Clipping for weight loss has anyone done it?

Upthecreek said:
We can keep arguing all night about how you choose to keep your horses, but it is a choice. If you do nothing else at least make sure the mare isn’t stood in the stable shivering to keep warm as that is no life, just a miserable existence. If you can’t afford somewhere better to keep them, selling or loaning should be considered. Having been in a very similar situation to you health wise, I totally sympathise, but you are not doing the right thing by your horses in terms of both their emotional and physical wellbeing. I sold one and loaned the other whilst undergoing treatment and though heartbreaking for me it was the best thing for them. Sometimes you have to take your own needs out of the equation and really question the quality of life you are able to give your horses.
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Agree. Sold my horse due to cancer
 
wattamus said:
An hour?!?! We both work full time, he is self employed so more flexible but two hours a day is no way possible, I’d be surprised if 90% of people could dedicate that time whilst working full time
none of them are saleable two are over 23with Cushing so only option would be to put down .
horse in op is 10 but again unselabłe in reality
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But what were you doing before your illness? ALso leaving them in with only 20 minutes walk a day? Because if you were riding them then it must have taken a lot longer than an hour. Sounds like you don't have time to keep horses somewhere with restricted turnout. Can you not send them away to retirement livery? If not then sadly it might be better for them to be put to sleep than to live this kind of life.

And what is stopping you walking them for an hour before work and an hour after? You said that your husband walks them in the arena if it is dark, so it must be possible even if it is wet. The truth is that if you want to you will find a way. If you don't want to you will find an excuse.
 
Amymay said:
I expect that two hours plus a day is the norm for most people (it certainly was for me and most people I know (working full time)).
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Yup I have 2 in work so if I really get my skates on I can be done in 2.5 hours but that doesn't include the mornings or the prep on weekends. Having horses that live in most of the time takes way more time than those living out, you have to be able to make that time available imo.
 
Brill will call knackerman tomorrow morning or any one of you can call rspca or whw........ they are obviously suffering and miserable..........
 
wattamus said:
Two hours in hand walking or riding?
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Whatever was needed. But basically doing the horses.

I only had a maximum of two horses at a time, so yes going to the yard in the evening after work (at around 5.00) saw me getting home at around 7.00 in the evening in the winter (two minute drive). Obviously there was the hour spent in the morning mucking out etc. Once the clocks changed I’d be home later. My horses had all year turnout (I appreciate many don’t).

The thing is, having a horse is not the same as having a cat - you can’t just fly in and out again. Having horses stabled 24/7 has to be, by its very nature, time consuming. You have to do something with them. And if that means spending a couple of hours giving them some sort of exercise, so be it.
 
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Leo Walker said:
If you cant manage to exercise them adequately, then putting them all to sleep is the better option.
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In this current winter there will be a lot of horses without adequate exercise. Many yards and fields are under water. Many owners will be struggling to care for their horses, me included. Weather conditions are exceptionally poor, but daylight is starting to appear again and it will soon be light after working hours. I am sure horses without adequate exercise will manage a little longer and a mass cull will not be needed.
 
wattamus said:
An hour?!?! We both work full time, he is self employed so more flexible but two hours a day is no way possible, I’d be surprised if 90% of people could dedicate that time whilst working full time
none of them are saleable two are over 23with Cushing so only option would be to put down .
horse in op is 10 but again unselabłe in reality
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I had horses for 25 years on DIY whilst working full time - of course 2 hours a day is doable, ITS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE A HORSE WITH NO TURNOUT - I’m astonished this is news to you OP!

seriously I’d stop digging now....
 
Levrier said:
I had horses for 25 years on DIY whilst working full time - of course 2 hours a day is doable, ITS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE A HORSE WITH NO TURNOUT - I’m astonished this is news to you OP!

seriously I’d stop digging now....
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We spend at least two hours there a day sadly all that time cannot be spent walking a horse in hand.
 
wattamus said:
We spend at least two hours there a day sadly all that time cannot be spent walking a horse in hand.
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You’ll be pleased to hear I’m going to give up now because there is clearly no point.... but a 10 minute walk twice daily is not enough for a horse stabled 24/7, how would you feel if you were shut in a small room for 24 hours a day with 2 10-minute walks?
 
wattamus said:
We spend at least two hours there a day sadly all that time cannot be spent walking a horse in hand.
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Please don’t take what is in the majority just unhelpful and nasty comments to heart! This has been a particularly awful winter and LOTS of people have had to significantly change their management techniques to adjust! If your horses are content “, no signs of stereotypical behaviour then just remember that winter won’t last forever and you are not a bad owner! You have a lot going on and the fact you are reaching out for support shows you are a good owner, despite what some of these people are saying. I would go as far to say as we all exercise our horses A LOT less than we like to think!
 
Sylph said:
Please don’t take what is in the majority just unhelpful and nasty comments to heart! This has been a particularly awful winter and LOTS of people have had to significantly change their management techniques to adjust! If your horses are content “, no signs of stereotypical behaviour then just remember that winter won’t last forever and you are not a bad owner! You have a lot going on and the fact you are reaching out for support shows you are a good owner, despite what some of these people are saying. I would go as far to say as we all exercise our horses A LOT less than we like to think!
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Absolute rubbish, I never exercised my horse as little as this in 25 years of ownership regardless of the weather
 
Levrier said:
Since you are finding it difficult to understand - an hours walking in hand/loose schooling/hacking/free exercise twice a day.....
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Maybe create a poll to see how many horse owners actually Do this? Pretty sure I’m not the only one “neglecting “ their horses if this is your definition of taking proper care of your horses
 
Winters100 said:
But do you not get that the vet had put this horse on box rest because there was no other choice due to a medical condition? Of course they would not criticise in the circumstances. How can I explain this? If you break multiple bones and have to stay in bed in the hospital for six months the doctor does not criticise you for not getting up.......but it certainly would not be a healthy way to live and would be a last resort. When my dog had a hip replacement the first weeks restricted his walks to 5 minutes per walk 5 times per day. Did the vet criticise me? No, of course not as it was necessary, but if I told you that after his recovery I was keeping my 50kg dog restricted to a small corner of the kitchen and taking him out to pee for 5 minutes I would assume that you would tell me to rehome the poor dog.

You said that your husband is able to walk them in the school if it is dark. So can someone not walk them at least for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening? This still does not give them a good life but at least it might be not quite as terrible as it is now.

I am really sorry but if you want to be fair to these horses you need to change something, or if this is not possible to sell them. This would not be a failing on your part but a kindness, and a release for them from a miserable existence. Please think about this. You say that they are fine, but i do not see one comment here from anyone who thinks that this is an acceptable way to keep a horse.
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I think terrible is a little strong don’t you?! These horses are fed, watered and loved. Winter presents us all with challenges but we must remember it will not last forever and I’m sure as soon as this lady is able, the horse will be turned out. these Horses could easily be turned out 24/7, ignored and mistreated - in the grand scheme of things I think they are ok!
 
Levrier said:
You’ll be pleased to hear I’m going to give up now because there is clearly no point.... but a 10 minute walk twice daily is not enough for a horse stabled 24/7, how would you feel if you were shut in a small room for 24 hours a day with 2 10-minute walks?
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I spend 8.5 hours in an office 8 hours in a bed, 3 hours driving 2 hours at the yard (moving) 2.5 hours dedicated to fitness, eating/ cooking and wellbeing...........
not trying to compare myself to a horse but unfortunately we all have to suffer up north with the British winter
 
wattamus said:
Three horses to muck out morning and night, plus nets feed an water and walking if we say 10 mins each per horse walking that’s 30 mins to muck out feed water etc.
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But you said ’We’ spend two hours a day there, so if there’s two of you, you could give each horse more than 10 mins ??‍♀️

But it’s semantics. It’s just not enough.
 
wattamus said:
Can’t go in the day as I’m at work 8till 430.
Husband walks them morning and night, and they are actively walked up he road, morning and night. He walks them in the school in hand if it gets dark before he gets down, so as not to walk on the road in the dark.
she is improving wilth regards to voice commands and hacking but it is a working progress and is not 100% atm.
she is a very nervous and flighty horse ( she has obviously been beaten in the past sadly) maybe there would be someone who would be sympathetic enough to ride her but I can’t afford such a good rider. There’s a reason some riders are cheap sadly.......
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Good riders sometimes just want the opportunity to ride and school a little, without the time cinstraints of having to do yard duties etc. Put an honest advert up and stop thinking you have to do it all alone :)
 
My vet advised me to clip a couple of chubby horses for weight loss and also if possible to lunge for 5 mins each direction at speed to get them puffing for weight loss. Not sure if this would work or be adviseable along with the in hand walking but something to try when the weather improves perhaps?

Also echo AA's try and get hold of some lower sugar hay and LLs soak it if possible. Top chop zero and honey chop light and healthy are good for very low sugar chaff hay replacements. :)

As someone who started out horse ownership with some questionable yards and practices I am not going to join in with bashing a lady who is doing what she can with the current situation. Illness and an unprecedented wet winter have not helped her here and trying move yards or sell horses take time and we are now heading back to a time when turn out and more exercise will be possible so the situation will be changed anyway. The OP has the summer to get well and look for more suitable arrangements next year :)
 
wattamus said:
Before I had cancer I only had two horses, only one was rideable, husband started riding one so I was left with no horse, so we bought (project)Annie who didn’t hack but we planned to work on over summer. Sadly that was when I became iso I couldn’t make the progres
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OP what you say does not really make sense.

So before you had cancer one horse was exercised by your husband, and presumably the other had to be hand walked as you have no turnout and it could not be ridden? Or did the other horse stand in his box 24 hours a day?

Then you bought another horse to ride, knowing that you have no turnout in winter and that you cannot ride in the week due to working during daylight hours and lack of dry indoor arena. Ill health aside how did you intend to exercise the horse?

And why is the horse not saleable? You bought it, and with the greatest respect you do not come across as a huge expert, so unless it has seriously regressed I would presume that you could sell it at a low price to someone who can meet the horse's basic needs.

I don't think this has anything to do with your illness, it is just that you are either unable or unwilling to make time to properly care for your animals.

You seem to think that horses are things that only need exercise as long as it is fun for us - riding on a warm summer evening. Sadly this is not the case.

You come across as selfish and thoughtless. You do not want a sharer as they will not 'care' for the horses as you do - you are not even there! Almost anything that anyone else did with these animals would be better than what you are doing.

I am sorry but you are a terrible owner. I hope that I never see horses kept as yours are. I agree with Leo - putting them to sleep would be a much better option than staying under your 'care'.
 
wattamus said:
I spend 8.5 hours in an office 8 hours in a bed, 3 hours driving 2 hours at the yard (moving) 2.5 hours dedicated to fitness, eating/ cooking and wellbeing...........
not trying to compare myself to a horse but unfortunately we all have to suffer up north with the British winter
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Well done, you have the average lifestyle of someone with a horse on DIY livery!
 
I am sorry for the situation that you and your horses find yourselves in. Like others have said 10 minutes is not enough exercise for a horse that is stabled 24/7 for non medical reasons. You must be struggling with three as well with the mucking out being a big job if they are in 24/7 they will be needing a skip out at least twice a day. You could try soaking the hay or swapping some of it for straw chaff.

I understand that you don't trust anyone else to ride the horse and being in 24/7 is not going to make her an easier ride. However maybe if you put an ad explaining you have cancer you might get some kind person who is competent enough to ride her willing to help you short term without payment.
 
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