Advice on encouraging weight loss for my horse?

[tristar]

Actually it's science doing the enlightening, and personally I'm a much bigger fan of empirical data than I am of arguing from authority, which is a logical fallacy anyway. It is all irrelevant to the OP though, whose horse is not in for backing at present.

Ultimately, if people say daft things like "there is no weight on the horse's legs when lunging", people will pull them up on it. I'm sorry if you don't like that, TS.

well i listen and learn from horses, i try study what the horse in front of me needs, people know perfectly well that i meant when lunging the horse has no weight on its legs is because it does not have a rider on board

i see no harm in lunging a horse on a soft surface quietly in walk and trot in squares and large circles whatsoever

and i really do think you look at your manners

 

[JFTDWS]

And I think you need to look at your communication skills if you don't think your initial post was ludicrous!

 

[ester]

But people didn't perfectly know what you meant, did you not read my post?

Nothing wrong with being accurate about language, it doesn't mean bad manners because you happen to confuse people.

 

[tristar]

And I think you need to look at your communication skills if you don't think your initial post was ludicrous!

in the words of mrs brown, who can say it better than i ever could, ```that`s nice``

 

[tristar]

As is usually the case I think there is a balance to be had when training horses especially young or fat unfit ones.

I’m not anti lunging, it has a number of benefits, but it’s down to the skill of the handler. We can spout Spanish riding school until the cows come home but we have to remember those are highly skilled horsemen training purpose bred horses for a specific job.

It doesn’t apply so readily to fat pony with an inexperienced Brit.

There are benefit to cross training on different surfaces and it also doesn’t hurt to get their heart rate up a bit.

But in this instance I think the sensible thing would be to get long and slow stage done first.[/Qfits


but that`s how i learned,from `` highly skilled horsemen`` i am not ``spouting`` the horses at the spanish riding school are started the same way as a lot of other horses, whatever they are destined to do later, our rescue pony training is following the guidelines set out by many top trainers including the spanish riding school, as all others who come here from rescues to to stallions aimed at international sport ultimately

i have the greatest respect for what they have tried to teach and show me from their experience.

i never underestimate the ``average brit`` when it comes to horses.

 

[Gloi]

We have a 6 mile circuit that includes 1000 feet of hill climbing. I try and do it twice a week mainly in walk and it really builds their fitness up . Been round it this morning. How hard they are breathing by the time they get to the top of the big climb is a good monitor. If they can do it in trot they are really getting a good level of fitness.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

op wishing you the best with your horse, you`ll get there.

podhajsky alois, former director of the spanish riding school in vienna recommends lunging all horse for a minimum of three months before and during backing ,quote:`` the longer the period of training on the lunge, the greater will be the trainers influence on the horse``

but never mind i won`t bother with podhajky, i have jftd-ws to `` enlighten`` me now.

But the Spanish Riding School don't lunge in the same way that most people here think of it.

 

[tristar]

But the Spanish Riding School don't lunge in the same way that most people here think of it.

perhaps you would explain further please?

 

[EmilyAndRocket]

We took on an overweight horse at the end of last summer for OH to bring on to hunt and be a master's horse. He had been out of work for three months (not injury related) and turned out on very good grass and was massive! He is an Irish Sports Horse but looked more like a Percheron! But the answer was not to feed him more in an attempt to get more energy, but to get him fit. He did lots of hacking and hillwork whilst getting ad lib haylage but just a token bucket feed. To be honest, at the beginning we weren't sure he'd make the grade, but now he has lost the weight and got fit he is a different horse - much more athletic and forward and much nicer to ride! Sadly didn't get any before photos but here is an 'after'.

Just wanted to add that I am not anti-lungeing at all, as I think it is a useful skill for a horse to have for various reasons, and our youngster was lightly lunged before backing. But like all things moderation is the key and going round and round in circles for long periods is not a good idea. In this case with an overweight, unfit horse it is probably best avoided!

He's gorgeous! And I agree. I hadn't even considered lunging, the thought of boring an already overweight horse and putting more stress on his joints just didn't seem appealing to me.