Help - fat horse

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Beccahh

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Hey
Iv been thinking if i should or shouldnt post this
My lovely welsh D is pretty damn fat during the winter he was rugged up the eyeballs and fed his normal quantity of feed 1scoop of alfa a 1 cup of cool mix and a cup of speedi beet however he wasnt being ridden the odd hack due to my bad health i know not a good enough excuse
and well now im finally better im faced with a fatty
so the works begun
His hay is soaked between 12/24 hours so no calories in it hes getting half a scoop of his alfa a original 1cup of cool mix and his garlic and breathing suppliment.
he goes out at 9am and at 12 i go and put his muzzle on ( its not on all day due to iv only just brought one and i honestly think he has no idea how to use it iv give him treats through it and bits of grass) so he has that on till 4 when he comes in
he is hacked 4times a week whitch i make sure includes 1/2 hour brisk walk and lots of trotting we also end the hack with us coming up a hill back to the yard
he is jumped once a week and schooled or lunged.

what im asking is,is there anything else i could be doing to help him lose his weight
on a fat score he's fat tbh not far from obeses in my opinion not much on his neck but his belly is huge and his bum is bit rounder than id want.Hes weigh taped every monday with me recording his results so i know if hes gained or lost on a certain period hes weighed at 6pm.
i know he's native but hes not true to type more of a sportier d
im going to look into changin his feed to one more for a good do'er i heard hi fi lite is good
but opinons please ? :)
also does his routine sound good iv been told to turn him out at night in during the day.
however i have another horse to consider and hes 25 with arthritus in his legs and hips howver he suffers from uvitus so i dont know what to do

cookies if you get this far
^_^
xxxxxx
 
Keep the muzzle on the whole time he is out- he'll work it out
Up the exercise if he is fit enough
Cut out ALL hardfeed
 
lexiedhb said:
Keep the muzzle on the whole time he is out- he'll work it out
Up the exercise if he is fit enough
Cut out ALL hardfeed
Click to expand...

That^^^
Walking is the best exercise for fatties. A good brisk walk, not a plod, and lots of hills!
Nothing stopping you doing that 6 days a week for an hour and a half a time!
 
Grazing muzzle the entire time he's out (he'll soon work things out, we have 6 horses in them and they're all fine)

cut out all hard feed, mine just has 1 cup of Top Chop Antilam a day and 8lbs of haylage (she's stabled 7am - 6pm) and thats it, literally nothing else.

Best of luck!
 
What the others have said, and paddock paradise system if you can. Next winter, feed according to workload! He probably only needs a bit of hi-fi lite and supplement for joint, for example. Rug according to clipping and weight. My boy had a chaser/irish and was only in a m/w for all winter (stabled this year but out last year).
 
As above.

Also regarding your arthritic one... generally they are better moving around gently than standing in so if you could have them both out for longer (e.g. overnight) that should be better for both.

Good luck.
 
xRobyn said:
What the others have said, and paddock paradise system if you can. Next winter, feed according to workload! He probably only needs a bit of hi-fi lite and supplement for joint, for example. Rug according to clipping and weight. My boy had a chaser/irish and was only in a m/w for all winter (stabled this year but out last year).
Click to expand...

I would keep the muzzle on also.

In reply to this poster - xRobyn - love the signature - now have that song in my head - Thank you.
 
My Welsh D had to winter out with no rug on in order to keep his weight stable - he was not keen at times but it is for his own good. He is not clipped though.
His routine all year round to keep his weight down is in at night on 4.5kg hay and some chaff to put his supplement into.
During the day he goes out on the same paddock he was on in winter so he is having to work hard to get bits of grass to nibble on, but it is enough to keep him moving and happy - so I would muzzle yours at all times when out if they are on 'proper' grass rather than a bare area.
My lad never has hard feed (only chaff) and no treats, carrots, apples etc in order to keep his calorie intake down.
He is exercised 6 days a week every week during late March through to mid-Sept - hacked out with loads of hills, a brisk walk and lots of short sections of trot. In the winter I can no longer hack in the week due to the darkness but he will be ridden both days at the weekend.
On a weigh tape he is around 440kg to 450kg and his 'ideal' weight is 440kg and this is what I aim to keep him at all year.
 
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