If your horse is losing weight, there could be a number of causes. Dental problems, internal parasites, chronic digestive problems, and stress can all contribute to a horse losing weight.
Since horses chew their food in a grinding fashion, they eventually wear down the surfaces of their molars. Normally, the teeth wear down evenly across the surface of the molar. In some cases, though, the molars wear down unevenly. This can leave points that irritate the horse’s cheeks and tongue. Because of this, the horse may tend to chew less. This does not necessarily mean he is eating significantly less food, just that he isn’t chewing it as well as needed. This results in fewer nutrients being absorbed from the food, which means the horse will be losing weight. An additional sign of molar points can be whole kernels of grain in the horse’s manure, as a result of insufficient chewing. In the case of molar points, an equine vet should be consulted to have the pointed teeth filed down, or “floated.”
Horses losing weight may be infected by internal parasites. There are several different kinds of parasite that affect horses, including ascarids (roundworms), pinworms, bots, and strongyles (bloodworms). Other signs of parasite infestation can include listlessness, loss of appetite, tail rubbing, and rough coat. Proper pasture management and waste management can help minimize your horse’s exposure to parasites. To protect your horse, most equine vets recommend that your horse be dewormed four to six times per year. Depending on your horse’s age and your particular situation, more or less frequent treatments may be advised.
Chronic digestive problems may be the cause of your horse losing weight. Some common conditions include ulcers, chronic diarrhea, or
an obstruction from a tumor. Each of these can not only affect the amount a horse is eating (like humans, horses don’t always want to eat when they don’t feel well), but they can have a serious impact on the ability of the horse’s digestive system to properly process the food. Although the quantities of food ingested may be adequate if the horse is not receiving the complete nutritional value of the food, weight loss can result.
Under severe stress, some horses will simply not eat sufficient amounts to maintain their weight. As with diagnosable digestive disorders, the ability of the horse’s digestive system to process the food can also be affected by increased levels of stress.
For a horse losing weight, it is important to identify the root cause of the weight loss as well as working to increase the animal’s weight. Simply offering more food or varying the diet is not likely to make a significant impact on a horse losing weight due to specific causes. Correcting the root cause of the weight loss will generally help turn around the trend of your horse losing weight.
