Is he too fat? To give more grazing or not?

sorry about the box rest, older hay or soaked hay would be best, personally would still give plenty of hay to keep him occupied and it's bad for them to have hours without eating.
feed wise, unless he is very fussy you don't need that much to put medication in. my guys now have a sugar and molasses free chaff- one of dengie makes, cant remember exact name- only a handful and about a 1/4 scoop of speedi beet to get their supplements in, as they simply don't need the calories. although when they come in the barn occasionally they get a treat of carrots hidden in the hay nets.
I would not want mine to be massively over weight in the summer just to help in the winter, but i admit they are allowed to put on some weight as would rather they looked well going into the winter, but not exactly a massive fluctuation if you weighted them. also mine do live slightly more similarly to wild horses as they are out on a lot of land so they move around a lot, but the grass is not all perfect green grass, lots of natural plants and weeds (except ragwort) so they have to forage more as well.
my weight goes the opposite- definitely eat more in the winter and get fatter then :p
 
Sorry but I am being misquoted here I said lose weight over winter so no need to restrict in summer In fact dont bother with flushed thick grass at all and let the horses have their short grass year round is actually what I said. Getting a bit fatter isnt harmful in summer if they are allowed to lose it in winter what is the issue is that they are too fat in summer kept too fat all winter and in the spring are put on rested grass usually knee high and just get fatter and fatter
Mine are allowed to graze short grass year round but if it had been read properly is what I said in the first place. Sorry OP but I should be used to people not reading things properly. Pet hate is skinny sick horses coming out of winter not slim fit ones with people asking how to get weight on them if they were well going into winter they would be easily maintained over winter instead of cost a small fortune to feed too thin is 2 or less is too thin in the late summer autumn they should be a least a 3 coming out of winter 2 is acceptable and rising to three over the summer. I dont mind seeing ribs either but I hate the poverty lines down the hind end and hollow poor ewe knecks most of which regardless of breed are avoidable with sticking up spines and no muscle on the back. I know of quite a few people obsessed by thiness in the horse and a dreadful fear of laminitis but it is possible to have a lean fit and well covered horse fed properly it doesnt need to get laminitis. But that is a whole different kettle of fish. Ask my OH what he thought he doesnt really do much with horses he thought too that the OP's horse was the perfect weight for a thoroughbred type
Hope your boy has settled to his box rest
 
Hippona said:
Hmm....

......I never said I agreed with allowing a horse to get fat in summer?

.....I said I disagreed with keeping a horse the same weight all year round.....
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Never said you did, hippona, if you read my comment.

We will definitely have to agree to disagree about keeping a horse a constant, slim, fit weight all year round though :rolleyes:
 
Windandrain you were not misquoted - those are verbatim. You are complaining about thin horses which is entirely irrelevant to the OP's horse who is definitely not underweight. Nobody has suggested she diet it back to a '2' before winter. I read your post, I understand what you are saying, but I disagree with it.

It is not the end of summer. There are months of decent grass yet, including an autumn flush. The horse is already over a '3'. Therefore, it should be restricted to minimise the amount it puts on, and encourage some loss, before winter. At any stage, being over a condition score of 3 is overweight and undesirable. You may disagree with that, but you can take that up with the general veterinary consensus, and we will have to agree to disagree.

OP, sorry this is going off track, especially as it's all a moot point now.
 
Yep, he is just a three (shadow of a rib visible, you can't see under saddle). He is also on restricted grazing/ straw overnight/ exercise and not being encouraged to put any more on. Nothing wrong with a fit, well muscled animal scoring a 3. He is always been 2.5 and 3 throughout the year.

Please do enlighten me as to your point?
 
He doesn't look particularly lean in that pic,however it may be misleading.

Every time there's a thread about weight you're all over it like a rash, giving us all the benefit of your wisdom and disagreeing with anyone who isn't you. It's a miracle anyone else has managed to keep a native pony trim and free of laminitis before you came along....
 
I live in an area where there are many wild ponies and their weight fluctuates with the seasons. In the winter they are very lean, not thin but no excess flesh on them at all. Going into the spring and early summer they carry a little weight and at the end of the summer many people on here would call them fat but they need that extra cover to see them through the sometimes very harsh winters when there is little for them to feed on even though they have a massive area to cover to look for food. This surely is natural for horse?
 
Hippona said:
He doesn't look particularly lean in that pic,however it may be misleading.

Every time there's a thread about weight you're all over it like a rash, giving us all the benefit of your wisdom and disagreeing with anyone who isn't you. It's a miracle anyone else has managed to keep a native pony trim and free of laminitis before you came along....
Click to expand...

Most posters on this forum have their own soapbox, and post on relevant threads to their prefered subjects :rolleyes: There's a UI tool if I bother you that much :)
 
Don't forget photos can sometimes be deceptive. One of mine photos heavier/fatter than she is in the flesh. She also has a similar natural body shape to the OP (although a fit version), she has quite a pronounced belly - but when you see/feel her in the flesh there is barely any fat and she just has a well sprung barrel. All ribs easily felt. With some work the OP horse would be similar I suspect.
 
Sorry this seems to have caused some disagreements. Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm hoping that being off grazing will help him drop some weight, I don't want him to lose too much as he drops a fair bit in winter but he certainly needs to get rid of that belly I think. The hay is from last year and is soaked so hopefully won't make him gain any weight, and he's on literally enough feed to make him eat his medicines and nothing more.

He's clearly not happy in at the moment, I feel awful but I don't know what I can do to calm him down. He's been living out 24/7, now he's in a stable with no company. And nothing else lives in at the moment, he's box walking and sweating up and he's in pain anyway. I'll start another post anyway to get advice but any advice here would be great.
 
They do seem to settle after a while. In the meantime, you could try a bucket of water with pieces of apple, swede etc in it. The Forage blocks I mentioned in my earlier response, a stable mirror is another good one and a treat ball with hi fibre cubes in. That keeps my girl occupied when she's in more during the winter.

Can he have a tiny tiny paddock sectioned off, say 14x14 so size of large stable. At least he'll be able to see the others which might calm him down.

Good luck:)
 
I think he looks alright actually and that the droopy belly is mostly lack of tone. I do generally think horses are too fat when people post these threads but I wouldn't be worrying about this one, just not deliberately increasing his intake. So sorry to hear he's hurt himself and I hope it heals quickly!
 
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