Help and advice needed for managing a fat lad.

MrsElle

MrsElle

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Ok, Fat Lad arrived today and I am wondering how to manage his weight.

He really is porky and as a Highland lives on fresh air. He is now in a smallish, perhaps a third of an acre, winter paddock with poor grazing.

He does not get any hard feed, but we are going to have a problem with the other horse and owner we share with. All we have is a field, no way of sectioning it off as Fat Lad does not respect leccy tape, and the mare gets fed twice a day. The mares owner and I were hoping that the moody mare would take charge and refuse to allow Fat Lad anywhere near her food, but it seems she has fallin in love with him and decided it would be lovely to share her tea with Fat Lad this evening. Nice as it was to see of them sharing a bucket of feed, Fat Lad just cannot be fed.

Moody Mare's owner is quite nervous, and due to our respective work commitments she and I will be up at the field at different times of day. She will have to feed Moody Mare and be unable to do anything to prevent Fat Lad from tucking in also!

So, what to do? I wondered if a grazing muzzle might help? Field sharer would put on Fat Lads grazing muzzle on in a morning, I would remove it late afternoon after I have given Moody Mare her tea. Would this vastly reduce the amount of hard feed he could snaffle from Moody Mares feed bucket?

Any help and advice greatfully recieved.
 
Can you not just hold your chap or tie him up until the mare finishes her tea? Or, do you have a field shelter with a gate fastening that you could put her in whilst she eats her tea?
 
I won't be there when the mare has her breakfast. Her owner just puts in the feed bucket on her way to college as she hasn't time to stay and wait for mare to eat. Tea time isn't so bad as I can take him to the other side of the paddock and tie him up and groom him etc while mare eats.

We have no field shelter, as lots and lots of natural shelter.
 
Looks like it's the muzzle then! Although if she is letting him share her feed, he might start chasing her away so he can have it to himself for however long it takes to hoover up her feed through his mask!

The only other thing I could think of was to build a little corral in the coner of the field so she can eat in peace, but if your friend can't wait around for the mare to finish this wouldn't work either. She could always get up 10 minutes earlier and supervise breakfast!
 
Hard keeping two opposites my greedy guts use to scoff old boys food trug. You might end up with arguments over food(had that one before). I have never done the muzzle thing but I am sure big lad will end up knowing its food time and become a pain to get it on etc?? but an option.

Agree either tie him up and give him ie a handful of pony nuts in a trug or a small holed hay net whilst the other eats her feed???

Try the above and see which one works. I have good doer gets fat on thin air etc, its ok when he has been kept with same type but its hard when they are not and have different food needs isnt it. Good luck
 
NOthing wrong with a muzzle I say - better a muzzle than a fat lad :D:D:D:D

Wish they would make human ones so I would stop grazing all day...
 
Could she tie him up while her mare is eating? The other thing would be to give him a treat ball to knock around with a handful of nuts or chaff (lo cal) whilst the mare is eating.

Oh and no rugs to help get the fat off xx
 
You could also get the other owner to reduce the amount she feeds in the morning and up the feed in the evening - say 1/4 and 3/4?

That way she knows that her mare is eating all of the feed she is buying and not sharing as much!
 
Supertrouper, she can't tie him up while mare is eating as she puts the feed bucket over the wall on her way to college, she is a single parent with young children and there is no way she has time to spend watching my Fat Lad while hers eats. I run a guest house so am working from 6am until lunchtime-ish, so I can't do the breakfast watch unfortunately.

Oh, and he is most definatley not rugged and never will be - a rugged Highland? *insert shocked smiley here* !

lilaclomax, that might be a plan :)

We will try all the suggestions, thank you :)
 
how can you muzzle a horse already on poor grazing for majority of the day with winter around the corner if not already here, i don't care how fat he is, it is not healthy or fair and will make him become aggressive over the mares feed which will result in fights and injuries all for 5mins of holding a horse whilst another feeds.
 
Supertrooper said:
MrsElle - sorry if I offended ;-). Not a easy situation then, the muzzle may be the answer xx
Click to expand...

No offence taken, I can't see anything in your response that would warrent offence :D

Might suggest a smaller feed in the morning for the mare, plus a grazing muzzle during the day for Fat Lad, if mares owner is happy to put it on him in the morning, and if she has 5 minutes to do so.
 
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