How much should she weigh? and getting weight off!! cc welcome (pics!)

S

Switchthehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 June 2009
Messages
516
Location
Nottingham
darcyandme.wordpress.com
I own a 17hh ish IDxWB. She is rising 7.

She is a big girl all over! Big bones :) big bottom etc.

I know she is carrying too much weight as she looks a bit like she is in foal, has looked like this for approx 4 months so cant blame the spring grass. Also been told by many an instructor she is too big!!

A year ago she weighed 650kg, i used a weight tape yesterday and was horrified that she is 732kg!!! :-o

She has muscled up and grown into herself in the last year. She is worked reasonably hard 5 or 6 days a week, lots of variety, schooling jumping hacking etc and competes low level locally. She could do more 'long distance' work which might help i guess. She is fed literally nothing, half a scoop Alpha A morning and evening with handful of mix. One haylage net at night which she isnt really eating.

How much should she weigh realistically? What should I be aiming for? I am guessing she has sort of got used to the work she is doing and so i need to up the intensity a bit!! Any other tips for getting her in shape (aside from grazing muzzle/restricting grazing!). She's not eating hay hence the haylage.

Pics - Note they were all taken in the same week!!

Holding it in http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd461/DarcyandMe/fatd.jpg
Grazing - http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd461/DarcyandMe/fatd4.jpg
Letting it all hang out - http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd461/DarcyandMe/fat2d.jpg

Thanks so much!
 
World Horse Welfare seem to say that it's better to fat score than go by weight. Personally I use a weigh tape because it helps me to be objective but the vet is in our yard every week so I leave my horse lying around where she is likely to see her and ask for a condition score.

There is some useful information here on how to fat score and weight loss tips: http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice.

When my horse was too fat the vet made me keep her in and feed 1% of her bodyweight daily in soaked hay. Absolutely no haylage. When the hay was worse quality it turned out hunger was good sauce so my mare ate it anyway. Hay should be soaked for 24 hours prior to feeding to reduce calories. This is hardly any hay - use two small holed haynets to make it last longer. Another good trick my vet told me was to leave the day ration outside the stable in the morning and ask everyone passing to feed a small handful. This helps eke it out and trickle feeding prevents stomach ulcers.

I wouldn't give any feed except maybe a very small handful of hi fi lite or happy hoof to carry a vitamin/mineral supplement. I feed blue chip lami lite rather than a supplement. Also this is like pony nuts not powder so you can give it in a food ball to make it last longer. Apparently (according to blue chip) it contains magnesium which helps reduce fat deposits.

Also make sure you cut out all treats - I didn't realise how much I was feeding! Now if I want to treat her (now she's fit and at her ideal weight) I buy high fibre nuts instead of polos or horse treats and give her half a pony nut each time for a treat. It's great because she still thinks she's getting a reward and it's safer and much cheaper than the molassed ordinary horse treats. Obviously no likits and that type of thing goes without saying.

My horse won't wear a muzzle but generally I think they can be useful. Instead she has to go in a very small bare paddock so at least she can see other horses and stretch her legs.

I also have to give her a lot of exercise. The vet told me to be hacking at least 2-3 hours 2-3 times a week. After I recovered from going into shock I figured out how to do it (I am a full time student with several part time jobs) and she is looking really good. Also schooling, get her to use her stomach muscles and groundwork. Long slow hacks are much better for fat loss than short fast ones. Lots of groundwork also helps to work on her fitness and our relationship. I probably do 12 hours a week with my horse. If you don't have time - do you have access to a horse walker? I had an old instructor who used to teach mounted, just walking around the arena on a horse who would otherwise have been stood in his stable doing nothing. Would your instructor do that? I have been known to let other people (that I know) take flatwork or groundwork lessons with my instructor to get more exercise for my horse. Or would a friend or sharer help you out by doing some slow hacking? Ride and lead from another horse? Where there's a will there's a way....

Good luck!
 
Thanks for your reply. I guess I am stuck in some ways as:

- she wont go on horse walker
- she isnt eating the hay at the moment - tried it soaked and she literally doesnt touch a thing over night - even after 5 days!!!
- as she is still quite green I have been advised to keep my schooling sessions reasonably short
- no treats, an apple before bedtime is it! :)

So lots of long hacks sounds like the plan!! thank heavens for lighter evenings!

Still very interested in any feedback re what she should actually weigh?????

Thanks again sounds like you did a great job I hope i can do the same!!
 
hollyandivy123 said:
if you can put up a paradise track in the field, better than a diet paddock and they get more exercise:)
Click to expand...

totally agree with his - its how i kept my mare trim over a summer when i had no saddle :) she got to 650kg (eek! that's a lot for a 16hh ISH type!) but the fatty track worked really well at bringing her back down and fitening her up too :)

difficult to say what weight she should be as she looks pretty deep girthed to that will affect it... i go by feel and what's on the frame - i's like her lighter tbh
 
unbalanced said:
Another good trick my vet told me was to leave the day ration outside the stable in the morning and ask everyone passing to feed a small handful. This helps eke it out and trickle feeding prevents stomach ulcers.
Click to expand...

Personally I'd be concerned that this would teach a horse to kick the door/mob passers by for food. :o
 
It's actually really difficult to see whether she is a porker or not - because of the photo's.

What I will say though is that she is absolutely beautiful.
 
You really can't give an accurate weightape target weight as horses vary so much in conformation - a correctly conditioned 17 hander with a deep girth and short legs is going to have a very different measurement to a correctly conditioned 17 hander with long legs and shallow girth, plus some have bigger back ends than front ends and vice versa.

Much better to condition score - you are aiming to be able to feel her ribs easily but not see them, have no gutter down the bum, and not have a cresty neck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top