Help - what to do about horse's attitude?

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RachelB

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Not your usual question, but my horse is fat and on a diet. She has been fine for a couple of weeks (before a couple of weeks ago she was being strip-grazed, mostly without my consent, by the owner of the other horse in the field - they have now been split up) but recently she has become really bad-tempered with regards to food. She gets fed a handful of foot supplement/balancer and a few carrots, once a day. She has apparently become bargy and is often found raiding the feedroom because people "forget" to close the door
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although she can't get in the feed bins, she just attacks the hay stack! She is never rude with me because she respects me, but she's a BIG girl and will use her size against other people.
Those of you who have seen her pictures (recent ones posted in gallery a few days ago) will know HOW overweight she is, and those of you who have followed our saga over the past 18 months will know why she is fat (long story). I can NOT get the weight to shift now though other than by cutting her feed right down to the bare minimum. I cannot exercise her as she is lame again, and it will be a good six months when I do start exercising her before she is doing enough to start losing weight. If I put her on grass and muzzle her she manages to eat LOADS and I'd rather she was on a bare patch or she'll never lose the weight. I also can't stable her for part of the day, partly because she pees for England and I can't afford the bedding, and partly because I have to stuff her full of hay when she's in otherwise she colics. She's rather high-maintenance
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So my question is, is there anything I can do to satisfy her appetite without hindering the weight loss? Would it be better for her to be on a smaller patch of ground with well-soaked hay to eat and a tiny bit of grass to nibble as it comes up, rather than keeping her on a large patch of bare ground with nothing else?
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Opinions very gratefully received!
 
can you not electric fence off a tiny bit of field then use as a starvation paddock ?? (my yard peeps have done this and it works)
 
So now she is on a bare patch - with hay??

Personally I'd have her on a bare patch in the day and stabled overnight with 2 sections of last year's hay. She 's got to eat something.

As for her behaviour - how does she get on to the yard if she's in a field??
 
That's what I'm asking - she's on a large bare patch at the moment but obviously the grass is growing through too. She's just getting an attitude though with not having her appetite met so would it be better to put her in a smaller bit of the field but give her hay so she has something to eat "properly" rather than nibbling grass?
 
Can she be left in and fed a certain amount each day. Little and often? Leave hay in the stable with her and then you know exactly how much she is getting and can control it? What is the problem with her being too fate, I mean is she hurendously fat? I know loads of people who have fat horses and it is not that bad? Can you not just think that when she is not lame anymore, you will be able to work her and she will be able to lose weight?
 
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So now she is on a bare patch - with hay??

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No, she's on a large bare patch with nothing but what grass is growing through, and the recommended amount of Formula 4 Feet as a balancer and foot supplement.
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Personally I'd have her on a bare patch in the day and stabled overnight with 2 sections of last year's hay. She 's got to eat something.

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I can't really afford the bedding unless it's absolutely vital to stable her, and if she runs out of hay (which she will do very quickly if she only has two sections) she stresses all night and ends up colicky.
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As for her behaviour - how does she get on to the yard if she's in a field??

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Our "yard" (stables on a square of concrete) is in the middle of Maiden's field
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Sorry if I didn't explain things very well!
 
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Can she be left in and fed a certain amount each day. Little and often? Leave hay in the stable with her and then you know exactly how much she is getting and can control it?

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As I said, if she runs out of hay in the stable she stresses and gets colicky. It's also not good for her tendon to be turning round and round on it (when she stresses).
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What is the problem with her being too fate, I mean is she hurendously fat? I know loads of people who have fat horses and it is not that bad?

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Yes she is very very fat, about 80kg overweight at the moment.
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Can you not just think that when she is not lame anymore, you will be able to work her and she will be able to lose weight?

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Thing is, I don't think she'll ever be sound enough to be worked properly. I'm still just "testing the water" with her. She'll certainly never be schooled again, I'll be lucky if she ever makes it to trotting out on a hack.
 
Sorry, but you're gonna have to spend some money. She sounds hungry (which is to be expected), but possibly too hungry. It can cost as much to diet a horse as it can to stuff them full of hay.

Stable her during the day then as it will be easier to trickle feed her. That way you can allow her two sections of hay split in to three or four handfulls a day. She'll only be without hay then for short periods of time - not enought to colic.
 
Thanks AmyMay
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Would it be better to feed the hay dry or soaked? I know soaking gets rid of most of the nutrients so it would be more like feeding empty fibre.... the provision of nutritents isn't a problem as she is getting what she needs from the F4F.
 
You could soak virtually all the nutrients out of the hay so she can eat as much as she wants to satisfy her natural need to have her tummy full. If she refuses to eat it dribble a tablespoon of apple juice over a bit of it to get her nose, brain and belly all singing from the same hymn sheet! Not sure but I think Hi Fi Lite is so low in calories that you can feed it by the bucketful too. I'd get on to one of the feed helplines (pick a reasonably priced one!) and ask for assistance. If others on your yard aren't playing fair, maybe try to appeal to their better natures? When Sunny needed intensive daily meds coz his eye was so bad, his head collar and lead rope kept going missing. He needed it to be hanging there all the time coz the yard staff had to administer meds twice a day for me and no headcollar = no action!!!!! I put up a huge friendly sign saying something like "I need this to be left here to help me get better" and once people knew how important it was, the head collar and lead rope stayed put.
 
Excellent thanks for the stellar advice guys, as usual. What I might do instead of stabling her completely during the day, is fence off the yard concrete so she can wander in and out and around the small yard and her stable, but not access the grass. That way she can still socialise with "next door" whose field runs across one side of the yard, too. That should put a stop to the stressing and colicking
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I also have a snak-a-ball - is it worth putting her F4F in that to keep her occupied too?
 
I have seen this before, it is quite common. When the horse has to be restricted in what they eat for a period of time it affects their metabolism, they seem to get extremely fat on nothing, maybe even showing "cellulite".
If you contact this lady - Jackie J A Taylor at 2007@MetabolicHorse.Co.uk I am 99% certain she will be able to help you. My friend's horse was in exactly the same situation as yours, in "fat camp" for a few hours, in the stable on restricted hay the rest of the time, and still HUGE. A year on, following Jackie's advice he is slim and fit, almost unrecognisable. The key was to address the balance of what he was eating, he actually had to start having a little hard feed every day, but it was a matter of giving him the right stuff. It's really worth a try, because this horse can now go out in the field with his mates and still stay slim, if you could get there with your girl your life would be so much easier.
 
I would try the smaller paddock and damp hay route.

1 slice am/ 1 pm/maybe 1 over night too.

I feed my fatty hi fi good doer, its even less cals than the lite.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys
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I have just popped up (day off work and I only live five minutes' walk away) and penned her into the yard. She is happily munching on a small pile of dry hay and I put some in to soak for tomorrow. I'll let her out this evening onto the bare field and put her "in" again in the morning. Fingers crossed you have helped me on my way to having a slimmer and happier horse!
 
Funny you should mention an attitude change in relation to a reduced diet. During April and May whilst my husband was doing my yearling filly (whilst my ankle was still in plaster) he decided to ignore my feeding regime and just give her i/2 pint measure of her yearling pellets and one section of hay at night. This was unbeknown to me, who'd left clear instructions pinned up. (He's a miser... but that's another story) Anyway, her behaviour changed dramatically whilst she was hungry. Even YO commented on how uncontrollable and difficult she'd become to handle. Rearing, barging, charging in stable, spinning around, lashing out with her front foot, charging and rearing at people in her paddock, ears pinned back, kicking out behind, etc. She was just down right mean and cross when hungry and took it out on anyone who came close to her. Once back onto her usual ration her behaviour has miraculously reverted to the saintly creature she really is. Do notice she's a miserable moo until she's had her breakfast though. Guess some are just like us, down right moody until we've got a full tummy.

Have you thought of soaking her hay over night to reduce the nutrient levels? That way you can up her in take of fibrous food without her getting too many calories. It's the only thing I can think of that will keep her tummy feeling full.
 
Soat the hell out of the hay to remove all nutritional content and then give her a section first thing, one for lunch, 2 for tea and 1 last thing at night check.

STOP the carrots, the are high in sugar.
 
Sorry don't know the full story but I would probably go for the soaked hay option, cheaper than the other for the long term and it sounds like it's going to take a while! The Snak ball is a good idea, will keep her a little more occupied, aswell as providing a little exercise as she chases it round either the yard or the field! I would maybe look alternating the paddock with the yard so she doesn't get too bored with the same old routine, (attitude also comes with boredom). Depends on how easy it is to setup really and if the others mind. How lame is she? could you take her for a stroll round the stable block daily...every little helps? Good luck!
 
Please remember not to starve any horse - that is - reduce food intake too much. This can cause hyperlipaemia(sp) which is often fatal. Keep up a good source of fibre, such as the soaked hay.
 
I agree feed her poor quality hay (not dusty, just old) and soak it, but give her plenty to go at to keep her happy.
Tie up several swedes too so she can feel she's nibbling something succulent.
I've always fed carrots to fatties and they still lost weight but modern thinking is they aren't as low cal as I always assumed.
I would investigate other grazing muzzles as some are better than others.
I think mentally they need to feel they are eating so a paddock with some grass and a muzzle is better than a bare one.
 
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