Search results matching tag 'weight'

How to make him gain weight/jumping/new

HorsejumperKitty — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Hey there :]

Names Caitlin and I'm new this website!

So anyways, my friends horse who I lease needs to gain weight. But I dont know what to do since I work only on friday. And I can only give him sunflower seeds on friday unless I go out there when I can with my friend who works out there. But heres the thing, he eats out side with the some other horses and theres no count on him getting the rite bucket so all the horses get the same thing :[ Plus he can't get a stall since theres no room.. So anyways,have any ideas?

And also, I really dont know where to post something else so I'll post it here with this post :]

Pacino is the horse, hes an arab/TB and hes 15.3 I think. Well when he was on the other side, [ we have 2 barns where i'm at] the electric fence wasn't on. So he jumped the fences.. ALL of them. And these fences are 4 feet high. Others are 5 and hes jumped both. But his left rear leg has been hurt a year ago and it likes to come in when he walks. And I'm the only one who rides him since he hasnt been ridden in 6 months cause no one else will! So anyways, after I gain more weight on him I would love to jump him but I dont know if his leg would take it.

Thanks for reading! <3

-Caitlin

Re: Grazing Muzzle

Winona Rider — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:00:00 GMT

I am new to this site also. I own a 9 year old Buckskin Quarter Horse mare named Winona Rider (Whinny for short)and she is what you call an "easy keeper". Like me, she loves to eat. She gets no grain, just hay in the winter and grass in the spring and summer. I love using a grazing muzzle on her. This was money well spent. Be sure to get a good muzzle. I use the "Best Friends" brand. It costs a bit more than others but it is made well and takes a beating. It attaches to her halter. When you use a muzzle BE SURE to attach it to a break-a-way halter just in case your horse would get caught on something. The hole to eat through is also a bit small and you can cut it wider to your liking. My friend bought a cheaper one that is already attached to a halter, and in no time it had ripped.

Re: Picky Hay Eaters?

Lizbethboz — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

I also have some picky hay eaters in the age ranges you mention. In fact your horses sound like they are my horses! I live in a state where hay is so dear that I had to do something. I put everyone's hay either up in a bag or in a feeder. I use bags instead of nets because there is way less danger of the horse's legs becoming tangled in the web. And I put the bags at shoulder height. I even use the bags when the horses are outside. I use old water tanks for feeders. If you buy certain brands of the plastic ones you can drill holes in the bottom for drainage during rain. They also have a couple of holes in the rim that you can use to tie them to a fence. This keeps the horse from dumping the hay out. I have almost completely eliminated the hay waste with this method.

My horses are all on a forage based diet. They all live in at night unless the weather is great. And they all eat seperately, not in a herd. I have found that the more choices that I give my horses, the pickier they are. I don't like alfalfa but the horses do. I find if I let them have the biggest share of the alfalfa in the AM and a smaller amount with some grass hay inthe evening, they do better with clean up because they have all night to finish the grass hay.

In order to insure that my horses receive enough roughage I also feed beetpulp. Beetpulp is high in digestable fiber. It is a little more work intensive but has several benefits for older horses. It helps to keep weight on TBs and older horses. It is easy to chew, also helpful for older horses. Older horses' teeth can loosen even though you have taken care of them. This makes it harder to chew and makes them require a longer fodder time. And soaked beetpulp insures that the horse receives a certain amount of water, which is especially helpful in the cold months. Horses slow down water intake in the cold and it's not unusual to see impaction colic. I can say that in the years that I have used beetpulp we have not had colic of any sort in our herd of 10 horses.

I use beetpulp pellets because shreds are often filthy. I set the pellets up with water before I go to bed so it is ready for morning. Then I set it up again for dinner after morning feed. I soak for shorter times in hot weather.

If you choose to introduce beet pulp do it a little at a time and with some kind of tastey addition.. We add flax seed and rice bran. Even my pickiest TBs like the beet pullp.

I hope that you will find someting useful with the ideas I have offered. Best of luck to you. Take comfort knowing that someone shares the same problem with you!

Barbara Fox riding@ushorsemanship.com

Re: Need to put weight on my mare, but she has Cushings

t6834bl — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

[quote user="walkinthewalk"]

That is a great article and I copied the link over to my local messge board. Now that I have an EMS horse and realize how subtle and insidious Cushings can be, I am trying to raise awareness.

Dr.Posnikoff must feel your horse isn't in the severe Cushings category, as she permits it to have a bit of alfalfa and carrots.

[/quote]

I just got back from the stables, had a recheck on Bri's abcessed hoof. Hoof is looking real good, will get the eggbar shoes off this next trim, BACK TO BAREFOOT! YAHOOOOOOO!

I made it a point to ask about the carrots. She said the carrots don't have that much sugar, just don't feed excessively, like 5 to 10 pounds a bucket! Sheesh, she only gets five carrots in her bucket, only when I make up the bucket, so that's like three times a week. Dr. P was OK with that!

Speaking of barefoot again (YAHOO!, can you tell I'm excited?), I'm wondering if she'll be sore? She's had this abcess for over two years. Worst one Dr. P ever saw. But now that we are treating her Cushing's the hoof is healing. I've been lucky in my life, all my horses did well bearfoot so didn't have to shoe, only trim.

The smoke is getting worse again. Yesterday it was going straight up. Today it is coming across the mountains and down into the valley again. The Santa Ana's will be back this weekend, but not near as bad as when the fires started. Here we go again. Here's some pics from that general area:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BrianMillsap/FoothillRanchFire

Bri is coughing if I try anything more than a walk, so we walk. More than half the refugee horses have left, hopefully to their old barns and stables. I do know of one couple who lost their barn and garage. But the house was saved. The owners of a big tack store down in South County lost their Geodisic home in Modjeska Canyon. It was like a landmark, ya know, turn just past the dome house and then go a mile down the canyon.... So sad.

Thanks for asking. I think the fire is almost contained. Pray for the Santa Ana's to be light so no one will have to go through this all again so soon.

Bev

Need to put weight on my mare, but she has Cushings

t6834bl — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

I had this posted on the general discussion board, but didn't get much input. I thought by posting it here, I might get more information.

My 24 year old Arabian mare Briahna was recently diagnosed with Cushing's disease. She has been on Pergolide for almost 3 months now, but really lost weight this summer. The vet says that is nature's way of keeping the horse cooler, without so much fat. The vet didn't want me to change her feed (grass hay in am, alfalfa at noon and grass hay for pm, with Integrity Lite grain mix, Grand Complete suppliments). She suggested adding rice bran or rice bran oil, one cup a day with her grain/carrots bucket, two cups if she doesn't respond well. I bought some rice bran oil, but it is expensive, $22 a gallon. I'll use it up but I'm wondering if anyone else has faced the same problem and solved it and can share their wisdom. Remember, Bri has Cushing's so my choices are limited.

Re: Plus size rider/horse weight capacity

T Bahner — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

At 5' 6" and on the good side of 200 lbs (barely), I know what you're saying. As far as I know there are no weight restrictions, although I know that some judges in the hj/ type competition may dock points for "appearance". They won't admit it of course.

My guy is a 16 hh, 1200 lb Standardbred, built like a tank. I wouldn't ride one of the fragile looking 14 hh, 800 lb Arabs, but the Icelandic or Fjord breeds wouldn't bother me a bit unless my feet dragged the ground. .

Need to put weight on Briahna, but she has Cushing's...

t6834bl — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Re: Keeping weight on

T Bahner — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

If you can't separate and can't stand and babysit, are you still around but doing other things? Maybe you could tie up the big pig then come back and release him?her? when your mare is finished We had to do this with a mare/gelding pair that was pasture boarded. Usually SHE was the boss, but not at feeding time! lol