I am picking up a new horse on Friday and have heard she may be underweight. There is a hay shortage where she is being kept and am curious as where to start and what to start her on when i get her here. She has been eating shredded straw and hay mix, with maybe some grain (unsure of what kind), she is under weight and could possibly have worms. Would Probiotics be good for her to start? Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing what people have to offer.
I think ordering a Powerpac right off the bat is what everyone should do, before consulting a vet, if one wants to risk killing the horse ------
Get the vet involved ASAP. I am sorry but I once warned someone not to de-worm a starving/wormy horse until the vet looked at it but he did it anyway ---- and the horse died from worm die-off overload.
I would start the horse on quality grass hay (not round bales unless they have been kept inside), fresh water in a no-freeze bucket if you live where it freezes, and WHITE salt. Plenty f time to get the horse on a balanced feed supplement AFTER a vet looks at it.
If you see the need to hand feed it something, buy timothy pellets or timothy/alfalfa and give it a household measure cup twice daily. I wouldn’t even feed it straight alfalfa pellets until the vet looks at it.
Sorry to sound harsh but I’ve done my share of malnutritioned rescues over the years. If you are asking the questions and willing to jump right in with a PowerPac, your experience with malnutritioned horses sounds to be limited. Involving a vet right away, is in everyone’s best interest:)
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Yup, DO NOT use any high-powered wormer.
Call your vet.
get a protocol from your vet…
Usually in a situation like this you get the first stabilized, eating better, and then you warm them with a very low affect warmer, because you want to just take the edge off the worms. Later you wormed them with the heavy duty stuff after they are healthier and gradually cleaned out a bit.
Where you start entirely depends on her BCS, and how long she’s been in that state.
She has been eating shredded straw and hay mix, with maybe some grain (unsure of what kind), she is under weight and wormy.
Without a FEC you don’t know she’s wormy
I have ordered a Panacur powerpac for her to start her on for worms
Get a FEC first. Really :yes:
but am unsure of what sort of supplements and grains i should be putting her on and how much? Would Probiotics be good for her to start? Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing what people have to offer.
The only place to start feeding her is the UC Davis Re-feeding protocol, or you risk killing her, or making her very sick. Too much nutrition too quickly can overwhelm compromised organs and shut them down. It’s called “refeeding syndrome”
https://thehorse.com/118016/nutrition-for-rehabilitating-the-starved-horse/
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"UC Davis’ Recommendations for Refeeding a Starved Horse
Note: A scale is essential for weighing the hay in the initial steps of refeeding.
Days 1-3: Feed one pound (approximately 1/6 flake) of high-quality alfalfa every four hours (total of six pounds per day in six feedings). Contact a veterinarian to evaluate the medical status of the horse.
Days 4-10: Slowly increase the amount of alfalfa and decrease the number of feedings so that by Day 6 you are feeding just over four pounds of hay every eight hours (total of 13 pounds per day in three feedings).
Day 10 and for several months: Feed as much alfalfa as the horse will eat and decrease feeding to twice a day. Provide access to a salt block. Do not feed grain, treats such as apples or carrots, or other supplements until the horse is well along in its recovery. Each feeding of grain, treats or any supplements complicates the return of normal metabolic function and can result in death.
Provide clean, fresh water at all times.
Deworming and correction of dental problems are very beneficial to the horse’s recovery.
Other types of hay such as grass may be added following the first two weeks of refeeding, but these should be added slowly over time. Alfalfa hay contains adequate amounts of salt for a sedentary horse, so use caution in offering a salt block within the first four to six weeks."
I guess i should have changed my post up a bit, i do know that i cant wack on the heavy duty wormer until i know forsure how wormy and if she really is wormy, just put on there that it is a potential option. Secondly I also know she is not starving and this is not a rescue situation by any means, the horse has weight on her she is just a bit thin, I have never fed horses straw and was unsure on the effect (if any) it would have on their stomach or digestion and if i should have her on something for her digestion.
Straw???
I would start with a grass hay or a lower quality hay if you think she’s really been starved.
Start slow with small amounts of hay only fed multiple times per day. I’d do 1/2 flake grass and/or alfalfa hay every 4 hours for a couple days, then full flake every 4 hours for several days, and then slowly increase from there to free choice. If doing well on slowly increasing hay rations, I would add in a small amount of soaked senior feed several times per day. I would do 1/2lb soaked senior every 4 hours for a couple days, then 1lb every 4 hours for another week or so, etc. Work up to whatever minimum pounds/per day for that feed per label instructions calculated on her ideal body weight. This is usually in the 4-6 pounds/day range for most feeds for the average 1000lb horse. After a couple weeks, I would slowly increase soaked senior volume per meal/decrease meal frequency to achieve a more normal twice a day “grain” feeding schedule with 2-3lbs per meal.
Then I’d freeze the diet at full hay ration and senior fed at minimum recommended pounds per day for several weeks or a month and monitor body condition. Weight gain takes time. If the horse proves to need more calories after initial month, then I would add more alfalfa and/or increase senior feed. Give those increases time to work and go from there. Aged or very hard keepers may eventually need an additional fat supplement like cool calories or something similar.
Also, I sure wouldn’t “power pack” deworm this horse upon arrival. I wouldn’t deworm at all, with any product, until the horse is stable on full rations. Also, I wouldn’t assume she is actually “wormy” just because she is underweight. Calorie deficiency causes poor body condition far more often than parasites in horses. There are some really smart folks on this board that will hopefully chime in with appropriate deworming protocols. Do run a fecal on the horse. And get your vet involved. At some point after initial refeeding period, the horse should be vaccinated and also have an oral exam. Also, I hope you have a reasonable quarantine plan in place if this horse has been thru auction(s) or at a feedlot or similar.
Glad this horse is going to get an owner upgrade. Good luck!
Not lower quality.
Starved horses should be started on, ideally, low amounts of good quality alfalfa hay, working up to full time alfalfa. If no alf is available, then high quality grass hay.
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We have always started our rescue horses on grass hay and then worked them onto alfalfa. This is on the advice of our vet experienced with starved horses.
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Nothing wrong with that. I’m just pointing out that UC Davis says alfalfa if possible, but at least high quality grass hay. Low quality doesn’t benefit the horse.
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I wouldn’t plan to do anything other than have good hay (which I assume you already have) until you get a sense of her condition. I would also assume a vet visit would be scheduled, possibly with a FEC, just as a normal protocol of obtaining a new horse.
Do you know anything about the horse? Age, previous work, injuries, etc?
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Frankly, hay of any kind can benefit a starving horse. Having witnessed horses being fed corn stalks before they got to our barn. Many people consider grass hay to be “low quality” we personally start with a lower nutrient rich grass type hay for a few weeks and then work in larger amounts of hay and richer hay. Even small amounts of super rich hay can cause issues with a horse that is very starved.
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Hay can be of low enough quality, meaning too high in lignin/indidestible fiber, that it doesn’t benefit a healthy horse, let alone a starved one.
No type of hay in inherently “low quality”. You can get orchardgrass that’s lower quality than a good Coastal, even while Coastal is one of the riskier grass hays. There’s no reason for anyone to consider grass hay “low quality”, unless they are uneducated about quality in general.
I’m not here to argue that someone should feed based on what they have access to. I’m pointing out that UC Davis - a leading research institution - has the gold standard for this as starting out with alfalfa, and there’s good reason for that. It has high quality nutrients in a package that is easily digested.
Obviously if you can’t get good alfalfa, or even alfalfa at all (availability, cost), then of course start with quality grass hay. You don’t need top of the line quality grass hay, but you don’t want bottom barrel stuff either.
This is from UC Davis, not me, I’m just the middle man here.
I will be posting more on her condition etc when i pick her up this week, right now i dont know much about it but hoping it wont be as bad as my mind is making me think. Getting a vet around me is not an easy thing as i sort of live in the middle of no where. I will try to get her fecal sample sent away to the closest vet clinic to get is tested but for now she will firstly just be receiving hay, good quality grass/alfalfa mix is all i have. Thank you everyone for your advice, it all helps! i have brought a few starving horses back and i was hoping to see if anyone had any advice and experiences to share on the matter.
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What happens if you can’t get all alfalfa hay?
@Scottie12 Small frequent meals of excellent quality grass hay with a little alfalfa added did wonders for a TB mare I rescued. I fed Strategy (amounts-- as per my vet when he did a thorough exam the day after after I got her).
You have to work with what you have available to you. The biggest thing is you don’t want her eating too much at one time at the beginning, as you have no idea what she is used to.
They can’t send you a current picture so you know what to ( kind of) expect??
All alfalfa hay is very expensive and in my location impossible to get if you don’t have it right now. As I stated previously, we worked with a vet regarding our rehab cases. Grass hay for 2 weeks, then mix in richer hay. Some of my grass hay is overgrown and stemmy due to the crappy spring, I’d start with that, then nicer grass hay, then alfalfa mix. I usually wait a week to add grain and add it a bit at a time.
My hay farmer groups his hay be ranges. Straight alfalfa being the most expensive, down the percentages, then into high, mid, and low quality grass. He usually doesn’t sell the low quality grass to horse people unless they’re desperate as he feels his hay represents him. This year most of the grass hay was mid range due to the crappy spring. Late cute allowed the weeds to grow and we weren’t able to get a tractor into our field to weed n feed at all.
I would wait at least a month to worm. Last time I wormed twice with Ivermectin then hit the horse with a bigger wormer to prevent a mass die off.
Depending on where the horse came from I’d have SMZ on hand, quarantine, and temp daily. This is based on my personal experience with rescues and following veterinary advice.
There’s a big difference between a ribby horse and a starved horse though.
So, why are you getting this horse in unknown condition, especially if you know a vet is hard to come by? Finding this thread really curious in general.
Are you some kind of rescue? Is this a horse you’re buying? A boarder?
