Getting weight off a fattie. Advice please........

silverstar

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My horse is a little overweight as grass is too rich where he is. Anyway I've strip grazed him and the weigh tape says he has lost weight however, he still has some fat around his middle.

What do I feed him? Hes getting a little bit of hay at night but no hard feed. Incidentally I've been trying to get rid of his excess baggage since last year but started strip grazing at the start of summer.

I cant figure this one out. Surely if weigh tape says he has lost weight (hes his winter weight) then he should have lost some??
 

mollymurphy

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I've started soaking the hay my horses get for up to 12 hours - that way, there's no calories, just fibre. So they can have as much as they can eat.

Also, what about trying a muzzle?

http://www.saddleupinternational.co.uk/muzzle.asp

I dont trust weight tapes tbh - i dont think they're very accurate.

I know how much of a struggle it is with fatties - i've got 1 big fatty and 2 very good-doers - they're a pain in the bum!
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hayleygunson

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I would suggest muzzles aswell, they're really useful - some people struggle through sympathy...
... I'm not really full of ideas though, there is high-fi lite - that's quite good stuff!
grin.gif
 

pottamus

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I strip graze my porky lad moving the fencing a couple of feet every morning and he has year old hay available as lib the rest of the time. He is out 24/7. I find it is the exercise that keeps his weight off best. I do all hacking with good hills and loads of trot work. In the spring and summer months I will ride 5 times a week and do 20-25 miles a week plus a pleasure ride of 15 miles most weekends...not saying you should do this but a good session of exercise on a regular basis will be your best bet.
You might want to still give some sort of all round vit supplement too (if not already)? You can just put it into a handful of Hi fi lite.
 

angiebaby

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This time of year is very hard, exercise is the best way to loose weight. Its taken 3 years, but my pony has lost a masssvie 200kg
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( i joke not!) I muzzle mine in the winter during the day, that way he can run around 4 acres and not eat too much. When he's in he gets 3 slices of hay overnight.
I also strip graze like you, from March to October, but they do get a feed of Lucie bix, speedi-beet and blue chip twice a day.
 

bex1984

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I've been majorly struggling with my pony's weight since I got him in March.
I've tried various things, I used a muzzle but he learnt how to remove it, and I had him on restricted grazing but with the wet weather we had it turned into a mud bath.

At the moment I'm finding the best thing is exercise - he is worked 6 days a week (usually ridden 5 days, lunged 1 day); when ridden I ride for an hour in the school, lots of trotting!

I monitor his weight using a weightape, pictures and some prodding!
 

Christmas_Kate

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Why are you haying at night if you don't mind me asking? if it's because he's in at night then I'd try feeding last year's hay, a handful of happy hoof as a 'feed' with multi vitamin and mineral in it (to make up for the lack of goodness in the hay).
If he's out at night then no hay. Strip grazing is useless if you're giving new shoots of grass, prefereably you need to be strip grazing on older grass (unfertilized). Strip grazing couple with a muzzle is the best thing.

And lastly LUNGE. 10 minutes on each rein once a day is the same as a 40 minute hack. Lots of walking (a good walk not a plod) and a little trotting will soon shift the weight.

weigh tapes are rubbish. They only give you an idea for worming / feeding purposes, and don't show the weightloss.
 

hadfos

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I have a thoroughbred that does amazingly well,he could live on fresh air but obviously not an option,lol!!Last yr he was so barrel like my saddle just slipped straight over his shoulders(lost weight didnt happen),however due to the weather we never really got a great deal of grass growth,when we did it was lush!This yr however even with fields fertilised,with all this rain the fields have grown to nigh on hay cutting length,he has stayed a perfect weight,they are also gettin a feed aday for supplements!!The longer the grass the less calorific it is!!The longer the better!x
 
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