Clipped out porker horse and no rugs -cruel?

[Petalpoos]

I put the weigh tape round my haffie today and was horrified to see she has put on 40kg over the last 4 weeks and is now 80kg overweight - despite having a greenguard on all day when she's out and only 3 sections of hay at night when she is stabled. The grass is still growing here, but if I put her in a starvie paddock it will become a mud hole once the rains start. In desperation, I have just given her a chaser clip and intend to leave her without rugs to see if that will help. I am also going to soak her hay. Unfortunately she is a companion horse and I don't have time to ride her as well as my other one, but she is seriously fat, much worse than previous years, I think because the grass has not stopped growing. It was 17C today!

Has anyone else had any success with clipping an overweight horse and leaving it naked? Am I being very unkind in clipping her and leaving her out with no rugs (and i intend to leave her with no rugs all winter)?

 

[galaxy]

I suppose your sections may be smaller, but 3 sections seems a lot for a horse that size? Do you weigh it?

My 16hh chunkster only gets just over 2 sections which is 7ish kgs. (good doer, weigh tapes 560kgs)

In this weather I would leave a chaser clipped horse unrugged. Any way you could advertise for someone to exercise her? Or is she a companion for a reason?

 

[Dizzydancer]

I am wanting to do this to one on our yard who is huge! Only thing i would say is if very wet and windy put a sheet on incase they get a chill. You have left most areas that get wet on tho i presume as its a chaser. I would imagine it should help reduce weight especially if it does actually go cold!! Worth a try but just monitor incase pony struggles to actually get and stay warm.

 

[almorton]

no, not as unkind as her getting laminitis!
let her use some energy to keep warm, and 3 sections of hay is a lot! my 17hand warmblood gets a 4 folds in 24hours! doublenetted to last!

 

[jennywren07]

My porker has a low trace and wears a rainsheet (just to keep her clean for riding) she's out 24/7 and muzzeld 24/7 but we have rediculously good grass so even with all that and her being on a patch the size of 2 foaling stables she still manages to maintain if not put on weight she also have lameness problems so its hard to exercise her enough to get it off. Since being clipped weve dropped a bit of weight so it's clearly doing something!

i'd just keep an eye on her. afterall if she looks to be tucked up or looking poor you can always stick a rug on her

 

[SusieT]

Yes. Think how uncomroftable she will be at the point of shivering off the fat?
3 sections of hay seems a lot. Also, ponies on restricted intake (i.e out only during day) can speed up their eating to eat their days food in a minimum of 6 hours. So my tactic would be strip grazing, on small patches and only 1 slice of soaked hay a night, depending on her height.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Well I'm usually very anti-rug but even I wouldn't do that! She would have no means of keeping herself warm/comfortable in bad weather.
I bought a very overweight mare last winter. She had been clipped out, except for her legs and head. She wore an unlined turnout rug for the rest of the winter and went on a diet. I'd give yours 12 hrs soaked hay, supplement with oat straw and possibly look for someone who could ride her if she is sound.

.

 

[PonyIAmNotFood]

She needs exercise imo, can't you get someone to ride her? Its a bit mean to chill the weight off her tbh but if there's really no other option its better than lami.

 

[Petalpoos]

Regular sized small hay bales, and I double bag it in 2 small-hole haylage bags, but if she does not have hay to eat all night then she literally eats the stable. She is one of those horses that just has to eat all the time. Re exercise - she is a lovely ride, but there are no takers around here. My partner wants to ride her but she is so fat that I can't get a saddle to fit. I want to get her weight down so I can get a saddle on her and he can start coming out with me. I am going to try and lunge her a few times a week and see if that helps.

 

[galaxy]

Do you mean you have wooden stables and he chews it? Or he eats his bedding?

I think you need to drastically reduce his hay intake (as well as 12 hr soaking it) before doing anything as drastic as freezing the weight off him.

Have you advertised on nfed for a rider?

 

[Echo Bravo]

If you need to clip her, put on a light sheet during the night or when it's going to rain, but I'd cut down on her feed and if you cann't ride her just lunge her for 15/20 mins per day.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Hum didn't read your post properly, if she's a companion can she be lunged, otherwise you could put a muzzle on her for so many hours

 

[Megalini_22]

Be cruel to be kind. No it's not ideal but better that than the added strain on joints. Stables are very warm compared to outside. I'd put l/w on for t/o but happily leave rug off in stable. Horses keep warm through digesting fibre, let her be natural and she'll sort her weight out. Many owners should take a lesson out of your book. The weight will come off which is the main thing.. Then happy healthy horsey!x

 

[Petalpoos]

She actually eats the (wooden) stable! I may try a triple hay net with less hay and will be soaking her hay as of tomorrow and lunging her. Amazing how fat she has got though, I have had her for 3 years and she's never been this bad. There has definitely been something going on with the grass this year as it never seems to have got to the lower sugar stage, I guess because of the high temperature.

Thanks for all your advice.

 

[galaxy]

The suggestion to fill her nets out with straw was also a good one if she really has to have something to munch on!

 

[meesha]

The grass is growing like stink this year, went up to quantocks and have never seen the wild ponies looking so well (if not bit overweight)! As long as u use light sheet if wet would think fine out with partial clip, it will prob grow back in a couple of weeks (see thread on this) try mixing hay with something different such as straw. Exercise the key lunging or even better loose schooling will Def help !

 

[amandap]

I think a full clip and no rug is very unkind at this time of year.

As well as the muzzle soak her hay and bed on shavings or other inedible bedding. Lots of energetic walking is better than fast work or lunging imo.

 

[**Vanner**]

no, not as unkind as her getting laminitis!
let her use some energy to keep warm, and 3 sections of hay is a lot! my 17hand warmblood gets a 4 folds in 24hours! doublenetted to last!

^^^^ as above^^^^

I would halve her hay if she is putting on weight.

 

[Mince Pie]

I think a full clip and no rug is very unkind at this time of year.

As well as the muzzle soak her hay and bed on shavings or other inedible bedding. Lots of energetic walking is better than fast work or lunging imo.

OP said a chaser clip...

And mine has been rugless whilst the nights have been mild, and either naked or in a sheet when out and he has been fine, and still warm.

 

[TicTac]

I think a full clip and no rug is very unkind at this time of year.

As well as the muzzle soak her hay and bed on shavings or other inedible bedding. Lots of energetic walking is better than fast work or lunging imo.

Well said. It does so annoy me that people think they can freeze or starve a fat horse slim in an instant.

Dont let it get overweight in the first place, but if it is then manage it properly.

Tell you what, try telling the next fat person you see that they must stay out at night with no clothes on having first been tied up all day with sellotape accross their mouth!

 

[mainpower]

My 4yo has a chaser clip and lived out naked until two weeks ago, now he comes in at night and still doesn't wear a rug. He can move about in the field if he's cold, and stand under trees if it rains. He has never worn a rug in all his life, and I consider him to be the warmest horse on my yard, even in the snow as his coat is not flattened by a rug so the "lofting" has full effect. My older horse is fully clipped, and is turned out either naked, or wearing a no fill t/o, or his Buccas sunshower, depending on the weather, very mild here! I wouldn't leave a fully clipped out horse naked in a stable at night as they can't move themselves around to warm up or get out of any drafts blowing through the stable. I would much rather my horses burnt off some calories keeping themselves warm than restrict their hay and have them standing in the stable hungry for hours on end.

 

[frankie8]

Not cruel at all. Mine is full clipped and still naked, although she is stabled at night. She did wear a light rug when first done but was just too warm! She is however a particularly hot horse. I wouldn't worry, they are a lot tougher than we give them credit for, she'll survive!

 

[Foxhunter49]

Cut her hay right back and creosote the stable with a creosote/old engine oil mix, about 2/3 creosote to 1/3 engine oil.

 

[Merry Crisis]

I suppose you learn something every day with horses. Never have I ever heard of clipping a horse that is not being ridden in the hope that it will lose weight getting cold. That is such a good idea! Yes it will survive, of course it will, but I think I could think of a lot of different ways to manage an overweight horse, perhaps like not allowing it to get fat in the first place? Exercise, restricted grazing in the summer months, I could go on. I got an emaciated TB last winter, perhaps I should have reversed the method and just piled loads of rugs on him and left him to it. Sadly there is no quick fix.

 

[starryeyed]

As others have said, you need to cut down on the hay your beastie is having - I know what it's like to have a horse that's constantly wanting to eat but with triple netting it's really helped to slow him down - more of a challenge! - but it does sound like she's having far too much for her size, especially if she's only a companion.
I don't know what the weather is like around you (sounds nice at 17 though!) but I'm sure you can gage whether or not your horse will be cold or not, some are naturally better at staying warm than others. I'd maybe stick a lightweight on to stop any cold winds / rain just as a bit of protection because it will probably be a bit of a shock to the system for her, but just keep an eye on her and see how she's doing. Obviously when it gets colder you'll need to rug her up more but if it's 17 degrees where you are at the moment then I don't think it will be too bad for the time being. I would definitely stick something on overnight though because she won't be able to keep warm standing still and the temperature does drop a fair bit.
Definitely soak the hay, the longer the better really. Lunging will help shift the weight if you don't have anyone to ride her, but start off slow as it's quite tough on the joints and if she's a porker then it will be quite hard on her - short sessions of walk/trot and building it up over time. Alternatively taking her for walks might be a better way to kick start the weight loss as it's less strain on the joints and still a good way to help move it.
You don't say whether you keep her at home or at a yard, but is there anywhere you can put her that's not in the field or in the starvation patch you say will get too muddy? - if she's at home, can you section off the yard maybe so that she can walk around but not graze?
Good luck with her diet, at least you've noticed before it gets too out of hand.

 

[FanyDuChamp]

Fany is fully clipped except legs and in a rug. She has very restricted amount of hay. Took her out today and she was fine, still not lost any weight but she is at a good weight at present. Personally I would not clip, leave unrugged and restrict feed. 2 but not all three.
FDC

 

[Clippy]

I think you're doing the right thing by clipping her. Nature intends horses to use their fat stores over winter and if you don't get to grips with that blubber now, she's going to be twice as bad come next spring. You'll obviously be able to monitor her and the weather and adjust your plans if you think you need to but it will certainly help to trim her down if you can't give her plenty of work and she's already on the bare minimum of forage

 

[PucciNPoni]

Has anyone else had any success with clipping an overweight horse and leaving it naked? Am I being very unkind in clipping her and leaving her out with no rugs (and i intend to leave her with no rugs all winter)?

Hmmm, I'd perhaps not leave her completely naked - maybe a rain sheet at least as the grease that protected her also went with the hair.


However....my friend just went to a seminar that was run by some vet who she said was a leading vet in laminitis/ems and so forth (I don't know the name, i wasn't there -but she told me the gist of the talk). He said that more people should be clipping and leaving naked! Now it wouldn't be me to leave my horse bare, but I have certainly had luck with clipping and UNDER rugging.

When I sought advice from a nutrionist for dropping weight on an extremely good doer, they suggested putting on a trace clip and then no rugs. As I simply have not got the time to be scraping off mud when I want to ride, I opted for full clip and lighter rugs and it did indeed help.

 

[katherine1975]

You could feed hay mixed with straw when in and use an elimanet haynet. Also, could you ride and lead for exercise? My fatty cob has a hunter clip and only a lightweight no fill rug on at the moment.

 

[Bubley898]

Apologies if this has already been said, I haven't read all the posts, but if your partner wants to ride, why don't you ride your other horse and lead her from that one? You can then get the weight down to find a saddle that fits. I also don't think having a trace clip in this weather with no rug is cruel, it will soon grow back when it starts to get colder.