Losing weight without losing the ad lib hay - possible?

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IsabelleJ

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I have a 16.2 Shire/TB gelding who is quite tubby. Have only been feeding him 2 handfuls chaff and half rations of Top Spec balancer for the last 3 months, in preparation for the spring grass. The horses have just moved onto their summer grazing, so loads of nice lush grass, so he is coming in at lunchtime every day for the next few weeks. He has one large haynet at night, which I have started soaking to get rid of all nutrients. He is also bedded on straw, so snacks on that when hay runs out.

I need to get the weight off him. Am hoping to start lunging for 20 mins every day before riding, and he usually gets ridden twice a day. His hay is running out way too soon, so I am thinking of going back to two smaller very small holed haynets. However, I will only be able to soak one of these for a decent amount of time, the second one may get 2 hours tops. He also moves onto Bliss bedding next week, so hopefully will no longer have straw to eat BUT this means I really need his hay to last all night!

So! I only have one tub to soak hay in. Grazing muzzle is a possibility, but if I carry on with half day turnout he will need something to eat in the afternoon which kind of defeats the object. I will be decreasing to one handful of HiFi Good Doer for dinner and breakfast. I could look at double netting the larger haynets, as he munches through the hay at a phenomenal rate.

Does anyone have any ideas? I am racking my brains on this one! Thanks
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Isabelle
 
My Mum has a 16.3hh Shire/Tb (I would love to see how the mix works in yours!) who only gets ridden once a day/once every two days. He is on 12hr overnight grazing now (read somewhere the grass has less sugar in it overnight as it isn't photosynthesising in the sun) and then a handful of chaff for breakfast and dinner just as something to put his vits/mins into.

Obviously your chap may need more than this relative to his workload, but if he is anything like Solly he may do better on grass and fresh air than you give him credit for
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Our yo feeds soaked straw if her horse gets too big because she will eat all day.She has right amount of hay then leaves her with straw .
 
Thanks for the ideas. I'm at livery, so can't strip graze, unfortunately. I agree that it's the grass that will put weight on him - am I correct in thinking that soaked hay has almost no calories?
Because if so I can probably manage to soak one of the small holed nets for a couple of hours, his large one for almost 24 hours and then double net the large holed net.

YO thinks I should reduce hay, but I am convinced that that is only a drop in the ocean compared to the calories he is getting from the grass! What are people's experiences with grazing muzzles on a larger horse? I know he will get very frustrated, but at my wit's end
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Failing that, if anyone has a suggestion for large haylage sized nets with small holes that don't fall to bits within days, I would be very grateful. Thanks for reading, and for the ideas, all
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Isabelle
 
Shires do a large haynet with small holes - it's red and black.

I know how hard it is to manage grazing on a livery yard if you have a good doer - I'm now on a farm with my own field that I can strip graze etc to suit my requirements.
 
If you cant strip graze can you section off part of a field? I cant believe your YO wont let you do this, its in the horses best interest for quite compelling health reasons! Tell your YO that your horse needs less grass and see what they suggest?
A muzzle is fine on any horse but there are risks with them getting caught or them getting them off. Much better to reduce grass by reducing the size of the field.
Reducing the hay will just lead to long periods witout food and more problems. Soaked hay has minimal calories anyway.
 
Right, thank you everyone for your advice!

I have ordered two of the haynets that Chumsmum recommended, so hopefully should be able to slow him down at the same time as soaking his hay. My plan is for him to come in halfway through the day for about the next 3 or 4 weeks, until the grass has been eaten down in the field. At the same time, he and I will be getting more exercise, which should help. Then in a month or so I shall reassess.

I really appreciate all the advice, even though it seems I'm ignoring some of it
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It's frustrating how limiting being at livery is sometimes
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Thank you all!

Isabelle
 
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