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 Expert
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Location: Montana | Our son of Seattle Slew is a BIG 16.3. Lots of muscle, bone. Our farrier figures he'll take at least a #4 shoe. He taped at 1290 before we got him and he's put on a ton of muscle. He's also a 1999 horse so getting older and he's a stud. We are talking calorie requirements. Racehorses aren't easy keepers. Thoroughbreds aren't easy keepers. Guess what when they are both?
He gets 3# of Progressive Nutrition Grass Formula ration balancer drenched in canola oil a day. That's 3 times a normal daily maintenance level. Approximately 25# of alfalfa - 2nd cutting when I can't get the better 3rd - and at least another 40-50# of grass hay. The trick is to make sure every bite they get is packed with nutrition. It's fascinating to watch him eat - he inhales hay.
His mind is amazing and he doesn't, thank God, get nutso and hot but what I find keeps him calm better than anything is MORE FEED. If he's got stuff to chew (inhale) he's calm and quiet. That's true of any horse but him more so.
Buying a TB stud sight unseen seemed a pretty silly thing to do. I have the sense to be grateful every day that he has a good appetite and I just keep shoveling. We couldn't have gotten luckier.
I can't recommend Progressive Nutrition products enough. Expensive but they are quality protein. And since they are giving horses what they need and not what is cheap to put in a pellet they don't make them hot. They have a high fat feed too that people love - but I'm cheap so I mess with oil.
Buckeye, Woody's have similar products. And figure it will take 60 days to see a difference. Good luck!
Edited to add: Plenty of high-quality protein is, in my opinion, critical. Too much protein is expensive but not harmful. Here's a good way to know if your horse needs protein:
http://www.prognutrition.com/pn/nutrition-information/top-line-eval...
Edited by ausranch 2015-10-13 10:48 PM
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
 
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Update.....Had the vet out yesterday. He does have fore & hind gut ulcers - no surprise there. On a good note, I put the weight tape on him and could barely get it to meet at the ends which means he's gained at least an inch and a half of weight. I really thought he'd lost some but apparently not. Now I have to find a new tape big enough to measure him! | |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Fairweather - 2015-10-16 6:57 AM Update.....Had the vet out yesterday. He does have fore & hind gut ulcers - no surprise there. On a good note, I put the weight tape on him and could barely get it to meet at the ends which means he's gained at least an inch and a half of weight. I really thought he'd lost some but apparently not. Now I have to find a new tape big enough to measure him!
How did the vet determine that and what did he reccomend to fix them? | |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Barnmom - 2015-10-16 8:16 AM Fairweather - 2015-10-16 6:57 AM Update.....Had the vet out yesterday. He does have fore & hind gut ulcers - no surprise there. On a good note, I put the weight tape on him and could barely get it to meet at the ends which means he's gained at least an inch and a half of weight. I really thought he'd lost some but apparently not. Now I have to find a new tape big enough to measure him! How did the vet determine that and what did he reccomend to fix them?
Fecal test results and and all the acupressure points for ulcers. She said there's a lot of options like Equisure, Opromazole , and she can do compounded meds from the pharmacy, and Suceed for the hind gut. She said it just depends on the horse - he had a colic episode with Ulcerguard.She said she's seen improvement with holistic routes too. I've been doing some reading on holistic vet sites about papaya & I'm going to try. I've used a combination of ground flax, aloe, and Gut Proof Herbs and had good results so I'm going to incorporate that as well. She also said keep up with the alfalfa, said the TE was good ( no molasses, no beet pulp), very little grain, keep up the flax/rice bran, and keep hay in front of him 24/7. | |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | ****Fingers crossed**** I had him on the TE but he wasn't gaining, so I put him on Cool Calories, Tribute low starch feed and that lasted a little while until he went off his feed, as well as the alfalfa cubes he was getting. The vet had recommended low starch but if he wasn't eating it, it couldn't do any good.
I had another horse that vets had recommended low starch but he did the exact same thing and I figured out through trial and error that molasses and beet pulp, including beet pulp without molasses, caused him to get slow on his feed. I fed him straight grains, flax, soybean meal. It worked on that ulcer horse so I figured it might work on Louie too.
I've had him on 6qts whole oats, 2 qts rolled barley, cup of flax & rice bran, Optizyme, and 1 cup of Super Sport --- fed twice a day-- since Nov 20th and he won't take his head out of the bucket until he's done. Best I have seen his appetite so far. I've replaced the cubes with alfalfa hay and he's still on a scoop of Chaffhaye with each feeding as well as all the grass hay he can clean up.
Hoping we finally have him figured out. The good thing is that he's not any hotter on the grain. I haven't noticed any difference. I took some updated pics today. Top pic is from today, bottom pic is the day he came here in September.
Edited by Fairweather 2015-12-06 7:40 PM
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