Fat Camp for Cob

[SatansLittleHelper]

I need some help ???
Cob is as fat as a house and it needs to come off. Embarrassingly I hadn't really thought about his weight too much as we've had sparse grass for the 3 big guys but tonight I was measuring him for other reasons and was shocked to discover just how much weight he's put on. I know, I know...I should have been more aware but it's crept up on him while he's had some time off, believe me, I'm mortified ????.
I really need some help now to draw up some kind of fat camp an though to get it off. We don't have a school and the ground is very hard. Suggesions please..!!!

 

[Winters100]

Don't worry, it happens. It is always much harder to notice in your own horses who you see every day than in ones that you see from time to time. I have always preferred increasing work to restricting food, but appreciate that it may not be easy. Do you have a lot of time to spend on him, or you are pressed for time? If you have the time you could start working him twice a day, if it has to be just hacks make them long ones. If not maybe a muzzle, one of those that lets them eat only a little. I don't really like them, but they do work. Or can you section off a little part of the paddock for him so he has not so much access to grass? No need to be embarrassed about it, I think that most long term owners have had a horse who they have looked at one day and had the same realization!

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Not really advice, just sympathy- my two ponies were on a long thin strip of grass, with a little bit of extra hay. This was absolutely perfect through the long dry spring, but the mini cob exploded after that grass flush in June caught me out. She was actually pulsey with it, so she had to have a full month off the grass (I've got no lovely sand school or barkchip turnout, so she was just shut on the yard) with weighed and soaked hay. Totally miserable for both of us- I felt so guilty. And she's a non-ridden companion, so every single hill she walks up, I have to walk up too! Any/all exercise helps though, it doesn't have to be a lot of trot every day, especially when the ground is hard- the vet said walking out with a bigger horse, and jogging to keep up would be perfect (unfortunately I don't HAVE a bigger horse!)

 

[Chianti]

Weigh every bit of hay and soak it if you can. Ask your vet what percentage level of fibre s/he's happy for you to feed at. Feed a straw based chaff to replace/supplement some of the hay. Work every day even if its just walking out in hand. If you have to start rugging in the autumn use the minimum possible- don't listen to other liveries or yard workers telling you you're mean. Turn out so he's moving about but on minimal grass - if you can. It can be done but takes real work. Mine was fat last summer but is a reasonable weight now.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Can you make a track where the grass is at its most sparse? It does work very well to keep them moving, especially if you put hay/water at opposite ends - don't make it circular so that they have to walk further to get where they want to go.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thanks for the replies.
Unfortunately he lives out 24/7 and we have been unable to strip graze properly this year as the really wet winter trashed our land, we've had to manage it totally differently. Our field landlord is in charge of this and he's done/doing his best but it's been tricky.
The best way I can do this is going to be through some form of exercise ???

 

[scats]

If you haven’t got control of the grazing situation, then if possible I’d try a muzzle, but I do feel your pain if you have a serial muzzle remover. I’ve ordered a flexible filly muzzle for Millie, who, despite not being as good at the Diva as removing them, is still pretty good at it unless they are practically welded on. I will let you know how I get on!

As much as exercise is good, personally I’ve always found that it’s the diet part of it that seems to have a more significant influence, at least in the early stages.

 

[lilly1]

I have a gifted muzzle remover.
The following works 80% of the time for me:
Well fitting muzzle which comes up high on the nose.
Plait a piece of mane around headpiece.
Place well fitting flymask on top.
Finish with leather headcollar over all the above.
She does sometimes rearrange her mask but it works. Keeps her busy and moving to.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Having never used a muzzle before....
Can he wear it 24/7 if it doesn't rub..??
The grass is now very short, will he definitely be able to eat..??

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Having never used a muzzle before....
Can he wear it 24/7 if it doesn't rub..??
The grass is now very short, will he definitely be able to eat..??

If he doesn't wear the mask 24/7 he will just gorge when it is taken off. Could you pen him into a small grassless area and let him fill up on oat straw, so that he doesn't want to eat so much grass?

 

[Lintel]

How fit is he at the minute?
What is is current exercise plan?
How much time do you have?

Knowing these things in sure somebody could concoct up a plan of action!

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

* Not fit.
* He's had about 12 weeks off.
* I can put in whatever time is needed.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Is this your loan cob? He’s not been ridden for 12 weeks? Get back hacking him and build it up to two hours a day.

I don’t understand why you can’t strip graze. There was talk of no mains water but then it turned out that there are water troughs. Where there’s a will...

 

[Goldenstar]

A fat horse needs two thing less calories and more exercise .
theres dozens of way to achieve this you just need to make a plan .
You can’t just turn out a horse for twelve weeks and then go ? it’s fat .
you have to plan twelve months of the year .

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

He's been ridden intermittently but not regular work in that time (I have been managing some personal pain management issues)
He lives out 24/7 throughout the whole year as do the others...usually this is not an issue but (as I will try to explain) we are unable to use our usual management system.
Yes, we have self filling troughs in the fields....I think I need to draw a pic to explain the way the current field is laid out so you can see why the strip grazing is an issue. Believe me, if we could do that it would solve an awful lot of trouble.
The usual fields we use (where we normally can strip graze) are blocked off due to a collapsed field shelter and a massive (and I mean massive..!!) fallen tree that is slowly being chopped and burnt. The weather over the winter (which was wetter for us than its ever been) really annihilated these fields hence the elderly tree falling down.
None of this is usually an issue, as I say, but there have been unprecedented circumstances that have kicked our usual routine to the kerb...hence asking for help/advice.
Possibly sectioning an area off and providing water manually plus oat straw may be an option for at least part of the day or night.

ETA: This really isn't a case of me being too lazy or can't be arsed...Im playing the cards Im currently dealt and trying to decide on a suitable and doable plan of action.
I've never had fat horses before unless they have arrived like that
My Mini is fat too but we have sorted him for the time being and it's working.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I’m sorry to hear that you have been having pain issues. Getting the cob back in ridden work would be best for him, though. Do you have anyone else who would ride him?

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thank you, I have chronic pain illness unfortunately but I have been very careful with myself and am now able to get my teeth back into sorting him out. As long as I don't overdo things I will be OK....he's a very comfy horse to ride luckily
I'm lucky that where I live there is an excellent bridleway system with lots of potential for hill work etc. I just need to get a plan together to start with.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. We all just do the best we can with the time, money, facilities we have (not many people have all three!) My own fields are really awkward in a way that I find difficult to explain to other people (it involves an orchard, a giant oak tree, and one tree line of sycamores ?). And I have no tap, so I end up schlepping water out of the water trough into various buckets around the place- it's a total pain in the arse.

Don't launch into anything that will be detrimental to your own health. Anything is better than nothing. It might be worth getting two muzzles and rotating them to avoid rubbing in the exact same place all day every day?

 

[Tiddlypom]

Is long reining a less painful/more viable option for you, or are you better off in the saddle?

 

[AdorableAlice]

I feel your pain, I have 3 fat cobs, one of whom had colic twice recently after having access to a flush of under growing grass beneath the burnt off May grazing.

i really have learnt that most mature cobs, especially those with ID in them, live on nothing. Mine including the huge Ted, are on paddocks less than 30 x 40 metres and are ridden as much as possible plus they stand in from 8am to 7pm. Two of them are on soaked 2018 hay, the other on soaked 2019 hay, no bucket feed.

if you can get old hay it is a real help in weight management.

 

[w1bbler]

exercise exercise exercise. If unfit, lots of walking

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Not sure if others mentioned but no a muzzle is not recommended for 24 hours wear...on for daylight hours and off for the dark seems to work if turned out full time.

 

[AUB]

My mare was out with an injury for 7 months and put on too much weight.

Her fat camp went like this: I switched her to a hard feed that is low on starch and sugar and I use a kitchen scale to be very sure of how much she gets. She’s fed as if she was a pony and gets additional vitamins. I’ve also restricted the hay slightly. And she’s exercised at least 1 hour daily. Even if I’m not motivated for riding I’ll hack her in a fresh walk for 1 hour.

She went from 620 kg to 540 in about 2,5 months (trakehner, stands at 170 cm) so that’s pretty close to her goal weight. I’d like her to lose just a bit more to get her down to around 520 kg.

 

[meleeka]

Don’t underestimate how useful walking is with weight management. Build it up gradually and aim for a purposeful walk rather than just bumbling along.

The good news is that in my experience, cobs can lose weight just as easily as they put it on!

 

[Fly_By_Wire]

Following with interest and sympathy - P's waistline is a constant battle!

 

[PapaverFollis]

I hear you. Beast is having a fat summer and my fields just won't take tracking or being made much smaller. I tried to put her out in the eaten down section with the other two in the longer grass last night and she was so unsettled and wrecking the eaten down field with it. So at 10pm I gave up and put her out with the others! I can get them in onto a dirt pen during the day so that's a huge bonus. I think work is key and getting a head start on the grass with increased work in the spring... which we missed this year as stayed off the horses during the start of lockdown!

The Welsh A can eat more food than Beast can and not get fat I swear. And MrT needs alfalfa chaff and linseed to keep weight on in the same routine!

I'm considering a fat horse-fat owner in-hand walking programme for us both...

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thanks for everyone's time and advice.
I'm going to start this week getting him back under saddle and building up the time out at a walk. I will possibly throw in some in hand walking and long reining if time is tight. Once he's built up time out a bit I will start working up the hilly bridleways
I just can't believe that he put on so much weight so quickly ????

 

[Flicker]

An equine dietician like Claire McLeod could also definitely help with your situation. She is not affiliated with any of the feed companies and can recommend a full feed and exercise plan tailored to your horse. She helped me with an underweight horse who had had laminitis in the past and he ended up looking amazing and staying sound!

 

[pansymouse]

I'm happy to muzzle 24/7 - I use a muzzle that doesn't rub. I do plait it in, one is enough for my mare but her cob friend needs two and he's more greedy and determined to remove it. Unfortunately our YO does not allow electric or temporary fencing of any sort so muzzling is the only form of restriction available.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Well the field is currently pretty bare so I'm hoping that will help things with 3 of them on there. The other two certainly don't need any extra weight so it won't hurt them either..!!!!