good doer- getting ready for spring!

Mine is 14.1hh welsh x

Samba is neck and bellied, hasnt had a rug on for two weeks now, even in that rain. Been going out with a muzzle, double netted hay in small haynet. As soon as the grass came though she blew up the fatty :)

Shes not hard feed but I hand tit bit her some pony nuts when she is caught and has her muzzle off and coz I am a softy she gets half a carrot stuck in her hay net :)
 
i have a ring half way down. but nothing stopping you fitting one lower.

also you mentioned shavings were expensive but it sounds like you are massively overfeeding with a hay bar and a good doer !

the money you save by feeding less will easily pay for shavings
 
i have a hw cob VERY good doer
isnt fed ANY hard feed
he is on 10lb of haylege
i leave the net for the last person to put up before they leave.
last summer was the only summer in 6 years where i haven't had to muzzle him - result - when dentist came he needed nothing doing to his teeth:D

he is clipped out and in a rain sheet at the moment and worked 5 days a week
in summer he is out overnight and in through the day
 
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Hi there, I have a 14.3 Welsh Section D who is also a very good do-er! Our livery is also an old dairy farm so the grazing tends to be very rich during the spring/autumn. As she was a bit on the heavy side coming out of the winter last year, I've been really strict about her management this year.

She's been muzzled all through the winter when turned out (about 8 hours a day), given an eliminet or double netted small holed hay net of soaked hay (at least 12 hours), no hard feed at all, one treat a day when I put her muzzle on and a very small haynet before turning out in the morning. She's been naked all winter (except in the wet) and I gave her a bib clip.

I was using shavings but swapped to a chopped rape straw bedding which is very economical. I know she has tried to eat it in the past as I've found little lumps of bedding where she's spat it out again, lol!

She is now just coming back into ridden work after being backed last year and the winter off and everyone has commented on how well she looks. I must say I am pleased with how she's looking too!!

I will probably carry on this regime for most of the spring/summer with turnout during the day and in at night (partly because our summer fields are quite a way from the yard and I don't want to leave her out overnight with a muzzle).

She's never had lami but after the scare I got last year due to her weight I just didn't want to go through all that worry again this year. As the others have already said you've got to be cruel to be kind! :)
 
vanessa roberts said:
Advice please - have a 14.2 good doer, already looking a little tubby after the winter. On a straw bed which i am sure he is eating, so considering going onto shavings but much more expensive, but do not like the idea of leaving him overnight with nothing to eat. On haylage as normal hay makes him cough, but am using a hay bar at the moment so soaking is not really an option.
on happy hoof and basic nuts in two small feeds per day and getting worked six days a week.
Grazing at the yard is very good (old dairy pasture) so have to restrict in the spring anyway. but i am not a believer in leaving horses in stables for long periods of time with no food.
any ideas?
Click to expand...

Just wanted to say, good on you for thinking of this now. You might not have the perfect regime (yet) for a fatty but at least your thinking along the right lines now. How many people will be posting for help on here later this year when thier horses are already obese and laminitic? Well done. I wish more people were 'onto it' at this time of year.
 
I cannot recommend the Trickle Net enough! http://www.tricklenet.co.uk/ At £30 it's expensive, but it has made a HUGE difference to my horse! He has to be on haylage as the yard doesn't do anything else, but even with a double netted Shires haynet he would usually have finished his hay by 7pm (not to mention how quickly he chews holes in the nets :() With the Trickle Net he still has 3/4 left at 7pm, and it has stood up to his mad chewing as well! Other people on the yard have noticed and bought them too. Well worth the price (I have bought an extra two just in case they stop making them!!)


I do not work for the company, am just amazed at the product!

Isabelle
 
How's a bout a a muzzle? That way, he can roam about using up calories 24/7 and eat much less...

Don't leave on 24/7, they should only be used at a max of 12hrs.

Many do not like muzzles, but I can't think what would be better given that we cannot provide a Paddock Paradise type environment.
 
Thanks, although wish i had been on it a bit earlier! you see your pony every day and then one day you think where did that stomach come from! I want to keep him in good shape as he works much better when carrying less weight, just like me really!!
 
buy a weigh tape too, and check every 1-2 weeks without fail.

Food can be adjusted for sensible weight loss over winter, and slow gain in spring.
 
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