Advice please!Managing the fatty competition horse-!

Photos of Spot - I was standing in a corner of his section of field to take the last photo - he's been on that square for about a week with a grazing muzzle on which I took off today & he will stay on it another couple of days.

He has lost a bit of muscle as sprained a fetlock at the beginning of March - day before first ODE of the season:(. He's back in ridden work now but only walk & a bit of trot. Hopefully will be OK to do a bit more soon as very frustrating not to be out doing stuff after a winter of training hard.

He puts on weight so easily & I think is about right at the mo but welcome anyone else's view.

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He looks spot on! Just right. He makes mine look completly obese!:D and I would say that both of them are similar stamps.
I bought a grazing muzzle yesterday and mine looked so sad and so innocent that I'm afraid that I took it off after 10 mins ( he had obviously never had one on before!). It was too big anyway so needs to go back to the shop!

Does your boy mind his muzzle now or does he gaze at you sadly with longing eyes?!:rolleyes:

Hope he comes back into work oK, he's lovely, that must have been so frustrating for him to have the time off :-(
 
He doesn't like it & if I don't put it on when he's on the yard he won't always let me catch him to put it on. I feel very mean esp as sometimes he gets a bit of a sore nose but he doesn't get stressed & at least he can keep a constant trickle of grass going in whereas if he was in part of the day he would just gorge himself when he went out. Our grass is very lush.

Even last winter when it was so cold (he's fully clipped - except legs & in a h/w rug) he still put on weight if he wasn't muzzled.

With the muzzle I can have him on some hard feed to give him a bit more energy for work as he can be quite laid back.

It's a constant balancing act between grass/feed and amount of work & I do sympathise.
 
Well it sounds like he has resigned himself to accepting it!

Hopefully I will get my new muzzle tomorrow & in a couple of weeks
( months?!) I will have a new streamlined and fit looking horse!

My thoroughbreds would be looking racing fit on the amount of work he's been on which has made no difference whatsoever to stomach/bottom size!
 
Good luck with the muzzle - they soon learn how to get the grass through the hole - Spot's is now an oval where it's worn- you would never think that grass could wear away the think rubber/plastic- whatever it is.

All the horses except the brood mares & foals have muzzles on for a while when they move into new sections of grass - they've all got used to it now.
 
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