for bovines. Why do you feed Calf Manna?
Calf Manna is just the name...They give feeding instructions for many different species that can benefit from this supplement. http://www.mannapro.com/products/cattle/calf-manna/nutritional-information/
It is 25% protein though, probably not necessary in a horse that's having a hard time maintaining weight. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Call Win at Renew Gold. 530 934 9300. |
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Veteran
Posts: 231
Location: On My Horse! | Thank you all for your advice! Definitely helpful! What would you suggest for a feed? What feeds have higher fat content? |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | My big sorrel, Streak, is a hard keeper and the best thing for him has been Forco. I put him on it in late September and he went from ribby to darn near fat in four months even though the weather got cold in that time. |
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Expert
Posts: 1905
Location: PICAYUNE,MS | R y'all talking about flax seed ????? |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | BLING_IT_ON - 2015-02-16 4:47 PM R y'all talking about flax seed ?????
yes :) |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | For hard keepers my go to is a mush twice a day. I add beet pellets and alfalfa pellets soaked. They have free choice grass hay and I give them THE Muscle Mass with a good quality grain in small amounts. I prefer to get the weight on them without dumping them large quantities of grain. |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| When coming off the track they are coming down from ALOT of extras that you may or may not know they were getting. Depending on what they had him on he may change a lot and the best feed and care out there aren't going to help. Treat him for ulcers and put the base of his diet in alfalfa is the best you can hope for to minimze muscle loss when you have an OTT coming down. As everyone has stated the more alfalfa the better! Eliminate high starch, molasses, and any other ulcer irritants. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1008
| I treated my hard keeper for ulcers and he bloomed. He gets the progressive nutrition diet balance and envision for added fat. Doing the best he ever has. Tried oil, oats and beet pulp but none worked for him. |
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Expert
Posts: 2685
| ImaSparkyAce - 2015-02-16 7:08 PM
I treated my hard keeper for ulcers and he bloomed. He gets the progressive nutrition diet balance and envision for added fat. Doing the best he ever has. Tried oil, oats and beet pulp but none worked for him.
I treated mine for ulcers and put him on the empower balance and boost that are a lot like the progressive and I am having a heck of a time. He looks like crap honestly. Mine gets 10+lbs of alfalfa hay per feeding plus free choice grass hay. He is not impressed with my grass hay. I'm going to put him on a probiotic and see if that helps but I am stumped :/ I had his teeth done soon after I got him but the vet said they really weren't that bad. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| I like Nutrena Empower fed with senior feed on a hard keeper. |
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Hard Keeper-Suggestions