Which neck sweat to use?

[JMS Miniatures]

My gelding I don't think't paticularly has a very thick neck. Defintelly needs a throatlatch sweat but up near his crest is very thick. I am very worries he is going to crest over. I have a neck sweat on him but it doesn't seem to do the job. Where its thick on him goes all the way down near his mane. Is there something I can do before it crests over? He is also not fat, maybe a tad bit overweight due to not being worked with cause of a injury this past month.

 

[muffntuf]

Are you feeding him any grain right now? HOw old is he? Was he a stallion until recently? Have you had his thyroid checked?

 

[JMS Miniatures]

He is only 2 and was gelded as a weanling. He is on a 14% performance type feed and its pelleted. I haven't checked his thyroid or seeked any medical attention for this.

 

[muffntuf]

How much does he weigh right now? How tall is he? How active is he? How much grass does he get to be on during the day (how many hours), how much hay does he get per day? How much feed is he getting per day?

 

[JMS Miniatures]

He weighs maybe just under 200 pds. He is 31". Lately he hasn't been exercised due to an injury but he sort of exercises himself. Thats why he kept reinjuring himself cause he would run around and play. He is pretty energetic. He isn't on grass he is pretty much on dry lot. I will throw a flake to him atleast once a day and he gets fed a scoop of grain 2 times a day.

 

[muffntuf]

How much does the flake of hay weigh and how much does the scoop of grain weigh? If he is injured, you may need to and I suggest you seek vet advice. He sounds like his not using his food so much anymore and packing in some fat cells.

 

[targetsmom]

Neck sweats can help somewhat, but the real issue with a horse with a heavy crest is the possible higher risk of laminitis. See http://www.safergrass.org/articles/index.html for a list of articles about the risk. If the heavy crest is related to insulin resistance, you can find out through a simple blood test, and then manage the diet accordingly. Our insulin resistant show mare with a heavy crest is on Blue Seal Carb Guard grain, low NSC hay, and gets no alfalfa or pasture. She practically lives in multiple neck sweats with time off for cleaning and airing out. She is the B/W driving mare in my avatar.

Good luck with your boy.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I'm also concerned about founder as we had one just recently foundered being overweight, he was such an easy keeper. This one isn't so much but I'm afraid it could lead too that. I'm wondering if it is the grain. I'm just at lost now on what to feed these guys. I am off competely of Purina and right now I'm feeding Kent Dynasty horse feed. It was doing so well for them now all of the sudden its just not.

He gets maybe a pound of grain with his scoop and maybe 3-4 pounds of fake of hay. I don't really have a weight scale avilable.

BTW he isn't injured anymore. He cut himself pretty bad on the back of his ankle but since thats such a moveable part he would keep making it bleed if he would run around. But now he is healed.

I guess when I go get my health certificate done on him for Nationals I will make them do the blood test.

Oh and this year wasn't just the first year he had this problem. He started doing this as a yearling. This year you can really notice the fat around his crest.

 

[muffntuf]

I would suggest dropping the grain or switching to a no carb grain or beet pulp. I would find grass hay or a low carb hay (triple crown has a new bagged hay that has the starch taken out). I have had to take one of my ponies completely off grain, he gets beet pulp instead and he has had his hay cut down and changed. He is stalled for 1/2 the day, and he is worked, but still he was putting on weight in his neck, so I had to take him off.

 

[ruffian]

2 pounds twice a day of 14% feed seems like a lot for a yearling. IMO I would cut his grain back a little and certainly go to a 12%. He might be getting too much protein and storing fat.

Lots of times you can find an inexpensive postal or diet scale at a dollar store or Walmart etc for a few bucks. It's so much better to know how much you are feeding. What you might think is a pound may actually be 3/4 or 1 1/2 pounds.

If he's healed up well you might start exercising him a little more to get some weight off.

Good luck

 

[muffntuf]

He gets maybe a pound of grain with his scoop and maybe 3-4 pounds of fake of hay. I don't really have a weight scale avilable.

1 LB of grain isnt' horrible. But 200 lbs. for 31 inches is a bit much of weight, 25 lbs. off would help. And the hay might be a bit much as well - others who own that size mini can help out.

If he is healed up - he needs to go back to work, slowly, but get him back to moving around. For his age I personally don't have an issue with 14% grain.

If you have him going to Nationals - aren't you conditioning him now? You are talking about AMHR Nationals - right?

 

[HGFarm]

I would have his thyroid tested too, just to rule it out. It is a cheap test and might give you an answer.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Yes he just got healed up and he started back on work. I guess I should be more clear as I just wormed him and I did weigh him with a weight tape and he weighed a lil over 180 lbs. I'm just not sure how 100% accurate those weight tapes are. But yes I agree he needs to loose some weight.

This is his feed analysis:

Crude Protein, min 14.0%

Lysine, min 0.75%

Methionine, min 0.3%

Threonine, min 0.5%

Crude Fat, min 6.0%

Crude Fiber, max 7.5%

Calcium (Ca), min 0.6%

Calcium (Ca), max 1.1%

Phosphorus (P), min 0.6%

Salt (NaCl), min 0.5%

Salt (NaCl), max 1.0%

Copper (Cu), min 50 ppm

Selenium (Se), min 0.55 ppm

Zinc (Zn), min 150 ppm

Vitamin A, min 5000 IU/lb

Vitamin D3, min 900 IU/lb

Vitamin E, min 100 IU/lb

Biotin, min 0.5 mg/lb

 

[targetsmom]

The weight tapes are not all that accurate for minis, but there is a formula on the Lil Beginnings Main page to convert for minis. http://www.lilbeginnings.com/info/misc/

I forgot to mention that our Insulin Resistant mare is also getting a daily dose of Remission (Mg & Chromium) that is supposed to help with the heavy crest but more importantly, helps to prevent founder. The only downside I have found for Remission is that it contains the same ingredients as Quiessence and my all around mare was getting quieted a bit too much to show in as many events as she does! So she gets a half dose.

 

[whitney]

I had a very over weight mare when I bought her. I undercut her mane BIG TIME to take the weight of the mane off the crest because I was worried it would flop. It didn't and she lost weight and the crest isn't a concern anymore.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Thanks everyone for their respones. It definetlly gives me something to think about. I think it really started after he wasn't exercised. So hopefully exercising will help try to get that fat off his neck. However he always had that cresty neck to him even as a yearling so we are going to go see if its medical at all. Whitney as a yearling we had to do that for him. Now his mane is long but its not near as thick as a yearling. One of our older geldings had a cresty neck on him and we shaved off all his mane and it actually brought it back up, but this is the same one that just foundered so he may have a medical issue. Next year I really want to try and get him in real shape for halter, thats why I asked about neck sweats to see if I can buy anything at Nationals. He will be starting to drive so that will help.

 

[muffntuf]

I don't know if a neck sweat would work though - but there are some felt lined neck sweats. You could maybe even modify a belly wrap to work for his whole neck, because that is what you are going to need, to do his whole neck.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Just a quick update. After I worked with him today I noticed that his crest is starting to get better. He himself looks better. So I'm thinking since he hasn't been worked with in a month he just went down hill with no exercise. Cause he looked great for his July show. I'm still going to get bloodwork done on him tho, just to put my mind at ease.

I still like the feed I'm giving him. I think it was just too much for 1 horse to sit around. I also think he is always going to need a neck sweat and like what you said I may need those belly wraps to cover the whole neck.

Thanks!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Another update. I took my horse to the vet and his thyroid and glucose levels are perfect. So he is fine. My vet also recommended the supplement Quiessence to help with his neck. He says he could loose a few pounds but is not terrible. He was just concerned having a 2 year old gelding that was gelded as a weanling to have such a thick neck. So exercise which I'm doing, I'm getting the supplement, he is still getting fed the same cause the vet looked at his feed and has no complaints about it, also I found a neck sweat that I think is going to help alot. So we should be in good shape.