ideas please...

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mazziek

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so my highland x gelding and my conney x mare have been coming in for about 3 weeks now and my gelding has shot up in weight, he gets one slice of hay soaked, there is very little grass here because of the snow/ice. so i m pretty sure he is eating his wheat straw bed, any ideas what to do to reduce his weight? i cannot ride him or exercise at all, school is frozen as are roads. he is on a lite balancer esp for him. my only other option is put him back out at night with my mare which she will be over the moon about - not! he is not rugged either. i cant get an alternative for his bed either shavings are very expensive and hard t come by just now. anyone?
 
I use shavings bed! I deep litter for the whole time they are in through the winter (3-4 months) I then dig the lot out in the spring! I only use 1 bale a month I've got a very clean horse :).
What are u feeding him? I've got a bit of a fatty this year never been before :confused: I'm normally trying to keep weight on her.
 
I've got a straw bed & when I first got my boy a year ago he would eat his whole bed every night & walk the rest in to some sort of gross 'soup'.. I would muck all the really dirty bed out & save a small pile of semi-clean bedding..then put fresh straw down & spread the semi clean bedding taht I'd saved over the top..he didn't want to eat bedding that smelled like his wee so it stopped straight away.. worth a try??
 
I used to use Jayes fluid, diluted with lots of water, but the smell seemed to do the trick and stopped her eating her bed, haven't had to use it now for about 3 years and still she leaves her bed alone. It stinks but may work. Or there are other products out there that will make the straw taste nasty so he sould leave it alone.
 
Bovril said:
I used to use Jayes fluid, diluted with lots of water, but the smell seemed to do the trick and stopped her eating her bed, haven't had to use it now for about 3 years and still she leaves her bed alone. It stinks but may work. Or there are other products out there that will make the straw taste nasty so he sould leave it alone.
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I've used Jeyes fluid but my cob ate the straw with it on , so we stopped a bit quick!
We did have a pony this year get a really serious colic from eating his straw, so now deep litter on shavings as an earlier poster said, you can deep litter over winter, it is warm then as well as clean, and way cheaper than what that colic cost!
 
hey guys i have tried the jeys fluid he ate it too! tried hiding clean straw under his messy straw. shavings are very difficult to come by just now. he is tidy so would not need a lot but there is very little about. does anyone have thier horses out in this? this is my final option but might ave too!! argh!!! cobs!!!
 
Is it possible he's eating his bedding because he's bored and thinks this is a good way to break up the night in!! you could maybe try him with some of the bordom breakers that they do now. Maybe the big ball that you can hide some healthy treats in and he then has to work out how to get them out, may keep him entertained enough so that he leaves his bed alone.
 
mazziek said:
hey guys i have tried the jeys fluid he ate it too! tried hiding clean straw under his messy straw. shavings are very difficult to come by just now. he is tidy so would not need a lot but there is very little about. does anyone have thier horses out in this? this is my final option but might ave too!! argh!!! cobs!!!
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Hemp? Paper? Rubber Mats?
 
If you have the option to leave them out at night, then use it!! My three are TB, TBxdraught and TBx Welsh. They all live out 24/7, well rugged, and are very happy about it. We are in NE Scotland, so have had plenty of snow recently too.
 
Throw him back out, unrugged or in a lightweight and put your mare out as well, she should be happy enough even if she needs to be well rugged. She may sulk and wait around the gate for a couple of days, but if you remain tough, she will accept it and get on with it. Lots of people keep TBs turned out all winter well rugged, so I am sure your Connie x can cope, just monitor her weight.
 
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