# Tips to Make This Guy Shiny



## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

So I spent the better part of 3 hours brushing and show sheening and removing the loose winter hair... and while I'm still waiting on the rest of his winter coat to fall out, I'm wondering if anyone has any tips to really bring out the glow in his coat?


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

some people use a bit of pig oil and spunge it on. But if your looking to make him look beter he really needs his front toes cut. they are way to long. I just went through that woth my mare, she is moveing a lot beter now.


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

oh and the best way to get shine is from the inside out! A good feed and maybe some kind of oil or flax.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

A tablespoon of cold pressed flax seed oil every day, or a half cup of freshly ground whole seed.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

myhorsesonador said:


> he really needs his front toes cut. they are way to long. I just went through that woth my mare, she is moveing a lot beter now.


 
Ya I know, the farrier is taking him down by degrees... he's an ex-racehorse and is super low in the heel, so the farrier has him on a 8-week program where he takes him back a little each time so that he maintains soundness. 

*** thanks for the suggestions


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Ya I know, the farrier is taking him down by degrees... he's an ex-racehorse and is super low in the heel, so the farrier has him on a 8-week program where he takes him back a little each time so that he maintains soundness.
> 
> *** thanks for the suggestions


I'm glad that you are aware of it and are doing the right thing to fix it!


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## jyuukai (Apr 19, 2011)

Add one of the many coat-shine products to his feed, or just make sure he has a balanced diet, and groom groom groom! Curry EVERY day, or as often as you can. Follow up with a medium/hard brush and then a finishing brush  I've never had a horse that didn't respond to elbow grease!
When it's warm out a good shampoo that conditions as well can work wonders for a summer coat too.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

When was the last time he was wormed? You might also consider either worming him again with a different wormer or having a fecal done. The appearance of his coat coupled with the pot belly tells me that he may be wormy. That could also cause his winter coat to hang on and his spring coat to be a bit dull and dead looking.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

^ I agree with smrobs, he looks wormy to me, which would definitely be making him lack luster.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

He was wormed mid-April, so I'm not sure if it would be too soon to go at him again with a new dewormer, and most of the horses still have lingering winter coats in the field, so I'm not horribly worried about the winter coat yet.

Again, thanks for the tips guys


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## arashowjumper (Apr 28, 2011)

in the barn i work we give them a spoon of seed of linseed in each meal and its very cheap and keeps them really shinny
hope it helps


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Rice bran works wonders on shelly TB feet and while his weight looks pretty good, it will help him keep his weight.


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

Flax seed is really good stuff. I think you can actually get flax in little cookie treats now. If you wanted to you could probably start him on a coat supplement.


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## wren (Dec 13, 2009)

i feed my boy soy bean meal. it helps keep his weight up since he is a starving TB..and has teh great side-benefit of making him super super shiny!


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## 2manypets (Mar 28, 2011)

A good de-worming program and some BOSS added to the feed works for me!


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## eventer757 (Feb 23, 2009)

I've tried corn oil and rice bran (for weight and shininess), both of which worked, but this past winter I put her on Omega Plus (made by Legends) to make sure she was getting the _right_ kind of fatty acids, and she looks great, especially now that she's done shedding out, and especially considering she doesn't get groomed as much as she should  Anyway, that's in addition to free choice hay and grass and her regular feed.


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

2manypets said:


> A good de-worming program and some BOSS added to the feed works for me!


BOSS is not the best thing to use. It is to high in omega 3(?) which premotes swelling. I used to feed it and have now stopped.


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## eventer757 (Feb 23, 2009)

myhorsesonador said:


> BOSS is not the best thing to use. It is to high in omega 3(?) which premotes swelling. I used to feed it and have now stopped.


I have heard the same about corn oil, which is why I stopped. The Omega Plus seems to be well-balanced in the omegas department, but I don't really know enough to know what is ideal.


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## OffTheTrack (Sep 23, 2010)

Nothing beats good food, Omega Horseshine and lots of grooming. (baring any medical issues...ulcers, being wormy etc)


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Just a quick note that before you ditch the BOSS, check out this pretty informative page. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for Horses

My boy went from being dull and rough looking and in 3 months, he shines so bright it is almost obnoxious. I was just trying to add weight but ended up with a very healthy, shiny horse in the process. 

Froggy was getting Triple Crown Low starch 3#, 2# Rice bran, 1# beet pulp, 16oz BOSS + Veg oil.


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## KennyRogersPaints (Jan 9, 2011)

Use Dac oil, Thats what I use on my filly and it is great! heres a link...

On-Line Catalog : dac® : Vitamins and Mineral Supplements For Horses and Livestock


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## spookychick13 (Jan 1, 2011)

I am personally a big huge fan of smartpak's smartshine ultra. 
SmartShine Ultra - Horse Skin & Coat Supplements from SmartPak Equine


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

corinowalk said:


> Just a quick note that before you ditch the BOSS, check out this pretty informative page. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for Horses
> 
> My boy went from being dull and rough looking and in 3 months, he shines so bright it is almost obnoxious. I was just trying to add weight but ended up with a very healthy, shiny horse in the process.
> 
> Froggy was getting Triple Crown Low starch 3#, 2# Rice bran, 1# beet pulp, 16oz BOSS + Veg oil.


 
I hade the wrong omega, it's 6 not 3. I always get them backwards.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

I would consider worming him with a power pac he has looked wormy in several of your previous pictures on different posts also. That will help his coat greatly along with a good feeding program


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

I personaly use flax oil and my 15hh pony gets 25mls every day.

All my horses are incredibly shiney even the oldies who are still clinging on to the last dregs of their winter coats.


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## YoungCowgirl (May 7, 2011)

For a nice glossy/shine, I would add 1/2 cup of black oil sunflower seeds to his diet everyday (am or pm). It works wonders.


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## teamkrissynmissy (May 13, 2011)

color enhanser whould also help not only for shine but to brighten up his coat its would also help whiten his leggs


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## lildonkey8 (Dec 12, 2010)

try putting fly spray on and then brush him. It needs to be a natural fly spray though


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## countercanter (May 18, 2011)

He definitely looks wormy, I would have a fecal count done on him. A shiny coat comes from a healthy horse. Make sure he is on a good, well balanced diet. I too am a fan of flax seed, my horse gets it every day. Also, one grooming session isn't going to give you a shiny horse, a consistant, every day grooming, especially lots of currying to bring out his natural oils, is going to give you a shiny horse. Spraying a bunch of show sheen type products is going to give you a fake shiny and isn't good for their coat. You also need to give him a chance to shed out before you get a really shiny coat.


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## countrygirl91 (May 16, 2011)

lots of currying(even when shed out)
shed blade once or twice over
quick short strokes with a hard brush couple of times
either spray show sheen or a mosterizing conditioner on the horse and then brush with a soft finishing brush 
or you can spray it onto the brush and then brush normal

healthy diet helps, but with a winter coat its hard lol.And you can see the shine immediatly just from the short quick brush job  Hope to see him shine!!


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

countercanter said:


> He definitely looks wormy, I would have a fecal count done on him.


Vet was out and he's not wormy... she says she thinks he's more got a hay belly from the winter than anything else (he's the kind of horse who likes to stand at the bale eating all day, and not prone to playing) 

I am noticing with the coat slowly shedding out that he's getting shinier and shinier, gonna head over to the bulk barn tomorrow to pick up some stuff for his grain (Bulk Barn is much cheaper than Greenhawk XD)


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## Can He Star (Mar 9, 2011)

welll performer three oil is greart for a shiny and healthy coat. it is oil that you mix in with thier feed as well as pellets and chaff. here is a example. exersice also helps and curry combing after exersice is good fro removing hair. 
show sheen and other spray on stuff will only last so long.......








http://www.horseforum.com/members/21939/album/cute-photos-2800/a-18526.jpg


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## countrygirl91 (May 16, 2011)

Not the mosterizing, mosterizer conditions and softens the skin promoting a shiny healthy coat.


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## fuadteagan (Jun 10, 2010)

I agree with inside out! I think you need to just start putting flax seed oil in his feed and watch his coat change. Everyday run the shedder over him and start excercising. I understand with weather and such but he really looks err kinda bad from the huge stomach to the small neck to the tiny hinquarters. He doesn't look like at TB. Anyway, don't put too much products & crap on him because that is just making him look OK by putting some crappy preservative stuff on him. I'm sure your not like showing him so I don't think he needs to be shiny and perfect. Start with feed and be patient. If you did it right he should look better and curry and put the shedder over him EVERY day. He will have a sleek coat in no time.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Vet was out and he's not wormy... she says she thinks he's more got a hay belly from the winter than anything else (he's the kind of horse who likes to stand at the bale eating all day, and not prone to playing)
> 
> I am noticing with the coat slowly shedding out that he's getting shinier and shinier, gonna head over to the bulk barn tomorrow to pick up some stuff for his grain (Bulk Barn is much cheaper than Greenhawk XD)


Just because the vet said that does not make it true.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

I too have to question how the vet can tell he isnt wormy?

A feacal egg count for red worm, a blood test for tape worm are the only ways to find out if there are worms and even then they wont show encysted red worm and sometimes they dont show tape worm.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

faye said:


> I too have to question how the vet can tell he isnt wormy?
> 
> A feacal egg count for red worm, a blood test for tape worm are the only ways to find out if there are worms and even then they wont show encysted red worm and sometimes they dont show tape worm.


In my area a few mini's died unexpectadly so after the 2nd one died they did a necropsy and were surprised to see how wormy they were.
These had been wormed regularly and had had neg fecal test.
So I go on appearance and this horse looks wormy.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

worms are now resistant to alot of wormers so yes a horse can be regularly wormed and still have a massive worm burden.

Faecal egg counts are not 100% reliable, they do not show encysted red worm, they do not show tape worm, nor do they show bots or pin worm. They also do not show worms in the larvicidal stages. however they are a very good tool for seeing where you are up to and if you ask the lab to test for drug resistance whilst you are at it, they can be invaluable


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

churumbeque said:


> Just because the vet said that does not make it true.


What are you saying? We should not believe our vets?


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

vets are human just like the rest of us, they too make mistakes.

I've had a vet kill one of my dogs because he decided that it was just anouther ft retriever. Dog stopped eating and we were told not to worry about it he would eat when he was hungry, i didnt push it even though my gut was telling me otherwise as I trusted my vet. Dog died 2 days later as he had a tumor the size of a rugby ball on his spleen.

Anouther friend of mine has had a vet kil her horse due to ignorance. Horse had what the vet decided was an abcess in his hoof that was too deep to dig out. 
Owner accepted that and hot poulticed for nearly a week, no puss came out, vet refused to do anything more saying it was just an abcess and to keep poulticing, horse was in incredible amounts of pain. Owner fought with vet and refered herself to a local vet hospital (normaly you cant do this as you have to have a referal from a vet, but they accepted it under exenuating circumstances due to the amount of pain the horse was in). horse went to the vet hospital, 1 xray later and the horse was immediately taken in to surgery to remove hlf the pedal bone as the infection was deep within the bone and destroying it. Horse lived for 2 days afterwards but unfortunatly had to be PTS in the end. Vet hosp said that if the horse had been refered to them 2 days earlier the horse probably would have lived but he was so weak and the infection had gotten such a hold that his chance of survival had been very slim when they actualy got him to the operating table.

Whilst I will always ask my vets oppinions and will normaly respect and agree with wha they say, If my gut is telling me that there is something wrong then I will always get a 2nd oppinion.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

mls said:


> What are you saying? We should not believe our vets?


You have to exercise good judgement, if something does not sound correct then it is your right to question it. Doctor's do not agree that is why people get more than 1 opinion. I see vets tell clients what they think they want to hear so the client doesn't have to hear how they could have prevented the problem or have taken better care of their horse.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

churumbeque said:


> You have to exercise good judgement, if something does not sound correct then it is your right to question it. Doctor's do not agree that is why people get more than 1 opinion. I see vets tell clients what they think they want to hear so the client doesn't have to hear how they could have prevented the problem or have taken better care of their horse.


However - you made a blanket statement. You need to remember your audience and qualify your response - or ask additional questions.

In this case the vet saw the horse - we did not.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

mls said:


> However - you made a blanket statement. You need to remember your audience and qualify your response - or ask additional questions.
> 
> In this case the vet saw the horse - we did not.


Yes I made a blanket statement that I stand by. Just because someone has given an opinion does not make it right. I did not say they are wrong every time as that would be a blanket statement.

Why would you even be arguing this? Doctors are wrong all the time but I am glad you are here to police the posts.

My money is on this horse has a health issue, could be worms, could be a bad feeding program, or some other health issue but something is not right.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Vet was out and he's not wormy... she says she thinks he's more got a hay belly from the winter than anything else (he's the kind of horse who likes to stand at the bale eating all day, and not prone to playing)
> 
> I am noticing with the coat slowly shedding out that he's getting shinier and shinier, gonna head over to the bulk barn tomorrow to pick up some stuff for his grain (Bulk Barn is much cheaper than Greenhawk XD)


A hay belly is caused by poor quality hay as it is harder to digest. Feeding better quality feed will help his appearance and his coat condition


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

I will back her up on that blanket statement as don't see how any vet can say "he's not wormy" without ether a faecal egg count and blood test (neither of which can be done on sight and very rarely do the vets have the lab facilities and tme to do the tests themselves). 

There is only one other way to test conclisivly for the presence of worms and tha is to get the horse under general anasthetic and have a look inside its guts. Agan this cant be done at a yard.

So yes in this case I would be challenging the vet, I'd at the very least be asking the vet to give me his reasons for him not thinking the horse was wormy. Any GOOD vet will always be happy to explin anything you ask them about and pertcularly when you ask thier reasoning behind decisions.


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## 1RedHorse (May 3, 2011)

Im willing to bet my last paycheck he has ulcers.

BTW its not just the toe that needs to be addressed, its his angles. His heels are under run, as well as too much toe. I would have him done every 5 weeks.

I would get him scoped for ulcers.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

I know the angles are an issue, were working on that with the farrier, and I trust his judgement on what is a good trimming schedule... anyways I'm thinking I'm going to go with my own gut.

One of the young women at my barn is a Vet Tech and I've talked to her several times, as well as the vet, and other horse people in my area who know both me and my horse, and besides the beergut he's perfectly content and in good shape for not being ridden all winter - that's what happens when you work a full-time job and board him elsewhere. Nobody who personally knows either of us is concerned, and while I do intend to deworm him with a different type of dewormer (just to play it safe), I haven't noticed a drastic change in him since I've had him that suggests he's suffering.

I thank you for your concern and advice.


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## 1RedHorse (May 3, 2011)

Do some research on angles..I highly doubt that his feet were in such shape on the track. I own an ex racer as well.

If this horse hasnt been worked all winter I would expect him to be on the fat side, not dull and skinny (no offense). My bet is if you shaved him you would see ribs, backbones and hipbones.

Promise he has some sort of gut issue 

What kind of feed are you giving him? High starch feeds are a horses worse enemy ,especially an ex racer.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

1RedHorse said:


> Do some research on angles..I highly doubt that his feet were in such shape on the track. I own an ex racer as well.
> 
> If this horse hasnt been worked all winter I would expect him to be on the fat side, not dull and skinny (no offense). My bet is if you shaved him you would see ribs, backbones and hipbones.
> 
> ...


In Perches eyes she does not see him skinny like we do. Maybe in their area they have poor hay and all the horses look that way so he looks like every one else's horse??? Just a thought


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

He still has too much winter coat to be shiney. Mine love to roll in sand and it sure puts a shine one them and they get timothy hay with alfalfa cubes for a treat.


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## 1RedHorse (May 3, 2011)

churumbeque said:


> In Perches eyes she does not see him skinny like we do. Maybe in their area they have poor hay and all the horses look that way so he looks like every one else's horse??? Just a thought


 Perhaps. The horse is obviously not in good health.

Sunken in eyes, cracked hooves, dull coat, pronounced backbone/hips.

So someone is a 'vet Tech" and you take their word as the absolute truth? What is her experience? Did she go to vet school? How is her horses condition? If I listened to the people I board with my performance horses would be on all stock pellet and crappy hay. 

If this were my horse I would:

fire the farrier
have bloodwork/fecal done
scoped for ulcers

on a low NSC feed
high fiber diet
flax


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

saddlebag a horse in good health can have 8 inches of winter coat and still be shiney

this is stan with full winter coat and havng not had a bath for nearly 2 years.

























and stan with half a winter coat having been dragged out of a field given a 10 min bath and a **** good brush and shoved into the show ring.
BTW before ths show this pony had had 2 years off work due to injury, he had wintered out without rugs and had lost a conciderable amount of weight due to stress and pain that I hadnt yet managed to get back on him. At no point where his ribs showing and I concider any loss of shine to be a sign that something major is gong wrong.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Faye,

And he looks soft to the touch. It makes you want to run your fingers across his neck to feel him


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

When he had a full winter coat he was like a giant teddy bear. brilliant at givng hugs and so very soft.


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## ponyjocky (Apr 12, 2010)

Clip him!


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

ponyjocky said:


> Clip him!


No Dont clip him. 

If his summer coat has already started coming through then clipping hm will damage the summer coat and mean they you will not get a full shine on him this year.


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## ledge (May 23, 2011)

Lots of brushing helps also, like its been replied the diet also helps, so does the individual horse, my mustang we have to body shave her in the summer she's just a shaggy girl, but the huge mare she stays slick and shiny all year.

we feed a supplement called Natures Essentials from purina, that seems to help because, i know mine don't like the taste of the flaxseed


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## reiningfan (Jan 7, 2008)

He really doesn't have the appearance of a thrifty horse. To get the shine you want, I agree with several of the other posters. I would change his feed program to add some fat, deworm him again, get a different farrier and then put him on a light exercise program to slowly build muscle.
A good percentage of high level performance horses such as race horses have ulcers. If scoping him is out of your budget, look into putting him on an ulcer program. Gastroguard can get pricey, but there are other products out there that work. 
If I get horses in from other farms, they get dewormed every month for 3 months, just in case. I use Quest on the third deworming because of it's residual effect. 
Good luck with him.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CountryBabe6 (May 27, 2011)

NO offense but he looks really wormy to me too. Dull spring coat, pot belly, kind of thin, those are good signs. Switch what de-wormers you use, because the worms will become immune to what you are using if you use it on your horse repeatedly.


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## CountryBabe6 (May 27, 2011)

1RedHorse said:


> Perhaps. The horse is obviously not in good health.
> 
> Sunken in eyes, cracked hooves, dull coat, pronounced backbone/hips.
> 
> ...


 



There is nothing wrong with the farrier, this is the safest way to go when trimming hooves. If they go from LONG to SHORT the horse would be stumbling from the big change. I have the experience to prove that. just saying. :wink:


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## Marlea Warlea (Apr 27, 2010)

mix pumpkin into his feed... i no it works on chestnut horses but i think it'll work on him too!


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

churumbeque said:


> Why would you even be arguing this? Doctors are wrong all the time but I am glad you are here to police the posts.
> 
> My money is on this horse has a health issue, could be worms, could be a bad feeding program, or some other health issue but something is not right.


Giving my opinion is policing posts? :shock:


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

1RedHorse said:


> So someone is a 'vet Tech" and you take their word as the absolute truth? What is her experience? Did she go to vet school? How is her horses condition?


No, her word is not the absolute truth, it is her opinion. And to be honest, I find her to be more finicky about little things than most people I know. Her horse gets a bruise and he is administered pain meds at once. She's in her early twenties (like me) and has worked with horses for 10 years. She has gone to vet school, and her horses are in pretty good conidition from what I can tell.

Once again, I thank you for your concern. And I have made a few changes to his feeding program, as well as enlisted the help of one of the on-site employees of the barn to ensure that Nikki gets his grain feeding daily even when I am unable to make it out to the barn. 

I've decided to try a mix of high fat-high fibre grain, a little less than a 1/4 cup of coco-soya, a scoop of a multi-vitamin grain supplement, a scoop of a zinc (and something) mix supplement that is supposed to promote stronger hooves that aren't as prone to drying out and cracking.

Hoping this, along with the fresh growing vegitation will give him the boost he needs. And I am noiticing his winter coat has almost fully come out, to the person who suggested shedding after a work out, I noticed this helped tenfold!

Thanks again for the tips, and hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures as the summer progresses of how he changes.


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## Thelma (Jun 22, 2009)

I give my horses corn oil or olive oil into the corn food. I put sometimes something like this : Google myndaniðurstaða fyrir http://www.lysi.is/Media/w200/6b37e3e707a9d30.jpg 

over the food, but I think it's only sold in Iceland. 

my very own tip that I love and use nearly every day is when you have gone for a ride, you horse is sweat and wet, brush him a little, then put on a coat and let it be for 2 hours. it's best to let it be over a night and after 1 or 2 times your horse looks incredibly shiny!!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I have observed horses for many years and there is a time in the spring when the coats appear dull because of the shedding of hairs that are no longer receiving nutrients. In full winter coat my horses are shiney but do go thro that dull coat stage. The new summer coat is too short to influence the shine of the old shedding winter coat.


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## Gallop On (May 1, 2011)

He wont be getting that shiny until he loses that winter coat. I have a everyday grooming routine which involves like currying, brushing, "Slick n Easy"ing, And I like to get a damp rag and a bucket filled with pure water and wipe him down. Ill show you a picture or two of how shiny he is. If you get him on some good feed and shed out all that winter coat he will be shiny soon enough  My horse was super dull right before he lost all his winter coat so have patience


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow! Gallop your horse is beautiful!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Can He Star (Mar 9, 2011)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Wow! Gallop your horse is beautiful!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 hmmmm post some pics of him now


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

The most recent pictures I have of Nikki are from the Show which was almost two weeks ago, and he's been on his new feed program for about a week now, so tomorrow I hope to get some pictures and see what - if any - changes have overcome him. 

But because I'm a proud momma I'll post a couple of the show pics (he was still a little fuzzy in the rump and belly). 



















And, to compare to last summer when his winter coat had completely fallen out:


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## Gallop On (May 1, 2011)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Wow! Gallop your horse is beautiful!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Thank you so so much  I cant help it, here is a some before and after photos of the day we rescued him and about a week ago  he has come so far and is turning out to be such a wonderful horse!


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm a shine fanatic! I also hate shelling out a ton of money. 
I would say... Curry curry curry! And I LOVE smartpak products. I use smartpak smartshine on my picky eater. He glimmers through the winter and he licks the stuff out of the bucket.

Only $10 for a months supply, automatically shipped every month, already measured out. I love it!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

He may be a good candidate for one of those powerdose wormings (by safeguard); it is a 5 day worming regimine. He seems quite ribby and potbellied (for my taste), as well as lacking in muscle in general. Could be something worth looking into; at the least get a current fecal done.

He WILL NOT shine if he is unhealthy from the inside out...period; and worms or teeth are the "usual" culprits if it involves the coat and weight.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

So this is week one of his new feed supplement and after having all his winter hair shed out. Forgive the bad angle and the fence, I was taking pictures with my phone while I was waiting for the hoof lotiong to seep in.










All his winter hair is shed out, and he is slowly gaining more sleeky hair.


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## Moonstruck (Apr 22, 2011)

Cute face! Kinda hard to see with the fence in the way but it looks like his winter coat is pretty much gone!


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## To ride the sky (May 30, 2011)

The less you do the better! No fancy supplements, no overgrooming!
I just feed my mare local hay, turn her out on pasture everyday and give her a very basic mineral/vitamin supplement. I don't really brush or comb her just bathe her with baby shampoo and she has the shiniest coat and longest/silkyest mane and tail of any horse I know. I have to trim her bridle path and tail weekly. I do lightly curry her every day to keep dust and mud off and this seems to also bring out her natural glow. I also find that turnout with other horses helps them excersize themselves which increases circulation and brings out their natural oils. 

Here are some photos of my girl!


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## To ride the sky (May 30, 2011)

Whoops here they are


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

To ride the sky: I would just like to point out that Flirt is black&grey paint (gorgeous btw) but black/dark brown hair is the easiest and most natural color of hair to pick up shine...

Us chestnut and palomino owners can have a harder time with it. As do blonde gals compared to brunettes. I had to do A LOT of grooming, diet change, and an omega three supplement to get my light chestnut shiny. I'll post the before and afters in a bit. Horse forum thought my scrawny gelding was wormy too.. Hah
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

Scrawny dullness











Winter coat











Summer shine 











Lots of grooming, healthier food, better forage, and flax based omega 3 supplement!


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow! love how those dapples just came right out in his coat!

And I have to agree that lighter horse don't naturally get as powerful a shine as the darker horses, but that spotted girl up there is a beaut!


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

The shiny is starting to come out in full!  It's been almost 3 weeks now that Nikki has been on his new diet of BOSS, flax, paprika, oats, high fat high fibre, vitamin supplements, and bioten. 

I have to say I'm pleased with the results thus far, and can't wait to see what another 2-4 weeks will look like.


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