Help...very fat Shetland

[SatansLittleHelper]

My mini Shitland is more of a Pygmy Hippo at the moment and I'm not sure what to do. He's turned out with the big 3 and lives out 24/7. Strip grazing is impossible at the moment (several long winded reasons).
I'm really worried he's going to get ill.
Can I lunge him..??? Could a grazing muzzle help..??? I know he cant wear one 24/7 though.
I'm about to start getting the cob fit so lots of hacking at walk....could I lead the Shitland along for this or will he keel over. ??? ???

 

[popcorn1]

I would bring him in during the day with some soaked hay, however not ad lib, a few hours with nothing won't kill him.
A muzzle on the gràss overnight.

He could hack at a walk all day long (not literally but you get what I mean)

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I have nowhere to bring him in to unfortunately, he lives out 24/7.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Then yes, lead from cob. Back him to drive!

 

[mavandkaz]

Any of those ideas are possible.
Could you fence of a section for him, so he's out with the others (in a muzzle if needed) overnight, and in his own pen/bare paddock during the day. This is what I do with mine.
Nothing wrong with him getting exercise too

 

[Gloi]

For a few months I regularly led a Shetland from a Fell Pony for miles and he didn't get tired, he liked it.
Never overestimate just how little they can live on

 

[GoldenWillow]

Could you make him a stable sized pen in a bit of the field, have him in there through the day and out with the others muzzled at night? Failing that as a last resort I would try muzzling 24/7 keeping a very close eye on amount of droppings and any sign of rubs.

 

[Ellietotz]

Mine is in a Shires Deluxe muzzle 24/7 and still has a grass belly so he gets plenty through it! I do let him have a handful of hay every night to rest from it but that's all. He is a lot better in it than without at least and Shires said the hole is the same size for all muzzles so he is definitely getting more than enough!

 

[ihatework]

Muzzle and ride and lead

 

[meleeka]

If you can’t restrict his grass you’ll have to muzzle him. Ride and lead will certainly help a lot, but unrestricted access to anything other than a bare paddock, is a recipe for trouble for a Mini.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

You either need to muzzle him or create a small pen which you can move a little at a time to give him a bit of grass. We've done this before when I had two (big horse and tiny tot) and they had to live out. worked really well and kept his weight down nicely. I would walk him out in hand if you cant ride and lead.

 

[P.forpony]

Ride and lead as much as you can!
Doesn’t have to be out hacking either.
I’ve done it in the school at walk trot and canter with little ones who couldn’t be ridden for various reasons.
It makes a huge difference and makes for a much happier pony than one on a very restricted diet.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Make a pen, even if it's mostly pallets tied onto fence posts but make sure he cant be pinned by one of the bigger ones leaning over.
Def exercise needed too.
Both mine lunge, ground really to hard here at present so are walking out daily.
Both in diet patch overnight and one wears a grazing muzzle during day.

 

[southerncomfort]

We are teaching mine to lunge and long rein. Would that be an option?

Long reining out on bridleways etc is excellent exercise.

If you can't put fencing up in your field then unfortunately I don't think you have any choice but to muzzle. A friend of mine lined her pony's muzzle with felt so it didn't rub.

 

[Lintel]

Ride and lead, or make a track type system if possible?

 

[poiuytrewq]

You could buy a selection of muzzles and keep chopping and changing them? I found they all rub slightly left on 24/7 but if you have several the pressure points are all slightly different so less likely to get sores.
I’d agree with the stable sized bare pen... however I’ve tried it and mine gets to p’d off that even with mains electric will eventually plough through it. (He once ended up in the next village)

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thanks for all of the help. We are going to try muzzling him as well as getting him out walking as much as possible. He's like a little barrel at the moment so definitely need to do something..!!!

 

[Red-1]

Mine needed to be separated (but next door) to the horse he was a companion to (17hh, 7/8tb) as otherwise they simply wouldn't be compatible. He survived on a tiny paddock! Maybe 20m X 20m with a supplementary 20m X 15 m for when it was absolutely scalped. He was exercised too, but with the starvation paddock plus lunge/long rein he kept a trim figure.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Even a fairly small amount of exercise can make a surprising difference. I walk my little one out in hand so we don't go nearly as far as if I were riding and leading, and we do next to no trotting (because I am also fat and lazy!) but just 20-30 mins of hilly walking 2-3 times a week makes a difference. Even if it doesn't burn many calories, it does at least get the metabolism going a bit.

 

[southerncomfort]

Mine needed to be separated (but next door) to the horse he was a companion to (17hh, 7/8tb) as otherwise they simply wouldn't be compatible. He survived on a tiny paddock! Maybe 20m X 20m with a supplementary 20m X 15 m for when it was absolutely scalped. He was exercised too, but with the starvation paddock plus lunge/long rein he kept a trim figure.

Similar to this, my two are together during the day in the mini's little paddock, then bigger pony goes in to the next door paddock overnight so she can have access to a bit more grass.

 

[Morgan123]

Have you seen this weight management tool thing that helps you work out what weight management to use for your specific situation? https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/equine/documents/Equine,Weight,Management.pdf

Good on you for trying to sort it BEFORE he gets laminitis rather than after....

 

[Morgan123]

Have you seen this weight management tool thing that helps you work out what weight management to use for your specific situation? https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/equine/documents/Equine,Weight,Management.pdf

Good on you for trying to sort it BEFORE he gets laminitis rather than after....

 

[rascal]

Our Welsh A and C have a bit sectioned off, so with electric fencing.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thank you for more replies. I'm scared to death of him getting laminitis, we don't usually have an issue with strip grazing but this year we've had a couple of issues that mean it just can't be done unfortunately for the foreseeable future.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Thank you for more replies. I'm scared to death of him getting laminitis, we don't usually have an issue with strip grazing but this year we've had a couple of issues that mean it just can't be done unfortunately for the foreseeable future.

Hello, not really on topic but do you mind saying what kind of issues? I’m strip grazing and the ground is definitely difficult this year. I wondered what problems you’ve run into this year that you don’t usually have?

 

[Apercrumbie]

Definitely ride and lead, and definitely muzzle. I know many disagree but ours has to be muzzled 24/7. He doesn't get sores and he can eat & drink perfectly well, but it slows him down enough. It's either that or a starvation paddock away from his friends - we all know which he would prefer. With potential lami cases, you just have to steel yourself to be cruel to be kind.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Hello, not really on topic but do you mind saying what kind of issues? I’m strip grazing and the ground is definitely difficult this year. I wondered what problems you’ve run into this year that you don’t usually have?

Last winter was insanely wet and our fields were literally trashed. We now rent extra fields on the same land so we could move them to allow our ground to recover but the grass has been weird in growth this year so far. The ground is now rock hard like concrete. Coupled with the fact that Wreck It Rocket cob broke the field shelter and a humongous oak tree fell down in one of the fields it's meant that we can't strip grazing as no access to either of the water troughs otherwise. We don't have access to running water do it makes it very difficult. Shitland has zero respect for electric fencing either!!!
Possibly have partly sorted the issue as landlord has an elderly Welshie in the field opposite that has to be on bare ground due to lammi....he has said we can put our pony in with her but to watch them as she can be a bit of a cow ????

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

SLH, then make a corner creep with a line of tape set so he can get under but she can't. Will give him a safe place to escape into. I do that when I've introduced a small to a bigger one.

 

[maya2008]

Muzzle, ride and lead. Ours is led from another horse or ridden by a child for a speedy 40min canter hack twice a day to keep her weight down - she is still full of energy by the end. Obviously she is fit, but it takes that much work to keep her weight down on almost no grass.

 

[CJoe]

ride and lead, free school, lunge, I have 3 minis and they all get some exercise every other day just to ensure no more laminitis!