Opinions on his weight?

xRobyn

xRobyn

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 April 2010
Messages
1,392
Location
Essex
Visit site
Please and thank you. Good do-er, been out of work for 3 months. Gets turnout in a paddock most days between 9am-3pm but the paddock is very sparse and he's wanting in/hungry by the time he's bought in. He gets approx 2kg hay when he comes in at 3pm and 6kg overnight. Sometimes he'll get another 2kg in the morning/paddock. He gets three handfuls of happy hoof once a day but nothing else. Sometimes I think he could do with dropping a bit, but in your honest opinions do you think he is slim/ok under all the fluff? He was in a 200g rug in the snow but today I've put him back in his fleece and no fill. I have no idea how long he could be out of work for so I'm worried I'll struggle to stop him from gaining too much in spring if he's not back in work.

o6ifkk.jpg


2pzy905.jpg


cpx5u.jpg
 
Looks fine to me, though if he has a tendancy to pile it on in spring then I would try and get him to drop a little in preparation for that. I do prefer mine on the slimmer side though. Perhaps soaking the hay or cutting it with some straw. Is there a reason for the happy hoof? I would drop it tbh as at those levels it isn't contributing any real level of nutrition. If you are concered about that then I would stick a scoop of a multivit and min powder in a handfull of the happy hoof?
 
Ah he's a lovely boy! Why has he been out of work?

IMO he could do with losing a bit of weight - I may be mistaken but I don't think happy hoof is the best thing to feed, despite its name I believe it's very high in sugar and therefore can contribute to laminitis? I'm sure somebody with more experience than me can confirm this this is correct.
 
I think he looks just fine (wouldn't want him any leaner though).

Have you thought about mixing straw with his hay? That way he can eat more, without so many calories.

He is very, very handsome!
 
The happy hoof is mostly just so he can have a bit of dinner :o He was having hi-fi lite and fibre cubes but I decided to give the Happy Hoof a go. I can swap back/reduce that. I will admit I've never really fed him a vit/min supplement. I've tried some low-cal balancers but they made him put on weight (even at half measures). I'm happy to feed him one if he needs it, but IMO he's ok without it.

I was soaking some of his hay but when the snow/ice came the taps froze (plus he went through 3 bales in a week due to being in/having hay in the field). I can definitely get some bales of straw to mix in with his hay but at the price (£3.50 for a bale of not very nice straw, £4 for a bale of nice hay) I'd rather soak the hay. I can start doing that again :)

Thank you CatStew. He went lame in November, had some time off with no improvement, lameness investigation revealed nothing until they blocked his SI joint, 50% improvement so he was treated on christmas eve, had 6 weeks recovery but hasn't come right, so is off to Rossdales for a bone scan next tuesday! He's a tough sort and has only ever been lame from a kick and puncture wound before so it's quite a shock to have a big problem with him :p


amymay said:
He is very, very handsome!
Click to expand...

Thank you :D
 
You need to support him nutritionally, especially whilst on reduced rations.

I would rather feed something like Hi Fi or Hi Fi lite, with a good all round supplement in it than Happy Hoof (but it's personal preference).

Good luck with recovery.
 
What sort of supplement would you recommend? I have no problem changing his feed :)

Is the NAF General Purpose ok?

Thank you.
 
I am another one that doesnt like happy hoof anymore, more because mine seem to inhale it rather than chew. So use Good Doer now.

I think pony looks spot on weight wise, perhaps could do with some more topline? but that will come with work. The 2nd picture looks like hes sunk a bit do you think that muscle from being out of work, is he cold stod there or is he a older horse. Whats the square on his hock in the 3rd picture, sorry being nosey.
 
He looks about perfect at the moment BUT if you know he's going to put weight on shortly, and can easily make him look a bit now, i'd use that opportunity whilst you've got it else in 3months you'll be cursing him fatness!
 
Toffee44 said:
perhaps could do with some more topline? but that will come with work. The 2nd picture looks like hes sunk a bit do you think that muscle from being out of work, is he cold stod there or is he a older horse. Whats the square on his hock in the 3rd picture, sorry being nosey.
Click to expand...

He's been out of work for 3 months, hence the lack of topline/muscle. He's 12 in May and the square is a clip from his nerve block :)

Thank you all for the opinions. I'll keep a close eye on his weight, certainly not let him gain any :)
 
Kallibear said:
He looks about perfect at the moment BUT if you know he's going to put weight on shortly, and can easily make him look a bit now, i'd use that opportunity whilst you've got it else in 3months you'll be cursing him fatness!
Click to expand...

This is what I meant in my previous post really, but Kallibear has put it much better then me! I have a sec D that is a good doer - he's lived out most of the winter and his diet has mainly consisted of hay and poor grass - he's chubbier then I'd want him to be, but now the evenings are starting to get lighter I'm sure I'll be able to exercise more and get him to shift the excess weight. He will be wearing a muzzle when we get better grass though, for his own good.
 
CatStew I have my muzzle ready too! :p

The good news is that as long as he's on paddock rest his grazing will be restricted as there's not much grass at all and when it starts to come through I will divide the paddock up.
 
I would say his fat score is about right ,but I would like to see some more muscle buildup .This as I am sure you know is achieved by regular exercise backed up with adequate feed. He has been lame so this is understandable. I see absolutely no cause for any concern and you clearly are watching his condition. PS I like him.:)
 
He looks good. I wouldn't be concerned if he lost more, going into spring, but I wouldn't worry overly about trying to! Just need to make sure he doesn't pile it on in spring :)

What's the poor devil done to himself, anyway?

xRobyn said:
(£3.50 for a bale of not very nice straw, £4 for a bale of nice hay) I'd rather soak the hay. I can start doing that again :)
Click to expand...

Blimey where were you buying that :eek: I was getting decent barley straw for 2.50 from the Brentwood area not long ago. I mostly feed slightly rubbishy wheat straw (at 1.50/bale) to mine though :cool:
 
JFTD said:
What's the poor devil done to himself, anyway?

Blimey where were you buying that :eek: I was getting decent barley straw for 2.50 from the Brentwood area not long ago. I mostly feed slightly rubbishy wheat straw (at 1.50/bale) to mine though :cool:
Click to expand...

No idea! Dragged him out of the stable in the morning, hopped on in the school and he felt a bit stuffy but thought he might be a little stiff. Warmed him up some more (not once did he mis-behave bless him!) but it was clear something wasn't right, hopped off and he trotted up lame. Not sure if he did something in the school, the field or the stable! He's baffled the vets re the nerve blocks lol!

Hay is from a very tight YO :p But you see why I'd rather pay the extra 50p for hay and soak it lol!

Thank you all though, definitely not trying to get any weight on him that's for sure! He's back just in his l/w and I have a feeling he will stress some off at the vets (as he did last time!).
 
I think his weight looks fine!

I've got one on box rest (5months!), and because he's only on hay I like to make sure he's getting enough vits and mins. So he just has half a stubbs scoop of graze on and feedmark benevit advance (broad spec vit and min supp)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top