Exercise Regime Ideas for a Porky Pony?!

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spotty_pony

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Well, I had the Saddle Fitter out for my boys on Thursday just for a check up. My pony's saddle had been slipping to the left recently so I mentioned this to the Saddle Fitter. He removed as much flocking as possible around the shoulders but the saddle was still slipping. He said my pony was on the verge of being too wide for his saddle and he couldn't make anymore alterations and if I carried on wearing it, it would stretch. Well, two years ago we had the same problem. I had a wide saddle, pony put on a lot of weight in the spring time, I had saddle checked in the summer when he had been on a diet and lost quite a bit of weight and the saddle was too wide for him and we ended up having to buy him a brand new saddle!

Anyway, we still have my pony's old saddle so Saddle is coming back out this week to see if he can fit that to him for now until he has lost some weight again. I didn't even notice he had put on that much weight! I guess it's been a gradual thing because I see him everyday and he hasn't put it on where he usually puts it on (around his belly) It is on the top of his back behind where the saddle sits!

So anyway, he is now on a bit of a diet and we have cut down on the amount of treats he is having. When I get the saddle sorted out, I want to try and work him a bit harder to get rid of the excess weight, what kind of things are best for burning of calories?

He is already ridden 5-6 times per week on average which includes 1-2 short hacks (1 hour with hill work,) 1-2 longer hacks (2-3 hours each also with hill work) and 1-2 schooling sessions (45 minutes each time, sometimes including some jumping)

Anyway sorry to ramble on! :red face: Any ideas?
 
Sounds like your pony is getting enough exercise so maybe a muzzle would help cut down the calorie intake. Stable at night maybe? Thats what Im doing with my good doer of a horse, small net and in at night, exercise and muzzle. When we took him on he was 640kg on the weigh tape and hes now 547 so going in the right direction. Still got about 20-25kg to go but he looks so much better now. He has cheekbones and his peachy shaped quarters are now looking more of a normal shape. Dont know whats worse really, a good doer or one that needs weight putting on!!
 
Thank you :)

He is out in a fairly smallish paddock with my other horse who is also a good doer. The grass is fairly well eaten down already so I wouldn't think he would benefit from a muzzle. Also, he is the sort of pony who wouldn't be happy until he had got it off! :red face: He also is much better out as much as possible because he has slight arthritis in his hocks and he gets stiffer standing. He comes in for at least a couple of hours each day and gets a small amount of haylage and his Baileys Lo-Cal Balancer and that's it.

I'd rather have a good doer than a poor doer because I know a couple of horses who, once they drop weight, their owners find it really difficult to get them to put it back on again.
 
My horse has lost 20 kilos in the last month. Out at night with on not great grazing with no rug or a lightweight one if its raining. In during the days with a couple of hours gaps between small haynets. Very small token feed so he doesn't feel left out at feed time. Worked everyday similar to your horse. Hopefully if I can keep the weight off him while the spring grass is coming through he will not blow up like a balloon this summer. Tried a grazing muzzle on him last summer but went absolutely bonkers until I took it off!
 
taz used to be like that, but he now wears a grazing muzzle while he is turned out all during the day and is stabled at night where he gets enough haylage to last him all night as i wont starve him in his stable he has no rug on and is worked every day, mostly hacking up to three hours at a time and then 2/3 schooling sessioins a week and at least one jumping lesson a week and he's lost the weight really easily so far so hopefully he will continue to get fitter and skinnier he's a hw irish draught so is meant to be sort of heavy but not fat lol
 
Swap the haylage for soaked hay. My horse is always on a diet - even my Welsh D wasn't as much of a good doer as this horse! He is now in during the day (comes in at about 9am, gets a net of soaked hay at lunch time [no comments from anyone on this please - 3 hours with nothing to eat is better than stuffing his face and getting fatter, which is bad for his arthritis, or even worse getting laminitis], then stays in until I get there late afternoon to ride) and out at night on poor grazing. He is worked 6 or 7 days per week. Work regime consists of 1 x jumping session, 2 x hacks 1-2 hours each, 2 x schooling session followed by 30-40 min hack, 1 x interval training in fields plus maybe a couple of sessions on the walker. Some weeks he might only get 1 schooling session and 2 x intervals instead, or 1 schooling and 1 canter work in field.

I know you say your horse is arthritic but you need to weigh up standing in making him stiff with being overweight, which is also bad for his arthritis. Personally I'd bring him in for much longer every day. How many treats are you feeding him and why is he getting treats? Cut out treats altogether and don't feed apples or carrots in hard feed either, they are full of sugar.
 
I would try an interval training method rather than hacking, and more schooling rather than hacks tends to bring their weight down more as in the school you tend to do more intenive work even though you think that your hacks might be more intensive. My horse also sufferes from stiffness when left in, but again, the stiffness will increase with the more weight he has on, so try leaving him in as much as you can but walk for a lot longer when you first start riding, or maybe put him on a walker if you have one.
 
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