help with cobs weight please

M

madeleine1

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 June 2010
Messages
1,745
Visit site
long story so i can get in everything i hope someone persists and helps.

basically on and of for a while i have thought a friend has a very big horse. and i mean weight. i have held my tounge mostly and just asked the normal questions like what do u feed and if he out all the time.

well that was untill i watched some world horse welfare videos on here that someone had posted. stateing how dangerous it was for horses to be overweight. and btw we are not talking a little overweight. he looks like the cases they use as overweight examples. i know hes a cob but he shouldnt be that big.

well i sent her the clips in that were posted about how to weight score and how to drop the weight slowly. and she took it well and asked for my help.

here comes the problem. i know the usual tricks, put a grazing mussle on. cut down hard feed but he doesnt get any. limit grazing, hes already in a field with others and very little grass. increase exercise. well she goes down 3 or 4 times a week and thats the most she can do. i mean they are all the things id change but she cant do them very easily at all.

maybe keeping him in with less turnout but that makes him a bit more stressed and i dont no how effective it would be. hes just been clipped so cant leave him without a rug but maybe a light rug would help.

anyway i have an opportunity to make a real go of making him loose this weight that is not doing him any good and i dont want to mess it up as i dont want to see any horse suffering. she really has given me free rein to suggest and help her carry out anything.

any suggestions or help greatly appreciated.

celery and water for anyone who got this far. lets do the diet with the poor boy :)
 
He may actually need vits and mins, worth looking into, there are plenty of supps and balancers for lammi horses. And perhaps she needs to find a sharer so he can be checked, fed if necessary and exercised every day?
 
he isnt lammi and he is on part livery and so is checked everyday. honestly i cant see her getting a sharer. more likely that she can be pursuaded to change how she does things
 
There isn't any easy way to keep the weight off a very good doer. Clipping and lightly rugging helps but basically exercise is the only way. Its time and labour intensive. If he's very overweight, avoid over stressing his body and start with daily hacking. Active walking, increasing with short bursts of trot on forgiving, but even ground on a daily basis would be my choice of fat-busting regime. Better to do 30 minutes daily, than trying to school more intensively 3 times a week.
With my fat boy, its a 365 day job to keep on top of his ability to expand outwards. If trying to reduce his weight, I build him up to 2 hours hacking several times a week, and schooling in between, when fit enough to cope with it. Once his weight is okay and his metabolism has been boosted, he can tick over with 30 minutes work and a couple of long rides each week.
With a heavy set horse, I avoid lunging so as not to stress joints, but either longline or free school. My lad has a childish delight with polework and will happily' lunge' himself around the school on a large circle, or rather, oblong.
As I don't have the time to exercise him as much as he needs, I have a happy hacker who helps out and wonder if this is a possibility for your friend ?
Taking him off the grass and standing him in with soaked hay during the day doesn't help with weight loss as he makes up for his 'deprivation by gorgeing once turned back out. Although, if you want to reduce his sugar intake, getting off the grass when the sugars are highest, is still useful if laminitis or footiness is an issue.
 
I'm not sure it's your problem tbh.

As long as she is exercising the horse 4 times a week, properly, and his calorie intake is reduced - then he will start to loose weight.

I'd just concentrate on your own horse...............
 
amymay said:
I'm not sure it's your problem tbh.

As long as she is exercising the horse 4 times a week, properly, and his calorie intake is reduced - then he will start to loose weight.

I'd just concentrate on your own horse...............
Click to expand...

I think that is a bit harsh! The OP has said that her friend has asked for help reducing the horse's weight, so I think it is great that she is seeking further information to see if there is anything else they can do.

To the OP, I think things will get easier as we head into winter and the quality of the grazing drops - the grass can be surprisingly rich at this time as we often get an autumn flush. I would definitely put the thinnest rug possible on him at the moment. Hopefully you should find the weight comes off gradually throughout the winter if she continues with the regime.

I agree with the other poster that she could gradually increase the intensity of the work she does with him, even if she can't increase the actual hours of work.

She could also look at the idea of electric fencing a track around the sides of the field and putting him there for all or part of the day. The advantage of a track over a square patch is that the horse will walk up and down it more and be more active - this may be something she could consider in the spring to stop him regaining the weight he is hopefully going to lose over the winter.
 
It is difficult but it can be done with a tough regime. But it will take time if done properly. I've just taken 70kgs off my shetland in 9 to 10 months. This was done by introducing a muzzle gradually increasing the time he spends in it to a total of 24hrs/7days. He gets 1/5 scoop happy hooves daily with added mag ox and cinnamon. He is out 24/7 with access to soaked hay. The muzzle does an excellent job of restricting his grazing but allows him to roam the paddocks and exercise.

To shift the last few kgs I have given him a blanket clip but taken nothing off of the hind end, and he is out with no rug but does have access to shelter.

He has EMS and did have low grade laminitus, the laminitus is completely gone and now he charges around the paddock trying to rev up the TB!

It takes time, and you/ your friend must be really tought, no tit-bits etc. Good luck :)
 
thanks for everyones help.

btw i do consentrate on my horse she is groomed everyday. checked on at least twice a day if not alot more. she has everything she needs and is more then fine thanks and i ask for advice for her when i need it. this post was about someone else thanks.

i will suggest a light rug. or none if the weather stays nicer for a bit. i will suggest she rides him as much as she can and i think they both might like some loose schooling i didnt think of that thanks.

she cant change the grassing but im glad u backed up what i thought about keeping him in not helping and i assumed he would just eat loads when he went back out.

70kg of a shetland im impressed. i think ill suggest the grazing mussle to her again and tell her how to use it by increasing it.

thanks again for the help and any other ideas are more then welcome xx:):)
 
I never meant to suggest that he had lammi but being obese is the biggest risk factor and he should be treated as though has was a lammi prone horse. It's not worth risking any other approach. If he is already obese on minimal grazing then he already has very mild metabolic issues, nothing to panic about at this stage or to be diagnosed but just something to bear in mind. And further to my suggestion of vits and mins and someone else mentioning magnesium it may be worth having the grazing/soil tested as he may be sensitive to a lack of magnesium.
 
sbloom said:
I never meant to suggest that he had lammi but being obese is the biggest risk factor and he should be treated as though has was a lammi prone horse. It's not worth risking any other approach. If he is already obese on minimal grazing then he already has very mild metabolic issues, nothing to panic about at this stage or to be diagnosed but just something to bear in mind. And further to my suggestion of vits and mins and someone else mentioning magnesium it may be worth having the grazing/soil tested as he may be sensitive to a lack of magnesium.
Click to expand...

oh i understand now sorry. i know that him being overweight is a lammi risk. so ill see if she wants to look at all that thanks.
 
I'd cut out all hard feed and feed soaked hay at 2/3 of the recommended amount put into haylage nets so he has to spend ages getting it out,he will then have a trickle of food rather than scoffing it all at once and standing for hours with nothin. also turnout onto bare paddock. Do not rug unless clipped out and then only what is minimal for the temperature.
 
madeleine1 said:
thanks for everyones help.

btw i do consentrate on my horse she is groomed everyday. checked on at least twice a day if not alot more. she has everything she needs and is more then fine thanks and i ask for advice for her when i need it. this post was about someone else thanks.
Click to expand...

I wasn't inferring that your horse wasn't beautifully looked after. But your post made it sound as if you were advising someone who really wasn't after any advice - and therefore interferring.
 
amymay said:
I wasn't inferring that your horse wasn't beautifully looked after. But your post made it sound as if you were advising someone who really wasn't after any advice - and therefore interferring.
Click to expand...

sorry if i read like that. what actually happened was a friend who has asked about hack routes and how to go out competeing has a overly large horse. i sent her some information that i thought might help and i competely understood that if after i sent these she told me to bog of i would. i also in my message to her told her to tell me to bog of if she wanted to. she came back and asked for me to help her. i said how much help did she want and i didnt want to plan how she dealt with her horse as my main aim was to help her to do it and make sure she had access to the information if she needed it. she then asked me if i could plan some practical ways for her to help him and has pritty much said i can say anything if it helps him. so i understand that in a lot of cases it would be interferring and alot of people wouldnt want the advice but i new there was a chance she would accept and take it in the right way that it was ment( as a caring friend) and she did. so now im trying to see if theres anything i missed that could help him.
 
i got my mare in april she was overweight cob shire x she is 8 but excercise and a good balancer and low calorie chaff she is looking great my vet said correct weight now i ride about 4/5 times a week we only ever hack out as hates the school unless i lunge her she gets a scoop of good doer chaff and a mug of triple crown evenkeel feed balancer for native horses she looks wonderfull and her coat is glossy but its the same as humans more calories in and less out will make you overweight
 
Hi madeleine1:)
Thankyou for passing the links I posted on to your friend, and well done to both of you for thinking of ways to help reduce your friend's horse's weight :cool:.
Increasing his exercise, restricting his calorie intake and feeding a good supplement to make sure he gets the right amount of vitamins and minerals is the best place to start. Lots of good ideas have already been posted :).
You mention he has just been clipped, what type of clip has he had ?
Is the grazing well sheltered or pretty open and exposed to the weather ?
If he has access to shelter (even natural shelter like hedges, trees, stone walls, the side of buildings outside the field etc), He should be fine with a lightweight rug (not a no fill though as that will flatten the coat he still has and he will feel cold) at the moment. I personally wouldn't use a rug over 200g, even if it snows, until he loses a good bit of weight :).
Bringing him in for a few hours each day into a stable would help, again, as has already been suggested. If he isn't cold in the stable, I wouldn't put a rug on at all at the moment while he is in. Hay, soaked for 12 hours to leach all of the sugar and calories out, double or triple netted so he has to work to eat it, (use calories = lose weight).
A sharer would be a very good idea if your friend would agree, as the more exercise he gets, the better it will be for him long term. :). Could someone maybe hack him out on the days your friend can't ride him ?
Once he has lost enough weight, it can be hard work to maintain his condition at a good level, but your friend must be strict with trying her best for him.
I'm in a similar position with an obese horse I've just bought, with the exception that she is only 3 1/2yo and currently unbroken ;). She's a Welsh D so meant to be chunky in build, just like your friend's cob.
She is out, unrugged, 24/7 in a large field with very sparse grazing (it has been well grazed all summer), so she has to walk around a lot in the field just to eat enough grass. She has a handfull of unmolassed chaff with a vit/mineral supplement once a day.
I'm also starting to back her, so will be doing a fair bit of groundwork in the school, progressing on to hacking her out gently over the winter. My horse is a "must lose weight NOW" case, so that I can then maintain her condition before next spring (I'm already thinking laminitis and planning well in advance).
Good luck with your friend and her cob, and I hope you can find a good way to get his weight down and maintain it. A weightape would be very useful as you can use it to record any weight changes weekly, and plan his work around that. :)
 
If possible keeping in at night with soaked double netted hay would make a difference, the days are shorter now so less time on grass. The exercise could be increased in so far as the quality of work, extend trotting time, canter more if possible so that the horse is really working not just ambling along.Lots of hill work is good.
Work over poles and some jumping to get it using itself.
Lungeing is useful as an extra but I would not use it instead of riding as unless the horse is really active the person often works harder than the horse.
 
LittleWildOne said:
Hi madeleine1:)
you and welcome and thank you for posting the links. we have plans in place to loose school him and just get him moving at bit on the days when she doesnt ride so he will be working 5 or 6 days a week rather then 3 or 4 hopefully. i need to talk to her some more and work out how and if he needs a supplement. i dont no very much about supplements and she doesnt either so we both have some imediate learning to do.

there are a lot of good ideas have already been posted :).

You mention he has just been clipped, what type of clip has he had. i havnt seen him since his clip but i think its blanket clip.
the grazing has a 6 foot hedge down two sides but mostly exposed. he should be fine for a while with a light weight rug on and she has just ordered one so all good there. we are still on about 16 degrees in the day and 7 or 8 at night here at the moments not many horses are rugged yet. i will pass on the idea of keeping him in light rugs thanks.

he is only on part livery and she visits once a day so if he has anything like turnout or staying in it happens for 12 hours at a time so not easy to sort out. but if we do work out that he needs to stay in for a bit we will try not to rug unless he needs it.
i will make sure the hay is done as u suggest.

i also told her to either get a weigh tape or a piece of string and make a record of its lenght or tie a knot in the string and keep it do she knows how she is doing with him.

thanks for all your help. ill ask her if we get anywhere with him if i can have a before and after photo for u all. i hope it goes well and thanks people:)
Click to expand...
 
That's brilliant madeleine1 and friend :cool:
Maybe we should start a "Weightwatchers For Horses" thread. Somewhere we could post regular updates and photos to compare and have a record of our weight management progress. Others who might need to do the same for their overweight horses, might get a bit of inspiration and some ideas on how to start :).
 
LittleWildOne said:
That's brilliant madeleine1 and friend :cool:
Maybe we should start a "Weightwatchers For Horses" thread. Somewhere we could post regular updates and photos to compare and have a record of our weight management progress. Others who might need to do the same for their overweight horses, might get a bit of inspiration and some ideas on how to start :).
Click to expand...

id be up for helpin if i can lol :)
 
Brilliant ! :D
I'll take more photos of my filly tomorrow, measure her (with string as I don't have a weightape ;)), and post tomorrow. Starting with her routine before I bought her and what I've done so far. Then, a weekly update with photos :D.
 
LittleWildOne said:
Brilliant ! :D
I'll take more photos of my filly tomorrow, measure her (with string as I don't have a weightape ;)), and post tomorrow. Starting with her routine before I bought her and what I've done so far. Then, a weekly update with photos :D.
Click to expand...

ill try and get a little summary of how i plan to help my friends cob up tomorrow and might ask her if i can use a pic of him
 
Great :D
How about this idea ?
Whoever gets here first, start a thread for "Weightwatchers For Horses" or something similar.
Start with a bit about the horse/pony and why it needs to lose weight.
Write a bit about what you have done so far, and what plans you have to help weight loss.
A photo of the horse/pony at the start of the weightwatchers programme, and photo updates so others can see how they are progressing (and comment on :))
Regular updates on progress, and any problems that might come up during the weight loss programme (eg. couldn't work due to bad weather), and how you get round that problem.
Anyone is more than welcome to join in, either with comments or their own equine weightwatchers candidate. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top