How do put wieght on a rescue?

[Crossbuck Farms]

Do you increase the grain? Do you feed a ton of hay? I have a friend who rescued a 42" pony. I really don't know what to say.

 

[virginia]

With a rescued horse that had been starved, you want to give just very small portions of hay. You don't want to overload her systems. I'll leave it to the experts as to what else to feed her.

Ginny StP

 

[Becky]

Here's an excellent article on feeding starved horses.

Nutrition for Rehabilitating the Starved Horse

 

[SkipsMom]

One has to consider that in addition to neglecting the nutritional needs of the pony the previous owners probably did not deworm. Safeguard or Panacur would be appropriate to give now, again in two weeks followed by Ivermection one month later. At that point put it on the same deworming program as the other horses.

Good quality grass hay is appropriate. You don't say what size pony it is which would factor into how much I would offer through out the day. Alfalfa hay in small amounts will help. As far as concentrates (grain) I would suggest one cup of Nutrenas Equine Sr. twice a day. For the grass hay and concentrates generally you may increase the amount by one third weekly until the desired weight gain is reached. Shredded beet pulp is an excellent concentrate to help get bloom on a horse, are you familiar with how to use it??

Good luck with the little pony and I hope that in 8 weeks you'll see a big improvement.

 

[Becky]

One thing I might add too, is that it takes some time to see a real difference on a starved horse. I took a starved weanling in trade in Sept. Very poor condition with pneumonia. I fed him whatever he would eat. Progressives' alfalfa formula Diet Balancer, Progressives' Foal Starter pellet, alfalfa pellets, alfalfa hay and bermuda hay.

2 months later, this colt just left for his new home this past Friday and I was FINALLY able to see a difference! I figure it will be close to 2 more months before he looks completely 'normal'.

I also bought a starved (unknown to me) yearling filly last December. She was in such bad shape she could barely walk off the trailer! I actually wasn't sure she would live. I put a smorgasboard in front of her! A bucket with oats, a bucket with alfalfa cubes/pellets, diet balancer, alfalfa hay and bermuda hay. I wormed her and she had a heavy worm load. She was very weak and depressed so I also gave her Red Cell daily by syringe. I think it made a big difference! It was a week before she actully did more than just pick at her feed, but when she started eating, she continued and never looked back! She was a beautiful, healthy 2 yr old filly by mid spring!

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]Just go REAL SLOW because you can do more harm than good trying to feed up too fast. Thanks for saving her.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[Crossbuck Farms]

Thankyou for the help. I will give this to my friend. It's a 42" pony mare. They got it auction for $50.00.

 

[HGFarm]

AND, check their teeth too!!! Every single horse we have rescued has had horrible hooks and worse with their teeth- and I am talking many full sized horses as well!!!

The first thing we do with a rescue is teeth, then worming and after that, phsillium to get rid of any sand, etc... it probably collected.

We also feed a variety of things to give a variety of nutrients, etc....

Your vet can really instruct on how much how fast, etc.....