Mare with a foal at foot - very fat :o(

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I looked at Hannah tonight and she looks 10 months in foal
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She is out on grass all day (there is a lot of it for just her and Troy) and then on adlib haylage at night, but probably only getting 6kg in total. Feed wise she is on a small amount of Alfa A and TopSpec Leisure to keep her gut in order. It is the only thing so far that has stopped her spasmodic colic so I do not want to remove this from her diet.

I am at a loss as to what I can do. She obviously can't be exercised as Troy is only 3 months, and we have another 3 months to go until she is brought back into work.
 
Don't really want to use a muzzle while she has Troy with her in case he gets his foot caught in it or something like that... hmmm, may have to have a work with the YO about buying some hay in.
 
I think you should think about a grazing muzzle, with a Fieldsafe headcollar then Troy won't be able to hurt himself. The last thing you want is for your mare to get laminitis. Alternatively is there a bare paddock you can turn them both out in and put ad lib soaked hay or soaked haylage down for Hannah?
 
You will probably find if you only keep her on a little of her normal feed (I take it not more than two scoops a day in total?) then she will probably not increase her weight too much even if out all day simply because Troy will be taking all the goodness out of her and he's getting to be a big boy now and she has to make her system work hard to provide him with all he needs even though he will be eating grass and her haylage anyway.
If you can cut down on the amount of feed that would be better than taking the haylage away as she needs to keep her gut working I think and it doesn't do any horse any good to be 'starving hungry' the next morning, especially I would have thought one that has been prone to colic (but that's my view; I'm sure others will disagree!
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) As someone else said, if you could substitute hay, or even use half and half, that could be better than straight haylage.
Don't forget, as Troy gets older he will need a proper diet for youngsters, what you are feeding Hannah will not be adequate for him - again, in my view!
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I also wouldn't use a muzzle while Troy is with her, I'd rather stand her in for a few hours than that but even if you did that, she would probably gorge herself when out again; surely better for her to trickle feed than gorge and possibly cause problems. Even though she is out all day, she won't be grazing the absolute whole time, she will take a break for a snooze now and then, usually when foal is having a nap too as it is the only time they can really relax - it's hard work being a child minder you know!
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I know how you feel as I'm going through the same with my mare, I had to work really hard to keep her weight down while she was pregnant and now the foal is here I'm still being careful she doesn't gain weight. She's fed stud balancer so there are no extra calories but she still gets what she needs and she's on organic meadow hay even though the rest are on haylage. At least with the hay she can still get adlib and won't become overweight. She's also out on a field where the grass isn't too rich, with the dry weather the grass didn't grow aswell as I hoped in the spring but now I'm glad there's not much as she has to move around alot more to graze and yet there's still enough grass coming through to keep her happy. So I think if you can put her on hay, it would help and maybe a field with less grass? Good luck!
 
Could it be a possibility to turn her out overnight rather than through the day? This could help somewhat.

I'm confused as to why you can't exercise her though? Surely Troy has some friends now and would be happy to remain in the field for periods of time without Hannah. Personally this would be my choice; even if it was just to lunge her for 10 mins a couple of times a day, or take her out for a quick half hour ride.

Our little Legacy is now a month old and already Cloud has been out of the field and doing a bit of riding work. Legacy is absolutely fine without her, although Cloud won't be taken out of sight of her for about another month, but I can't see there being any problems with her being ridden out for at least an hour a day by the time Legacy is 3 months old.

I would be quite concerned if Cloud was huge like Hannah (because of the risk of laminitis), however as I recall, Hannah was absolutely enormous before she gave birth so maybe she has just lost so much muscle that it will take her months to get back into shape, or not at all as is the case with some bred, out of shape, mares.

Cloud was exercised right through her pregnancy and although she was small throughout the majority of her pregnancy, literally the moment she gave birth, she went straight back to being slim again.

My advice would be to keep her feed the same but get cracking on with exercise. Best of luck.
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Hi Hannah

I realise you dont have any other foals for Troy to hang out with, but stick a saddle on Hannah and ride her round the fields with Troy following. Its no issue, just get yourself prepared and hop on Hannah once out in the field, he will probably just run along side you

Is Troy eating any hard feed yet? Or is Hannah stealing it?
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Stop feeding her, and change the haylage to hay. The last thing you want is her comming down with laminitis.

Motherhood obviously suits
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Sas was ridden bare back because her saddle would not fit after she foaled, & the colt just followed behind. When he was happy with his aunties she could come out without him for 1/2 an hour or so. I would ask your vet for an assement.
 
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I'm confused as to why you can't exercise her though? Surely Troy has some friends now and would be happy to remain in the field for periods of time without Hannah. Personally this would be my choice; even if it was just to lunge her for 10 mins a couple of times a day, or take her out for a quick half hour ride.

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Agree with Tia here, as Bloss is on the larger side my vet has already told me that when mini Bloss is around 3months old i can start excerising Bloss for 10-15mins a day to help get her 'foaling' weight off. He said it wont do the foal anyharm as long as its with a 'friend' and will also be more helpful at weaning as they will both be used to being separated, even if its only for a shorter amount of time.

Failing that could you not exercise Han with Troy at foot? A lot of people do that with their mares these days......
 
Thank you for all your replies... I will try to answer some of the things that have been posed by this thread:

Pat, thank you for all of that information. Yes, Troy is now having his own feed but Hannah does steal some of it I have to admit. He is on Alfa A and TopSpec as he really does not need much with the grass as he is looking really well and growing a little too quickly in my opinion. He will continue on this simple feed until he does need something else. My feed merchant keeps mentioning Buck Eye Grow and Win, but I feel he is doing so well on what he is getting that I don't really want to make too many changes to his diet and the TopSpec Balancer will give him a lot of the things he needs.

Tia, it is just Hannah and Troy in the field, they do not have others in with them. The main reason for this is because all the horses on the yard have shoes on, and I am simply not risking putting Troy in with a shod horse. I have heard too many horror stories from things like this. They seem to be doing really well together and Hannah is starting to get a bit firmer with him now he is older. When he tries rearing on her and putting his legs over her back she is seeing him off by either kicking him or running at him. Ideally I would have liked them to have a companion, but that is just not possibe where I am. Especially as Hannah can be a bit of a madam with other horses too, I think it would create a bit of an issue with her being protective over Troy.

They also cannot be turned out at night because that is the livery yard rules, so like Pat has said I let them out for as long as possible in the day due to Hannah being prone to colic and they get adlib haylage at night (again because she needs to keep her gut working by advice of the vet).

I cannot cut her feed out all together because she gets hoof supplements (she has problems when unshod and the stuff she is on is keeping her sound and her feet in good condition), cortaflex for her joints as she has clicking issues which is not DJD but I was recommended to get her on something, and TopSpec for the yeast in it. I really don't want to take her off the TopSpec because since being put on this for her spasmodic colic, touch wood, she has only had a few small bouts. The vet has advised me to keep her on that because it is working... before using it I would have to get them out about twice a month to administer buscopan (and I've had all the tests known to man done on her).

Hay is definitely an option... I will be asking the YO about this asap as I have been thinking along these lines myself.

As for exercising her, I was hoping to start when Troy was four months but because everything goes in his mouth I would hate for him to chew my saddle (it is my pride and joy) and I would also need an extra pair of hands to hold Troy while I work her because he tends to try rearing on her and I DO NOT want to be in the middle of that on board.

Here is a picture of her this week... how bad is she, and please be honest:

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My main problem P_G is that Troy does not have a friend to stay with... he would either have to be left on his own up at the stable (which is quite a walk from the school) or someone would have to hold him while I rode Hannah which is just not possible every day as there is no one I can really ask. Richard Maxwell said I could work on getting him to tie up in the corner of the school, but I don't think we are quite at this stage of tying up yet although he is learning quite well that he cannot pull back.
 
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Richard Maxwell said I could work on getting him to tie up in the corner of the school

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Richard Maxwell needs a swift kick up the arse for even suggesting such a thing.

T**t!
 
Honestly? She looks huge, her neck is massive and you need to do something ASAP.

I would give her soaked hay and cut the Topspec right down and give her Hi-Fi Lite if possible. Can you not restrict her grazing? Electric fencing possibly? Can you walk her in-hand around the field for 30 minutes, or even lunge?

Hope this helps, and i know exactly what it is like with do gooders, i've had real problems with Bramble's weight but we're getting there.
 
i see what you mean......could someone not hold troy in the arena whilst you ride, even if its just for 10-15mins a day?

I know im going to have the same problem as you with Bloss, shes huge already and is hardly being fed anything
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She really lives on thin air and is still being exercise daily, i hate to think what shes going to be like when i stop exercising - altho at least we will be coming into winter by then
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Really sorry but having seen the photos I definitely think you need to do something and quick. Can understand you don't want to put a muzzle on her (sorry for re-suggesting it in my earlier post, you are dead right it's not the best thing to do). But PLEASE give her either soaked hay or soaked haylage (soak for at least 30 minutes, but preferably all day or all night) so she has oodles of fibre to keep her hindgut moving without the calories. And restrict her grazing as much as is humanly possible. The amount of weight she has put on in the last 3 weeks is way too much. All this rain isn't helping as making the grass spurt like nobody's business isn't it?

Really sorry about this post, but you did ask us to be honest.
 
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Buck Eye Grow and Win

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That's what I feed - excellent feedstuff, quite expensive over here mind you.
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all the horses on the yard have shoes on, and I am simply not risking putting Troy in with a shod horse

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Ah no, neither would I - sorry I forgot about that problem. Shame there isn't a little pony that you could cart in.

I wouldn't worry too much about Troy rearing up when you are riding - you just have to keep your wits about you and whenever he starts to cavort around you just veer off in a different direction. He will soon get used to seeing you on her. I have often ridden with the foal at foot and never had any mishaps, so I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine.

Looking at her picture I honestly don't think you will shift that lowered belly now. Sorry but I think it is there to stay - I've seen a few mares go like this, generally when they haven't been exercised throughout their pregnancy but I'm sure I read that you did ride her when she was pregnant? These mares tend to always look like a cat who has been spayed, with a hangy belly.
 
Just to say, Cloud only has 1lb of Grow'n'Win per day, ad lib hay and she gets turned out in the grassy field overnight and locked up in the little paddock through the day.

Legacy only gets a quarter of a lb of feed per day.
 
Having seen the photo's of her I can see why YOU are worried because you've never seen Hannah with a foal before, she's always been a working girl and been kept trim; now she is a nursing mother who has let her corsets out which is only natural; don't forget, he was a big boy, everything is bound to have stretched out of shape and also, quite rightly, she had several months of doing nothing before she foaled so the flab is obviously going to settle a bit - you should see me, it's not only settled but spread as well! LOL!
Yes, she looks well and I wouldn't want her any fatter but I don't think she is a disaster unless she is prone to lami; in which case I would definitely change to plain meadow hay at night. With that in mind, I would cut out the Alpha A completely, just mix your supplements in your mix; better still, change it to either Baileys Stud Balancer, Gro n'Win (Spillers do it now I think) or even Baileys LoCal Balancer; they will have everything she needs for a healthy gut and you won't have to feed much at all, probably no more than 2 - 3 cupfuls a day but it will still provide his lordship with what he needs too.

This is Jennie with Stan; she's full TB and he is her third foal; he'll be about 3 - 4 months old in this; look at her shape and she, at 9 years, is a fair bit younger than Hannah.
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This is her, 20 months later, due to foal in 3 months after having a year off empty.
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This is Irish, Joey would have been about 4 - 5 months old then; see how her belly has flopped. Once Hannah is to start back into work, it'll need lots of walking exercise (not just on a walker either!) to get her muscles into trim but she'll always have a 'maternal' look I think, even when she's fighting fit; mares do seem to change their normal shape once they've had a foal.

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Sorry about the sizes, didn't realise they'd be so huge!
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Thanks everyone...

Pat, I think you are more or less spot on with what you have said. She is only carrying her weight around her stomach area (her neck has always been quite big because she had a fantastic topline when she was in work which turned to flab when she was brought out of work). Her bottom is still quite normal when I look at her and her shoulders are quite normal too.

Like I said, it is all around her belly... poor girl. I don't think she is as bad as some people are making out, although that is their opinion and they are entitled to it. But she is a thick set girl and always will be.

I have spoken to the YO this morning about hay and we are getting some tonight for her. So that should help... I cannot limit her grazing because she has a 3 month old foal who will go completely nutty if kept in a stable and there are no other fields suitable (the other has a foot path running through and I am not risking that).

Alfa A will be cut down too... but TopSpec has to stay for her colic (spoken to TopSpec and she is now on the Leisure Time one). Also, I am going to try to get on her this weekend with hubby holding Troy and see how we do.

How is that for a plan?
 
That sounds like a good plan - will your OH have anchors on his feet?! Make sure he wears some gloves else HE won't be a happy bunny even if you will be!
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Any chance there'd be someone else to be cameraman as well; could be worth watching!!

I'm glad that you thought that sensible once you had looked at it from her angle; she can't help letting it all hang down a bit more than usual, poor girl - be no use putting a weigh tape on her just now! But at the same time, I don't think it would help her if you really limited her intake too much, think that can cause as many problems TBH. Hope the hay helps.

Let us know how it goes at the weekend!
 
Sounds like a plan. I bet you won't want to get off her, when you're on
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Just warn the hubby of the Troyster, lol. Oh and do get some piccies if you can.

Also just be careful with the grass, all of these showers, sunshine and warm weather is going to make the grass incredably lush. My WB is having to come in in the day at the moment as there is just too much even with 400 sheep in the field *sigh* annoying as I like them out 24/7 this time of year, but there you go.
 
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