Help, overweight pony

T

Tonty Tont

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 August 2010
Messages
628
Location
Worcestershire
Visit site
Tont is a stocky little cob, but very fat. I would put him at 4 out of 5 on the condition scale.

The trouble is, we have recently been kicked out of the stables so he is living out with three other ponies. I can't put a grazing muzzle on him, as he is just so stroppy he'll pull it off. I can't strip graze the paddock as we just don't have £200+ for electric tape. he is currently on Baileys Lo-Cal but he has to have a good few handfuls of chaff as he is fed with the others, and if he finishes first he just steals their feed. He is hacked out for about 1 hour, but only when the weather is nice, as we have no arena or anything. He is only rugged with a lightweight rain sheet overnight to keep the rain off him.

I just can't seem to get the weight off him :confused:

Any advice on what would be best to feed and to help get the weight off would be brilliant :)

Thankyou so much, Nicole :D
 
Take the rugs off, he doesn't need them.
Shop around for electric fencing, you can certainly get it cheaper and strip graze him.
Don't feed him any chaff -he doesn't need it, just separate from others at feed time.
Exercise him more, you can hack in all weathers, surely.
 
I would seriouly make him wear a well fitted muzzle. The greenguards are good and find they stay on if fitted properly. It's good your aware that you need to do something as if he goes down with laminitis, what then? How would you cope with him than, and spending 200 on fencing is cheaper than manageing a horse with laminitis with the price off vet bills. I would find some money and get him fenced off now or muzzled.
 
picsfromcompandphone1077.jpg



Sorry to say this but 4/5 is pretty serious, and you need to get on top of it asap. Shy has to have his darth vadar mask attached to a breaksafe headcollar with baler twine, or it's off in seconds.It also no longer rubs his chin. he has it on for the daytime, and was in a small fatty paddock at night, with soaked hay only.Only now he's stable, he's getting a small supper. He has a Dengie lite lick in the fatty paddock.

Tbh, I would cut out ALL bucket feed, instead feed soaked hay, get the rugs off, get the muzzle on, get a weightape and use it daily, and go all guns blazing. It's too easy to be soft, and then have an obese pony. You have to be cruel to be kind, but keep the gut going with soaked hay.

Shy got porky before this regime, and he has lost 50 kilos, and is now steady at 408 kilos, and I'm just so pleased.

Good luck !!
 
Last edited:
LOL at the look on Shy's face!!
Blue Chip Lamilite seems to be working on my two recently bought fatties. Could you possibly set up a Paddock Paradise track system with electric tape? As already said you really need to get some.
Good luck and don't give in to those " but mum I'm really hungry" looks!!!!
 
Yes agree that a paddock paradise sytem would work really well for your pony. We use that sytem at EMW-Herefordshire and also utilise the round pen for control.We're feeding just well soaked hay if under restriction and currently using NAF laminaze in ONE handful only of fine chaff damped down, which is great for helping to up the metabolism. We also use the 'treadmill' approach, walking out in hand when riding isn't an option, which is slimming for humans as well as horses! As already said forget the rug and make him use up his energy keeping warm. I think it's a case of being really hard. If you cna find a concrete cattle yard nearby that's the solution, that or plough!
emw.
 
persevere with the muzzle, walk in hand and lunge as well as the riding-he doesnt have to tear around on the lunge, lots of brisk walking, trotting a circuit then walking one etc and make use of the whole paddock if you are worried about wearing a track in the field.anything extra you can manage work-wise is good, even if its only for 15mins.

electric fencing can be costly to set up but then you always have it and as someone said, its cheaper than dealing with laminitis. no rugs! and look around for somewhere easier to manage a good doer :)
 
I can see your problem with grazing muzzles and electric fencing, but no excuse for not riding every day - stop being a wuss and buy yourself a jacket (hi viz of course :)) and get out there!

When you hack, make every step count - urge him to walk out every stride, trot for longer periods, find hills and make him trot up them, and canter every strip of grass you find.

Take the rugs off - if he gets wet he will use up some fat keeping warm, and if he is an overweight cob I promise you he won't be cold - that's what his fat is for, think of it as stored coal for burning!

And if this is not enough, clip him, and leave him rugless in the day and just a lightweight at night. If this seems brutal, I can promise you laminitis is a thousand times more brutal than chubby cob feeling a little chilly.

You have to be pro-active in this. Good luck and be brave - he will benefit.
 
Electric fencing is going to be cheaper than the vet bill :(


I got poles, tape, and an energizer for about £120 a couple of years ago. Friend has just got a better deal, i.e. longer poles, better energizer and far more tape for £135.
 
Thankyou for the advice :)

Martlin - Tont has only been broken a few months so is not confident enough to go out on his own, and my mom's friend who I keep him with is 68 with terrible arthritis and no knee-cap, so if the weather is bad we can't ride. There is just no way of seperating him.

Thanks for the muzzle tips shysmum, I will try that :)

His front and back end aren't too bad at all, he would probably be a 3 there as he just has lots of bone, he just has this HUGE belly that just won't come off.

He isn't prone to laminitis as he had been bigger than this before and in a field with waist high grass and he has never had it before.

I can't move yards as my parent's can't afford it, and the same for electric tape. They are quite tight for money with Tont anyway, and as we share the rent that isn't much, and as my parent's are the one's that go out to work it isn't fair all their money goes onto my pony.

picture.php
 
You have been given some really good advice on this thread.

Please be aware that long grass is not necessarily more dangerous than short lush grass and that your pony will be at risk from laminitis if you don't do something about his weight.

You don't say how old you are but if you are a minor then your parents are responsible for the welfare of your pony. If you are old enough to get a job to contribute towards the required fencing maybe you should do that. Would your parents buy it for you if you offer to do some jobs for them in return?
 
Just because hes overweight doesn't mean he doesn't need rugging, your be surprised how many feel thec old, a lightweight turnout isn't going to do much but keep the rain off so I wouldn't worry leaving it off.

You really need to work him more often, 1 hour every few days is not enough, indroduce some long reining and a little bit of lunging for the days you don't ride, if you can't hack out work him in your field.

As for feed just give him a handful of chaff (lami approved) and make sure he is tied up so he can't eat the others dinner.

I would really think about getting a grazing muzzle for him, its much better then him getting lami isn't it? he will et used to it, you can leave it on during the say and take it off at night.
 
Im only 13 so I have no money of my own, and my parents are completly non-horsey.

I don't mean he isn't at risk, just that he's been on long, lush grass before so he isn't the type to get it every time there is the tiniest bit more sugar in the grass.
There is no where to tie him safely, as one of the posts from the field shelter has been snapped in two from where he has done this before.

Nicole :)
 
You may have to hold on to him then, until the others have finished their teas.

I guess the muzzle is going to be the cheapest option. Don't buy him any more rugs either! The rain sheet should do him for winter if you're not going to clip & it sounds as if he won't be working hard enough to need it.

I know it's tricky when you have a pony on a tight budget & non-horsey parents. Maybe your Mum's friend could have a word with them. A part time job can also mean less riding, so again he wouldn't get as much exercise.

Good luck getting him to slim down.
 
Hello Nicole, what a lovely sort he looks!

I have to agree that he will need his grazing restricted though, especially as we are experiencing the autumn flush of grass at the moment.

Your horse may never have had laminitis before, but if he is overweight he is seriously at risk and the slightest thing can tip them over the edge.

If electric fencing is too expensive then definitely try a muzzle, my mare hated hers at first too and I had to be quite inventive at getting it so it didn't rub and was more comfy, but as I have a horse that gets laminitis it is a small inconvenience. I also had to make the hole in the bottom slightly larger as she just refused to eat point blank and was at risk of hurting herself trying to get it off. It still restricts her enough though. You can pick them up for about fifteen pounds, which isn't a huge amount compared to the vet costs for a bout of laminitis.

There are lots of articles on the web about overweight horses, Dengie has some good advice, perhaps you could show your parents the site and they will realise that you probably need to buy one?
 
Not sure if anyone's mentioned it - but you could also walk him in hand if you don't want to ride (: You could take him for walks whilst the other horses in the field have their food - so he gets exercise AND can't pinch their fodder! :p
 
Wll done you for coming on to ask - what a lovely pony you have there, too.

Some more about the laminitis - it is usually a long process of being consistently overweight and a build up of the fatty tissue, releasing its harmful toxins into the bloodstream over the years which then leaves horses ready to tip over the edge and then, once they have had an attack of laminitis, be susceptible to it for the rest of their lives. The idea is never to let them get fat in the first place. If you inherit a chubby animal, slim it down ASAP! Lots of handy tips above and you may even be able to borrow some posts to make a small grazing corral.

Overweight is serious, even if laminitis hasn't happened yet.

Couple or words of caution on grazing muzzles, too. Firstly, choose the correct fit and then pad the cheeks with wraparound fleece. I cut the two lower rows of webbing from the front off all mine to allow more air to circulate in what must be a very a very sweaty environment on a warm day, and very claustrophobic anyway. Try and introduce the muzzle gradually as it may rub in the early days (muzzle area) and never leave them for longer than it would be safe to leave them out on lush grass without checking. Some ponies are experts at removing them! In preventing DIY removal, make sure the extra fixings are breakable in an emergency.

Good luck with the dieting and here's to a much slimmer pony soon.
 
Love your horse!
You did mention that he can get the muzzle off? Something I picked up on this forum a couple of months ago is to plait his forelock and mane around the top of the muzzle/headcollar. This means he won't be able to get it off over his ears. Hope this helps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top