My horse has such a big belly

[Sossigpoker]

As title says! He's not put on much fat but has got a lot wider , girth needs to be one hole looser , his belly isn't small!
Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Also , he's lame so that's great as well ....

 

[Barton Bounty]

Im a hole down too and we work every day but i wouldnt say he was fat, maybe just the grass

 

[Sossigpoker]

Im a hole down too and we work every day but i wouldnt say he was fat, maybe just the grass

I'm hoping it's just the volume of stuff in his belly too. But I don't like fat horses so I've got my work cut out.
Good to know it's not just mine !
(Vet coming next week for lameness anyway )

 

[Barton Bounty]

 

[Sossigpoker]

Being a cob my boy is - sadly - much wider !

 

[expanding_horizon]

Being a cob my boy is - sadly - much wider !

Grazing muzzle, flexible fully ones seem to work well?

 

[Annagain]

My retired boy who came out of winter looking a bit light now looks amazing so I can understand that those of you with more amply proportioned horses are worried. Wiggy's put on a bit too but certainly isn't fat.

 

[scats]

I feel your pain. Mines in a muzzle, on a very short, well eaten paddock, soaked hay when in and ridden 6 days a week… she still looks like she’s about to birth foals.
Other pony- same grass, same routine and has ribs noticeable when she moves, yet isn’t in work.
It’s soul destroying!

 

[Goldenstar]

No you are not the only one mine are being worked six days a week and they are in until about now (12) next month they swop fields and will be in all day and wear muzzles at night .
It’s a struggle .

 

[GrassChop]

Yep and it's only May!

 

[Sossigpoker]

I will of course ask my vet if I need to be worried about the belly but it helps to know we are not alone !

 

[Tiddlypom]

Mine were ballooning, I've recently been over their equicentral track twice with the garden lawnmower (grass collection box on) set on the same low height that we cut the lawn. The daily poo pick has dropped from 2 barrows to 1.5 barrows full, so going the right way.

Whilst it's great that the IDx has come through her various dental procedures (2x fillings, 2x incisor extractions) very well, the discomfort she must have been in before was probably knocking her condition back a bit. Now she's all fixed...

 

[southerncomfort]

My boy's belly has also ballooned over the last few days.

He's on a bare part of a track, with only a tiny sliver of grass at night, in during the day and worked every day except yesterday (2 hour in hand hacks).

Literally the only difference this week is that he hasn't been carrying me due to bites on his back.

 

[Ceriann]

What muzzles are people using. Mine are in during the day and out at night in a field well grazed by sheep (who are still on there) and thinking it might be time to accept muzzles are needed. Do they work on fairly short grass too?!

 

[Floofball]

What muzzles are people using. Mine are in during the day and out at night in a field well grazed by sheep (who are still on there) and thinking it might be time to accept muzzles are needed. Do they work on fairly short grass too?!

If the grass is longer than the thickness of the muzzle they will get it. Having used a Shires delux comfort with great success previously, I bought one but unfortunately this one rubbed after a wet night. I’ve relented and ordered a flexible filly. He had 3 nights without the muzzle while sores healed and went footy and got pulses thought he would be alright as paddock is well grazed down now but I’m just using loads of vaseline and so far it’s not caused any bad rubs since (the shires one)

 

[sbloom]

I think gut supplements at this time of year can be really useful, not recommending anything particular but I did see someone posting about feeding activated charcoal and another supp when the grass is shooting up.

 

[tda]

I'm putting the track back up round our field, there's little grass round the edges, but they do have two hay feeders, hoping that the extra movement will help

 

[Goldenstar]

Mine have not got muzzles on because I worry about stray sycamore seedlings I fear they are more likely to eat them if they are seeking longer stuff to get hold of .

 

[SheriffTruman]

amply proportioned horses

What a beautiful way to say 'fat' .
Mine is just fat. Have to work on the belly. It's just the good life, and fortunately he is not lami-prone.

 

[saddlesore]

Flexible filly grazing muzzle has been a total game changer for us

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I feel your pain. Mines in a muzzle, on a very short, well eaten paddock, soaked hay when in and ridden 6 days a week… she still looks like she’s about to birth foals.
Other pony- same grass, same routine and has ribs noticeable when she moves, yet isn’t in work.
It’s soul destroying!

I am the human version of your horse, it is soul destroying

 

[toppedoff]

View attachment 114309View attachment 114310

what a shiny coat!

 

[expanding_horizon]

I think gut supplements at this time of year can be really useful, not recommending anything particular but I did see someone posting about feeding activated charcoal and another supp when the grass is shooting up.

I use a pre and probiotic, magnesium, Global herbs anti lam, Equishure and as much hard work as possible.

 

[expanding_horizon]

Mine have not got muzzles on because I worry about stray sycamore seedlings I fear they are more likely to eat them if they are seeking longer stuff to get hold of .

The ones I’ve been picking haven’t tended to be taller than the grass. And any that are show up really well for pulling.

 

[Tiddlypom]

A very positive knock off of the faff of mowing the equicentral track on a low cut was that it saw off the last of the sycamore seedlings. Pic shows a cluster just in front of the mower.



And this is the IDx sporting her current rather large belly. Her crest is soft and her ribs can be felt, but she is rather more portly than she ought to be. I had hoped to get cracking with her this spring, but her dental issues took rather longer to sort out than ideal. At least one more post incisors extraction check up to come then a chiro vet check, as all the hours of dental work done under standing sedation with her head on a chin rest might well have tweaked a few bits. She's in her Transcend bitless bridle here which I will defo try riding her in, she likes it in hand.

 

[Sossigpoker]

A very positive knock off of the faff of mowing the equicentral track on a low cut was that it saw off the last of the sycamore seedlings. Pic shows a cluster just in front of the mower.

View attachment 114553

And this is the IDx sporting her current rather large belly. Her crest is soft and her ribs can be felt, but she is rather more portly than she ought to be. I had hoped to get cracking with her this spring, but her dental issues took rather longer to sort out than ideal. At least one more post incisors extraction check up to come then a chiro vet check, as all the hours of dental work done under standing sedation with her head on a chin rest might well have tweaked a few bits. She's in her Transcend bitless bridle here which I will defo try riding her in, she likes it in hand.

View attachment 114556

Your horse doesn't have a lot of fat ,.just a big belly. My cob has a tad more fat than this but not massively.

As it hasn't rained for a while now , I'm now having to feed my cob Fast Fibre as the other night he only did 3 poos! Oh the irony!

 

[Annagain]

My retired boy who came out of winter looking a bit light now looks amazing so I can understand that those of you with more amply proportioned horses are worried. Wiggy's put on a bit too but certainly isn't fat.

I spoke too soon. The horses have been moved onto a new field and after just 3 days, Wiggy is now fat. I thought it was only for a week (which would have been manageable) while they sprayed and fertilised their normal field but apparently it's for the whole summe (according to one of the other girls, YO hasn't said anything) . The problem is, with my prolapsed disc and sciatica I find it really hard to walk the 150m down a steep hill to the field gate (let alone go to get him potentially another 300m away) so I can't really get him in for the day at the moment. One of the other girls is bringing hers in and has offered to get him in if I put them out in the evening (which would be a bit easier for me as I only have to make it to the gate, then can rest for 5 minutes before walking back up) but he's playing silly buggers at the moment and will only let me catch him. My sharer was trying for an hour last night, then I arrived and just walked straight up to him.