Hi everyone, I’m nee to this forum. I recently got a 20 yr old OTTB. She is a pure sweetheart. We got her at the end of June and my whole family is in love. We were told she was a 10 yr old QHx. It doesn’t matter what she is. She will be loved the rest of her life. We took her in for an exam because no matter what I did I can’t get her to gain weight. I would estimate she was about 1000lb when we got her. She’s finally at 1200lb. The vet said she still needs 200 to 400 more lbs put on before winter. We also found out she has a common sort of heart murmur and intestinal parasites. She gets ridden once maybe twice a week by my 2 young children and me. Nothing too strenous. She has a bad leg so mainly just gets walked around on a lead line aimlessly wandering from grass to grass just enjoying each others company. I also have health issues so can’t ride or walk too much. We’re not giving up on making her final years amazing for her. How should I go about making sure she has a great final home and years? She gets 1 lb dry weight beet pulp 3x a day, 1cup Purina Enrich Plus 2x a day, 1 lb Ho Pro Natural 14 3x a day, 1/3 cup corn oil 3x a day, 1 scoop ultra pure msm for arthritis once a day, 4 to 6 flakes alfalfa, free choice hay, water cleaned and refilled every 2 to 3 days, and all the love and attention she can want. She goes in on Tuesday to have her teeth done and ehemmm a lady issue taken care of. The vet gave me 2 doses of equimax to give her 3 wks apart for the intestinal parasites. We wanted a calm loving beginner horse for our children to learn the love of riding and horse care from. Our girl definitely does that. I would really appreciate any tips and ideas on making sure we give our best to her. She’ll stay with us until she goes to “horsey heaven”. I’m going to have to figure out a way to explain that to a 3 and 6 yr old. She’s already a big part of our family.
How big is she?
I’d question why your vet wants her weighing close to 1600# unless she’s well over 17H, or has a large frame.
That’s a lot of weight for a horse with a lameness issue < the “bad leg”
Is the alfalfa hay just for now, until she’s at a healthy weight?
That’s a pretty rich (high protein & calcium) forage diet for a horse doing so little work.
Has vet recommended switching to a grass hay when she’s at a good weight?
Kudos to you for giving her a home & with the proper care she may well surprise you & last into her 30s.
Her left front knee has a bimp on it where she was possibly kicked by another horse when she was younger. The alfalfa will be slowly eliminated after she gets up to weight and given as a treat every now and then after that. She has access to a round bale of good quality grass hay free choice. She’s eaten about half that bale so far. When we got her you could see every rib her hips and her back was sharp. She was being fed black oil sunflower seeds and free choice alfalfa. We changed her to free choice grass hay beet pulp and the enrich. She is bigger framed than other thoroughbreds I’ve seen. She’s 5ft 2 in which is 15.2 hands. The vet wants a good weight on her before it starts getting cold. We have mountains less than 20 miles east of us and get very cold (in my mind, I don’t like the cold). It can get down to the 20s and teens. The vet wants her to be around 1400 to 1600 to be safe. She also said Dallas was a body score of 4 and wants her at a 4.5 to a 5. That means when we got her she was a 3. You can still see her ribs, and her tail head is still farther up than her rump, her back isn’t nearly as sharp as it was. She’ll eat half her food then eat some alfalfa grass hay get a drink then eat the rest. I make sure she eats everything in her bin within an hour so it doesn’t spoil. I just want to do the best i can for her. My father in law and I just love her to pieces. She’s extremely smooth in her walk for me with my leg and neurological isssues, and an awesome babysitter for my children. She’s wonderful in everyway lol. I know I’m in love with her, just like with all my other furbabies. She’s not just for my children to learn from, she’s also helping me to keep my mobility and help me. She’s a member of our family. So I want to be the best partner for her.
1400 to 1600 lbs on a 15.2 hand horse would eas and tape her perhaps every other week or so. It’s a great way to keep track of general trends, and it will give you a general feel for her weight. I think your vet is just guessing waaaaaaay high on where she is and where she wants her to be. If you can post some pictures, we can probably give you a better estimate of where she is now :yes: If you want to get more precise, you can do this.
A 15.2 hand TB at body score of 4 would be in the neighborhood of perhaps 850-900 lbs. Aiming for a body score of 4.5 to 5 before winter is an excellent goal–guessing that would be in the 950-1000 lb ish range. 
With regard to her grain, that’s a lot of a lot of different things. Would it help you to simplify? Going with something like Triple Crown Senior would cover her nutritional needs and is really just a great feed. You could do 6 lbs a day, with your MSM, and be covered.
Oh, and this thread should really be in horse care Maybe @Moderator 1 can move it for you.
Realized I have a couple of horses for comparison for you…this is a draft cross mare that I used to own. She was a solid 16 hands–so two inches bigger than your horse. She was weighed on a scale at 1400 pounds. Do you see how big and thick she is? How big her bones are, and how broad her chest is? This is what 1400 lbs looks like, on a horse that’s built to carry that sort of weight. [IMG]https://photos-2.dropbox.com/t/2/AACwGtK1T-OYMWlqNVrzavgak1Sj4gl-jGZmIt0bD4ujlA/12/18199348/jpeg/32x32/1/_/1/2/Spirit.jpg/EM3pxw0Y3tcBIAIoAg/gRNKGlMVByIkHs8F5oUY2q0UlW-3FYFHssjC4nl-m1E?size=32x32&size_mode=5)
Conversely, this is a TB gelding who stands just under 16 hands. He weighs about 950 lbs, and this is a pretty good weight for him: 
Okay, one more. This TB mare is 16.2, and in the neighborhood of 1250 - 1300 lbs. She’s a solid 5. She’s a brick outhouse of a horse, and usually mistaken for something other than TB, but a full hand taller than your mare and STILL not anywhere near that 1400-1600 lb mark.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“src”:"https://photos-6.dropbox.com/t/2/AADww4ooot7RH0i8INXLDk5LCPjrAMsoXdKQ84KTXqMvWw/12/18199348/jpeg/32x32/1/_/1/2/Dove.jpg/EM3pxw0Y2dcBIAIoAg/3Gs-WJ2B0TXcgpN45QovgY9zrK8cNEYMiPs9Zk7uEwo?size=800x600&size_mode=3)
Do you see the difference?
FWIW, this forum is for Riders with Health Issues… for horses with health issues, there is the Horse Care forum
My father in law and i took her to a cat scale when we moved her to my place from my friends place and she weighed about 1100lb. I know she’s a little under weight. She was even farther under when we first got her. She’s filled out big time compared to what she was. I tried posting a couple pics and it said they were too big. I’ll try again in just a little. She’s getting there on weight. The vet did a weight tape when she did it. It shocked me when she said 1216 lbs. I didn’t realize I put this under a topic of riders with disabilities. Good thing I kinda qualify with my CRPS. I’ll definitely look into getting a weight tape. I don’t want her getting fat. Just filling out where she needs to to be healthy. I measured her for a blanket for winter and she would be a 72 in blanket. Would that factor into her weight also? Her length I mean. Ive never seen her limp for favor that leg except when she doesn’t want to pick it up for the farrier. He’s amazingly gentle with her. If he wasn’t he would have been tossed out on his ear by me.
@Allanira, why do you think she’s a TB? Does she have a lip tattoo and a confirmed pedigree? A horse that’s 15.2 and needs to be 1400 - 1600 lbs is a draft horse. These horses here fit that size and weight.
Thanks for the photos! That horse doesn’t need any more weight. She looks great–good job! From these pics, I’d personally call her a very healthy five on the henneke scale, perhaps edging up to a 6. I’m curious what others here consider her. I linked a presentation with pics of henneke scoring in an earlier post…did you see that? Take a spin through there and read how horses are scored.
If you’d like to get us some pics of her tattoo, we can try to ID her. She looks very much like a QH to me, but the tattoo will tell Racing QHs are tattooed.
Feed for maintenance now, though, not gain–more weight will be detrimental to her health and soundness. No 15.2 hand horse of this build needs to be anywhere near 1400 lbs! 
Really, you’ve done a beautiful job and she doesn’t need anything more. :yes:
If I had to build a feeding plan, I’d go with free choice grass, a couple flakes of alfalfa (as needed!), and TC Senior as needed to maintain. If less than 6 or so pounds, then you can use a ration balancer. MSM is a great choice to help her joints. But you could simplify quite a bit from where you are now and still be good
She does have the lip tattoo. Not legible but it is there. I’ve been told she’s an OTTB and QHx.
That makes no sense IMO. If she’s an OTTB she’s not a QHx. If she’s a cross, what is she doing with a tattoo?
If she’s an OTTB, what has she been doing all the years since she came off the track? With the bad leg, was she a pasture pet?
What does your vet say her age is? There is a huge difference between the teeth of a 10yo and the teeth of a 20yo.
We wanted a calm loving beginner horse for our children to learn the love of riding and horse care from.
This makes no sense IMO either. Buying an unsound, unfit horse to teach the love of riding? I am sorry you got involved with this horse, OP. I wish you well with her, but really, with the bad leg and all her other issues, she won’t be able to teach them much about the love of riding.
I’m also concerned that, once she’s back in good weight, she may not be so calm.
The vet said she’s around 20 yrs. The previous owner rode her but kept her on a joint supplement. She doesn’t favor the leg at all, except when the farrier tries to handle it. She’s got a great disposition, and all through us having her hasn’t had any problems except colic shortly after we got her. We think it was because of the sunflower seeds finally starting to leave her system. I’m about 120lb and I will get on her occasionally. My boys have started climbing the fence and getting on her in her paddock. She has a 120x40 ft paddock with a 12x24 run in. The vet tried to read her tattoo and she couldn’t. I’m going by what the vet said about breed and age. This is the first horse we’ve owned. I’ve ridden and helped with family members and friends horses but never my own. I want to make sure I’m doing everything possible to help her, and care for her. She just rolled recently in those pics I posted. We’re also having a problem with flies thanks to the stables next door.
Rack, come on–that’s really unfair. The pics show a horse in plenty of weight. There is often confusion between a QH racer (which can carry a good bit of TB blood and may be referred to as QHx) and a TB. Horses frequently race, then go do something else until their racing injuries catch up with them and they’re sold off to do something lower key.
The vet saying the horse needs to be 1400-1600 lbs is all sorts of silly, but nothing else here really deserves your derision.
If any of the tattoo is legible, contact the AQHA and see if they can figure who your horse is, if it was tattooed by them:
tattooer-and-identifier-information
OTTQH can be part TB, called appendix registration.
Once proven performers, can be done thru several ways, they can move to permanent AQHA registration.
If she is AQHA registered, permanent or appendix and they can tell by the tattoo who she is, you will then know some of her history, if she ran and/or did any other kind of performance competitions and determine how old she really is.
We weren’t told about the bump on her leg until we’d already had her for a couple weeks.If you lnew me and my family we take in the underdog and build them back up into a loving member of our family. That’s why I have 6 cats. They were throw aways that we got healthy and loved. They return our love. We have a kinda motto that there is no bad animal, just bad owners. We’re rebuilding Dallas up so she can live a long happy life. If it comes down that in a year or 2 we just have a “pasture pet” then that’s what she’ll be. She is already so much healthier than she was when she first came to us. I think by spring she’s going to look like a horse in their prime instead of a 20 yr old ish one. I showed pics to a friend that hasn’t seen her since we got Dallas and they asked if it was the same horse. She last saw her when she had just gotten over the colic. My friend does horse rescues and was surprised by what we accomplished in just a couple months. Dallas gets looked over 3 times a day when she’s fed, brushed all 3 times also. I clean her paddock every time so know exactly what everything should look like, For not really knowing what to look for, and being a complete newb I think we did fairly well. Vet said to just keep an eye on her for any problems woth the heart murmur, up her feed to 3 lbs dry weight beet pulp, add the corn oil since it will gove calories without over loading her with grain and making her squirrelly. Getting her moving will help her joints along with the msm. She had tapeworms and scarid(not sure of spelling) eggs in her fecal so gave her equimax dewormer once last Tuesday and again on Sept 5th. She’s having her teeth done and her lady parts have to be sowed a little this coming Tuesday. We are doing the best we can for our girl. She’s becoming spoiled rotten and loving it. She shows me every single time I see her how much better she feels, and how much happier she is. I’m sorry none of this makes sense to you, but this is what it is. I’m not making any pretense about her condition, or trying to make it bigger. I’m asking questions to learn how best to care for her. The previous owner said she was a QHx. The vet said she was Thoroughbred. Coupled with the lip tattoo she said she was an OTTB. The owner said she was around 10 or 12 ish. The vet laughed and said no she’s around 20. The owner would have had a reason to lie. The vet doesn’t. It’s her business to know a QHx and a Thoroughbred. She works with many QH and many racing, OT, and other kinds of Thoroughbred daily. We live in a racing area. She wished she could have read Dallas’ tattoo, but with the way it was done it had bled into each other, and had bled out in others. I have tattos so I know hoe they behave lol. Between Dallas and I both having bad left legs we make a match. She is helping me by keeping me moving. I’m helping her the same way. She is a gentle loving soul. She gentle with my 3 amd 6 yr olds. She has already taught them so much. They’re gentle with her where they wrestle with our dog and each other. If you still don’t understand how someone could actually care about an animal and not riding and competing then I don’t think I will be able to explain.
From the pics you posted I see a horse in great weight, if anything bordering on a bit too good!
Still do not understand why your vet wants to add another 200-400# to a horse shy of 16H no matter how large her frame is - that would (IMO) make her obese.
Obese + soundness issue (leg “bump”) = at worst founder, at best accelerating arthritic changes.
Did your vet tell you what that bump is? Old bowed tendon, healed splint or slab fracture would be my guesses - depending on where on the leg it occurs.
Bluey gave you good advice re: determining her breeding & race record.
Can you get a pic of her tattoo?
OTTB are tattooed with a leading letter, racing QH with a leading number.
If she has a tattoo beginning with “A” she is a TB born in 1997 < “B” = 1998 & so on
As you’re learning, @Allanira, vets aren’t infallible Please do get some pics of her tattoo if you can–it’s much easier to suss out faded and smeared ink from a picture. Wouldn’t it be neat to know what Dallas has done?
She looks wonderful. I would find a diet that will maintain the weight she is carrying now. If you live in a state that gets brutal Winter temps you can increase it a bit to compensate and just monitor her .
The vet that came out to do Dexter’s X-rays said to my daughter " you were sorely misinformed when you purchased this horse, he is NOT a TWH." His mother is standing in my pasture, I was there the days she was bred, the day he was born and he’s bloodtyped and DNA’d. Vets are not infallible when it comes to guessing breed or guessing age.
Racing QH have lip tattoos as well.
This mare looks to me like a 20 plus y/o appendix. May have raced at one time. Likely used as a broodmare at some point. Please do not get her any fatter. She does not need to weigh 1600 lbs unless your height estimate is way off. What you are calling a sharp spine is, in these pictures a lack of topline muscling and the typical old horse dispersment of fat.
My concern with that is what type of saddle you are using and how you’re preventing bridging? Did you say your boys climb the fence and ride her?? Are they tacking her up or jumping on bareback? Did the vet do any labs? Or X-ray the knee? It may not show up in a walk but if she doesn’t want the farrier to handle it then it’s painful and may require more than a joint supplement.
I second simplifying her feed and moving to a senior feed as has been recommended.
While I commend you for being willing to care for her and make the best of the situation, She’s not the ideal horse for the kids to learn to ride in the condition she is in. I’d recommend getting them some lessons before allowing them to ride her if you haven’t already.
They’re doin lessons. No they don’t tack her up. At 25 and 40 lbs they hop on the fence and onto her. My 3 yr old is the worst at it. No matter what I say he still does it then yells at me saying Dawes My horse mommy! He’s a stinker. I don’t let them go faster than a walk, or for very long. I’m looking into senior feeds they sell in my area now. She looks 10x better than when I got her. We use a western endurance saddle with cut back pad for me, and a 10 in western saddle for my boys. We use a rope halter with lead line tied for riding also. She was in a d snaffle, but she likes not having a bit in her mouth better. She’s starting to have a shine to her coat now. I believe from what we can tell her tattoo starts with an A. it has a e and 7 in it. I’ll see if she’ll let me get a pic of it this evening. Or might have to wait until Tuesday when the vet sedates her. She also feels good enough she kicked my goofy dog in the face while still eating yesterday. He’s ok though. Scared the tar out of him and me.
From my understanding, the tattoo formats are as follows:
Thoroughred = One letter followed by five numbers (over age 25 four numbers)
Standardbred = One letter followed by four numbers or two letters followed by three numbers
Quarterhorse = Four or five numbers followed by a letter
So, if the tattoo has both an A and an E, she’s a Standardbred or you’re incorrect. Understandable, they’re very hard to read, especially at that age.
If it starts with a letter, she’s not a QH, she’s a Thoroughbred. If it starts with an A, she’s a 1997, so yes, she’s 20 years old.
I agree with the others that this horse appears to be in a good weight, she’s simply an undermuscled aged mare. Putting another 200+ pounds on her would be ridiculous and likely damaging to her health, especially to an existing “bump.” I’d be looking for a new vet, as this one’s recommendations are quite suspect IMO.
I do hope you have well fitted Equestrian specific helmets for all your kids and that they wear them at all times when they are around the horse. This is especially important in these first couple of years when no.one knows about horses or how to ride, there is no informed instruction and horse may be getting used to kids. You already know she will kick! I’m all.for kids learning about horses by fooling around on their own but kids also tend to be top heavy and land on.their heads more than adults. And a concussion head to injury even a minor one can be life changing
