Hi everyone! So I have a 14 yr old TB. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed he routinely drops weight in the Spring and Summer, and then come Fall and Winter he starts looking filled out and even a bit chunky. At first, we chalked it up to ulcers, had him treated with 2 rounds of UlcerGard, and rescoped. That was 2 years ago. Since then, I have not seen any of the behavior he showed when he had ulcers. His grain and hay stay the same from season to season, and he is not put out on the grass a ton during the Spring/Summer. I am wondering if anybody has had this issue before? Or has any suggestions for what to try? He is on 2.5 lbs of TC Senior + 1 lb Legends Omega 2x a day. In during day and has access to hay in haynet. During turnout has access to unlimited hay. Any advice, thoughts, or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
My old lady mare drops in the summer. I think it has to do with the heat and flies. I do what I can to minimize those things for her, and up her calories. Not really sure what else can be done. Winter, in some ways, is easier–they tend to eat more hay and you can always blanket them up to reduce calories burned.
You are at the bare minimum or just under for the TC Senior–lots of room to go up there. That’s where I’d start, anyway. Maybe try 3.5 or 4 lbs twice daily and see how he does.
Does he eat the hay in summer? What about water consumption?
Usually it is heat and/or running from flies but if he is in that may not be the case. Does he have a fan; is the water empty?
I agree that 2.5lbs is bare minimum for Senior feed…if you can’t figure out a cause that can be fixed, upping the grain is definitely the first thing I would consider to keep the horse from losing weight.
Does the workload change with the season?
Does he need to be put out on the grass some? If he’s on a paddock without grass and is fed hay (does unlimited access = hay round bale? they are often not high quality), might he be transitioned to a paddock/pasture with grass? Decently kept grass may be more nutritious than your hay. Is your hay good quality? I would suggest really looking at it, and maybe supplementing with GOOD alfalfa hay (not cubes) to increase weight or GOOD alfalfa/grass mix.
The hay quality is a good place to start. If it is truly good quality and your horse isn’t on pasture, I’d then look at things like flies, shelter, water, etc.
My old lady loses weight in the summer too. She has heaves, and I attribute it to the heat and humidity stress. And before someone asks, 24-7 good Ocala pasture, Seminole Active Sr and Seminole Herb Blend, nutrient boost with Seminole Equilizer, full scoops of T/A cubes 2x day, various supplements… She is 30 Oh, and she is out because she walks a stall and frets (thereby burning calories). Pasture has a mister she likes.
My old guy loses weight the late spring into summer as well. He is pasture boarded and he’d rather stand in the trees or his shelter all day than be out grazing and dealing with the bugs and heat. He doesn’t get to the point of ribby but he definitely fills out more in the winter and loses that some in the summer.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! He does get a round bale outside and then hay in a haynet when he is in his stall during the day. His stall also has a big, rotating fan. I am upping his TC senior and hopefully that will help. I had not considered that he might be burning more calories stomping and swishing at flies than during the rest of the season. Currently we do not have any grass fields for them to be out on all night, but he does go out on one for several hours throughout the week.
Any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas are welcome!
I asked my vet about this because my guy started to drop some weight. She said this is pretty normal if the horse doesn’t lose a dramatic amount of weight, as horses fluctuate weight throughout the year. They lose weight in the summer to prep for the weight gain in the winter. She prefers that certain horses lose a little bit of weight in the summer so when they gain weight in the winter, they don’t weigh as much. She refers to it as the horse’s natural weigh (haha) of dealing with the climate changes.
