First... let me assure you that most first timers
have this very same problem. We get a horse with
a great attitude and get started and have fun and
... all the sudden you have a horse with no weight!
... and you feel like a heel.
For me (having a pasture-belly pal) I judge Magnum's
weight now by how much covering he has over the backbone
and rump. It's not much, but it's been really thin
even with a big 'ol pasture belly. Like in "What are
you feeding that *fat* horse for???" Too little
weight over the backbone and ribs is bad, too much
under the blanket straps ("Gees! Had to let them
ALL the way out???") puts too much strain on his legs.
Do you notice that after you excersize you don't feel
hungry? I've noticed that Magnum and especially Dixie
the 1/2 Arab don't want to eat as much after a long ride.
Dixie prefers hay hung next to her grain or she won't
eat anything. Magnum usually scarfs everything unless
he's still thirsty. Perhaps try feeding later... like
after a couple hours.
Corn oil is great! Hay and chopped hay (All-in-one) and
cob just didn't do the trick. There are a lot of good
articles out there about how to keep weight on performance
horses... read them and keep in mind you want long
slow distance, not short spurts of energy.
We have had a great discussion on rice bran. High fat
like corn oil, but I've had a better response in my
animal with the rice bran. Here in the southwest we have
the high calcium alfalfa problem so the phosphorous
/ calcium balance is easier to maintain. I always
put a feeding of alfalfa with the rice bran... pellets
or hay. Be sure to wet it.
A good general vitamin supplement helps the horse utilize
what they eat. Balanced nutrition is also important
because a missing element can restrict the amount of
nutrition the horse actually absorbs. Worm every 6
to 8 weeks. I do use Ivermectin, but also rotated
a couple months ago to the ... ?palmate? one and it
seemed to help. If a supplement "loads" something
(like beta-carotine) read up on it and why. All
balancing needs to be present in every meal... not
high calcium in the morning and high phosporus in
the afternoon.
I also found that there was a definate maximum benefit
in feeding grain all at one feeding. Like for Magnum
it's 3 lbs. Anymore than that goes out the back end
and he doesn't seem to get more out of it.
Good luck with Special! You need to find what works
for her. We have 3 people in our little shed and at
least 4 different ways of feeding... and after 2 years
of practice I think we're getting better!
:) - kat
kathy.myers@syntex.com