tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post5431530524699577767..comments2023-04-16T06:04:41.726-04:00Comments on <center>Clover Ledge Farm</center>: The Hardkeeping Horse aka the most frustrating experience ever Clover Ledge Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14738431995755906974noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-15419147291124427582016-10-07T17:25:36.407-04:002016-10-07T17:25:36.407-04:00I hate hard keepers. It's so stressful. I like...I hate hard keepers. It's so stressful. I like beet pulp, rice bran, and oil for all of mine who actually work hard. Whenever I need to get extra weight on them (like with Eugene), I've had good success with Cool Calories and Super Weight Gain. Olivia @ DIY Horse Ownershiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16138490796669110523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-85150442489542870662016-10-06T14:38:04.663-04:002016-10-06T14:38:04.663-04:00Just went through this with my young horse. Made a...Just went through this with my young horse. Made a lot of excuses (its left over from the internal pigeon fever, she's still recovery. She's young and going through a growth spurt. etc.) and then finally faced reality that a concentrated effort had to be made. I'm a vet so super easy for me to do blood work so I did that and made sure there wasn't osmething really obvious - the results were a little abnormal - but could be do to a lot of different stuff like malnutrition, malabosrobtion blah blah. Then I tried all the basic - I did a fenbendozole 2x dose 5 day deworming even though her fecal was normal. I did a gastrogard treatment even though everything pointed towards negative for ulcers, and I fed my hay a bale at a time in a fruit bin even though she didn't actually eat any more hay than when she was fed 2 giant meals. And I checked her teeth which were fine. Result was that 6 weeks later I could see definite improvement and 3 months later she looks damn good. She gets intermettant mashes with a glorified hay pellet and some vitamin E a couple times a week, but mostly just hay. I'm still not sure which of all the possibilities it was....but I don't care because she looks great. I've had one other horse like her in the past that was a hard keeper (a standardbred) and similar worked well with her too. Never had to repeat the wormer and the ulcer meds - but she did die of colic less than a year later so who knows (twisted small intestine). We will see how my current 4 year old goes as she gets older but the lesson I learned was take care of the basics before going too far down the rabbit hole of the complicated answer. Melhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16627065628317652042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-58396964499590149162016-10-05T15:06:12.894-04:002016-10-05T15:06:12.894-04:00Nutrena Pro Force Fuel works great on my hard keep...Nutrena Pro Force Fuel works great on my hard keeper. Went from 14lbs of grain to 8lbs a day. He's 26, 16.3 Han/STB cross. He does eat all his hay and I do have to blanket him when it's cold. I've not had to add beet pulp or flax. Less is sometimes more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15833683020209066907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-33326745000592259182016-10-05T13:46:26.499-04:002016-10-05T13:46:26.499-04:00That sounds frustrating! Especially when you have ...That sounds frustrating! Especially when you have covered all of the big stuff - teeth, ulcers, grain, high quality hay, etc. etc. <br /><br />I don't have any suggestions...but I have heard good things about cool calories. And maybe the alfalfa pellets/cubes will work too?<br /><br />My horse is a "normal" keeper - not too easy, not too hard - and luckily for me, that boy loves his hay. He won't eat more than 1lb of grain at a time (he will leave it in his dish), but I know I can stuff him with hay (or pasture in the summer) and he'll maintain his weight.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07940386405998853917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-34611777906949559022016-10-04T20:56:29.906-04:002016-10-04T20:56:29.906-04:00ohh Katerose, good catch. when Fiddle was losing w...ohh Katerose, good catch. when Fiddle was losing weight, I blanketed her so I wouldn't have to feed so much. <br /><br />(now I blanket so I don't have to deal with rain rot and a foot of mud in her coat--totally different!)AareneXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18072169739345465380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-64926150721701502712016-10-04T11:12:52.076-04:002016-10-04T11:12:52.076-04:00I wish I had good advice, Gen is not necessarily a...I wish I had good advice, Gen is not necessarily a hard keeper, but he is not a fan of hay and never has been. He is the only horse I know to leave flakes a high quality second or third cut in favor of dead grass in the winter. My only thought would be the grain fibergized (have you ever heard of it?). I found it very helpful when Gen was younger and in work. It has been years so I have no idea what is in it anymore, but I remember being okay with the ingredients and ratios when he was getting it. OnTheBithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07688127613313016544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-65870745464633711882016-10-03T17:02:56.886-04:002016-10-03T17:02:56.886-04:00beet pulp beet pulp beet pulp. It's my answer...beet pulp beet pulp beet pulp. It's my answer to a lot of things. Horses who don't like hay often like beet pulp, and nutritionally, they are about equal. <br /><br />You've already checked for ulcers, so that's good. And you did teeth, so that's good.<br /><br />Have you tried flax seed? The endurance-horse-nutrition-guru raves about flax seed. Good for the gut, good for weight gain, good for feet and coat (and it's CHEAP!). Start with a little bit, add a bit more per serving every day until you are feeding 1-2 cups daily. <br /><br />I feed 1 cup flax daily in two half-cup servings mixed with beetpulp and a handful of Ultium (Fiddle isn't working very hard right now). <br /><br />Grind the flax in a coffee grinder (I got one at Goodwill) for about 3-5 seconds to crack the hull. I grind a week's worth every Sunday--in my climate, that works. In warm/humid climates, the flax oils will go rancid if the seeds aren't fed in a few days after grinding.<br /><br />Hope it helps!AareneXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18072169739345465380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-12717310373174799222016-10-03T15:08:25.757-04:002016-10-03T15:08:25.757-04:00I have a super hard keeper and for him I notice th...I have a super hard keeper and for him I notice that blanketing him makes a huge difference. I have never been a big fan of blanketing but Henry will become a skeleton in the colder months no matter how much I'm feeding him. Henry exists to prove me wrong on everything I thought I knew about horses haha. Not sure what your weather is like, maybe occasional blanketing would help too? Just a thought!KateRosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12870548960430847612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-6188955183235727322016-10-03T14:25:49.551-04:002016-10-03T14:25:49.551-04:00I have had very good results with Cocosoya oil top...I have had very good results with <a href="http://equine.uckele.com/cocosoya.html" rel="nofollow">Cocosoya oil</a> top dressed on the morning bowl of Triple Crown Senior. Doesn't make my guy hot, is a good source of omegas, and once I got his weight stabilized, I'm only giving 2 oz daily. Calm, Forward, Straighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08360276614916635500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-69203909932861777532016-10-03T13:56:20.452-04:002016-10-03T13:56:20.452-04:00Oh, great question! I feed a high quality second ...Oh, great question! I feed a high quality second crop timothy/orchard grass mix. It is super nice hay and literally cut from our neighbor's field (we built our farm next door to my hay guy haha)! I definitely have thought about a weight booster, but most are simply fat (which she is already getting the Boost which is 22% fat). Maybe I ought to try Fat Cat or Cool Calories.Clover Ledge Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03980479474173795906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017666900837094302.post-5007120769527232112016-10-03T13:36:37.717-04:002016-10-03T13:36:37.717-04:00What type of hay do you feed? My girls are picky a...What type of hay do you feed? My girls are picky and will turn their noses up at anything not super high quality ($$$) local or fine orchard grass. The vacuum up every last strand of the orchard grass. Other thought is a weight booster supplement... I do need to boost one of my mares weight, she is already losing a bit with the weather... 😕hammerhorseshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07144749417680923288noreply@blogger.com