My horse has been losing weight and I have tried EVERYTHING!?
My Horse and I are very experenced! I don't work him to hard I ride him 3 times a week, and feed him good! I do give him treats too. (LOTS haha) But he still seems to be skinny his ribs kinda pop out but not to bad. I promise though that I take care of him and all!
answer: Not sure where you are located, but Barley is the best thing, i recommend in to so many people and they have huge success with it. You boil the barley seeds up at night, once finished boiling just let it sit in the pot to soak in the water over night and then just at to feed as normal. If feeding twice a day you can make up enough at night for both feeds.
Good luck
You may need to have his teeth floated, that is where they file the horses teeth so they can chew properly. Worms might be another reason. You need to worm your horse every 8 weeks, a good time to do this is when they get their feet trimmed as a reminder. Make sure you are switching brands of wormer or the worms could build a tolerance to the medication and overwhelm your horse. There are other reasons for weight loss such as illness, disease , worms, age, teeth, etc. Horses should be kept on a good pasture for grazing, and if this is not possible, free feeding grass hay while continuing with his regular feed is the other option. You have not mentioned what you feed your horse. Equine senior is a good feed for harder to keep horses, it will not make them "hot", it is easy to digest, and has extra calories. You can try Beet pulp, but make sure it's soaked first, or our horse will get sick, deathly sick. Another supplement that I swear by is called Calf Manna, it's for weight gain, and really works. You will only need a handful or two each feeding mixed with his normal grain. I would suggest having a vet out if the horse continues to lose weight. The rule of thumb is: feel the ribs not see them.
Is he eating all his food? Make sure he is chewing his food right and it isnt falling out of his mouth, if it is then have a vet check for those extra teeth that come in on horses and have it checked. It will cause weight lose because of the teeth hurting the horse when they chew.
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Had a mare that done the same thing and looked lke she was eating good but really she wasnt and had to have the vet take them out.
How old is your horse? many old horses get bony but still eat plenty. If your horse is young then I would contact your vet. It could be from stomach pains or more seriously collecing