Posts Tagged ‘losing weight’

What do you do when your horse is sick? Do you run and grab every homeopathic remedy, feed supplement, drug, new horse feed, and bodywork manual on your shelves? Do you drive your horse straight the vet and hope the bill isn’t going to kill you? Do you call up every horse-loving friend you have and ask for advice?

In short, do you throw everything but the kitchen sink at your horse and hope that SOMETHING works?

Horse Health Care: The Beauty of One Thing at a Time

When I first began working with holistic veterinarian Dr. Madalyn Ward and learning about subjects like herbs, homeopathy, nutrition, and bodywork, one of the first lessons she taught me is this:

“When treating a horse for any condition, try one thing at a time otherwise you won’t know what works and what doesn’t.”

That’s a really hard lesson for horse owners to learn, especially when it comes to their own horses. We all hate seeing our horses in pain, whether it be from hurting hooves, an ouchy ulcer, or an oozing abscess. We want it fixed and we want it fixed now!

But often times throwing every remedy but the kitchen sink at your horse only confuses the situation… and ends up costing you more money.

A Weight Loss Example

For instance, suppose your horse is losing weight this winter. This could happen for a number of reasons, including:

• he’s not getting enough food
• he’s not digesting his food well because of ulcers or other issues
• he’s shivering off all the calories you feed him
• he’s not getting the right kind of food
• he’s in with a group of horses who move him around too much

This is just a short list. There are all kinds of other reasons in the horse health care sphere that could explain why he is losing weight, but this covers the basics.

So everyday you go out to feed this horse and he’s cold, he’s lost weight, he’s shivering, and he looks totally miserable. I’ve known people who react by doing all the following:

• blanket the horse
• feed him more grain AND more hay
• add beet pulp and corn oil to his diet
• stop riding him
• move him away from other horses
• put him on Stomach Soother or Succeed in case he has an ulcer

Wow, that’s a lot of “doing”! It does cover a lot of horse health issues in a “just in case” kind of way, but it’s a costly way to do things. Instead of doing all of the above, it makes more sense to figure out why the horse is losing weight, then make one or two changes at a time and see what happens. You can ask yourself some questions to help you figure out what’s going on. Here are some examples.

1. Is the horse being pushed off his feed or moved around all the time by other horses?

If this is case, then putting him in with another gentle horse who shares well can help your horse get more feed and conserve more energy. Often times, older horses or horses with a quiet disposition make good companions.

2. Does the horse eat his feed well or does he take breaks in-between to just stand or to lie down?

This usually indicates an ulcer of some kind. If this is the case, you can try adding a natural ulcer supplement like Succeed or Stomach Soother to his diet to see if this helps. Acidophilus, bifidus, and enzymes are also good options.

3. Has he had his teeth floated recently?

If it has been more than a year since he’s had a float, you might consider taking him into the equine dentist. A horse with sharp points and hooks on his teeth is likely to develop ulcers in his mouth, making eating painful. This often accounts for weight loss.

4. Does he shiver in the cold?

If so, add fiber rather than grain to his diet. Fiber is digested in a horse’s hindgut and produces a lot more warmth than grain, which is digested in the small intestine. If your horse is quite thin, putting a blanket on AND adding more hay to his diet is probably a good combination.

5. Is he in pain?

If you have ever had to deal with an abscessed tooth, migraine headaches, or any other kind of chronic painful conditions, then you know that pain can eat up your body’s physical resources faster than running a marathon. If your horse is in undiagnosed pain, he may be using up all his calories just to deal with pain. If your horse has a stoic personality, he may not tell you he is in pain (learn more about horse personality types on the Horse Harmony website). Consider taking your horse to the vet to get a once-over before making a decision about what and how to remedy the situation.

Horse Health Care and the Conservative Approach

In an article of this length, it’s not possible to cover all the questions that you might have to ask yourself about your horse to figure out what’s wrong, but you get the picture. If you have a hard time figuring out what’s going on in your horse’s body and brain, check out these two websites:

Holistic Horsekeeping (has a wealth of horse health care resources)

Herbs and Animals (a great animal communication site)

Stephanie Yeh is a zen cowgirl obsessed about horses, healing, natural remedies, herbs, magic, MLM, and more. Check out natural horse care tips, ways to fund your horse obsession, natural health products, and more on her blog ( http://zencowgirl.blogspot.com ). Get her free ebook for wacky horses and humans, and order XanGo mangosteen products on her website ( http://www.mangosteengood.com ).

Author: Stephanie H. Yeh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Smiling shark

Due to the number of questions and concerns I field from horse owners unable to maintain weight on the horses I’ve written the following to explain feeding guidelines found on feed bags. Also, how to determine what amount your particular horse needs.

Typical Guidelines call for:

Recommended feeding amount is to 1 pound of feed per 100 pound bodyweight.

Feeding amounts may be adjusted slightly to meet the needs of the horse.

Feeding amounts should be split into 2 or more feedings per day.

I.e. a 900 pound horse would need to be fed 4 to 9 pounds per day.

Now comes the tricky part

I know you’ve all probably heard the terms “easy keeper” and “hard keeper”. What that boils down to is the metabolism and energy level of that particular horse. You also have to factor in the size of your horse. A taller horse will weigh more than a shorter or smaller horse. If you have a low energy low metabolism horse you’d go toward the low end. If you have high energy high metabolism horse you’d go toward the high end. The average person is not good at guessing the weight of their horse nor the proper weight their horse should be.

The best judge of your horse is you. If your horse is getting to heavy or losing weight look at the nutritional needs of your horse and see if they are within the guidelines. Use a body scoring chart to see if your horse is within optimum weight range.

I’ve had people with a small, average and large horse ask me why one is doing well, one is doing okay and one is losing weight. When I ask what they are feeding they answer “one scoop”. Here lies the problem.

Different feed weighs different amounts. Also, some people fill the scoop to different levels. You should scoop out your feed and weigh it. Find out exactly what you have been feeding. Then compare that to the guidelines.

In the example above an 800 pound horse, a 1000 pound horse and a 1200 pound horse were being fed 6 pounds of feed daily. It was the appropriate amount for the smaller horse but way to low for the others. The 1200 pound horse guidelines call for 6 to 12 pounds per day. I recommend splitting the difference and seeing how the horse does then increase or decrease according to body condition. If your horse is underweight go to the high end. Just remember, do it gradually and increase their feed no more than 1 pound per meal.

Quick Reference Table Chart

Horses weight _____________Feed bag rec________________Amount to feed horse

800………………………………………… 4-8 pounds daily ……………………………………6 pounds per day

1000…………………………………….. 5-10 pounds daily…………………………………7-8 pounds per day

1200………………………………………6-12 pounds daily………………………………….. 9 pounds per day

This is based on an average horse. If your horse is high energy you go to the high side, low energy to the low side average you fall in the middle. Start out with the mid range and adjust accordingly.

Feeding Need To Knows

• An average horse can not utilize more than 5 pounds of feed at one meal. Anything more they are basically just pooping out without being able to utilize the nutrients. This is why feeding horses must be broken down into 2 or more feedings per day.
• In order to achieve the nutrient value on a bag of feed the horse has to consume the pounds required for their size and metabolism or their nutrients are falling short.
• Do not increase a horses feed ration more than 1 pound per meal over a course of a week..
• Do not change a horses feed without mixing it with the new feed for at least 7 to 10 days. Feed changes must be made gradually.
• Do not feed less hay than feed. If a horse is getting 6 pounds of feed they need a minimum of 6 pounds of hay.
• Typically, the average horse should consume 1 bag of feed and 2 bales of hay a week.

Conclusion

The best judge of your horse is you. Feed your horse according to their needs. Stop being of the “scoop” mind and get “pound” wise. Listen to your horse, they can tell you a lot. Don’t be afraid to ask questions from someone. If your horse doesn’t appear to be doing well to you they probably are not. Get in the habit of observing horses body condition. Rate horses based on a body condition scoring guide. Rate your horse and other horses. Get to know your horse and your horses individual needs.

Horses do not fit into a nice tidy package. They are as different as us in their nutritional needs. Obviously a 5 foot tall person is not going to have to eat as much as a 6 foot tall person to maintain their optimum weight. So goes it with horses. Also, we’ve all met that person with the high metabolism that seems to be able to eat anything they want and they stay skinny or the person that watches everything they eat and still gains weight. Again, so goes it with horses.

Author: Melody Baum
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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