Chianti
Well-Known Member
If you decide to feed Top Spec Zero then I would contact them to ask how much you can feed. When I did this they told me that my pony could only have three scoops a day- I'd assumed I could use it like hay and give more.
Overweight cob , best way to
- Thread starter motherof2beasts!
- Start date
Christmascinnamoncookie
Fais pas chier!
I’d say he was bang on there. Sadly retired early and it’s been a struggle ever since, he can’t be lunged but looking at the swine today, squeal, fart, buck, galloping to his mates, it seems outrageous that he’s retired!
motherof2beasts!
Well-Known Member
update - he scoffed the honey chop oat straw with great enthusiasm ?!
Sossigpoker
Well-Known Member
Why did they say your pony could only have that amount? Is it because it has little nutritional value?
My 15 hh cob (not overweight) gets a 12 pound haynet for the night plus 3 scoops of TooChop Zero to keep him going once the hay runs out. Personally I wouldn't use the chaff by the trug-full simply because it has no nutrition in it and although I wish to limit the calories I also want my horse to have nutrition.
brighteyes
Pooh-Bah
I'd use it as a filler up. If you feed less quality product, you can top the fibre element up fairly safely with this stuff. You wouldn't want to risk impaction, hence why I feed the speedibeet.
Pearlsacarolsinger
Up in the clouds
When the alternative to eating trugsful of chaff is standing in with nothing to eat, I shall feed trugs fullof chaff. There is no nutrition at all involved in not eating but ulcers do tend to be involved in that. I wasn't feeding straw for the nutrition, although there is some in straw, I was feeding it for weight management, the horse had her ration of hay supplemented by straw.
ETA, she did have impaction colic when eating long straw but not when eating straw chaff *and,most important of all, she lost the weight*
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motherof2beasts!
Well-Known Member
on the plus side he’s not stuffing on the horsehage still had some left every day and he’s only getting half a section !
Shilasdair
Patting her thylacine
You are confusing zero sugar for zero nutrients. Top Chop Zero has DE of 4MJ/kg - roughly half that of hay. So you can limit the calorific intake whilst providing plenty of fibre to keep the gut moving.
The Irish Draft 2022
Well-Known Member
I bought a fatty as well she was my first horse as she got older she got a lot easier to manage. My advice would be wet hay and a baled field and plenty of work . She never had any medical problem and she was obese when I got her.
rabatsa
Confuddled
I have one of these.
Sossigpoker
Well-Known Member
It is basically just straw and contains no vitamins or minerals so whilst it will provide some carbohydrates it won't provide much nutrition.
Shilasdair
Patting her thylacine
Straw chops are often not 'basically just straw' as they have other ingredients added.
And yes, it does contain 'nutrition' in the form of oil, protein, some starch, some micronutrients from the added mint, and most importantly fibre - which is kind of the key point for those who feed it.
I am pretty sure that those who feed it don't do so as a vitamin/mineral supplement/balancer.
GreyDot
Well-Known Member
Lots of really helpful tips here. I would also ask, OP, what bedding is your cob on when he's in the stable? If it's edible, you might want to change to something else, you'd be surprised what they sneak in.
Definitely the faster work is the way to go to shift that weight when you have reduced food intake to the minimum. Also an ex-racing tip to exercise with a quarter-sheet on which will burn more calories.
Definitely the faster work is the way to go to shift that weight when you have reduced food intake to the minimum. Also an ex-racing tip to exercise with a quarter-sheet on which will burn more calories.
palo1
Well-Known Member
My Welsh D came out of winter looking too well. Fat. As a 4 year old she had only had limited work so this spring and summer was vital in getting weight off her and work in her! She has been muzzled all summer with a flexible fillies muzzle which she hasn't resented at all (though I cut the hole a wee bit bigger). She, and the rest of the herd are on restricted grazing but on longer grass and I have done my best to work her as much as possible with fast work being key. She had to have some time off, without her muzzle due to a respiratory problem but is back in work now and looking good again. Still too fat but much better; she has a waist, a hollow behind her last rib (which are currently just about feel-able) no fat pads and only a shallow gutter on her quarters. It is very hard work and you have to harden your heart to them in some ways. She has only a lightweight rug with no neck for winter, will be fully clipped though able to access shelter any time and will not be fed hard food. She has 1 single handful of soaked grass nuts to carry her vits and minerals. For me the muzzle and work are the best and easiest ways to control weight but you still have to keep looking at things every single day. I could keep this horse on a microscopic acreage!!
motherof2beasts!
Well-Known Member
He is on snowflake sawdust so don’t think (or live in hope) he isn’t eating it !
motherof2beasts!
Well-Known Member
So week one complete of being in during the day and increased exercise. He is just having 1 small section of horsehage in his nibbleze net during the day and I leave a trug of chopped oat straw (honeychop one). It’s only been a week so I’m not expecting a big change but he comes off the grass bloated and measures at between 580-600 in the morning when I bring him in, after he’s spent the day in he measures at 560 , then up again after coming in.
his winter coat is already on the way through so thinking of clipping him in the hope that Burns a few pounds!
thankfully he’s taken to being in during the day quite well and seems to nap a lot
his winter coat is already on the way through so thinking of clipping him in the hope that Burns a few pounds!
thankfully he’s taken to being in during the day quite well and seems to nap a lot
GreyDot
Well-Known Member
Good that you are measuring him - even though weight tapes aren't as accurate as a weigh-bridge, if you're using the same method each time, it's a very good comparison method.