General CC on my fatty please?

TuscanBunnyGirl

TuscanBunnyGirl

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Hellooo!!

This is my 6yr old arabX somerandomchunkymare. I know she's lacking a lot of muscle and has been out of work for about 4 months due to lack of time :( however she's now slowly coming back into work. However, I'm a slightly paranoid owner :o and especially when it comes to laminitis- I'm really starting to worry about her weight. I know she is over weight. Can any of you clever HHO posters point me in some direction of how to help her drop the weight? She has adlib hay and a small handful of hay pellets (just to keep her quiet whilst the other 2 eat). When she's a bit fitter I'm going to hack her twice a day and when she's toned up a bit more hopefully lunge in the morning and hack/school in the afternoon..am I going in the right direction?

Thank you!!

sorry if the pics aren't so clear!

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I can feel her ribs...slightly..if I press rather hard but they are there somewhere ;)

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a bit cresty? :/

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She doesnt look that fat, but still needs to loose weight, i see she can eat her hay freely, can she not have a small holed haynet?
 
I would say soak the hay to reduce the sugar content but can see that you really do feed it adlib, it looks like a large bale in a feeder so not possible to soak it. She should lose the tummy with the increased work, just build up slowly and get her going up some hills to use up the calories.

She is rather nice and a lovely colour:)
 
If it was my horse I wouldn't be feeding ad lib hay - I would be weighing a minimal amount and then soaking it, and feeding from a small holed net so she isn't left with nothing to eat.

As a general guide the average horse needs 2-2.5% of their body weight in forage, but if putting on a diet, would ideally be looking at 1.5 %.

I would also be considering a grazing muzzle when turned out, and cut out any hard feed, but appreciate you need to feed if the others are getting something, so would look at maybe some lo cal chaff.

The excercise regime sounds fine as long as you can stick to it.

Good luck!
 
Lovely mare, gorgeous colour, yes, on the chunky side but if you're a 'paranoid' owner, why the *blinking heck* don't you be paranoid about yourself and wear a hat?

And no, I don't want the usual 'my head, no-one else does it here, my choice' argument back. It's not YOU who would have to pick up and care for the pieces of your silly selfish self.

:mad:

*other words deleted, due to not wanting an infraction*
 
Thank you so much for all your replies guys :D Very appreciated!

There is no grass out in the paddock which I guess for a change is a bonus :D

I forgot to add that she has had a foal and she's kept the belly, i have been told that it won't go? but I've never had a broodmare before so I don't know..

I will definitely be sticking to her exercise routine. She's such a lovely mare, nothing particuarly wow but she's so loving and gentle and had such a crap start in life (eg. had some fat wotsit stick a western/trekking type saddle that weighed about 5 stone on her at ~2yrs, galloped her down any random road, ut some 'homemade' horrific bit in her mouth then put her into foal at rising 3) so I'd hate for something to happen because of poor management on my half.

She's always had adlib hay although I THINK she looked better last summer when she was in light work (see pics below) Do you think it would be possible to still allow her adlib hay and still be able to get the weight off?

When we first got her:
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last summer:
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and last winter:
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Mrs B said:
Lovely mare, gorgeous colour, yes, on the chunky side but if you're a 'paranoid' owner, why the *blinking heck* don't you be paranoid about yourself and wear a hat?

And no, I don't want the usual 'my head, no-one else does it here, my choice' argument back. It's not YOU who would have to pick up and care for the pieces of your silly selfish self.

:mad:

*other words deleted, due to not wanting an infraction*
Click to expand...

Hello Mrs.B!
..I'm not riding in any of the pictures here.
Generally when I'm riding her I don't wear a hat but that's because I'm a lazy moose and didn't bring my hat home with me from uni. I've got another one for at home and wear it now :)
 
You can get the weight off but still feed pretty much ad lib, all of mine, except the very small ponies which are not really worked hard, have ad lib hay and/ or grass, it is much better for them to trickle feed, I find they gorge less.

Once she is fit enough some fast work with plenty of steady cantering will make all the difference, if working properly she should lift up her back and this should improve her abdominal muscles which will lift up and the tummy should go, maybe not completely but there is no reason for it to remain like it is she has not had years as a brood mare and can get back into shape.
 
Mrs B said:
Lovely mare, gorgeous colour, yes, on the chunky side but if you're a 'paranoid' owner, why the *blinking heck* don't you be paranoid about yourself and wear a hat?

And no, I don't want the usual 'my head, no-one else does it here, my choice' argument back. It's not YOU who would have to pick up and care for the pieces of your silly selfish self.

:mad:

*other words deleted, due to not wanting an infraction*
Click to expand...

??????????

OP, unless you are going to put her into hard work I don't see that you could give her ad lib hay. I agree that she needs to be on 1.5%, of her ideal bodyweight, in forage, if you want her to lose weight, you could maybe push this to 2% if she is doing a bit more work. If you feed her hay in a small holed net then it will keep her busy for longer and don't forget to take her grass intake into account when working out hay amounts.

She is absolutely gorgeous!
 
Thank you all so much for all your advice and help! It's much appreciated! She's now out doing hill work (all we have around here anyway! :P ) twice a day and I've cut down her feed so hopefully will be able to update you all soon on a much skinnier version of my fat moose! Thank you all so much! :)
 
I read some where (article by a physio I think) that pole work ie. fans on a circle and raised poles is particularly good at tightening abdo muscles. I think it specifically mentioned broodies but unsure so maybe add some in to lunge or schooling sessions :)
 
Cloball said:
I read some where (article by a physio I think) that pole work ie. fans on a circle and raised poles is particularly good at tightening abdo muscles. I think it specifically mentioned broodies but unsure so maybe add some in to lunge or schooling sessions :)
Click to expand...

Oh great :D thanks, will defo be adding some of that in then :D She's also got locking stifles so sure it'll be good for that too :)
 
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