Putting weight on extremely finicky horse

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Tamara Woodcock twoodcock@lendleaserei.com
First let me apologize for the length of this message...

I asked here back in May for info on interpreting blood tests I had done on my horse.  (Got real good info BTW, thank again to all that responded!)  But I'm still having problems and need some ideas.

My horse Roo is a 10 yo Arab, around 14.3-15 hands and right now about 950 lbs (according to the heart girth/body length measurement formula).  This is very thin, around a condition score of 3.5.

Roo is on turnout about 14 hours a day with a 2yo stallion and a yearling filly.  The turnout has very little grass, but a round bale of top quality (weedfree, nearly stem free, and about 40 days of growth) bermudagrass hay.  The turnout area is subdivided, but all areas are open to the horses, totaling some 5 acres.

At night Roo is stalled in a 12x12 box stall, and adjacent to his stall is a 12x24 run-in pen where the stallion and filly are kept at night

I would prefer to have them all loose 24x7, but without the stall time, I can't get Roo to eat at all.  He will eat hay, as much as I would let him have, but he will not touch any form of concentrates except as a last resort.

In order to get him to eat, I have to place his complete concentrate ration in the stall and pray it's gone by morning, though usually there is still some left.  If I give him hay in his stall, almost all of the concentrate will be left.

I've tried various pelleted feeds, various sweet feeds, and am now trying cob.  He refused anything with even a hint of oil on it.

I'm also now starting beet pulp, but so far no success getting him to eat it.  Maybe I haven't found the exact "wetness" level yet.  H will eat his Sunday evening bran mash (made with 3-4 lbs of bran and a handful or so each of sea and beet sugar) so I know he will eat "wet" feeds.

I've tried wetting his cob, adding liquid iron supplements (this worked for about a week, but only at double the maintenance dose), feeding no supplements, mixing the cob with chopped dehydrated alfalfa (he scopes everything from the bucket trying to sort out the alfalfa).  Tried supplementing with ABC's Plus, Detox, Iron Horse (liquid), sugar, syrup, honey, molasses.

I had the blood tests mentioned above run to see if he was having any problems, but none were detected except somewhat low iron/hemoglobin.  Teeth checked by old vet and new vet, wormed regularily (ivermectin every 6 weeks), appt scheduled with new vet in two weeks to scope (?) for ulcers.

I've put up ABC's free choice minerals system, have also salt blocks (idonized, sulfur and trace mineral) available.  Going to start adding Pro-bi and a rice bran base supplement.

In short (or long rather) I've tried everyting I can think of to encourage Roo to eat with no success.  Please help!  If I though incense and chanting would work, I'd try it too.

I really want to start Roo in endurance, but I'm afraid to push his conditioning too much farther until I can add some weight.

Thank for the help!

-Tamara
(PS:  I get ridecamp at home, so if you have some thoughts good for the list, you can post it public)

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistriss.
http://www.mindspring.com/~nis75p06/
nis75p06@mindspring.com
twoodcock@lendleaserei.com
AOL Instant Messenger: Conthesis
ICQ: 49294214