How to loose weight off a fatty???

[251libby]

I've had my horse 4 years and have struggled with her weight the entire time even though the winter.
Atm she is probably on a condition score of 4, she has a slight 'gutter' down her bottom, but I can feel her ribs, she seems to store the weight around her shoulders and tummy.
Both my vet and farrier thinks she looks good (alot better than she was) but could still do with loosing a bit. And now spring has sprung I'm worried she will put it back on!

She is in a 2 acre field with 6 other horses and there is not much grazing but no bare patches.
She gets 14lbs of hay each night which is soaked for around an hour.
She does get hard feed but it is literally a handfull as more of a token which is Happy Hoof she gets breakfast and dinner.
Because she has COPD I can't always ride..... she has months and months of being ok and then have a bad bout which means I cannot work her as much or as hard as I would like.
When she's ok (which is mostly all the time) she is worked 6 days a week.
Doing a mixture of schooling, jumping, trackwork, hills, very limited road work and no long hacks - if you've read my other posts you will know why

So basicly what am I doing wrong?
Can anyone give my some advice to loose the last bit and keep it off?

Thanks in advance

 

[scotsmare]

Cut down the hay a bit and muzzle her in the field for 3 days a week?

 

[Honeypots]

I wouldn't be feeding any hay but if you really want to I'd soak it overnight

 

[mattilda]

My horse has weight issues, he's fat!! I feed 10lbs of hay at night soaked for the whole day. He only gets a 3/4 hours grazing per day and comes in for the afternoon. He'll get 5/6lbs hay then well soaked.
I have just had the back lady out and she was talking about a feed she uses but couldn't remember the name. Simple Solutions or something similar. She's going to come back to me so I will let you know what it is. She reckons it has worked brilliantly on her pony.

 

[251libby]

There is seriously not much grass at all in the field, she just seems to live off freash air, I'd be unhappy to only turn her out for a hour as when she is out she walks around loads and plays with field mates so I think even if I was montintoring her intake she would put on more weight with stopping her self excercise. I would also be unhappy to leave her for 12 hours (7 till 7) without any food.

I will def cut her hay down though and soak it for longer

plus - I didn't think that you could leave a horse over night with no hay?? Because they would get colic?

 

[piebaldsparkle]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't be feeding any hay but if you really want to I'd soak it overnight

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't leave a horse in all night with nothing.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

How big is she?

My cob mare (15.3hh), lives off thin air too. She is currently living out 24/7, but is muzzled at night.

I would be soaking the hay for longer and perhaps muzzle her for part of the day. I would also be adding a vit/min supplement as on restricted grazing and soaked hay.

 

[KautoStar1]

The best thing to do, IMO, is weigh her and then speak to one of the feed companies for their advice. They will be able to help you with a feeding plan. Ive always found Dengie's feed advisors to be excellent and Bailey's are also very good.
As a rule, you should feed no more than 2.5% of your horses body weight. 1.5% is the minimum for weight loss and where you should start off with your plan, but you need an acurate weight first.
I'm not too sure about weigh tapes - I used one and then a few weeks later when neddy went to hospital he was weighed on proper weigh bridge and my tape was 45kg out

But, the most important thing is recognising you need to do something about it now and by the sounds of it, she's not too bad and it won't take long to get her to the correct weight. Good luck.

 

[251libby]

She a 14.2/3 section D x arab x heniz 57, she weighs about 420kg.
My thoughts are because i'm basicly not feeding her anything other than hay and a handfull of happy hoof then speaking to feed company would be pointless as they would only try and sell me their product!
Thanks piebald sparkle for your advice, I think I will invest in a grazing muzzle, how did your horse take to it?

 

[maddielove]

I am an owner of a fatty too so know how hard work it is.
Personally I'd cut back the hay and soak it, only feed a breakfast (So she has something in her tummy when she goes out, less inclined to gorge) and feed NAF Slimline (it really works for my mare)
Also, depending on how much grass there is in the field I would muzzle her, if it's bare then don't as you may end up with a grouchy pony like me! She's ended up with ulcers!

 

[the watcher]

I have a chunky mare who is on a diet, out by day with a muzzle, in at night with a Happy Hoof dinner with NAF Slimline and a net of haylage (she also has COPD so I don't buy hay in at all - she is looking dramatically slimmer with no work at all at the moment

 

[Fransurrey]

A muzzle and soaking hay for longer might be the only way for you. I've had my 'fatty' on restricted grazing since the end of Feb and that's the only way I've avoided a muzzle (so far) this year!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

She sulked for a bit, then she reliased that standing looking sad wasn't going to make me run out and remove it, she just got on with it.

She had a shires one last year (go for a size bigger, then they don't rub), as she really need restricting. This year I have brought a greenguard for her as think they are better for bigger horses, plus now I'm just trying to stop her gaining, rather then get the weight off.

 

[mattilda]

Sorry didn't make myself very clear!! He is out for 3 to 4 hours a day on seriously good grazing. I do have a sin bin with less grass but he just jumps out of that!! He tries to kill himself in a grass muzzle. Hangs himself on fence posts etc!! He also gets a small feed am and pm.

 

[pottamus]

I have a chunky welsh problem and I am a firm believer in being out as much as possible as they are least moving about and exercising. Perhaps soak the hay for longer to get all goodness out of it so you are basically just feeding roughage. In terms of feed there is no point calling a feed company as if the horse is overweight and needs to loose some then there is no point feeding anything at all...as they obviously do not need it! But it is worth feeding an all round vit/min supplement or equilvalent.
I would not be using a muzzle if on a bare paddock as they will not be getting anything to eat at all then!
Exercise is the key...plenty of hill work out hacking in a good walk pace with some trotting uphill if the horse is up to it.
I also recommend a weigh tape and using it each week to monitor progress.
My vet always says that if they need to loose weight something has to be reduced or taken out of the diet and exercise increased to get this to happen...

 

[251libby]

Sorry mattilda when I re-read you post I realised what you meant!

Here is a fairly recent pic (the only one one this pc)

What do you think of her weight?
Sorry I'm at work and this is the only pic I have