Underweight horse

[Niassa]

I have found a horse to buy which ticks all of my boxes (temperament, experience, size etc) but one-it’s condition- it is definitely underweight.

If I go ahead I would have it 5 stage vetted.

It’s the end of winter so I’m hoping it isn’t a major issue, but I’m fairly inexperienced…

Would you buy an underweight horse?

Yes but only after full vetting including bloodwork.
Exactly how underweight is it and what breed? What is the body score?
Remember it is healthy for a horse to lose weight over winter and I keep mine lean going into Spring. Horses are natural yo-yo dieters and shouldn't be going into spring too well covered.

I had mine vetted but she was underweight and under muscled when I bought her. 7.5 years on she’s 40kg heavier, well muscled and thriving at 16!

Just another thought, is it underweight or under muscled/lack of topline?

Yes, i would. My first horse was underweight when I went to view him. Got him vetted, no issues and he put on weight with a few months of good grass. Turned out the be the best horse I've owned.

Echo the others. Is it actually underweight or just lacking top line, I had a TB who was out of work for a year after and accident while being an idiot and going dry stone wall hopping around local farms He looked horrendous due to muscle wastage as he was on box rest for so long so not using himself much at all but weight wise was actually ok.

If it is genuinely “poor” I’d want to speak to the owner about why, and get bloods done, and expect that I could potentially be dealing with some issues with teeth/ulcers etc.

Also you say you’re inexperienced… how inexperienced are we talking, if you’ve only ever been around a small handful of horses they could be fat, a lot of horses are very overweight, and people get a bit quick to call fit, healthy horses underweight when they are actually perfect.

Also as a final point as you mentioned temperament, if he is poor you might find that back up to weight and feeling a bit better that suddenly they might not be as quiet…

This - you’d need advice on feeding to not heat them up too much. There’s feeds on the market that can assist weight and muscle gain but some will make the horse extra spicy 🤣 Thankfully there’s loads of feed companies who will send people out to answer questions and help.

So long as the horse is otherwise healthy then go for it just if you are inexperienced get some professional help on route

I would always rather keep a horse who tends towards being underweight than a good doer. I find managing grazing a nightmare for our fatties. As others have said though, there are other considerations.

Better to seek help from an independent nutritionist than a feed company. As an example some market their products as being suitable for laminitis when they aren't (too high levels of starch/sugar).

Depends who you go with. Some are happy to recommend other feeds - based on personal experience. Ive had 2 that come out that have suggested other chaff based products that suited better. Also, the marketing for most feeds is a bit off and just because they are called a certain thing, doesn't mean they will be suggested. Just an example - my 3.5 year old is on veteran light because it has everything she needs in it. Sometimes depending on area it's easier to get a company than a nutritionist out. Another idea is to go to a feed retailer nearby. Their staff SHOULD be educated on the best feeds for certain things

Yes if really underweight that probably means generally quite weak and unfit too (unless a fresh oft tb or similar!). Horses like this can come across as really quiet and calm but that's because they're generally at quite a low ebb and lacking energy, when fed up (even on forage or non heating feed) and their muscles developed they can suddenly start to feel a lot more lively! Also I would certainly want someone to have a good look at his feet, teeth, eyes and back as if he's been allowed to drop a lot of weight simply through not getting enough food (as opposed to illness) I'd worry none of this has been properly attended to either. In fact I think my spidey senses would be tingling just a little at any genuine bombproof novices horse being allowed to get underweight at all, it's really quite unusual in my experience to see a genuinely underweight horse these days, normally quite the opposite problem applies, if you've been given a reasonable explanation of course that's different but on the face of it it would worry me for sure...

It is an ISH and I would say the body score is 3/9 or slightly over, ie thin and that it is both underweight and under muscled, although not horrendously so.
Your collective wisdom is very helpful! It’s a good point about temperament, at the moment the horse seems willing but calm under saddle but I can see that he might hit up a bit (or a lot!) once it’s condition improves.

• hot up a bit once its condition improves..

That also brings me on to tack as it won’t come with any.
Although I plan to have the yard’s trusted (and expensive) saddle fitter supply a lovely new saddle once the horse has regained some weight and muscle in 2-3 months, I will need a ‘temporary’ saddle in the interim.
Can anyone recommend a less expensive adjustable interim option I can buy myself and get the fitter just to check rather than supply?

You need to get an interim saddle fitted and then just accept you will have to trade it in further down the line. A poorly fitting sadfle can cause a lot of damage and a cheap interim is a false economy.
It will also take longer than 2-3 months to get a 3 to even a 6. The worse thing you can do with an underweight horse is yo pump it full of hard feed. The starting point should always be ad lib hay/halyage and you want slow and gradually weight gain over 6 months.
Have the sellers given a reason why it is so underweight?

How old is the horse?

Is it a dealer selling or private and what have they said to explain why horse is underweight?

Hmm. I can think of a local rogue dealer who sells underweight horses, describing them as quiet, easy hackers. They are kept in poor condition, buted up and sold.

I’m going to leave this one….

It is SO hard to find what I’m looking for-

Fairly forward but not sharp
Sensible hacker with potential for low level riding club stuff
15-15.3hh
6-12 years
Fairly fine build (I’m small and light)
Decent budget

Any one know of a genuine horse?

Unfortunately what you are looking for is what most of the market wants. So they will go quickly when they do pop up.

Whereabouts in the country are you someone may be able to recommend a good dealer or agent

You are looking for the same thing as everyone else so the genuine ones get snapped up quickly.
Whereabouts are you?

South West- but I’m happy to travel up to a couple of hours.

@Niassa ah sorry I'm in NE England so no use for you

Here you go!

https://www.olx.pt/d/anuncio/cavalo-cruzado-com-8-anos-livro-verde-IDIdsL6.html

Slightly TIC but you can get an excellent horse in Portugal for a lot less than the UK, even when you factor in shipping.