fat cob!

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Beckie65

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Hi i have a 14'2 cob had him since October and lets say he is doing too well this winter. I had him on hard feed, 1 scoop of chalf, Speedi-beet and calm and condition. Well took his rug off yesterday and got i big shock, he is massive!, i cut the hard feed out when it got above freezing and now just has alibi hay. Now i know he is over weight and is out of work, so really need to sort this out, but i need a bit of advice. He has Zero grazing and just has alibi hay. The weather hasn't been to good so exercise has been none. Could anyone advice me where to start, lunging for a while or start slow steady hacks. thanks in advance.:)
 
Can you soak his hay? That will remove some of the calories and sugars from it, so he can still get plenty of fibre but it won't be as fattening.
 
Thanks for your reply, i was just reading someone elses post and other users have suggested this to her so yes i will try this and see how it goes, i'll also try and slow him down a bit by mixing with straw. But it wont all go with feed i'll have to get my bum in order to start working him. I brought him out of work in october and planned to start him again but then came the snow, so i know have a grumpy fat hot headed welshy lol

Any advice starting him in work again? x
 
Soaking hay is good - have to do it for Jason or he would be a whale. If I mix hay
& straw he leaves the straw but filtering it out slows down his eating so I do that when iot is too icy to soak hay. Remember he will need a vit supplement if you soak his hay. Mine has a general supplement in a small amount Rowen & Barberry Ready Mash Fibre which is lower in calories than speedibeet. I use just enough to mix the vits in with.

Also if he's not in work try taking his rug off. Jason is only in a lightweight to keep him clean for riding.
 
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In terms of work, lots of walking (proper walking, really get him marching) is much better for weight loss than fast work.

As has been said, soaking hay will help massively and once it has been soaked, feed it ad lib (not giving him enough hay will actually prevent him from losing weight). You'll have to watch the grass from March onwards and restrict his grazing somehow (muzzle? strip grazing?). if soaking hay, consider giving a vitamin supplement, D&H Equibites are really good for weight watchers because you can just feed them on their own (they don't need to be mixed into a feed).

Un-rug, or change to thinner rugs....this makes a big difference as his body will ahve to work harder and burn calories keeping warm.
 
I used to give my mare ad-lib hay until she got chubby, I now put her out muzzled, weigh and soak her hay and feed her 1.5% of her body weight. She has lost quite a bit of weight since doing this and looks really well.
 
Did the cob need Calm & Condition at the start of the winter? I'm a bit concerned that you haven't noticed your horse getting fat throughout the winter, though I do understand it can creep up on you.

Is he clipped and how are you rugging him? Personally I'd remove all hard feed, up his workload (do you have access to a horse walker that he could maybe go on in the morning, then you ride in the afternoons/evenings?) and soak his hay overnight to remove everything from it. You can also give him straw in place of some of his hay. I also wouldn't be giving a fat horse adlib hay. I struggle with my horse's weight and much as I don't like the thought of him going without hay, if I fed him adlib he would never stop eating. In 2.5 years I have never managed to fill him up, he is the greediest horse I've ever known and would eat until he popped if he was allowed to. If he isn't clipped then take his rugs off, or at the very least reduce his rug weight down to just a rain sheet if you don't like the idea of him being unrugged.

I would weigh tape your horse every week so you can check he is gradually losing weight. Also take a photo of him maybe once a fortnight as it's difficult to see changes when you look at them every day.
 
Agree, don't feed ad lib but try and feed small quantities often. If feeding in the field spread hay out in lots of piles so he has to walk around. No rugs, they don't need them unless underweight and or clipped.

No other feed and as others have said lots of walking
 
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