Horse I bought?!?! His Owner was starving him...

[amschrader87]

Bought a 6 year old OTTB gelding. I went to go look at him and was shocked by his appearance. I'll post pictures. Anyways his owner saw nothing wrong with him, said this is how she likes her horses and he just needs a little muscle. We started him on sentinal performance which is good for rescue horses and hard keepers, it has high fiber, protein and fat but low in startch and sugar so it won't give him to much energy. Any suggestions? Should I lounge him or walk or just work on ground manners while he's gaining weight. Any good weight suppliments?
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[cattitude]

Bought a 6 year old OTTB gelding. I went to go look at him and was shocked by his appearance. I'll post pictures. Anyways his owner saw nothing wrong with him, said this is how she likes her horses and he just needs a little muscle. We started him on sentinal performance which is good for rescue horses and hard keepers, it has high fiber, protein and fat but low in startch and sugar so it won't give him to much energy. Any suggestions? Should I lounge him or walk or just work on ground manners while he's gaining weight. Any good weight suppliments?
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I'd let him lounge a bit more.

 

[PrepH4U]

I'd let him lounge a bit more.

:lazyboy:

 

[RoseRed]

I'd let him lounge a bit more.

 

[poster]

Bought a 6 year old OTTB gelding. I went to go look at him and was shocked by his appearance. I'll post pictures. Anyways his owner saw nothing wrong with him, said this is how she likes her horses and he just needs a little muscle. We started him on sentinal performance which is good for rescue horses and hard keepers, it has high fiber, protein and fat but low in startch and sugar so it won't give him to much energy. Any suggestions? Should I lounge him or walk or just work on ground manners while he's gaining weight. Any good weight suppliments?
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Does she have other horses in this condition??

 

[happyappygirl]

Power pack worm him too, you should see a nice gain with consistent good quality hay and some grain.
Poor guy.

 

[PrepH4U]

Power pack worm him too, you should see a nice gain with consistent good quality hay and some grain.
Poor guy.

Yep lots and lots of hay and a whole bunch of hugs!

 

[somdcelt]

What a shame to let a animal starve becuase thats the way you want them to look , that poor guys ribs are showing. I dont remember ever seeing a horse looking like that, The owners say they see nothing wrong, lean and muscle is one thing skin and bones is another. You take care of this boy put some meat on his bones and make sure he is healthy and post some pics.

 

[devinej]

that's unfortunate.
I'd deworm him with quest plus or equimax. more broad spectrum than the power pack.

good plan with the sentinel performance. you could get his teeth checked. Add a weight gain supplement like Fat Cat. and most important, grass grass grass, hay hay hay.

Can't really tell from the picture what his body weight score would be. Did you visit the farm where the former owner had him? see other horses there?

and small amounts of exercise are not bad at all. longeing and ground work sound good until there's something to cover his spine...

 

[amschrader87]

We are having the vet come out this thursday so we will see what she says. He's due to be wormed the 15th, i just didnt want to overload his system. But we will definatly have him checked for worms and have his teeth checked although he has no problem eating i really don't see him dropping anything.
His previous owner had three other horses 2 looked fine and she had another one that looked as bad as him. And they were riding him this way....could you imagine how that felt on his back!!

 

[breezy9999]

That is terrible! They have to know that its not healthy. I mean come on seriously! Call animal control on their asses!

 

[Wait4It..boom]

and small amounts of exercise are not bad at all. longeing and ground work sound good until there's something to cover his spine...

I second it and is also what the vet recommended when I got one of my guys in that was very thin. Although it seems to go against what you think would be right (burning calories=weight loss), vet said that as long as you're feeding more calories than burning, the exercise (and LOTS of hay) will help get the weight on properly.

 

[Wait4It..boom]

That is terrible! They have to know that its not healthy. I mean come on seriously! Call animal control on their asses!

You'd be surprised how many people are missing the boat on this and think they either look 'fine' or 'they're naturally skinny and just can't gain weight'. There's so many people that need educating on What Is a Healthy Horse (and some of these people have owned horses for years!). Just blows my mind.

 

[paintedpony1234]

i am feeding my horse "cool calories" for the winter- smartpak has the comparison to other fat supplements but dover has the cheapest price on the bigger bag, and you can do the instore pickup and save on the shipping

i used to feed omegatin and got ok results with that..

 

[fredsaid2]

You'd be surprised how many people are missing the boat on this and think they either look 'fine' or 'they're naturally skinny and just can't gain weight'. There's so many people that need educating on What Is a Healthy Horse (and some of these people have owned horses for years!). Just blows my mind.

There is no way any rational, sane person with two brain cells to rub together could think the horse in the OP's pic, or any other like it, is just "skinny". I vote for - too miserly to spend the money to feed the horse properly.

 

[SugarNSpikes]

Someone may have said it already, but I've heard corn oil is good too. I only give my boy a capful with one meal a day for his coat, but I've heard that you can feed it by 1/4 - 1 cup a day (gradually working up in increments) and that'll help with weight gain.

 

[breezy9999]

Yeah corn oil I've heard to and rice bran or beet pulp are good options as well.

 

[amschrader87]

So the vet came out we taped him to see his weight and he only weights about 906 ibs... she said good weight would be around 1100 so he's got away to go his teeth are good and were checking him for worms we'll get results tomorrow. she also said to feed three times a day and he needs about 5 lbs three times a day. So thats what we'll do can't wait to see what he looks like with weight he'll be beautiful.. ill post pictures as he gains weight
thanks everyone for the advice

 

[Duckz]

So the vet came out we taped him to see his weight and he only weights about 906 ibs... she said good weight would be around 1100 so he's got away to go his teeth are good and were checking him for worms we'll get results tomorrow. she also said to feed three times a day and he needs about 5 lbs three times a day. So thats what we'll do can't wait to see what he looks like with weight he'll be beautiful.. ill post pictures as he gains weight
thanks everyone for the advice

we want to see after pictures good luck with him.

 

[GallopNTec]

QUOTE=amschrader87;4438505]So the vet came out we taped him to see his weight and he only weights about 906 ibs... she said good weight would be around 1100 so he's got away to go his teeth are good and were checking him for worms we'll get results tomorrow. she also said to feed three times a day and he needs about 5 lbs three times a day. So thats what we'll do can't wait to see what he looks like with weight he'll be beautiful.. ill post pictures as he gains weight
thanks everyone for the advice[/QUOTE]

Good luck and enjoy your new horse!