Horse of the week - Vinnie

"Brief background:

Vinnie finished racing in February but was kept in ridden work by his trainers until I bought him in March. When he arrived, he was in amazing condition and still quite muscular. The training yard had already switched his food, so I continued with what they were feeding him. He was wormed upon arrival.

I noticed he was starting to look a bit ribby in April, but I attributed it to him changing shape from losing a bit of his fitness. At this time, I wasn’t overly concerned but increased his concentrate feed. I also had a brand new saddle fitted around this time.

In June, he went lame with a hoof abscess and was off work for three weeks. During this time, I really started to worry about his weight. He still had a shiny coat, but to me, he didn’t look like he should on summer grazing, and it really started to upset me. I was beating myself up, thinking I was starving this poor giant of a Thoroughbred despite his good appetite and the amount he was being fed. I have owned horses and ex-racers for 35 years.

Once he had recovered from his abscess, I brought him back into work, but he was no longer the laid-back dude being hacked out; he was becoming nappy and spooky, and would plant or try to spin around. Then one day, when I was girthing him up, he was really agitated and nearly bit me. This was really out of character, so I knew he was trying to tell me he was uncomfortable, and my immediate thought was stomach ulcers, so I called my vet.

In the meantime, I found a really helpful group on social media all about the correct feeding for horses with ulcers. It turns out the food I had been giving him could actually cause ulcers! So, I gradually changed his food to a more suitable one. This group is also where I learned about Equinectar.

The vet came, conducted a thorough examination, and took bloods. Nothing untoward was found, and the bloods came back clear. The next step would be scoping for ulcers, but with my vet’s blessing, I opted to try another recommended product first, then introduce Equinectar.

I gave Vinnie a month off work, and four weeks into a six-week treatment program, I was starting to see some weight gain, but he was still a little anxious having his saddle on. It wasn’t until I started Equinectar that I really noticed a difference. Two weeks on, and I’ve got my lovely boy back, not phased by having his saddle on and much happier out hacking. He’s also gaining weight, as you can see from the photos; the first pic was taken in June.

It’s still early days, and I hope I haven’t jinxed it, but so far, I’m extremely happy with Equinectar. Oh, and he absolutely loves it!"