Obese miniature

[ClaretCarrot]

Right my miniature/Shetland type pony is alarmingly obese. He lives out and has been fed no more than a bit of hay over the winter. There isn't a huge amount of grass and I suspect he's just reaching the bits of grass the horses can't reach. I didn't want to have to put a grazing muzzle on him over the winter but he's actually managed to gain a lot of weight this winter. I've stopped feeding them hay but now of course the grass is starting to grow again. So now I'm in panic mode. I've given him a trace clip and I've had my horse walker fixed. So I've started putting him on the walker for 1hr per day (a walking programme for the horses is really a trotting one for him)
How the heck to other people cope with mini's and their weight? I'll be setting up the track system soon for the horses but it doesn't really work for him as he gets his tiny head right under the electric fence and ends up having the whole perimeter to himself. He's miserable in the grazing muzzle and to have it so he can't get it off, it needs to be quite snug and it ends up rubbing him badly (I've tried many different brands)

 

[alliwantforchristmas]

are you really making an obese shetland trot for an hour a day straight off? Can you not split his exercise sessions into shorter time spans and build up his fitness a bit? Could you take him out for walks in hand, up and down hills etc ... take him out when you walk the dog? My fatties are on a pretty bare field through the summer but have a mix of soaked hay and straw so they have plenty of munching with not so many calories. I also do a track system - could you not string some extra lines of electric fence, with one pretty low to the ground (not touching the grass, obviously) so that it's harder for him to get his muzzle under and he's more likely to get a zap? One of my old ponies always used to duck under unless I put three lines up. Again for fatties hay and straw gets scattered all over the field so they need to keep moving and looking for it rather than just standing still and munching.

 

[stencilface]

Turn him out on a hard standing area with soaked hay during the day. Or stable during the day with similar?

I struggle with my horses, and this year will do with the pony too. The only option for them is turn our around our stable/access track or being stabled half the day. Muzzles aren't ideal, once I've had it on once I can't catch him!!

 

[Equi]

I too hope he's not trotting for an hour from the off.

I would be taking him off the grass and giving a full clip. My horses winter out but get a full clip around now and off the grass when it starts to grow (hasnt here yet) and about 20mins a day lunge and some driving. They get fed 12hr soaked hay from a small hole net. I do let them into the field for an hour every few days if they're weights being maintained cause how boring would life be otherwise.

 

[ClaretCarrot]

He was lunged for 20mins sporadically over the winter and he's the type of pony that spends the day running around the field terrorising the horses, so he's surprisingly fit despite his weight. I started him at 40 mins on the horse walker and he wasn't even breathing heavier than normal. I had to up it to 60 mins to make it look like he actually did some work. With 2 businesses run from home and being a full time mum to 2 young kids also (with no childcare help) I don't have time to exercise him daily apart from putting him on the horsewalker. I'll try sticking another row on the electric fence but that's adding an extra 1km to the current fence, I'm not sure my energiser can take much more without my horses taking advantage of it if the current gets weaker maybe it's time for a new energiser

 

[indie1282]

Gosh - trotting round on a walker is a bit harsh! I wouldn't want a fit horse trotting for an hour straight...

If he wont keep the muzzle on then I would keep him in while the grass is coming through. Do you have a yard or hardstanding area you could use maybe? Or perhaphs graze a bit of the field bare and put some sort of netting/ stock fencing to stop him ducking under - obviously make sure its either small/large holes so he cant get a foot stuck.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I just walk mine daily and they are turned out 24 /7 all year round with hay in the winter on 14 acres approximately with three big horses.

 

[Equi]

I would not lunge any horse long than 20mins due to the circle so I would not want to trot one for an hour. Even a small one. I don't think the hour is a problem but not full trot the entire time and in a circle. Maybe do twenty mins in the morning and 20 in the afternoon the other way? Do walkers go two ways?

 

[Pigeon]

Could you not do some training with him? Long reining perhaps? Or trick training etc. Or pony him from one of the horses when you ride? Just something other than circles.

Have you seen the vid of the little spotty mini doing haute ecole on the long lines? It's so cool!

 

[Mongoose11]

Hard standing to get him under control and then a muzzle. He'll be happier out in a muzzle than he will being in a tiny paddock, as some will suggest. He'll also get to terrorise the others and will be whizzing around.

 

[nicelittle]

Our mini is muzzled all year round, with soaked hay from Spring till start of winter and at times is on a bare patch if we feel she's at risk of lami.
Kids run around with her and do jumping and she goes for 'hacks' and walks in the woods like a big dog!

 

[GirlFriday]

Is he broken to ride/drive? If so find a sharer perhaps if you have no time and your kids aren't old/young/interested enough?

 

[Merlod]

I think to muzzle would be the kinder option than having him trot an hour a day on the walker. My lami prone shet is muzzled through the summer, I think it's best for him to be out in the field moving about with the others on big hilly acres with a muzzle on than to be stuck in a stable or starvation paddock standing still.