FOILED - AT LAST! slowing down the fast eater

PucciNPoni

PucciNPoni

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I have been dieting my extremely good doer for better part of a year. I was getting to the point of suspecting EMS or somesuch (and even went so far as to have the bloods done). And while the tests all proved to come out negative (thank goodness) it still left me with the issue of trying to get weight off a horse that I've been having mixed results with. Overall the reduction is in the right direction however it has proven to be a more difficult task than perhaps other horses might find it. I can feel his pain! LOL

Anyway, big part of the problem is me/my guilt/the rate of consumption and speed in which he can munch his hay down. I have tried small holed nets doubled, tripled, soaked nets, adlib and reduced. I finally bit the bullet and sourced some straw...and started mixing the straw in to the hay. It's too early to know if this will help with the weight loss/maintenance - however, it HAS proved to slow the consumption rate. Normally a 4kg net disappears within an hour, which means the need for trickle feeding is more or less out the window! (Six or eight hours at grass <muzzled very soon I think!> plus an hour with a net sure doesn't add up to 16-18 hours of chewing!). But I watched him for a good long while last night while he tried to get the straw from the net and was able to only sort of get a sliver out at a time. HURRAH! I think we may be on to something!

Kind of a pointless post - but if anyone is thinking about trying mixing straw in to their nets for their fatties/laminitics/metabolic prone horses but aren't sure if it's worth the effort - I give a coupla thumbs up! :D
 
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I have the same problem with my boy maybe i should try putting straw in, i'll watch this thread to see the response, your not only one struggling to get weight off hun x
 
I've used straw for this for years and when we had the snow added oat straw for the youngsters so they always have something to munch on.
They get plenty of hay but it doesn't last 24 hours - feeding it with straw keeps them eating.
 
Does it have to be oat straw or can you feed any straw? I've never been able to get hold of oat straw so have never done this. But if you can feed any type of straw then this is something I'd consider for one of our horses.
 
My horse would eat constantly if I gave him enough haylage, and he is never full. I honestly believe I could put an entire bale of haylage in overnight and he'd have a good go at eating the lot. I did try putting straw in with his soaked hay in the summer but he refused to eat it.

Have you guys found that your horses will eat the straw? Mine could do with shifting a few pounds ASAP and I've actually been wondering about adding some straw to his haylage net to slow him down. Presumably if he doesn't eat the straw then he can't be as hungry as he's making out anyway...!
 
I've fed straw for a while and it works well. They can even have adlib straw but they do need to drink plenty, which can be difficult to acheive.

I've found that if you fluff it all up really really well (spend a while doing a couple of days worth in an empty stable then fill multiple haynets) they spend hours picking the nice hay out of the straw. They can also have twice as much (by volume) so they think they've died and gone to heaven :rolleyes: Most will eat the straw but only under duress and will spend ages trying to get all the hay.
 
Agree with Kalibear. Due to hay shortage this year our yard has requested that we feed a mix of oat straw and hay so that hay stocks last the winter. If I don't mix it properly in the haynet my horse just eats the hay and leaves the straw. Now I really mix it up (takes a while!) he seems to spend ages trying to pick the hay out but seems to eat it all eventually.

I give him half hay and half straw and he gets a huge haynet at night. He is a 16.1 cob cross so prone to weight gain but looks good on two sections of hay a day (plus the straw). Everyone also comments on his shiny coat.

I didn't like the idea at first but I am a convert and will continue this is future.

I think some of the ponies on the yard are fed straw only but I believe this risks impaction colic. Vet advised them feed bran to reduce colic risk.
 
I too struggle with my youngsters weight, he is an unbelievably good doer, I thought my native was a good doer but this boy takes the biscuit!! Literally lives on fresh air! I struggle with the YO giving him extra hay, he has started to kick the door and she doesnt seem to see that rewarding that with hay makes it worse!!! I think both mine would just eat constantly.Vet has told me I have to be brutal in what they eat.
Just discovered mixing, he doesnt always eat the straw but as you say, spends ages picking it out!
 
I found this out by pure accident the other day. My haylage is kept next to my straw and in my haste i shook my haylage out on the floor and scooped it up, in the process i managed to gap a few good size handfulls of straw. I was overwhelmed the next day when she still had some haylege left in her net..and the straw :D fussy madam :D
 
So far so good. The fact that the straw is rather slippery to grab out of a doubled net makes it difficult for him to get out too quickly - so it's still slowing my rather efficent horse down. (He worked out how to guzzle grass quickly through his muzzle over the summer).

I have noticed a difference in his shape, too. I'd taped him last week when the vet was round on my own tape, and it was 513. Two nights ago he was to 498. The puffy bits that look like love handles just behind the saddle area (over his loins) have all but disappeared.

It probably takes more like 2-3 hours for him to much two slices in his net now (he gets one of straw, one of hay) rather than the hour it used to take him to eat the hay he had before. He doesn't seem too frustrated by the lack of speed - but he does CONCENTRATE more!" LOL
 
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