horse lethargic - is he getting enough to eat?

S

santander

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 May 2010
Messages
66
Visit site
My vet advised me to put my horse on a restricted diet and put on a grazing muzzle overnight, she said he was overweight.

The first night I did it, he came in and I tried to ride him. He had no energy so I assumed he's spent the entire night trying to find some decent grass and was tired. However on taking him to the field this evening he seemed exhausted, and he's been in all day.

He's gone from having a belly full of grass 7pm - 10am, to I don't know how much with a grazing muzzle on.

He is now coming in at 10am, and going in his stable with nothing. I arrive and give him a large hifi lite and speedibeet feed at 1pm, he then has nothing until 4 when he has a slice of soaked hay. I then put him out with his muzzle on at 7.

He seems able to use his muzzle, we had a brief spell with it last year so it's not totally unfamiliar to him. But could he be lacking in energy due to being underfed?

I really don't want him to be in all the time!
 
He may well be struggling to get enough to eat, I would give him more hay when in give him some when he first comes in so he has something to fill him up, leaving him with nothing from 10-1 on an already fairly empty tummy will increase the risk of ulcers. Give him an extra feed, split them into several smaller feeds or instead of starving him work him harder to use up the calories, put a track system in the field so he moves more and you may then be able to take off the muzzle.
The other thing to consider is he drinking enough, dehydration can make them lethargic, does he get salt in any form.
 
WIWD

I take it he is living out full time???


I would put muzzle on during the night then keep him in all day with hay which is soaked.


Or

turn him out with muzzle and take it off for about an hour when you are there.

Or
strip graze him


He wont get ulcers in 3 hrs, mine come in at 7 am and eat nothing till they go out (shock horror):rolleyes: wait for the comments.

I personally don't think he needs such a big feed if he is over weight and getting hay before he goes out .

If you want to give him anything i would give him 1 haynet in a trickle net for the day.

There can be many reasons for no energy.

  • Over weight horse runs risk of lami check his feet for pulse and heat.
  • not eating much with muzzle on, till he gets used to it
  • grass too short for him to graze through muzzle
  • feeding wrong diet

having lost my mare to lami. I would treat him as a lami horse as he is certainly a lami risk case if he is overweight.
 
Last edited:
My mare is out all night muzzled, in during the day with limited hay. She has been lethargic and lazy until the last week, when she seems to have had rocket fuel - 3 weeks ago I started feeding Agnus Castus because the vet wondered whether she could perhaps be cushingoid - and I'd read the article in this issue of British Horse. Got medium canter without me getting exhausted on Sunday, and she bucked with joie de vivre as well, despite the heat. Don't know whether the test is still free?
 
Agree totally with above! If horse is overweight, laminitis is just not worth the risk. If you are worried about him having enough in his belly then soak a Haynet for 12 hours to reduce sugars then at least he's still getting a fibrous belly-filler! My boy lost a good amount of weight after lammi attack just gave him soaked hay so he didn't o hungry, if he's overweight he might not need the 'energry' from extra feed. Obviously more exercise will help too! Be aware of muzzles, my cheeky boy has learned to eat 'around' his, hunger equals mischief ;)
 
I doubt he is getting the amount he needs during the day. There is a school of thought that a muzzle (depending on type) can reduce grazing to about 30% of previous intake.

Not enough fibre/food moving through can be just a dangerous as too much. You should be aiming for 2% of your horses weight in food (fibre with very minimal 'hard' feed) if you are working to horse sufficiently. If the horse is predominantly sedantry then 1.5% of the body weight but NO less unless under strict vet supervision.

Then look for something like pro balance, or use individual additives of magnesium, zinc, biotin, Vit E etc. Or a very good all rounder like benefit, globlevite, Think Pink etc. in a neutral carrier such as fast fibre.

12hr Soaked (then rinsed) hay, and barley or oat straw to keep him and his gut amused during the day and strip graze without a muzzle overnight, or muzzle overnight if you prefer.
 
IMO no he isn't getting enough going through his belly, soaking hay isn't too much of a faf once you are in a routine, mine are all on different regimes as they have different needs but my ones that are in for any time during the say don't go without food at all, they have 12hr soaked hay to go at if they want to, sometimes they eat it all (rarely) sometimes they pick at it and sometimes they don't bother but it is there if they want it.

I really don't think it is fair to have him on that strict a diet and to be honest you won't be changing his weight that much as the body works the same as ours, if it isn't fuelled on a regular basis then the metabolism simply slows right down, the only difference is that horses produce a hell of a lot more acid than we do to process their foods hence the ulcer risks for them.

Soaked hay has barely any sugar/fat in it so he can happily munch away on it without piling on the pounds.
 
How long have you been doing this routine. Could it be the heat that is making him lethargic?

My pony is muzzled and lives out and he gets a lot less than your horse 1/4 slice soaked hay, 1 handful of chaff 1 handful of L mix plus supplements to ensure he is getting enough vitamins & minerals. He is not lethargic unless it is boiling hot in fact he seems to have more energy as he is not bloated and stuffed with grass, however he is quite adept with the muzzle and I know he is getting grass as there is bits of grass left in his muzzle and I have seen him eat and he is not desperate to come in which he would be if he was very hungry.

You might need to feed a balancer though to ensure that he is getting all his vitamins etc whilst on a restricted diet.
 
What your horse needs is some soaked hay (to lessen the amount of nutrients and calories) in a very small holed haynet or double/triple bagged net and to feed small amounts often.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top