how long does it take for a pony to put on weight?

[mowrie]

Lo all,

Aa you know I've had Georgieboy for ooh about 2 months now, when he came, he was so thin you could see his ribs . Now, he's had his 5 stage vetting, and all the vet said was he needs to put on weight. He's been wormed.

He's now being stabled overnight, getting a feed at night and in the morning of chaff, "calm and Condition", wee bit coolmix, sugarbeet and bran, with some carrots and apples thrown in, and a wee bit cod liver oil. he gets haylage at night and grazing for about 6 hours during the day.

its hard to tell but he looks like he's getting a bit better, and he's getting worked a bit more often too.

How long roughly should it take before he fills out a bit more?

I know you should take what people tell you with a pinch of salt, but when I tracked down his previous owner of his passport, she said at one point he was so infested with red worm, that they thought he wasnt going to make it, could this leave him with a more serious problem and prevent weight gain?

All responses appreciated.

Cheers
M
x

[Casper]

I haven't had any experience of poor doers Mowrie as both mine are exceptionally good doers. But one thing that is really important is to ensure that George has absolutely ad lib fibre - whether haylage or hay. This is essential to his mental wellbeing as well as his physical wellbeing.

It might be worth putting a post on the thread for Jackie Taylor on the main General Horse Chat board, or PM'ing her? She is extremely experienced in pretty much all nutritional aspects of horse care, and with the added complication of previous red worm infestation, would be my first port of call to be honest.

[BlossnPru]

When I got Merlin he'd been wormed regularly but a worm count came back as 3800! I did a five day wormer on him and within 2 weeks the difference was remarkable. Might be worth doing a count on George to see if wormer was effective.

[potto]

Blimey sounds like you are doing a fab job... I have been looking at diet and feeding alot recently (what a flaming mindfield..) supplements this, prebiotics, probiotics, yeast... oils... fibre... slow acting energy, low sugars, high protein, high chew ahhhhhh! Would definately get some advice giving the whole story from someone in the know and unbiased. From the sounds of it though what you are doing sounds great. I wouldn't have thought that sudden weight gain would be a good thing for him.... gradual ongoing improvement in his health and gaining little by little steadily is a good thing especially if he has been in very poor condition to begin with. I confess to being confused about the conflicting advice regarding use of codliver oil in a horse's diet... and the rights or wrongs of it. Or if Soya or vegetable oil is safer or helpful... maybe i will find out the best options with your thread.

[mowrie]

Thanks you 3, all your posts are really helpful.

Will be taking all your advice! Potto, yep really confuddling isnt it! the only reason I put cod liver oil in, to be honest is, cos I take it to help my aging joints! lol! I also read somewhere that a wee bit of cod liver oil is good as slow release energy or summat along those lines. the one I use has garlic in it too, and they seem to like it.

cheers all.
m
x

[hch4971]

it might be worth pm'ing EMW to find out the long term damage that a heavy worm burden can cause, Im sure they will deal with it all the time. Im not sure it would affect the ability to put on weight though 'now'. You sound to be doing a good job with him. Would echo the ad lib forage, as much hay/haylage as he can eat when in. We had both Winston and Streusel who desperately needed to put weight on when they arrived. Martin is old school and believes in hard feed so they had conditioning mix, Im more adamant about the forage so beet added to feeds and I used to drive him mad with the amount of hay I used to give. But it worked and they both look really good now. It took quite a few months for Winston because he came in winter but Streus was quicker to build up because of the summer grass. Good luck with him.

[phoenix]

Hi - i have the opposite problem with most of mine as, like Casper's, they're all good doers. But my old girl is losing weight due to teeth loss so I'm having to think back to how we used to put condition on. If I remember rightly, boiled barley was one of the best. You just buy it whole from a farmer or wherever, then cover it with water, bring to the boil and simmer for several hours. It's a bit messy, but very good for putting weight on in winter and most horses love it. Also, a bit of boiled linseed or oil can work wonders, especially with their coat condition.

[lindaandrascal]

years ago we took on a rescue who like a hat rack, it took him a few months to really start to look anything like. Slow and steady is best. Add lib forage is the way to go. Ive had great results with linseed as well.

[dingbat]

my new horse was a little light. i've only had him 3 weeks and hes put on weight with little effort. out all day on grass. in at night with as much hay as he wants. (dont eat much though, a net full, if that) and 2 feeds a day consisting of alfa-a and speedibeet. (plus vits etc). i dont believe in feeding weight gain mixes etc. i'd give alfa-a lite if the horse is a cob type.

[june]

We've had a few liveries in over the years that have been really thin when they arrived. The best results we've had is from feeding ad lib hay when stabled, Alfa A Lite, Top Spec Balancer and then either Top Spec Cool and Condition or Baileys Outshine. Bailey's Outshine is higher calorie than Cool and Condition but Cool and Condition is soya and linseed based and designed to be fed alongside the Top Spec Balancer so I generally prefer to use that. We got the best results feeding little and often so 4 feeds a day was more successful than 2 or 3 feeds a day. It would be worth posting your question on the feed advice thread that Jackie Taylor is answering questions on, pinned at the top of the board.

Garlic is a powerful antibiotic and can upset the microbial balance in the gut. It isn't a good thing to feed to a horse as they rely on their bacteria in their gut to break down fibre. It can also cause a particular type of anaemia in horses.

www.equisearch.com/horses_care/feeding/feed/eqgarlic528/

[Vicky&Beenie]

every horse is different i spose and i dont think the infestation of red worm should affect him anymore if he has been wormed up to date and rid of them. he will put more weight on in the summer when there is lusher grass and he doesnt need fat to keep him warm. because of the cold they shiver off fat and keep themselves warm, he should definatly put more weight on in the summer.