Rebuilding Muscle Tone

[kajunrider]

I need some advice on helping my colt rebuild lost muscle tone in the hindquarters. I picked him up in May at the auction in St. Tammany and he has been flourishing as far as putting on his weight and learning to trust us and the other horses, but it seems his muscle tone is still lacking. Since we have been getting rain here daily I cannot get out to excercise him so I was wondering about Muscle building supplements given to big horses. Is that too much for a mini or can it be safely given in a small dose??

BTW, that is him pictured in my avator, notice how he avoided eye contact with me? Now he will allow me to approach him head on and even approaches me when I'm not paying attention to him. His name is Mickey Blue Eyes and I've come to love him dearly, He has a forever home with me!!

 

[kaykay]

hes so pretty!!!

What is his age?? That has a lot to do with what he should be fed. I am not a proponent of using too many suppliments as I think its best to use good nutrition and excercise. After you give his age maybe robin will pop on and give some advice.

Also ginger a rescue here at my farm had terrible muscle atrophy due to bad nutrition and being kept on a small lot. She has really come around and has mostly firmed back up by just letting her roam a bigger dry pasture and feeding her right

 

[angie21467]

Hi Sara. Glad to hear he is doing well. Keep up the good work.

In case you all don't know, this is one of the minis from the Louisiana auction that I attended on behalf of CMHR.

Sara bought this little colt, I think he is about 2 yrs. old and was pretty thin and scraggly when she got him.

BTW, Sara did you ever hear anymore from the lady that bought the preg. mare ya'll hauled?

 

[kajunrider]

Yes, Angie is right, the vet check has aged him at 2. Upon getting home I began him on Purina Equine Junior and have slowly switched him to a 14% protein sweet feed that all my adults get. He has muscular atrophy for the same reason as you mentioned Kay, he was malnuritied(SP) and not properly wormed. He has access to a 30'X45' covered paddock which opens to a 100'X50' pasture, which at the time has no grass. My ranch is a work in progress and upon completion all 16 acres will be fenced into 2 acre tracts. Right now he is pastured with my mares and yearlings till he strengthens up, then he will be introduced to the "men" one at a time. He has done pretty well with our 2 year old draft mix, but he will submit to him when it comes to who gets which hank of hay. Oh, and I failed to mention, they are on Bermuda hay, and bermuda grass will be planted in the pastures.

Angie, I wish I could say that the lady contacted me but she didn't. Carl and I where in Baton Rouge not too long ago and we said that if we could remember how to get to her place we would check in on them, but it was a part of town neither of us are familiar with. I do think of that poor mare often and wonder if she made it through labor.

I really appreciate any advice, and like I said, due to rain I cannot get out to excercise him.

 

[USMCshamusmom]

It will take up to a year or more to replace lost muscle and get in condition for the worst starved cases. Youngsters should recover much more quickly. Sounds like you are doing everything right. I'd watch out on giving him too much protein, his bones may overcompensate for the starvation and you could have metabolic bone problems on your hands. A 60x40 pen is plenty large enough for a mini to canter and play. When he gets to feeling good, he will exercise himself plenty. If he has someone else to play with , he will probably even exercise more. Don't worry too much unless he shows signs of neurological problems... it just takes time....

too much protein or supplement can do just as much harm as not enough feed. You can't hurry nature, only help her! sounds like you are doing just right so far!

he is a cutie, and I salute you for having a heart and helping him out

 

[Black Magic]

Okay.. my two cents. We love Buckeye feed for our full size as well as minis. The Grow N Win and the Ultimate Finish puts weight on our boys, plus you can put in twice as much oats as you feed the Grow N Win. I have to say, that our boys were boney, and after about six weeks of Grow n Win i am just starting to feel something other then bones when I feed them. The Ultimate Finish is what many of the TB breeders here in Ocala use to put weight on, it's pretty fatty stuff. I only give about an ounce of the Ultimate Finish with each feeding.

I like Buckeye, they have an equine nutritionist available for free phone consultations on feed and horses. Nicole is interested in minis too, so she has been a good source of info for me.

I was sort of where you were and went to the Seminole Feed store around here and asked what was best for yearlings I was playing a bit of catch up with. They weren't starving or anything, but just didn't have the muscle I wanted on them. Does that make sense? The road trip didn't do them any good at all, and then they are young, so no great muscles there. I like muscles on horses.

So anyway, Seminole feed said, they couldn't reccomend anything that would compare to Buckeye. The one woman said, "I work for Seminole, but Buckeye really does have better feed"... Lol... she was whispering.

Anyway, ask for their info at a buckeye store near you. I'm looking for their phone no. (can't find it this moment.. and they do have a website too)

God Bless,

Lynn W

 

[kajunrider]

Thanks for the information, I did think the supplements would be a bit much, that's why I came here first. I will have to look into the Buckeye, around here the feed stores carry manely Nutrena or Purina. We buy our feed direct from a mill in our area, they mix there own sweet feed and the 14% protein has been wonderful for my QH and mini's alike. I do not show my mini's and none are registered, just pet quality, but I would like to see this guy blossom more.

Thanks for the compliments too, I was worried that I should have been doing more than I have been, it's good to hear from people like you that I am going in the right direction.