My horse is the size of a house !

[burtondog]

I saw him on Sunday and he looked okay but 4 days later he's really fat ! Sorry no piccys but trust me, he's huge !

I've not had him long, he's on full livery and the yard say they're only feeding him a couple of scoops of Alfa A Lite and about 4 sections of hay a day and he only gets a couple of hours turnout (if that) in a field wth not much grass.

How can he put on so much weight (2 girth holes) in such a short time ?

I think he must be eating his straw bedding.

 

[LCobby]

Sounds like it-
ask how much straw they are getting through?
Do they offer a shavings option?
He may not be gettingmuch exerise with only a couple of hours turnout, and 4 sections of hay would not keep him busy for long.

 

[hallarider]

They can get a pot belly from eating straw!

 

[PennyJ]

I would guess he's eating the straw 22 hours a day, so try and get him on shavings. I had to do the same for one of mine.

 

[burtondog]

In just over 2 weeks I'll be moving him to a different yard and he'll be going onto chippings plus I'm taking care of him myself for the first 10 days so I'll be able to to monitor exactly what he's eating and how much exercise he's getting so this will give me a better idea of what kind of doer he is.

Is it bad for him to eat straw ?

 

[oliviacharley]

I tend to cover my straw in a little j's fluid as it keeps them from eating it...I also leave a little dirty straw in the stable to again stop them from eating as much....
Can the yard lunge him for you? Or exercise him more for you..?

 

[Leary]

Liri eats straw so have changed her to shavings, which I now much prefer.

 

[moodiestmare]

I had a bedding eating horse. Switched to easibed and no probs since. Easier to muck out too!

 

[LCobby]

Straw can bloat them out, cause impactions and may not be feed quality ( invisible dust, moulds etc)
If he is in for so long, with only 4 sices of of hay, use a small holed haylage net, so he takes longer to eat it.
Hope he can have longer turnout when you move.

 

[itsmyparty]

My fatty is on a diet, small holed haynet etc. He's now resorted to eating his bedding (Bliss, which stinks of eucalyptus and is supposed to be really unappetising) because it's too much effort to get the hay out of the haynet. AGGHHHHH ! Git.