chubby horse diet ideas!

noblesteed

noblesteed

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Hi, wondered if anyone has any weight loss tips for my chunky chap! He's 15.1 hh connie x iberian and is really fat at the moment!
He is out all day on good grazing, in at night. He gets 1 slice damp hay at night which he scoffs! Feed is 1/2 scoop hi fibre nuts + 1/2 scoop applechaff, and a carrot or two, only at tea time.
He is currently quite unfit due to me having a month off riding with a broken arm, but is now being hacked out 3-4 times a week and lunged maybe once.

Does anyone have any weight loss ideas? Change feeds? Would I be cruel to leave him in a thinner rug to burn extra calories?
 
I would give him more than one slice of hay, to ensure that his gut keeps moving - I'd be worried about the risk of colic otherwise
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Keep soaking it though, as that shall make sure doesn't contain many calories.

Limit his grazing, if you believe that it is "good" although we are getting to the time of year when grass doesn't tend to be.

Hard feed - scrap the nuts and IMO, give him just bailey's lo cal, and a handful of dengie good doer chaff.

Certainly leave him in the lightest weight rug possible
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If he were mine I would cut out ALL hard feed apart from a bit of hifi lite and a vit/min supp. I would up his work as much as possible. Yes, I would under rug him.
But I would increase hay intake, 1 slice (I'm assuming small bale) is nowhere near enough for a healthy gut. I would give 3 well soaked slices in a small holed net. Or alternatively consider feeding good quality straw.
If possible I'd get him on poorer grazing too.
 
Depending on how chunky he is, I would either cut the feed out alltogether, or change it to Hi-Fi Lite or something similar. I would however give him more hay, probably 3 slices - I would wet the cr*p out of it for at least 12 hours, and then put it in a very small holed haynet. I believe it is very important to keep their digestion going for as many hours a day as possible.

As for rugs - deffo give him a thinner rug. It's one of the easiest ways to help aid weight loss. During the day it's not actually that cold atm - so maybe a thinner one during the day, the same one at night and see how that goes?
 
As above really...giving them a much smaller ration actually sends the body into storage mode and they will retain the weight rather than shed it. Exercise is the key really and even at this time of year there is goodness in the grass...certainly enough for a chunky one to utilise at any rate!
 
[ QUOTE ]
If he were mine I would cut out ALL hard feed apart from a bit of hifi lite and a vit/min supp. I would up his work as much as possible. Yes, I would under rug him.
But I would increase hay intake, 1 slice (I'm assuming small bale) is nowhere near enough for a healthy gut. I would give 3 well soaked slices in a small holed net. Or alternatively consider feeding good quality straw.
If possible I'd get him on poorer grazing too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto that!!! if he's that bad, bed him on shavings so he can't eat his bed.
 
Hey thanks, I will change his feed, don't think he'll eat hifi... could i try happy hoof or something for lammies?
Will defo be mean about his rugs!
Will put him more wet hay in a small-hole net. Just changed him to hay from haylage while i've been unable to ride...
I think his grazing is quite good but there's no chance of moving him, feel such a meany if he has to wear a muzzle...
better than him getting poorly tho
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Is a weight tape a reliable way to monitor his weight loss or is there a more accurate method?
 
i dont think cruel - mine wasfully clipped early on in sept - and had a rain sheet on - that helped to drop some weight off - she is rugged well when cold/raining - but doesnt have too warm a rug so she keeps weight off as she has decent grazing. - she looking fab now - just reclipped this morning so will have nice warm rug on now and just maintain her weight as it gets colder she will have more hay.
 
If your grazing is so reasonable, can you leave him out 24/7 and no hay?
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If so, then I would do that, a LW rug, and nothing but lo cal, whilst upping the work load.
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Safe for lami's doesn't automatically = low calorie. If something is labelled as safe for lami sufferers it is simply low in sugar - it can be high in calories!
If you don't think he would eat Hi-fi, then maybe try hi-fi good doer. It is mint flavoured, so more palatable.
 
As other have said, restrict grazing somehow (muzzle, paddock, less time out), feed as much hay as possible but soak it for 24 hours and use a small holed net, under-rug, and I would cut out all hard feed.

Weigh tapes work for monitoring change in weight as long as you use them correctly, and at the same time everytime you do it. I do it after riding. Keep a record, and take photos regularly too so you can see the change
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the new Shape-Up feed from saracen's looks good and is aimed at porky ponies and horses so maybe have a look at that - i saw it at YH live -my friend has a fat native so we had a chat with them -nice people, helpful and knowledgable
 
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