HELP please!!!! Fat pony? Advice needed!!!!

R

rowy

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 February 2010
Messages
2,548
Location
leicestershire
Visit site
hey I have a big dillema!!!!
Lola's feet were trimmed 3 weeks ago. It was the first time she had been trimmed properly as she was really good and stood still so the farrier could take more time doing it. The older farrier has a big liking to lola so he was playing with her and he took her leg and held it up vertical in front of her and was shaking it like a dog paw if that makes sense and just messing around with her.
Immediately after she had been done she was very lame on our stony drive (had always had no problem with it before as she is such a hardy pony, you can tell as the stuff he trimmed off is so hard you can't bend it AT ALL and he had to use both hands to really push the trimmers hard to trim it.)
So the next 2 weeks she was slowly getting better and the last week she has been back to normal again.

The farrier came to redo Rowan's feet yesturday and told us:
- that it couldnt of been the trim cos her feet are too hardy
- he very much doubts that it was the pulling her legs around as again she is hardy
- that it may be because she is overweight and could possibly have laminitis.

Thing is she wasnt lame during that time on grass, it was only on our stony drive and she wasnt reluctant to trot or canter at all.
Also, when he looked for signs on her feet of laminitis he couldnt find any.

Sooooo I have some pictures, please could you tell me if shes overweight?
For those that dont know, lola has just turned 3 years old. She is a pure bred Exmoor and is currently 12hh in front and 12.2hh behind.

031.jpg

029.jpg

026.jpg

024.jpg

015.jpg


Second question:
If you think she is overweight, how is the best way to manage it?
because of what the farrier said, she has been in for 24hrs on a slice of hay at night and one in the day and i took her for a whizz round the field leading her from dancer's back.
I HATE keeping her in 24hrs but she cant go in the same field as dancer and rowan as they have a lot of good grass. I could put her in a smaller paddock but the farrier said that shorter grass produces more fructans as puts more effort into growing (which i know is true as learnt it at uni, but dont know if its really to such a huge extent) and if she was out, should it just be at night and in in the day? or just for a couple of hours in the day?

Please help! I'm really worried :(

Thanks
 
I would guess that it is the trim that has made her footy but I am no expert - I would really watch her weight (watch for cresty neck) and make sure you condition score. Best thing would be a grazing muzzle so that she can get lots of movement with the others but restricted grazing - rather than leave it on 24 hours you could do in during the day wiith a some soaked hay and out at night with muzzle. If in any doubt I would ring your vet to ask for advice most vets are happy to offer advice over the phone and may suggest other options. if not footy anymore than some exercise too will def.

The joys of horse ownership - there is always something to worry about - I am sure she will be fine sounds like you are being vigilant x
 
Hard to tell from pics rather than real life, but even if she is overweight (and she looks like she might be slightly) then it doesn't necessarily mean she will become laminitic. Doesn't sound like she is either from what you have said. It all sounds like she has been footsore and that was caused by the trim from your post.
 
it may well have been the trim, maybe he took just a little too much off ?


would seem to be coincidental that she would have lami the same day he visited ?


re weight ...... she is a bit "well rounded" imp and could not really afford to put any more on. I agree that muzzling would be preferable to being in as she will move around thefore burning off more calories ... she could also be out with her usual buddies if muzzled.

There are various sorts of muzzles and personally I prefer the ones when the pone can still get some grass albeit very little ( ie I dont like the bucket ones)


info

http://www.dengie.com/pages/feed-advice/article-library/efficacy-of-grazing-muzzles.php

http://www.grazingmuzzles.co.uk/


welcome to the world of the good doer ;)
 
Have a look here. http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice

I'd say she is a bit over weight myself but not horrendous. Footyness due to weight and too much sugars often only shows on more rough surfaces and can indicate inflammation of the lamina so do take care on stones as there is a risk of an abscess. This also applies if the Farrier has removed sole and thinned it causing sensitivity, which is a possibility from what you have written.

I don't suppose there is a bare paddock or yard she can spend time in? I've found yarding and feeding soaked hay very effective for weight loss as well as increasing exercise but not on surfaces that cause footyness without protection of pads or boots.
I'd consider a muzzle when out (if there's no yard/bare paddock) and feeding soaked and rinsed hay when in, it's important to keep up the level of fibre in the diet and muzzling of course reduces this as well as grass intake. If you're lucky enough to have a yard I'd feed soaked rinsed hay in there too.
 
as exmoors will live on air as you know, the best form of fatty management is the track or "paradise paddock system". it is very simple to do, you just run a track around the field about 6-10ft wide (depending on the field size) and leave her out there.
it works because they walk more than in a small paddock. i put the water at one end and any soaked hay at the other end. mine is on a 1/2 acre paddock. i do take it down for the winter.

if you google or you tube you can come up with loades of examples
 
Thanks everyone :)
I cannot use a muzzle as she just goes crazy with it on and runs into walls and wacks her head against things.
I would love to do the track but Lola is the greatest escape artist I have ever known. She sees any bit of electric taping as a challenge to overcome, even if its not even fencing off any grass :/ so that is out of the question.
I think I will out her on a small fenced paddock and see how she goes. I aggree that keeping her in isnt the answer due to limited movement and if she did have lami, standing in for hours would surely make it worse due to blood flow.
 
I'd say she was a tad cresty and a tad round, but not massively.
My little welsh gets footy for a few days after she is trimmed, and she doesn't even get trimmed short, perhaps it was just that, but I'd be watching her weight anyway.

I also have a lami, she is out 24/7 now, she did have to come in at the first flourish of grass, but now she is back out on a small restricted grazing paddock and is fine, still chubby, but she exists on air.

Just keep an eye on her :) I'm sure she'll be fine on a small paddock.
 
I see you have a dilemma.

I had an exmoor, she had low level laminitis for ages before I knew what it was. She was just a bit footy on hard ground occasionally.

She had a muzzle which she hates, but you got to be cruel sometimes, and she was turned out late at night and bought in during the day with some chaff given to her at lunchtime. I put this in a bucket with a large salt rock in it to make it difficult to eat, so took ages and she got the salt on her which made her drink more and that helped to detox her.

She was fine and still is, but she is with someone else now.
 
I would say she is a little overweight but not massively so (she looks to have an 'apple' bum and slight fat pads on shoulders), she probably cannot afford to put any more on at her age, both for the risk of lami and pressure on joints etc if too overweight. It could be the trim that has brought out signs of lgl, so many ponies have this and owners never realise because there seem to few signs. Personally I would manage her the way I manage mine that are lami risks. I keep them on a paddock that is kept reasonably well eaten off and use hay twice a day to ensure they have something to munch and don't get to feel hungry. They are often turned out with the others with a close eye kept on them when the grass isn't too green. I keep a daily check on crestiness and pulses for an early sign that something may be wrong, we have one that is always cresty but I can tell by the feel of it whether he is getting too much grass. I can always find pulses, but again, I know how they are supposed to feel and can take action if they feel any stronger or faster.

We also use a supplement, I can't remember the name as I am having a blank moment but it is used to relieve the symptoms very quickly during an attack and then used for maintenance to avoid another happening. I will post the name as soon as I get back from the yard as it is really good stuff.
 
Hey, sorry to hear Lola is still feeling a bit footy. It does usually show up a lot more on hard, stony ground than grass. When my boy got very low grade Laminitis about three years ago, he was very slow and footy when walking down the yard driveway. The vet advised me to remove all hard feed from his diet immediately and put him into a starvation paddock. He wasn't allowed anything extraa to start with - no hay when I brought him in, not even a carrot! It worked though and within a few days he was back to his normal self and I was advised by my vet to start riding him as soon as possible to help to keep his weight down. Three years later, and I have learnt how to control his weight a lot better and I am very careful about what I feed him.

Yes, the fructans can be more stressed in shorter grass, but as others have said there really wouldn't be enough grass in a starvation paddock for this to make a difference. One of my other little ponies is also a very good doer and becomes very footy if not managed correctly, so she is mainly kept in a small paddock and we supplement the grass for a small amount of hay.

Hope this helps. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top