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  Discussion on Why does my horse look so bad?
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 31, 2002 - 2:33 pm:

I have recently purchased a 3 year old Thoroughbred type gelding from a stud farm.

Anitially he wasn`t too bad. But now he is in terrible condition and doesn`t seem to be improving.

The stud farm had owned him since birth and fed him properly,vaccinated & wormed him all up to date.

Recently he has been looking worse than ever and I cant work out whats causing it.
He`s thin, his coats greasy & matty and has no shine to it and he looks as though he`s rescue case. He is very dull alround and has no energy.

He has been wormed by me frequently and when I first had him I used a strong 5 day treatment of fenbendazole.

He is fed well, 2 big feeds a day on a youngstock mix, has haylage and hay, I have even up`ed his feed lately to see if there`s any improvement. No luck.

He is stabled at night & rugged all the time & regularly groomed. My other horses are thriving and he just isn`t improving at all.

Have you got any suggestions what could be causing him to look so bad? And do you think I need a vet to do some tests on him?

Thanks

Laura

Posted on Monday, Apr 1, 2002 - 6:42 am:

Hello Laura,
Whenever a horse has a serious health problem that is worsening and you do not know why, of course calling the vet is indicated.

90% of the time when I go see a horse with a similar history I find they are simply not receiving enough groceries or the groceries are not of high enough quality. TB's, horses recently moved, and horses during this time of year (in the northern hemisphere) all have extra needs and since all three of these apply to your horse he seems a very likely candidate. You say upping the feed as not helped but how do you know (?), without the change the horse may have gone down hill faster. Since you do not provide any specific weights on what you are feeding exact recommendations are difficult.

Read the article on overview of feeding and apply the principles in it, get a clean bill of health from your vet and I suspect your horse will begin to put on the lbs.
DrO
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