dieting horse - no poos in 6 hours!

D

darkhorse123

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 June 2011
Messages
865
Visit site
As said, my horse is getting chubby so is on a strict diet started 2 days ago. He is in for 6 to 8 hours through day with one full net of soaked hay - eating half of it.
Then he is exercised and turned out in the evening with a muzzle - he can still graze with his muzzle on and doesnt seem overly bothered by it.

Today i went 6 hours after id brought him in and there was not one poo in his stable!
Now im worried - he is absoluteley fine in himself - but is it normal to go 6 hours without a poo?
 
Last edited:
No its not normal and I would keep a very close eye on him. The one lot of droppings he did could be directly related to being worked and having been nearly out of the gut.
 
Is he normally stabled? As long as he has access to food (high fibre etc)in small holed net etc etc and you are muzzling him too sounds fine to me and he did a biggy poo wouldnt worry too much, sounds ok to me. Perhaps he has been dozing in his 6 hour lock down?
I also am pretty sure my horse is dozing more in the day time as its safer(you know the lions are out at night).

Just keep an eye on him access to water but he sounds fine. Good luck with the weight loss.
 
indie999 said:
Is he normally stabled? As long as he has access to food (high fibre etc)in small holed net etc etc and you are muzzling him too sounds fine to me and he did a biggy poo wouldnt worry too much, sounds ok to me. Perhaps he has been dozing in his 6 hour lock down?
I also am pretty sure my horse is dozing more in the day time as its safer(you know the lions are out at night).

Just keep an eye on him access to water but he sounds fine. Good luck with the weight loss.
Click to expand...

Oh indie ty so much - he is stabled in winter - daily turnout and occasionally in summer to get him out of heartr and flies for eg. Teh sleeping bit does makes sense because he does love hi stable and sees it as his chilling time. He is defintieley not short of food - his haynet is never empty when i go back, he only eats half of his soaked hay. He has an automatic waterfeeder so never runs out of water either.
And ty im just trying my best to stop him getting porky x
 
Doesn't sound normal, keep an eye on him & increase the fibre, soak haynets fo 12 hours to take the goodness out that way he will still have something to nibble. You could also use a small hole haynet inside another one to slow him down. I'm sure I read a study a while back saying horses actually only sleep for 2 hours in 24, no wonder they can be so scatty.
 
POLLDARK said:
Doesn't sound normal, keep an eye on him & increase the fibre, soak haynets fo 12 hours to take the goodness out that way he will still have something to nibble. You could also use a small hole haynet inside another one to slow him down. I'm sure I read a study a while back saying horses actually only sleep for 2 hours in 24, no wonder they can be so scatty.
Click to expand...

ok proper numpty question but how do i increase his fibre? Give him what else ??- hes a cob so only hard feed in winter, he really does not need it in summer

As i said he does have lots of soaked hay to nibble - the net is always half full still when i go to trun him out so hes not even eating all that
 
You could give him ie some Dengie Hi Fi lite with a small amount of low heat speedibeet(ie 1 pint mixed in)(just a tad to wet it) in a trug....he doesnt sound greedy though as my good doer would have polished off the hay. If you had withdrawn food I would have been worried about him not pooing...as you shouldnt withdraw food at all but you know that am sure.

Keep an eye on him but if he is fine in himself wouldnt panic yet. Is his muzzle on enough that he can nibble? So check this as well. They only need to be able to reach the growing tips of the grass etc. I dont know what your grazing is like etc. But I have a horse that blows up like a cow if he looks at any food.
 
Indie ty - we are in yorkshire and our grass is very very lush - a lot of the horses have ballooned over the past coupel of weeks - he is definiteley grazing through his muzzle - ive watched him and he certainly can x
 
I'm doing the exact same routine with ours. They are in for 7 hours and will normally have done 1 poo, sometimes though there are no poos.
 
So are they pooing out in the field then? ie lots if the grass is lush?

Make sure he is drinking too ie ensure he has salt lick to encourage this...just keep an eye but make sure he is pooing outside.....go and have a good walk round. I pretty much know my horse does 6-9 in 24hours and if you looked at his restricted grazing you really think he had nothing to eat(I can see soil). But rain and sun his head is down and he is round.


Go and check outside I dont know if you poo pick as you would know whats fresh
 
indie999 said:
You could give him ie some Dengie Hi Fi lite with a small amount of low heat speedibeet(ie 1 pint mixed in)(just a tad to wet it) in a trug....he doesnt sound greedy though as my good doer would have polished off the hay. If you had withdrawn food I would have been worried about him not pooing...as you shouldnt withdraw food at all but you know that am sure.

Keep an eye on him but if he is fine in himself wouldnt panic yet. Is his muzzle on enough that he can nibble? So check this as well. They only need to be able to reach the growing tips of the grass etc. I dont know what your grazing is like etc. But I have a horse that blows up like a cow if he looks at any food.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't feed Speedibeet. We are feeding a small amount to our elderly cob so that she can stay with the herd on the bare paddock and still kepp her weight on. TBH, I wouldn't have introduced both dieting measures at the same time. I'd have tried the bringing in to haynet for about a week, re-weighed him and then if necessary used a muzzle as well. I would just keep an eye on him, his system is obviously adjusting to the new regime and he can't be hungry or his haynet would be empty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top