NORTH COUNTRY RIDER |
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Narrowing down the causes of weight loss
Here’s the skinny on weight loss in horses:
Your animal might be on an involuntary diet — too few calories — or the problem might be something internal and more serious. As owner, you need to determine the cause, and quickly take steps to remedy the situation.
That’s the word from an East Coast veterinarian specializing in performance horse health. Dr. Sally Vivrette of Cary, N.C., says thin horses get that way from a variety of causes — infections, ulcers, tumors and even intestinal sand — but the main reasons usually involve too few calories, too many parasites, or too much tooth pain.
Addressing those three big reasons for unplanned weight loss is a good place to start any weight-loss evaluation, says Vivrette. Here’s why:
• Malnutrition means the horse isn’t receiving enough calories, either too little hay and grain, or poor quality feed in which nutrients have leeched out. Another possibility is that some bully of a horse is taking more than its share, and leaving your skinny horse hungry.
• Parasites might rob the horse of calories by gobbling up nutrients or causing infections. Dose your horse regularly with deworming agents and check fecal egg counts for any sign of critters.
• Dental problems — painful and sometimes serious — can limit a horse’s chewing efficiency, affect digestion, and cut nutrients and calories. Broken, loose, or infected teeth can be so painful that horses might stop eating altogether.
So what do you do about severe equine weight loss?
Start with a complete physical exam that includes blood tests. Evaluate hay and grain for nutrient and mold content. Look for problems in the barn, including bullying, poor bucket placement, clogged water spigots, disturbing smells or sounds. Then have the vet give your horse a dental exam that includes checking for foul mouth odors and infected gums.
Of course, the easy solution to a skinny horse is to increase its food, both in quantity and quality — provide between-meal snacks, increase grazing times, add fat to the diet (corn oil or rice bran), toss in some beet pulp or more grain. Feed the horse separately to ensure pasturemates don’t intimidate him. It might even be necessary to decrease a thin horse’s exercise to help him gain weight.
