Keeping weight off in winter - I cant get it off him !! :(

Toffee_monster said:
Yep, he was toasty warm and i have been mollycoddling him ! :)
HW has come off and he has a LW stable with rainsheet over the top, now he is luke warm to touch :)
Click to expand...

Sorry if mentioned already but when did you hog, and how have you been noting weight.

Just as I always find horses look twice the size hogged visually. And if you were weight taping the clip/hog will have made him 'lose' quickly on the tape when it was just hair and is very easy to weigh tape slightly differently each time.
Sorry both points probably telling you to suck eggs!

It's also common in humans to hit a point where it stops coming off easily. Body adapts to storing and using fat differently if diet changes and exercise is needed more so this may be a temporary blip with the weather. (Assuming horses are the same!)
 
I wasnt measuring his hair LOL, im really not that useless. I just wanted some ideas to help his weight loss. He was been weighed by Spillers and the vet and has defnately lost a lot already, both agree this, especially the vet ! I am not under any illusion that he is slim, but i have only had him for 4 months and so it is an ongoing battle.

So do you think he looks no better ?
When i bought him he could hardly move he was so fat ! His skin was tight over his bulging fat and his fat was hard, as was his neck :( He is not like this any more.
 
Last edited:
Toffee_monster said:
I wasnt measuring his hair LOL, im really not that useless. I just wanted some ideas to help his weight loss. He was been weighed by Spillers and the vet and has defnately lost a lot already, both agree this, especially the vet ! I am not under any illusion that he is slim, but i have only had him for 4 months and so it is an ongoing battle.

So do you think he looks no better ?
When i bought him he could hardly move he was so fat ! His skin was tight over his bulging fat and his fat was hard, as was his neck :( He is not like this any more.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that at all - I think he looks hugely different, completely different body shape - I thought your problem was recent plateau though, so have no concept on that as photos are from Sept and now!

I also know that when any of my lot are hogged I think they look much bigger round their necks, but is only an optical illusion. And have also been caught out on weigh taping a couple of mil in the wrong direction and changing the size drastically (doing 3 weigh points at the time). So none was a gripe, just little things I've done when the weight lost changed through human error ad the horse was still steadily losing.

And I hadn't realised he was weighed (I assume regularly if you believe weight loss is slowing) which is why I asked method :)
 
Sorry if I came across snappy , written word is hard to decipher mood Sometime :)

He hasn't been weighed for 6 weeks now but he deffo looks pudgy again :( I thought the change Would / should be more drastic during winter thats all, but it's obvious that I haven't been helping matters lol
 
Until you can exercize him it's a case of damage limitation. :D He does look a little cresty. When he is relaxed, especially his neck, give his crest a wobble and see if it is flabby/loose or stiff. If he tends to get a stiff/solid crest I would seriously consider getting him tested for IR and Cushings. Either could partly explain his weight problem. I realize he is still a work in progress though.
The better weather will give you a fighting chance with more exercize.
 
Toffee_monster said:
Sorry if I came across snappy , written word is hard to decipher mood Sometime :)

He hasn't been weighed for 6 weeks now but he deffo looks pudgy again :( I thought the change Would / should be more drastic during winter thats all, but it's obvious that I haven't been helping matters lol
Click to expand...

Sorry likewise, didn't mean to say you haven't got anywhere as there is a noticeable difference :)

This winter has been a bit weird - I don't know many horses who have particularly lost this winter, all seem to have come out very well! Our tb has come out slightly larger than she went into it and is naked and out 24/7! And the lack of exercise due to our inability to function in snow :p probably hasn't helped.

In regards to IR it's very common in Ds as the gene is bred into them so it may be worth looking into it, however the management would be the same anyway. Careful diet and exercise, so as long as you keep at what you're doing he'll be fine either way :)

He is gorgeous... and will probably be told off for this... but loved his natural mane :p I have a thing for natural manes though so am sure I'll be told he looks a lot smarter by most :D
 
Lol I hated it :) he is. Welsh a x traditional x welsh d

The vet suggested be was a bit young to think about IR however I just found out he is in fact rising 6 and not 4 !!! So I am seriously going to consider getting him tested for it. His neck / crest is soft now but it wasn't when I bought him and he had LGL :(

What , if any, treatment is there if he tested positive for IR ?
 
Toffee_monster said:
Lol I hated it :) he is. Welsh a x traditional x welsh d

The vet suggested be was a bit young to think about IR however I just found out he is in fact rising 6 and not 4 !!! So I am seriously going to consider getting him tested for it. His neck / crest is soft now but it wasn't when I bought him and he had LGL :(

What , if any, treatment is there if he tested positive for IR ?
Click to expand...

As you are now - but very strict. Careful on diet (as if lamanitic) and exercise. Having had LGL you'll be managing him the same way anyway I expect.

There are so many opinions on what causes/contributes to it that I wouldn't rule out simply due to age. However...

I might be wrong but I didn't think you could lose the rock solid fatty storage areas with IR though, so sounds more like a lami prone pony to keep a good eye on to me.
 
Oh that's interesting !
Yep hard crest is no more. A section d at the yard has a hard crest but not particularly fat anywhere else . Moo's fat is definitely softer now :)

We will always be on lami watch and precautions now. His feet were horrific and we have huge hoof ridges to show for that lgl episode :( glad I bought him when I did, hate to think how he could have ended up.

I will continue as I am for now and review In a month
 
My boy is exactly the same size and weight! However he was 380kg which he was perfect on bit because if the weather he's been in most days ( was only one out which stressed him out) so I kept him in bar Monday and he's put on 25kg as all he's done is stand and eat for 8 days... I'm hoping now that its about to thaw that I can get him back to 380kg! I soak his hay and add stay. My boy gets 8kg of hay split into 2 nets one at each end of the day- triple netted. I can't feed less as he'd be stood with nothing and get ulcers. He can already finish a 4kg net in 3 hours!!!
 
PandorasJar said:
Does he need to be clipped? I'd be lightening rugs as others have said, but next year round (unless being worked enough to warrant it) would leave unclipped and without/light rugs. Not so much for him, but as a mental thing for you to have less rugs on and let him use his food to keep warm (obviously not shivering away) but rather than using to put weight on.
Click to expand...

My Irish Draught has overwintered the last three years at a friend's field. Each winter his shoes come off and he is left unclipped and unrugged. Never so much as loses a pound. His natural coat is obviously super-efficient.

However this year I have my own yard and horse is clipped and rugged only in a light or if it's really cold a medium weight and to my delight he has steadily lost weight.
 
Oliver it was said as a human point. If clipped and rugged appropriately fine, but lots are over rugged - I always worry more if clipped. And as in the case of op.
Mine are all naked and out 24/7 they keep a steady weight all year, even with lush grass/haylage as they are constantly on the move (hills, fields, woods) and steadily graze and explore rather than gorging. The best thing I did for a horse who was huge (this certainly isn't a one size fits all and was a horse who was naturally slim build but fed up by owner, not typical lami prone pony) was take it out the small pen it was rugged and fed in (hard and forage) and put it out on 35acres naked with a herd. They got the mare moving and rather than gorging everytime she got forage or a new strip of grass she grazed naturally. None of our lot is over weight left completely natural, but if you are leaving natural, but taking away movement and feeding up then it won't work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top