New...and I have a question.

[trippincherri]

Hi everyone, I have been lurking for quite some time and decided to introduce myself.

I have been around horses all my life, but due to medical issues sold my big horse this spring and down sized to minis.
Long story short, I purchased a weanling filly this summer that is having some issues. When we picked her up she looked 'normal'.
She was perky,good body weight, a little unhandled but not a big deal.
We brought her home and she started to rapidly lose her perkiness, I wrote it off as weanling depression and figured she'd sort it out.
Well 2 months went by and though she is growing taller, she is not gaining weight and looks awful. She is now cow hocked not sure if this is because of the lack of weight in her rear end or not, and is very lethargic.
2 weeks ago I drove her into the vet. They did all the blood work and nothing came back. She said 1 of her liver enzymes was a bit high but nothing to cause concern, she was stumped.
We weighed her and she is only 37kgs, vet said on a scale of 1-9 (9 being fat) she was a 2. I could have cried.
So while I was relieved that nothing serious was found to be wrong with her, I am still left with no answers.

Anybody know why a mini cannot gain weight?
The vet told me to do everything I have been told not to do with minis lol, and let her eat her little heart out.
So 2-3 times a day she is seperated from the herd and given a 16% ration for weanlings, mixed with a touch of oats. Also gave her a B12 shot to boost her.
She seems to be a little better, and I can see some weight coming on her hind end, and she is a bit more responsive.

I don't know what to think of this.
The herd lets her eat so it's not that she's not getting enough feed.
I even thought the hay we first had (grass blend) was maybe not good quality, but tell that to my mares with their round hay bellies , I don't stall these horses, they have shelters to go into and I free feed them during the colder months...pasture them all summer. Not show horses or anything just pets.

I have tried to add pics but it's taking forever and wanting me to resize them. Sigh. Maybe another day.
They have a mineral block and salt block too....free choice.
Any ideas? Anyone? I am still learning so am open to suggestions here.

[horselady]

Mini babies do not push their way to the hay or grain especially if one is new to the herd.
She is going to need to be separated every day for grain and hay and I would also give vitamin supplement.
She is growing so she is going to need more attention than the mares that already have reached adulthood.
Worm also, and perhaps the easiest way to do it is to keep her inside for the night. They are so fragile and down downhill very fast.

[Horselady44]

Okay, here is my 2 cent worth,
I would make sure she is UTD on her deworming. I also would maybe separate her until she gains the weight if that is possible. Give her free choice grass hay and keep her grain up the way you have been. Also, I know for the big horses you can add corn oil to thier feed...can you do that with mini's? what about beet pulp? I dont know much about mini's(dont own one) but I have learned alot from all you HT's! Just some ideas

[trippincherri]

I forgot to mention that I did worm her.
With Panacur,twice. The vet told me not to switch it up until she is older, stick with the panacur for now.
The way our pasture is set up I cannot really seperate her, when I do go out to feed her the ration mixed with oats I actually let her step up into my tack shed so she can eat in private.
The other horses don't bother her when she is in the shed, so I let her eat until she decides she has had enough and then she hops out.
They always have hay available, we built them one of those slow feeders....it does a great job of keeping the hay clean and easily accessible to them, and it is always kept full. Also we have another feeder we keep hay in, plus we are adding 2 more feeders soon. I want to give everybody the chance to eat in peace, not all the girls get along so this way they can eat wherever they feel comfortable.
Our pasture is on borrowed land (my parents) until we get our own acreage, so for now I don't want to build anything permanent like a barn because we would have to move it.
I was thinking of looking into those cover all buildings, then at least we can transport it, and I can put a stall in there if need be.
I will look into the multivitamins and see what I can find.

Also she is not like other babies. She does not shy away from anybody in the pasture and will even push her way into the herd when I am giving out treats.
I can't explain her very well, she acts slower then most horses because of her being weak, it's like she doesn't have the same sense of herd instincts that most should have at that age.
The vet noticed right away that she is kind of "off", sweet natured but not all there...most likely from not getting all the right nutrients. Like I said she is perking up, even whinnies at us when we go out to feed her , so that is promising.
She didn't even roll or lay down like most horses do, and now she has started to act more like a horse.
Our vet was even sending out her results to another vet in the city to see if he could recommend anything else.
Right now it is feed,wait and see. If she can keep the weight on then we are home free...if not then well we will figure that out when it happens.

[kaykay]

We always feed weanlings separate from the herd. They just dont eat as fast as mature horses and would never get enough feed. Ours are fed pretty much free choice equine jr and hay. They have it in front of them all the time and they eat what they need and leave the rest. If yours isnt used to that then build up slowly.

Weanlings really stress when they are moved! Their back legs do tend to go crooked when they drop weight.

If you can get purina equine jr it really does make a big difference on weanlings.

And as said above be sure to deworm her every 30 days. We do young horses every 30 days until they are a year.

[trippincherri]

Thank you all for your input, it is greatly appreciated.

I started her off on a small mix of the ration/oats and she couldn't even finish the little bit that was there, now a few weeks later she is eating a lot quicker and a lot more. Plus she looks forward to feeding times which is a big indicator that she is turning a corner and the way she hops up into the shed to eat at her bowl....wow much more energy.
I do not know if I can get Purina feed for horses up here, the ration I got is a brand called Country Junction, and I have seen Tiz Whiz in stores. I will look into it though.

I asked a different vet about the worming every month and she kinda rolled her eyes and said it wasn't necessary, but I did read that on here and other places on the web that it was necessary.
I also have realised a lot of vets have a stigma about minis, that they are all supposedly 'incorrect' and one vet even told me "minis are like a dwarf version of the real thing and they are not put together very well, complications often happen and they are prone to more disease", I had to bite my tongue lol. I was offended.

I took pictures of her when I first got her and she was not cow hocked, so hopefully the legs will straighten out too. She is by no means conformationally correct , but I like her. Her name is Moxie by the way lol, I realised I forgot to mention that, and she may never be a broodmare....but she'll have a great life and thats whats important. I have 2 other mares that have bad bites and one has a bit of crooked legs going on, but they are such dolls. I bought them anyway because I loved their personalities. My little hodge podge collection hehe.

[giddyupgrandma]

Just another suggestion. One of the minis I adopted in May was really thin and would not eat. My vet suggested treating her for stomach ulcers. I know they are very common in weanlings due to the stress of weaning. I treated her for two weeeks with Ulcerguard ( expensive, but you don't use as much for a mini) and then 30 days of Succeed. Within a few days, she was eating and gaining weight. I also fed Purina Equine Junior and good quality grass hay and always fed her grain away from my other mini. Now I actually think she might be a little chubby---hard to tell under the winter coat!

[farmergal]

I'm going to take a guess here and say it's your hay. The only way to know how much hay she is consuming is to separate her. You already know how much grain she is getting. It might help to know just how much hay she is eating too.

A calf hutch makes a good shelter and it's portable. Put her up at night with her own hay/feed and let her out to be with the herd during the day.