Introducing Lindeza (lin-day-za)

It's difficult to keep a horse like this without working them at least 5 days a week. Solid work makes them much easier to manage, but if you're not up for that, then I'd be sure not to get such a good doer.

She possibly does this competitive eating thing if she was fed in a herd previously and had to compete for food, but it is certainly interesting.

Honestly, if I think about it, having my PRE and TB at the same time would have been a bit difficult to manage if I wanted them together. Not impossible, but would take effort on my part. So I can see how this could be stressful if you want to simply enjoy horses at home, not ride every day, and keep them in a simple way.
 
I can’t ride H when he’s fat I can when he’s in shape .Well I can ride him but it’s not fun.
You have to get her to move more that’s seven days a week work and track would be marvellous .
I must say the time I teetered on the brink of a pre it was issues like this that stopped me .My friend who a pre person has most of hers grass free .
I somehow ended up with ID’s in stead ?
What stage is she at with her work ?
Why do you need to feed her haylege ? Why not just leave her out with nothing but the grass .
Could you lock her out the shed so she’s colder .
 
I like my regime the way it is GS, it works for me really well and it has for 20 years. I don't want to ride more, it makes a job of it instead of a pleasure. I can't afford staff and I don't want sharer complications. I don't want to have wet dirty horses to catch and ride on winter mornings. I don't love the horse enough to change all that, I'd rather change the horse. There are plenty of nice horses out there that won't give me this aggro.
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What a shame but you've had a fun few months with her and she's given you a spanish fix! Now your one step closer to the "right" horse.

But the crux of it is, clearly she hasn't grabbed you/you aren't bothered about her enough to "make" it work like you would if she had completely captured you. So I suspect there are other things about her that aren't perfect for you, either, otherwise you'd be more inclined to do so. And there's nothing wrong with that at all- horses are meant to be fun and whilst I'd do anything in the world to make things work for Boggle, I'm afraid if Bear was impacting my life negatively for some reason, I'd sell him too.

Sell her to someone who will adore her no matter what and find something that you will adore for all the right reasons. Life is too short!
 
I have to ask why did you buy a Pre ?
They are well known to be difficult to manage in this respect .
however she well seem easily crack and get it done before the winter Gets worse and economic situation turns .

ETA how tall is she and how old .
 
I would recommend that your future horse search differ from the last. Do not focus on Spanish, Arab, or natives if you don't want this scenario again. Something with some TB could give you a more slab sided mount(so, not wide) that doesn't get fat off of air. But anyway, I'm sure you know this and you'll cross that bridge when you come to it ?
 
Obviously you can keep your horses as you please and it's your prerogative not to change any of your current management.

Keep, sell or gift (to MP ?) is no ones business. However the way the horse is currently being kept is causing her "harm" in the form of consistently raised pulses. So surely changes are needed not only for her benefit but how do you propose to sell (vet) a horse with undiagnosed pulses.

Maybe its time to involve a vet for a more thorough examination if how her body is reacting to her management is so strange.

There are exceptions of course but young, green horses typically need more consistent work than older and more experienced horses. As you dont have the inclination to provide this, and it is totally your right to do what is fun for you, then perhaps its worthwhile looking at sales livery. There she will get more work/exercise and they can tailor her management that in turn would hopefully eradicate the pulses and therefore increases the chance of you getting your money back.
 
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PurBee said:
My mare, who looks weirdly so similar to your lindeza!...she’s half arab and half welsh D, black with splash of white on her rear hoof.

Like lindeza, held weight no matter how little i fed her. Fat pads appeared....im soaking hay for years, no change.

Quit that upon further research, added 10g per day of mag oxide, food grade. Magnesium is essential for sugars to be pushed into cells and used for energy. Without adequate magnesium the body will store sugars as fat. Magnesium is low in forage and grass, unless you add Dolomite to your paddocks.

Mine are on mineral/vit balancers and i assumed for ages that the mag in the mix was ‘expertly mixed’ to give balanced nutrition. But it isnt. Its mag content is far too low. So i add extra mag oxide ontop of generic balancer mix.

Secondly quit the straw. I know its a common top up for fatties but look at the research out there. Some straws are low sugar and some are very high and can be higher than grass hays.
Take a peek at this article on feeding straw and why its not a good idea for fatties/insulin resistance, unless you have a consisten supply/same supplier and get it tested to make sure the total sugar content is low:

https://gettyequinenutrition.com/pages/feeding-straw-to-the-insulin-resistant-horse-may-be-a-mistake



Next, i’d pick a haylage that’s high fibre. I wouldnt soak haylage as ive tried it in the past for the reasons you are but just for a couple of hours and i really didnt like the smell at the end ....gut instinct said not to continue, the sugars should all be fermented anyway with it being haylage.
I fed soaked haylage and she had raised foot pulses.
Many haylages are tetraploid ryegrass, and if cut early...around june...will be higher sugars and less fibre. If cut later its much higher in fibre and protein as the seedhead matures more and much lower in sugars.

Since stopping soaking hay/haylage ( free at last!!!) And just adding at least 10g per day of mag ox and getting high fibre haylage...my fat mare lost her fat pads...and i could feel her ribs and the consistent up and down raised pulses/laminitis scares are a thing of the past - AND she can eat all the grass she can get into her greedy self unmuzzled!

The only feed company using tetraploid ryegrass that really are high fibre and she looked the best Ever on and she was eating unsoaked 9kg of the stuff per 24hrs is ‘marksway hi-fibre’ Haylage. Being in the uk youll get it far cheaper than me importing it into ireland. Other says theyre hi-fibre but theyre not as hi fibre as the fore-mentioned supplier.

I’ve had my mare on other brands of ‘high fibre ryegrass haylage’ and she has pulsed feet within 48hrs. You can tell the really dodgy stuff by the very sweet sickly smell it has.....and its very glossy and golden yellow, almost tacky to touch. I now, never feed haylage that smells and feels like that....i call it ‘horse crack’....they love it due to it being partially fermented and high sugar.

On Marksway hi-fibre haylage she’s looked her best, had best foot growth, and her coat shiny. Apart from that she was getting a generic balancer....with added mag ox, in a handful of beet pulp. ....and all the grass she can eat during grazing months and she’s still slim!
i couldnt believe the next spring when she came in from grazing the first few weeks without raised pulses! That was the first time in years!

It’s worth trying a change as she really could slim down, mine no longer waddles around with a wide gut and fat pads while being starved. Its such a frustrating position to be in.

marksway also do timothy haylage which id recommend too, and i mix that in with their high fibre ryegrass for variety and more fibre/less sugar and to avoid a mono-diet of just ryegrass during winter, when there’s not much grass.

There’s hope for lindeza and your hips ?
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Agree about marksway hi fibre, it’s the only thing that keeps my very sugar-sensitive cob sound in the summer, along with very restricted grass. I’ve tried all sorts, but always gone back to marksway, it really does work.
 
Kamikaze said:
It is a bit mean to suggest she got the wrong horse and should have gone for a different type. She was in a terribly situation and needed to get a horse as a companion very quickly.
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It happens. The horse isn't the right fit. At the time when she was purchased, it may have seemed like a good fit. It happens to the best of us. If the horse doesn't suit, find it a home it is better suited for. No one is condemning anyone here.

However, saying she should've gone for a different type isn't wrong, but maybe not so "nice" and sometimes we just don't foresee how things will go. Many have bought a horse and got into it then decided it was the wrong match for management reasons, training reasons, etc. I am not looking to make anyone feel bad here.
 
Trouble is, none of us have a crystal ball and we can only learn from experience. The sort of horse that appeals to me I couldn't ride one side of now (probably never could). I can't cope with wide horses and have been lucky to not have one up to now but the old girl we have taken on has turned out to be wide so it is doubtful if I will even attempt to get on her. First thing my sister said when she sat on her was my god she's wide. Luckily I am not fussed about riding these days and my sister loves riding her so all good. I just have a lovely friend.
 
I do massively sympathise with having two horses who require different management. I used to have two good doers, but now the Arab is 27 she can eat as much as she like and doesn't seem to get fat, whereas the Welsh is currently the size of a hippo. He will winter out with no rug and won't have hay when the Arab starts having it, but it is a real pain and I did worry a lot about his weight.

Anyway, she's a smashing mare who will be someone's dream horse - don't feel bad if she isn't yours.

Maybe you should get that Arab this time ;)
 
HashRouge said:
I do massively sympathise with having two horses who require different management. I used to have two good doers, but now the Arab is 27 she can eat as much as she like and doesn't seem to get fat, whereas the Welsh is currently the size of a hippo. He will winter out with no rug and won't have hay when the Arab starts having it, but it is a real pain and I did worry a lot about his weight.

Anyway, she's a smashing mare who will be someone's dream horse - don't feel bad if she isn't yours.

Maybe you should get that Arab this time ;)
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I would be cautious getting an Arab, I have 10, some live off fresh air whilst others need feeding up, also some ride like tanks and are wide whilst others ride more like a TB.
 
My idea of good doer might be different to someone else's- knowing a type tend to be good doers doesnt really mean anything, theres good doers and there is really good doers. Theres surely next to nothing in the grass at the moment supercob is in a fair amount of work and i was horrified at the fat pads on his shoulders when i clipped him a week or two ago.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. At the time the horse fulfilled a need it's not working out as hoped. Theres no reason keeping battering on with something that's not working, better all round to move on
 
Horses with different needs on the same system at home is hard. I solved it by buying more, and now have two that live off grass. And two that get turned out. Obviously not a solution for you.

My fatty Connemara also has to be in proper work, if not I manage him with a muzzle (including when he's eating hay).

Mine live in a similar system to you, free range with access to shelter and an off grass "track" (similar to your barn). My fatty when not in hard work wears a muzzle when eating his hay with the others and then in the day comes in and has a small, soaked trickle net. Metformin was a lifesaver earlier this year, when he was off work with an injury.

It is hard, and if you can't manage her, it makes sense to find her a home that can, and find yourself another that will fit your system and you better.
 
Goldenstar said:
I have to ask why did you buy a Pre ?
They are well known to be difficult to manage in this respect .
however she well seem easily crack and get it done before the winter Gets worse and economic situation turns .

ETA how tall is she and how old .
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I bought her because I was told they were different and I wanted to try different. I also believed that the baroque shape would be narrower between the knees like Ludo is, otherwise I would not have bought her because I already know too wide is a real issue for my narrow pelvis.

She was bred in the UK and lived on grass 24/7 for 7 years. There was no expectation that 'difficult', which I was prepared for, was going to turn into 'turn your entire management system on its head', which I am not prepared for.

She is 15.2 - 3, haven't measured her yet but definitely not 16hh from the look of her, and 7 years old.
 
GinaGeo said:
Horses with different needs on the same system at home is hard. I solved it by buying more, and now have two that live off grass. And two that get turned out. Obviously not a solution for you.

My fatty Connemara also has to be in proper work, if not I manage him with a muzzle (including when he's eating hay).

Mine live in a similar system to you, free range with access to shelter and an off grass "track" (similar to your barn). My fatty when not in hard work wears a muzzle when eating his hay with the others and then in the day comes in and has a small, soaked trickle net. Metformin was a lifesaver earlier this year, when he was off work with an injury.

It is hard, and if you can't manage her, it makes sense to find her a home that can, and find yourself another that will fit your system and you better.
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Buy more! I like it ?
 
Chinchilla said:
Is it worth trialling metformin perhaps?

Can sympathise with not wanting 2 horses on very different systems, though, particularly in winter; it's bloody exhausting, thankless work making sure everyone gets what they need and even then you worry someone's needs are being compromised on.
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I wouldn't put a horse on a drug if its needs can be met with diet, C. Hers can, just not in a way I like!
 
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