It is always a very sad situation to find a horse that is malnourished and in desperate need of care. Losing weight to a horse is very similar to losing weight in humans. Basically, fat is lost first and then the malnourishment goes on to break down muscle tone. When you find that you have come to care for a horse that has been undernourished, there are many things that you can do in order to help them get back to a healthy weight.

To begin with, you can always work with your veterinarian to see if there are any special treatments that may be helpful to the horse. Your veterinarian can check to see if there is anything else wrong with the horse such as dental problems, which can lead to a lessening of appetite. Once any other problems are ruled out, you can then work on a decent diet to help bring the horse's weight back up to normal.

Always be sure to offer plenty of hay as added roughage for the horse to consume. When you find that the horse is not grazing well with the hay, you can always look to your local feed store to try certain partial hay replacers to help them out with added diet. You can also bring in an extra supplement of feed compared to what you would normally offer the horse. Bringing in extra calories and feed that is higher in fiber can help their diet without having any adverse affects on their behavior.

Labels: horse-care