I am posting here in the hopes that Dr. Getty or somebody else may be able to help me.
I have a 15 year old, 16 hand Tennessee Walker mare who, in my opinion, is still too thin. She should weigh ~1000 lbs, however she is still in the 950 lb range. Her ribs still show, and her croup and hip areas are still sunken in. She is regularly dewormed with rotation of dewormers, and was vet checked in May. At that time she was even more underweight, and my vet made sure to check her teeth well (they were fine). I am pasture boarding, so I don't have much control over the grazing or hay feeding. At present the pasture is extremely overgrazed and the horses are NOT being fed hay. I live next to the boarding facility, so I hand graze my mare as often as I can. I also feed her about 4 lbs of Legends Performance textured feed, top dressed with 1 oz of Healthy Coat and 1/2 cup of oat bran pellets.
I know she's not getting enough nutrition (her coat condition and chipping hooves are screaming it), and something has to give here. I am going to talk to the barn owner about feeding my mare hay (it is supposed to be provided per contract). Other than adding hay to her diet, what else could I improve on? Should I change her over to a different feed meant for horses with limited forage? I have access to Southern States feeds, Triple Crown, Dumore, TizWiz, and DuMor (and maybe Purina, too). In May my vet did suggest I do a PowerDose dewormer to rule out encysted strongyles, which I have not done yet. Do you think this may help in any way?

Where are you from? southwestern Virginia

How did you locate this forum? Friend

Hello Allison,

I think you answered the question regarding the cause of her underweight -- she's not getting enough to eat. She needs to have hay 24/7 -- this is critical to her overall health. Perhaps you can offer to pay more for her hay, if the barn manager will give her enough to graze on all day long. She should have some left over in the morning -- that is the only way you can tell if she's getting enough.

Regarding feed -- choose a high fat feed that is relatively low in cereal grains. Look for a feed that has flax, beet pulp, alfalfa, soybean meal -- those types of things will give her a good quality protein. Triple Crown Lite is a good choice. Or ADM Alliance Senior Glo.

I recommend adding Nutra Flax to her diet -- 3 scoops per day to not only provide additional calories, but to boost her immune function, and keep her joints, feet, and hair healthy, as well.

Finally, give her Ration Plus. This will help her derive more calories from the hay that she does get.

But in all seriousness, Allison... I know you love this mare and want the best for her. From what you describe, she is not in a good place. That is, unless you can make some changes to help her eat the way nature intended -- to be able to graze at all times. Her stomach releases acid whether there's food in it or not, creating ulcers, and killing the microbial population in her hindgut, potentially leading to colic.

About the five day, double dose fenbendazole -- this is always a good idea to do once a year, but I truly do not think this is the reason for her unthriftiness and I would suggest getting her in better shape nutritionally before administering this dewormer.

Please let me know if I can assist you further.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO