Need help with my fatty/Potential fatty, please

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picolenicole

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I have a cob x not sure what the x is but there you go…. That I have been trying really, really hard to get/keep his weight down.

The truth, the whole truth and noting but, he comes in, in the day Mon –Fri (used to be Tue – Thurs). I don’t like it, as I like my horses (well he’s a pony 14.1hh and a half) out as much as, but he does love coming in and if I don’t bring him in he rocks on the gate, and just get’s the hump. He’s fed a hand full of happy hoof, and half a hand full of Topspec Lite, with propel plus and salt, once a day. He has 1 and a half small slice’s of our own meadow hay when in and a grazing muzzle on when out. I know you can mix straw into hay, but which straw is best for this, as it doesn’t last him all day? Or do I use Topspec Topchop? And I’m sure he’s put more weight on with the grazing muzzle, as he eats’ faster with it on than without.
He’s ridden 6 days out of 7, we hack min one and a half hours 5 days (longer on the weekend) and he get’s schooled once a week. We have really good hacking as most of it is hill’s so do loads of walk, trot, walk, trot, walk (you get it) and we have one or two canters as well.

Now what else can I do to try and get his weight down/keep it down? (RI thinks he’s fatter this year than last :( ) I work from 7.30am to 4pm go straight to King, ride and don’t get back till about 8pm, then do tea and say hi to long lost OH and dogs, then bed as I’m about dead on my feet!!! He’s lost no weight but I have lost half a stone :) :) that wasn’t the plan, but way hay good for me (from 13stone to 12.5). So some help is required I think, please!!!

This is the only pic I have for this year on my work comp, sorry he’s muddy, but he is a horse, think it was a month or so ago. He’s about the same weight now as in this pic as any weight he’s put on is only 15-20kg’s. So is he really, really ffat, really fat, fat or just ok?

Photo0218.jpg


Sorry that wasn’t meant to be so long. Chocolate for anyone that has read my ramblings :D
 
i would say he is not dangerousley fat, if fat a tall, he is a cob, they are ment to be slighty rounder than your average pony.

i would say if you are worried soak your hay take some of the goodness out of it!
 
IMO he looks about right, definitely not obese, maybe could do with losing a bit but hey!

Agree with soaking hay to take all goodness out of it, and then maybe double netting it too so it lasts longer? He's lovely by the way :D
 
Yeah sorry forgot to say I will be starting to soak his hay this weekend, I have also thought about the double netting so will try that as well. I'm glad you don't think he obese, I didn't think he was that bad, it was just some friends and RI said he was thiner last year so started to worry. It's the only thing I worry about, him and my other pet's, anything else does not bother me. :)
 
Hi,
I think he is bigger than I would like, cob or not, any extra weight isn't the best for any horse. That is a fair neck he has on him!!
I would soak his hay (1/2 an hour) and double netting is a good idea. What is the grass like that he is muzzled on? If it is lovely stuff then a smart pony will still be able to tuck away a big amount!! Are you able to put him on a fatty patch with pretty much no grass, and keep him out all the time, but with soaked hay twice a day? He would be getting more movement as he wouldn't be in his stable and you would have more control over his weight. To put more work into him are you able to give him a short lunge a couple of mornings in the week? I would be tempted to feed him a couple of handfuls of happy hoof, and drop the topspec. It will give him more nutrients with negligable more calories and it doesn't need to be fed with chaff anyway. Just because he is a good doer, he still will have a need for a balanced diet and given that we spend so much time trying to cut calories it can be easy to actually give them less nutrition than they need.
Love his face markings!
 
I suggest using a weight-tape weekly, then you won't be dependent on some-one's memory of how he looked last year/guess work.
Oat or barley straw can be fed to most horses (we have one who colics on straw). If he is eating reasonable grass, through his muzzle, he won't need chaff or a bucket feed of any kind. Horses' digestive systems are, after all, designed to take nutrients from grass. Why do people put horses on diets and then give them extra calories?
A Himalayan salt lick should provide all the extra he might need and he will have the choice whether to use it or not. You will be able to tell if he feels the need for it.
What would he do if you ignored him when he started rocking the gate? Does he have equine companions?
 
His field isn't what I would call lush grass, it's short stuff that has nothing added to it, by that I mean we don't weed it or add fertalizer, just top it and pull ragwort (only 3 bit's this year I must be doing something right :) ). It has winter off when he's in the winter field, and then is topped and left for a week before he goes back on it for a few hours, building up to staying on it. We have a small paddock, but he is more than able to jump the wall when he's eaten all the grass, done it before and he has no respect for electric fencing at all!! If it helps the weigh tape said 497KG. I sort of got talked into the topspec lite, I was giving him a natural suplement for vits and mins and his hoves, I didn't think that was working so asked what else at feed place and they sort of talked me into it. Since coming off the supplement is a little footy on stones, he wasn't before. After the topspec has gone than thats it I'll not get it again, but I have a full bag and at half a hand full I think it'll last a while.

ThePony thank you for nice remark about his face markings, but they don't help muzle wise, as the white side rub's out as soon as he see's the blooming thing!! He's also managed to rub a chunck out of his nose where he eat's from one of the holes on the muzle. Arrr starting to think maybe OH is right, a child would be easier than a pony!!!
 
Have you tried wrapping vet wrap over the bits that rub? OH mare get rubs from hers and this made a big difference. If he is getting a little footy then soaking your hay should help as it will reduce the sugar he is getting. Given the warm weather and heavu showers recently we have had a couple of small grass flushes to deal with - they don't help!! Have you tried adding magnesium to his feed? Helped ours no end. Magox is well absorbed without irritating the gut which some cheaper alternatives can. http://www.naturalhorsesupplies.co.uk/p/category/0802204936-Magnesium+Supplements/
 
Pearlsasinger- I can leave him out, he does give in after a while, (without bring the gate down) so guess i could but like I say I'm having truble with his muzle rubbing, at the min. He doesn't have companions, but can see other horses, we had to have OH sisters horse PTS last year. I could give him a lick in the field, I have done befroe so I could do it again. I know our fields lack in salt, as the other horse we had did get something called Derbyshire Neck. So that's the main reason I put an added vit and mins supplemnt into his feed, or did.
 
I must say he doesn't look too bad, apart from his neck, although it is difficult to see how much is neck and how much is mane. However, I definitely wouldn't want him any bigger and you are right to be careful with his calorie intake.

If you are bringing him in, then definitely soak the hay and double net it. Soaking will remove some of the sugars and double netting should reduce the speed he can eat it so you should be able to give him a little less. I use a small haylage net inside a large haylage net and find this really slows down the rate at which my pony can eat.

I would also look at ways you can increase the intensity of his exercise - if you schooled twice a week could you incorporate more canter work?
 
TGM funny you say that as my last lession (Last Wed) involved him thinking bending to the right so far to hard and he thought tanking off at a good speed canter was the best idea for us both. RI said she stopped counting after about 10 laps :) he was conrtoled but he has started thinking that legging it will get him out of work, so I keep my leg on and make him go untill I can feel him sart to lissten again and come soft. He's not what I would say a normal cob, we joke saying he's a wana be WB. Oh and 6 years old.

ThePony, I got his supplement from there it was like an all in one, the one she feeds her own ponies. It has mag in it, I thought vet rap would rub as it's not smooth if that makes sence?
 
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I tried naf slimline on my cob only for 2 months and took her off it because she lost her weight and started to look too thin for a 14. 1 just over cob (her final weight was 385kg). Saying that she has put some back on even though she has a grazing muzzle and worked 5 days out of 7. I am intrgued though about the cinnamon thread that was posted and have had a read up and apparantly it is good for weight loss so i have purchased a bag.

As already said soaking haynet and doubling it up is another option....
 
TBH most weight-tapes are inaccurate but do give you a means to monitor weight gain/loss over time. What did he 'weigh' last year? They also don't tell you whether you are measuring fat or muscle. Can you condition score him? That would give you a better picture of the need for weight loss, or not.
Could you organise some sort of reciprocal arrangement with neighbours to allow him to spend time with companions, which would mean that he wouldn't spend all his time outside eating? I have to say, I would do anything to avoid having to use a haynet, double or single, as I think they are one of the most dangerous things on earth.

ETA, trotting up hill is the best exercise for weight-loss/fittening.
 
picolenicole said:
ThePony, I got his supplement from there it was like an all in one, the one she feeds her own ponies. It has mag in it, I thought vet rap would rub as it's not smooth if that makes sence?
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I find it a fab shop, great advice too. Even though the vet wrap isn't smooth, it made a big difference. OH mare gets rub marks from just looking at something and with this she had her muzzle on over 12hrs each day with no rubs!
 
I have asked neighbours about this as one has a 2 year old mare, so she does not want to put her in with him as she say's she a little over excited about everything, the other has a old mare so doesn't want her bothered by a "young" horse and her second horse she thinks is a rig. They also have their own land so don't want to "use" someone else's. I dont really like hay nets, so came up with the idea of putting his hay in an old bucket, thwn putting the hay net over the bucket and tying it the the window grill with an ole lead rope on a pit of baling string. So his hay is still on the floor, and he can eat it like eating grass. If you get me.

Sorry forgot to say I weigh tape him every 2 weeks, he did go from 504kg to 497kg so not a big amount, and I may have placed it in a different place as this change's the results! I have a condition score card that RI gave me but to be truthful, me and (non horsey) OH came up with Good on it, so don't know what to do.

ThePony yeah she was brill I told her all aoubt King, she gave me some good info on what to try and the prices are good as well.
 
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his weight looks fine to me! he has a big crest on him... but that could even possibly be down to being gelded late rather than being fat?! or just the pic?!

even so getting rid of a big crest from a horse that has been overweight in the past is very dificult... and personaly i've never seen it accomplished fully. ;)

xx
 
Aren't people odd?
I know you can't do anything about it but I'd have thought the excitable 2 yr old would benefit from a companion.
I know someone similar, her horse lives on its own in plenty of grass and is enormously fat. Across the road are 6 horses who have adequate but not excessive grazing. The one-horse owner will not let her mare join the others because then they would have to spend some time on her land - the only way she would countenance that is if the owner paid for the grazing. So her poor mare is condemned to live on her own, leaning over the fence trying to catch a glimpse of the herd.
 
picolenicole said:
I dont really like hay nets, so came up with the idea of putting his hay in an old bucket, thwn putting the hay net over the bucket and tying it the the window grill with an ole lead rope on a pit of baling string. So his hay is still on the floor, and he can eat it like eating grass.
Click to expand...

Another idea is to put the net inside a haybar - I know quite a few people who do that.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Aren't people odd?
I know you can't do anything about it but I'd have thought the excitable 2 yr old would benefit from a companion.
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Yeah they are. She has a shetland in with her but he now has laminitis, I think she more afrad that her 2 year old would do damage to either our fencing or King, she went through their brand new wooden fencing as that's where she wanted to go. I also know someone that has about 6 or 7 horses and ponies and a donkey, I asked if she wanted any grazing as her field is mud, never got an answer from her.:confused:
 
I think he could stand to lose a fair bit - though it is difficult to say without condition scoring in person and prodding - but that neck is a concern. I certainly wouldn't want him putting more on.

It's hard to advise on management really as people normally have reasons why they do what they do, which may not be compatible with the ideal management for weight loss. But I'd echo previous comments about keeping him out rather than in, so he's moving about, if you can. What sort of muzzle is he in that he can eat more quickly in it? Either he's very ninja, or he could benefit from a different style or fit? Could you keep him in the smaller paddock that he can get out of, and supplement with soaked hay strewn over the paddock - not in a pile by the gate - so that he has forage (so hopefully won't jump out) but can still be kept moving?

Also I'd look at his workload. Can you lunge him at the other end of the day to when you hack? Can you increase the intensity of the work you do when hacking? How tired is he after a hack - does he come back sweated up or is he ready for the same again? I can bring my reasonably fit horses back from a 45 minute walk / trot hack dripping simply by asking for collection / extension (not true extension, relative extension to their paces, they're not that well schooled! yet?!) and doing lateral work etc. It's worth thinking about anyway...
 
whisp&willow said:
his weight looks fine to me! he has a big crest on him... but that could even possibly be down to being gelded late rather than being fat?! or just the pic?!

even so getting rid of a big crest from a horse that has been overweight in the past is very dificult... and personaly i've never seen it accomplished fully. ;)

xx
Click to expand...

We think he was gelded late, as he does a really good stallion impression when with other horses. As in he stick his chest out, and prances about with that look of look at me!! If there are mares next to him, near him, he always get's his errr willy out!! Dirty boy.
 
JFTD He has a Dinky mask on, he is very ninja, he some how manages to twist his top lip round and eat out of the top hole that is bigger than the others, to let them breath from. I watched him for ages doing it, and I don't know how his nose and lips bend the way they do.
Can't really make a smaller paddock as, if it moves when he pushes it then it comes down!! He comes back hot, and sweated up where his saddle is some times, I do try schooling when out like you extend and collect, as just walking and trotting he get fed up and switches off. I always trot him up the hill's and he's normal puffing on the way home. He's always had a big neck, I don't think it's as bad now, but that could be his main has grown a bit. Will try to get new pictures of him, will be off here after 2pm as need to take my mum to hospital.
 
Hmm, I use a shires muzzle on one of mine, which looks to have smaller holes than the dinky ones. Maybe worth a shot? (Mine was only a tenner, so not a big outlay).

If he's only sweated under his tack, he could work harder out - I'd be inclined to push for more variation in his paces and ask him for more impulsion whilst hacking so you know he's really working. If he's really puffing, give him a few minutes on a long rein before you ask again though, obviously!

I would recommend condition scoring him properly, and if you can't, try to find someone who can - or get your vet to do it.
 
We use oat straw for our fatties. They are out on the 'scab paddock', and have a net of oat straw mixed with a mere handful of hay morning and evening. The scab paddock is a 1/2 acre of bare earth with a sprinkling of grass and docks (so they have to move to find what grass there is), it was weed killed earlier this year ready to be resseeded, but got put off due to the drought so will be done this autumn - not sure what we will do without it next year!

I dont think your boy looks obese, just a bit fat!
 
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