Best way to manage my horse

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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I have a 15.2hh gelding, he has well controlled sweet itch but to my eternal shame, hes fat! I broke my hand and hes had 3 weeks off and put weight on. He was fat to start with and was starting to lose it with work, but I've only owned him 7 weeks. Hes currently out alone full time in an electric fenced 2 acre paddock cross grazed with sheep, wears a sweetitch rug and has fly spray daily and benzyl/sudocreme on anything thats exposed and looks like it needs it. Hes rarely itchy unless he gets hot then he get a bit hysterical and itches when I bring him in for a good 10 mins or so, then settles down. Never itches enough to break the skin though.

He gets a handful of fast fibre, pro hoof, mag ox, linseed, brewers yeast, turmeric, salt and lysine. I have noticed an improvement with itchness and general demeanour since I bought him.

However hes moving in the next fortnight. He will be going out with a couple of other geldings in a much bigger post and railed field. It doesnt look like lush grazing but its not the short cropped grass he gets after the sheep have eaten it down. There seems to be a lot less flies as well, maybe due to their being no sheep poo?

Hopefully at that time I will be able to ride again and can start slow hacking with him to burn some calories, but he wont have the fitness to do a lot at the beginning, and I'm also hoping to pull his shoes and go barefoot as he has the most terrible tiny feet an I'm not happy at all with them as they currently are. How can I best manage his weight? I doubt chucking him out 24/7 will help. Should I stable him some of the time? Try muzzling him? Or is there a better way? I wouldnt be soo worried but hes starting off fat and it worries me!
 
He doesnt get fed as such. He gets literally a handful of fast fibre so I can get his supplements into him. I absolutely wouldn't be prepared to stop that given the improvements since hes been on them. He cant be getting much from fast fibre, its the lowest "calorie" feed I could find that in tiny amount will take a fair amount of powdered supplements, But always happy to hear of anything better?

When you say muzzle him, how? 24/7 or for 12 hours etc? I've read some scary things about how they just binge eat once the muzzles off if you only use it for limited periods. I also cant ride the socks of him as hes fat and unfit. I will ride him as much as possible but it will have to be slow and short to start with. I hope to maintain him with exercise once hes slimmer and fitter as I intend to do a lot of hacking and hopefully find a decent sharer to do a good bit with him as well, but right now I cant ride the socks off him. He was definitely losing weight, then I broke my flipping hand and it all went a bit pear shaped :(
 
catroo said:
I'd stable during the day with well soaked hay double netted then out at night with muzzle on.
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Agree with this, mine is in daytime for 7 ish hours on 12+ hours soaked hay, if grass is long muzzle, mine is on very short grass for this rest of this time, excercised 6 days a week and is starting to turn the corner, felt ribs tonight!
 
I think it's just normal grass. Some long patches, some short and compared to his current bowling green grass not very green looking. I'll pop back up before we move and have a really good look at the grazing. But it sounds like a muzzle would be ok?

I can't soak his hay though. I'm disabled and just couldn't manage the weight of soaked hay. He's not a pig about hay, if I leave him stood in for the day he sleeps and eats next to nothing hay wise, so hopefully that would continue, if not I'll have to look at trickle nets or something. Problem is he likes to use haynets to have a good scratch on so I try and avoid them!
 
Muzzle for 14 hours a day. Chopped straw chaff in a tubtrug while he is in. Lots of walk out hacking, building up to trotting and hill work. It's very simple really.

Also consider dropping the brewers yeast. It can make some sweet itch sufferers go the other way..I'd do a trial period without it, if I were you.
 
Definitely a muzzle is your best bet, but he won't be able to wear it247 so will need to come in during the day. I mixed hay with straw for one of my fatties - she didn't eat th straw but took her ages to sort out the hay to eat! You might need to try the muzzle for short periods to start with til he gets used to it but doesnt sound like he should spend any time on the longer grass without it so can you ask to put him in the field for an hour or so With th muzzle on a few times before he goes in there full time?
 
Regarding the feed, I have to give my mare supplements and like yours, she is prone to weight gain. I've found she will quite happily eat a big scoop of plain, chopped oat straw chaff, with all her supplements in, if I add a slug of apple juice instead of water and put a scoop of mint in it.

Re the hay, you can soak a slice fairly easily by putting it in a small, round washing basket (the plastic sort with holes at the side), immersing it in a large tub trub of water and weighing it down. The basket is easy to lift out and drains well, that may be an option for you?

I feel for you, good doers are a challenge!
 
Can you get electric fencing and set him up a track around the outside of the field? He will be more likely to move more, and once he has eaten what he has got, he will end up with a starvation paddock type vegetation. And he won't be able to get one of the others to groom him. My horse itches and in his case it is a reaction to too much grass - yours might itch less if he doesn't have access to a lot of grass.
 
No, unfortunately I cant restrict the grazing in anyway. There are smaller private paddocks, but none are available at the minute so need to manage him without restricting grazing.
 
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