Feeding a chubby good-doer out of work

P

princestar

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 August 2012
Messages
177
Location
Kent, UK
Visit site
Denny is 5, 14.3hh New Forest, and he has gotten fat in the past 2 months since I got him. At the moment he is having conditioning cubes and apple molichaff, oil, garlic and limestone flour. He lives out 24/7 but now they're having some hay put out of an evening.

He is unbroken so only being backed a couple of hours a week, so to be honest - doing no work! Just living a life of luxury. He's mainly having feed because the others are eating dinner but he doesn't have a lot. He's a very good-doer.

But I'd like to see if anyone recommends feed for him, I don't mind if it costs more, if its better for him, without the weight gain (as much as possible) plus when he's going to be doing more work I'd like a feed that was still going to be enough for him.

Hope that makes sense ??? Just seems at the moment I feel he could be on a better feed.

Thank You :)
 
Why not just some chaff to give some vits and mins? If he's looking very well, I wouldn't be inclined to give much more than that. If he starts dropping too much weight then you can up the forage, or then introduce something extra if that doesn't help.
 
Why do people feed hard feed to fat horses - its not being nice you are causing obesity, the horse doesn't understand treats its just food.

Chaff and a multi vit and 1.5% of his beody weight in fibre (hay / grass) if he starts slimming up the fibre untill you have it at the right level. Feed it in a small hole net or similar so he has constant access to fibre for gut health.

If there isn't grass and only grass hay he will need some type of protein I like alfala but there are other options to keep feet, muscles and coat healthy.
 
I have a very good doer and for the last 3 years I have fed her 1.5% of her bodyweight, i'm always watching her like a hawk. Her management is ridden every morning, turned out muzzled in the afternoon and stabled at night with weighed and soaked hay. She also has 2 x cups of Allen & page fast fibre, brilliant feed - its cheap and contains vitamins & mins.
 
Hi Violetstripe, yeah he only has a little hand of nuts, hardly anything really, so might just do that, grazing isn't that good at the moment which is why they're having hay, but thank you will give it a try :)

maccachic: Its not actually like he's having scoops of hard feed and bags of treats!!
He has a small handful of chaff and a scatter of pony nuts, not even a small handful!!! And then vitamins!! Nothing else, no bags of carrots or apples!!
As for 'not being nice' surely I'm being responsible in seeking a good alternative for him, rather than 'causing obesity'.
He isn't obese, I don't want him to get fat, he's looking chubby, in my opinion, so I want to deal with the feed situation before it gets to that point of being obese!?!
More responsibility, don't you think?!
 
Hi Lotty, thank you :) will do some research on Allen and Page! Denny's turned out all year, so its hard to limit the intake of grass, but its better that he lives out with the herd as he has lived out untouched for 5 years, he doesn't mind being stables but he gets worried if the others are out in the field :) he only has a little dinner, for a big stocky horse eating a little dinner, he does seem to be very good doer, will be keeping an eye on him come summer - may invest in a muzzle, someone was selling a greenguard at a bootfair for a tenner, with the lables still on - wish I'd got it in advance!! But thank you, I'll have a look at Allen and Page :) xx
 
Hi princestar, it's the Greenguard grazing muzzle with the halter I have, it's really good and wears well, she's been wearing it for the last 3 years and it still in one piece😊 if you do go for a Greenguard, make sure you get the second version they brought out as their first one is really low at the sides, some horses just eat over it. I can't let my mare have too much grass as she has had lami in the past, so that's why I have to stable her at night also it gives her some relief from the muzzle.

I used to feed her speedi-beet but she wouldn't really eat it so I changed to fast fibre and she wolves it down. In the winter if I'm competing I give her a scoop of happy hoof with the fast fibre.

Don't worry too much, at least you are aware he's a good doer and doing something about it.
 
Thanks Lotty, yeah I might have to get one; we've got about 19 acres and I don't want to have that risk. In the summer I might stable during the day and turnout at night - I don't like stabling him, but if needs must then I'll shut him in for a few hours or so :) xx
 
Why is a fat horse being fed oil and conditioning cubes?! Crazy.

I have a similar type to you (14.3/15hh Connie x) who is a good doer. He's a 6yo in full work and clipped who exists from just hay (not adlib). He gets a handful, and I mean a handful, of Safe & Sound in the evenings which is more for me to feel like I'm giving him something than for him! He is full of beans, forward, loves to work, never runs out of energy, gleaming coat, bright eyes so he clearly isn't missing any vits & minerals by only getting a tiny bit of hard feed. He also gets free access to a salt lick in his stable.
 
I have a 14hh welsh who is now a perfect weight - quite comfortably a 3 on a condition score. That has been achieved by feeding just a small scoop of hi-fi lite, with a scoop of NAF GP supplement for vits and mins and 2 scoops of biotin for his feet, plus a few carrots. He is on restricted grazing and gets a couple of slices of hay each day (soaked until recently). Now the weather has turned I will probably feed a few high fibre cubes OR some fast fibre, well below the recommended rate, just to ensure he doesn't drop too far. He will come into the spring at just the perfect weight.

He has a chaser clip and is hacked weekly and works barefoot. His coat is glossy and his feet are hard, so I don't think he wants for anything on this basic diet.
 
Stop feeding him! Horses like his are designed to live off poor grazing. My little cob is prone to weight gain. He is currently living out muzzled 24/7 with no supplementary feed/forage and I can still not feel his ribs yet (has lost weight in the last few weeks though since weather changed so hopefully muzzle off for half the day soon).
 
Notwithstanding what sounds like very small quantities, you are still feeding a pony out of work and designed to live on air a high starch cube, a mollassed chaff and oil, all of which will contribute to chubbiness - until you have his weight the way you want it I'd drop all feed other than his grazing/hay in field. If you feel you must add vitamins to his ration, feed in a mollasses-free chaff - maybe an alfalfa/oat straw blend, there are plenty about now, that will put some protein in his system.
 
I give mine a stubs scoop of hi fi lite with baileys lo cal balancer. I fling in a bit extra magnesium coz it helps chunky ponies to metabolize, & a bit of mint. in winter they get a teeny biy of speedibeet too. Greenguard muzzle was on from may to end of september. What a difference that made ! Still fed her all summer because I like to get fibre through her system because we have had 2 cases of grass sickness. But no hard feed. . . .ever !
 
Tiny bit of bran and a couple of carrots for my cobs, token gesture as I feel guilty when the other horses on the yard which need feeding to death to keep weight on get big feeds :)
 
Surely the clue with conditioning cubes is in the name :confused: They are for adding condition - why in blue blazes would you give them to an overweight horse?

Cut out hard feed, reduce forage quality to minimum (limit grass intake, supplement with hay/straw) and exercise it. It really isn't rocket science.
 
People are making out like I'm the worst horse owner in the world!

Surely coming on here and asking advise is a good thing!

Denny isn't obese like everyone seems to think; far from it, he's a bit 'chubby' (in my opinion) hardly anywhere near being 'fat'!!

I had him weighed and he isn't anywhere near 'fat' or 'overweight' infact, he is better than I expected, I over expected what he would have weighed - he's not overweight!!!

I came on here to ask advise, as in, what should I change his feed to, (eg, Bailey's low cal chaff) NOT for people to slate me - offer me advice, don't be rude to me.

I have a previous post, where I posted about someone on my yard that was feeding my horse extra - as in ADDING feed to my bowl when I wasn't there!! That is why I was worried that Denny was getting fat! Not that I was feeding him scoops and scoops of feed!!

FAR from it: I feed Denny a small handful of chaff, a tiny sprinkle of pony nuts and supplements!!! He would be the only horse on the yard that wouldn't be eating - they all eat at the same time and it causes fights!! Also, he IS doing work, it is not much, he isn't galloped around a field 6 days a week, or competing in dressage - but he is doing exercise!
When I wasn't on the yard and someone else fed my horse for me, they were adding a SCOOP of nuts (at least - I am not aware of what else they were adding) Since then that has been sorted and he now only has what I feed him and the person has been warned that they shouldn't be doing that!!!

If he hadn't had been fed what that other person was feeding him, he would be fine!! His weight is actually fine!! It's me being more critical of his weight than him being "obese"

:mad:
 
I like Spillers Lite balancer for my ponies - they only need a mugful and you're sure then that they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need, but it doesn't put weight on. One of them gets fat just thinking about food.....
 
Hi Triskar, is it good? All I worry about is him getting nutrients and vitamins that he needs - the Baileys is about £25 a bag, but as he doesn't have that much it lasts me ages so I don't care about the costs - is it a good feed? He's going away to be broken in January, so don't want to have to change it, just adjust to his work load. Thank u xx
 
Steer clear of Baileys for a good doer! Its molassed or has grains/flash dried grass products.

OP - basically you need a handful of something to occupy him whilst others eat. Not a meal. So for me it would be a cup of speed beet or fastfibre.

You need to start reading the labels on feed bags, look at the ingredients and the sugar and starch levels. The latter should be below 5%.

He doesnt need the feed, you arent being mean denying him it, in fact you're being good owner - far worse for his body to be having to work extra hard, for his organs to be smothered in fat and his feet to start disintegrating :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top