It's very frustrating getting wt. on a horse sometimes.  do you know anything of his prev. history?  sounds as if you're doing everything you should do.  have you had him scoped for ulcers?  what is your deworming program?   even if a fecal check is neg. it dosn't mean there are no worms.. they'll shed eggs at different times so sometimes you won't see them under the microscope.  is he very active and running it off? how old is he?  have you tried beet pulp mixed in w/ his feed?  does he drink enough water this time of year? stupid question but do you know if he is actually eating the hay/grain or is another horse pushing him away?

 one of my endur. horses was always thin when we competed- like for about 11 years.  he's now 20 and FAT, but we also moved, changed hay,and he's not competing anymore so several factors going on there. 

I'd have to go back and reread your post but have you had his teeth checked by a very good dentist?  what kind of bloodwork did your vet do? reg. CBC/profile or that plus thyroid check?  you might also consider checking for selinium  or other vitamin deficency.   good luck!

I agree, it will drive you nuts with a thin horse and you are working really hard to combat the thinness.  Tapeworms can be a clandestine enemy, they hide, do lots of damage and are a pain to uncover so you know they are there.

1. Do a five day dewormer "power pack" just to make sure about the worms.

2. Do a tape worm treatment a couple of weeks later.

3. The beetpulp/corn oil combo at feed time does a world of good in a lot of areas for nutrition. I'm a firm believer in beetpulp. I strongly suggest the pelletized version from Blue Seal if you have a choice.

4. Find an experienced livestock nutritionalist through your feed dealer and consult with them.  Once again, Blue Seal Feeds has been a great ali for me when I have had feed problems.

5. PM H. Conley and ask him about your problem.  He ALWAYS comes up with very technical and exprienced advice on nutrition problems with horses. I'd bet money he comes up with something we haven't thought of yet!

Happy trails and keep us posted on how things are going.

I agree with Deranger about the power pack dewormer.   It worked on our horse that always was dropping weight.  Someone else had mentioned ulcers........that's a real possibility too.

just my 2 cents.....

I have to agree with Rich about that Calf Manna.....I have used it on calves with great results but my vet also warned me off of any feed that is formulated for cattle.  If others have had good results with it then more power to you. 

I also agree with deringer about the beet pulp, I am a firm believer in it also, I do add corn or veg. oil with mine too.  I have a hard time believing you had a horse colic on beet pulp......because it is so easily digestable and adds a lot of moisture (when soaked)into the gut that is usually helps prevent colic.

The only other thing I can think of that hasn't been suggested is some internal problem such as a tumor or some degenerative disorder that has not yet been diagnosed.  With the amount and quality of foodstuff your horse is getting, providing "he" is getting it and not the other horses, he should be fat and sassy.

One other suggestion I'd like to throw out there is keeping him separate from the other horses for about a week or just a few days.  Not away from them, but sort of in his own area with a fence separating them.  This is where it gets a little nutty, but I'd be interested in how much manure he's generating and what it looks like?  You know what you are putting in, but do you really know what's coming out?  I'm always looking at all 4 of my horse's manure.  I can do that since they are tied in the aisle of the barn while they are eating and any poop in the aisle is right behind them so I can easily check to see if they are digesting what I feed them.  Just a thought to see if one more thing might help solve the mystery.

Happy trails.

Hello,

      I have been reading your posts from the start and thought I would put my 2 cents in.  I have a 2002 ApHC mare that I got when she was 6 months old, wormed her faithfully every 2-3 months, rotating the chemicals of wormers, well in the summer of 2005 she came down with a bad case of round worms.  Mind you I had owned her for 3 years at this point.  Heavily paste wormered her and seen they were gone in 2 weeks, less than 6 months later in mid-winter, she had them again, my vet had me paste worm her then put her on Strongid Daily wormer for 1 month, that worked for a while but again the spring of 2006, she had the roundworms again.  This time I used the Daily wormer until the bucket was gone approximately 2-3 months and it worked.  My vet told me not to go over 3 months, due to a possible immunity build up.  I  put my weanlings on it after 3 months last year and they did better than the ones I had previously raised.  I believe it does work.  Also using Probiotics will help with a horse gain better.  Good Protien (14% or better) and Fats (Rice Bran) are couple things I also use.  Food for Thought.

Some of this is repeats, but: here goes anyway.  Whether you power packed him last fall or not, I would do it again.  Unless your vet is scoping the horse, he can't say the ulcers are gone - & even if he did scope, they can only detect ONE kind.  During & after the power packing, I would put him on a good probiotic.  Then start him on one of the GOOD herbal/homeopathic ulcer treatments.  For feed, I would definitely give plenty of soaked beet pulp, rolled barley, black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS - & ONLY the black oil, NO striped), & flax seed. & free choice loose minerals.  You can't get better than this combo.  Also, on the "float" - who did this?  Was it just a typical vet float???  I would guess this horse has big dental issues that the average vet is NOT knowledgeble about, going to find OR knows how to fix.  And the majority of them that "think" they can, get in there w/the wild power towels (oh yeah, the reciprocating ones are the "best" - NOT.).  Where in MT are you??  We have one of the top DENTIST in the country that comes up to the NW area & I bet he'd find a bunch going on in that horse's mouth.  JMHO