Advice on grazing management

[Islay]

I have a mare who I just can’t keep the weight off. She is in a field which is very bare and I give her soaked hay in the evening and sometimes in the morning. Ideally I would strip graze her but I can’t get the posts into the ground at the moment. I have a paddock with more grass but if I put her in there she gorges. She is in medium work and has a minimal feed am and pm. I just cant keep the weight off her, to my mind her paddock is dusty and bare. It’s knackering the field but I don’t know what else to do. I can stable her but much prefer her to be out on the move and near the other horses whenever possible. Should I cut out the hay? it feels like she’d hardly get anything at all.

 

[BeckyFlowers]

You could swap one of the hay portions for Honeychop oat straw - I've just started giving mine this because he's a fattie Welsh cob and in a pen (he's not fat at the mo though, but he would be on normal grazing). He's on hardly anything and is hungry, so the oat straw is a good compromise. I've also been using the oat straw instead of chaff for a bucket feed - he gets a vit/min supplement and I chuck in dried spearmint to make it more palatable.

It's difficult isn't it. They need the forage for good gut health but get fat on it. I'm not riding at the mo due to the Covid-19 situation so it's even harder to keep him slim. I feel your pain!

 

[planete]

If you can weigh your hay, 2% of her bodyweight in dry matter should keep her at the same weight, less than that should make her lose weight, you can also soak her hay for half an hour to reduce the sugar content. It is recommended not to give less than 1,5% of bodyweight in dry matter though as this can create other problems. You may have to slow down her intake of hay to make it last longer when you reduce the quantity.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I had a wake-up call this week; had to call my vet as one horse was lame, and he basically said look they're both radically obese and you need to do something about it, like NOW. (ohhh the shame........... !!). He said to do nothing is not an option, because they are both at risk of developing serious issues such as cushings or laminitis if nothing is done.

God knows what they've been eating tho'!! Coz like the OP there's just nothing to eat here........

So they are both now on a track system.

Ditto the above advice re. feeding to bodyweight; its something I've never ever thought about before, but this is what I'm now doing.

They are now having 1% of their bodyweight in fodder and (small) feed. This is a reducing diet and is until they drop the weight. This is for two cobs, one 15hh and the other 13.2hh. They are having 10kilos of hay between them over a 24hr period. Hay to be soaked for more than half an hour but no more than 2 hrs. Allowance is made for one small feed per day - literally a handful, no more, to be Dengie Hi Fi Lite only, nothing else. This was because one needs daily bute.

The track system was totally alien to me; I had a friend help me set it up as she's used it before, and her experience was very welcome coz I just couldn't envision it! It really does help to have someone who knows what they're doing to help you set it up initially - or there are apparently people who will come and do it for you, for quite a large fee I understand!

I'm taking photo's of them both every day plus using weight-tape; tho' the vet wasn't totally convinced of the accuracy of using a tape.

Hope this helps.

 

[Islay]

You could swap one of the hay portions for Honeychop oat straw - I've just started giving mine this because he's a fattie Welsh cob and in a pen (he's not fat at the mo though, but he would be on normal grazing). He's on hardly anything and is hungry, so the oat straw is a good compromise. I've also been using the oat straw instead of chaff for a bucket feed - he gets a vit/min supplement and I chuck in dried spearmint to make it more palatable.

It's difficult isn't it. They need the forage for good gut health but get fat on it. I'm not riding at the mo due to the Covid-19 situation so it's even harder to keep him slim. I feel your pain!

It shouldn’t be so hard! I stopped riding due to COvid too but resumed 5 weeks ago when I learnt yhe pressure was off the NHS here, Hampshire, and I also heard many NHS workers were riding throughout, to take their minds off the hideousness. I will try Honeychop, it goes against the grain to keep them hungry that’s my trouble. Thanks for your reply

 

[Islay]

If you can weigh your hay, 2% of her bodyweight in dry matter should keep her at the same weight, less than that should make her lose weight, you can also soak her hay for half an hour to reduce the sugar content. It is recommended not to give less than 1,5% of bodyweight in dry matter though as this can create other problems. You may have to slow down her intake of hay to make it last longer when you reduce the quantity.

Its below weight!! Thanks for replying

 

[Islay]

I had a wake-up call this week; had to call my vet as one horse was lame, and he basically said look they're both radically obese and you need to do something about it, like NOW. (ohhh the shame........... !!). He said to do nothing is not an option, because they are both at risk of developing serious issues such as cushings or laminitis if nothing is done.

God knows what they've been eating tho'!! Coz like the OP there's just nothing to eat here........

So they are both now on a track system.

Ditto the above advice re. feeding to bodyweight; its something I've never ever thought about before, but this is what I'm now doing.

They are now having 1% of their bodyweight in fodder and (small) feed. This is a reducing diet and is until they drop the weight. This is for two cobs, one 15hh and the other 13.2hh. They are having 10kilos of hay between them over a 24hr period. Hay to be soaked for more than half an hour but no more than 2 hrs. Allowance is made for one small feed per day - literally a handful, no more, to be Dengie Hi Fi Lite only, nothing else. This was because one needs daily bute.

The track system was totally alien to me; I had a friend help me set it up as she's used it before, and her experience was very welcome coz I just couldn't envision it! It really does help to have someone who knows what they're doing to help you set it up initially - or there are apparently people who will come and do it for you, for quite a large fee I understand!

I'm taking photo's of them both every day plus using weight-tape; tho' the vet wasn't totally convinced of the accuracy of using a tape.

Hope this helps.

I want to set up the track but the grounds too hard! Why soak hay no more than 2 hours? I thought the longer the better...

 

[twiggy2]

How small are your small feeds and what's in them?
Exactly how much exercise is she doing?
The ground is never too hard to set up a track system, it makes it more difficult yes and you may have to think of other ways to get it done and maybe inlist some help but if your horse is overweight and not losing with what you are doing things have to change.
Certainly reduce to one rather than 2.
Soak the hay and sprinkle it around the area of turn out she has, sprinkle it as far as you can so she has to move to eat it.
A track system is best, does she live out?
Increase her movement so walk her in hand for 10-20 mins, a brisk walk twice a day will help.
I am more a fan of making them use more calories in which ever way possible over reducing intake to 1-1.5%, you must reach a point she is losing weight though.

 

[JFTDWS]

I have a track system, and I work my two natives as hard as is practically possible. This is currently an absolute pig as I don't have an arena and the ground is hard, so we have to go further and work harder, rather than doing serious cardio. But hey ho, that's a British summer for you.

Surely you can get posts into the field somehow - brute force, selective watering...

 

[irishdraft]

I don't know what level of work your horse does but I know my fatty has to be doing some fairly hard work ie cantering / trotting for quite a distance to keep weight off. Walking about for an hour doesn't make any difference to him

 

[Islay]

How small are your small feeds and what's in them?
Exactly how much exercise is she doing?
The ground is never too hard to set up a track system, it makes it more difficult yes and you may have to think of other ways to get it done and maybe inlist some help but if your horse is overweight and not losing with what you are doing things have to change.
Certainly reduce to one rather than 2.
Soak the hay and sprinkle it around the area of turn out she has, sprinkle it as far as you can so she has to move to eat it.
A track system is best, does she live out?
Increase her movement so walk her in hand for 10-20 mins, a brisk walk twice a day will help.
I am more a fan of making them use more calories in which ever way possible over reducing intake to 1-1.5%, you must reach a point she is losing weight though.

She’s working in the arena or hacking out every day, arena 45 mins 3 paces, hacking 1 to 2 hours, not much speed with ground hard and stoney here. cup of low cal balancer and handful chaff am and pm, soaked hay, restricted grazing, the list goes on...

 

[AmyMay]

Cut the chaff and increase the hacking.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I want to set up the track but the grounds too hard! Why soak hay no more than 2 hours? I thought the longer the better...

Don't know! This was what the vet said, I think it might be something to do with the fact that after that time it tends to ferment a little....... ??

 

[twiggy2]

She’s working in the arena or hacking out every day, arena 45 mins 3 paces, hacking 1 to 2 hours, not much speed with ground hard and stoney here. cup of low cal balancer and handful chaff am and pm, soaked hay, restricted grazing, the list goes on...

I would class that as light work, just feed once a day stop feeding chaff it's calories she does not need, remember that the grass in the turnout area will be growing as it is grazed so even if it does not look a lot she is likely to be getting more than you think.
Increase hacking, a brisk walk not ambling along, hills and short bursts of trot if and when possible.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Don't know! This was what the vet said, I think it might be something to do with the fact that after that time it tends to ferment a little....... ??

I think now they realise 2 hours is generally enough to get most of the sugars out.

 

[Leo Walker]

I have set up a mini track in my bare paddock and that's whats finally cracked it for us. She has hay in a hay ball morning and evening and a hay crate full of straw that she picks at if shes really hungry. She gets one feed a day of the lowest calorie feed I can find. She was still chubby until the mini track went up though.

 

[Leo Walker]

I use a plastic/rubber mallet to bang the posts in