Every equestrian can easily recognize an underweight horse when they see one. Visible ribs, accentuated neck, pointed withers and a trailhead that sticks out. In some cases you might be able to see individual vertebrae from your horse’s back that indicate a clear sign that the horse cannot be mounted. Especially in the UAE, due to the difficult weather conditions in summer, this may be a common scenario in different stables.
Thankfully (or sadly) in many cases the cause could simply be insufficient calorie intake due to poor quality hay that should be partially replaced with concentrates. (I want to completely avoid the possibility of the horse left starving in the paddock). A mature horse, depending on his training in terms of activities and frequency, should always follow a specific diet to ensure an accurate calorie intake in order to maintain or gain weight.
If you wonder this could be the cause why your horse is so skinny, please skip the rest of this post and call immediately an equine nutrition expert to ensure your horse has the best treat.
If not, please continue reading…Nothing is more frustrating than trying to get weight on a horse with no results, you may find the answer here. In this post I will focus more on the less obvious and hidden factors that may influence a horse’s weight. By reading, you may feel surprised by some of them.
1. Parasites
In the last few years, thankfully, deworming programs have improved a lot. In general, internal parasites can be a major contributing factor to the weight loss of a horse, as well as his capability to regain weight even after an improved diet. Parasites directly compete with your horse’s digestive tract to get the nutrients they need. Ultimately, parasites can lead to colics, diarrhea or constipation, respiratory problems.
2. Teeth
Grinding hay is most probably a horse’s favorite activity, in fact an hay-fed horse may arrive to consume fifteen to twenty pounds of hay per day. When using teeth for the majority of the time spent awake, the importance of keeping them under control becomes a must. Enzymes and microbes of the gastrointestinal tract readily digest feedstuffs which have been crushed into minute particles. Problems with dentition can have disastrous effects on the body condition of a horse. If a horse is not maintaining weight, the first thing that should be checked is the condition of the teeth.
3. Digestive tract problems
The nature of these physiological problems associated with the digestive tracts can vary from obstructions from abscesses or strangles, muscle weakness, gastric ulcers, proliferation of bacteria in the intestines, chronic or acute disease. Due to the regional circumstances of UAE, where the soil is mostly sandy, or in general with horses fed on the ground, sand colics could be common. Sand can accumulate within the large bowel, causing irritation and intermittent colic and possibly resulting in complete obstruction. You may be interested in my other article if you want to know more about how to prevent sand colics with Psyllium fiber.
4 . The environment
Like for humans, a horse’s appetite can be severely affected by their circumstances. Horses that live in herds may be bullied by dominant horses, forcing them to respect distances from other equines as well from the hay. Also, unhappy or stressed out horses may spend many calories walking around and focusing on how to get out of their uncomfortable situation and as a consequence forget to eat. Those who, for external factors, live under constant stress, will never have a chance to put on weight. Consider moving your horse to a more suitable paddock if you notice some signs of stress such as diarrhea, unusual behaviors or Yawning. If you see your horse interrupt its eating and looking around, moving his head frequently, that means he is unhappy about something and is anxious.
If you want to recognize what a underweight horse looks like and learn how to measure your horse body condition, I suggest you to read this step-by step guide on how to apply the Body Condition Scoring.
