Overweight horse after mild winter - ideas please

JulesRules

JulesRules

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Hi all

So after the mild winter, my mare is still overweight and I'm very concerned as she is liable to Laminitis.

She normally drops weight naturally in winter. I kept thinking she would start dropping weight but it just hasn't happened :-( with the spring grass just around the corner I'm getting worried.

So, she is turned out during the day from about 8am to about 3pm and I sectioned off her paddock about 3 weeks ago to limit grass intake. There isn't masses of grass but she is mostly grazing so she must be finding something.

She is stabled at night and has around 6kg of hay, all soaked ( I started soaking it about 6 to 8 weeks ago when I realised she wasn't losing weight and winter was disappearing fast) and split into nets tied around her stable. She is fed from greedy feeder type nets or double netted.

She has a small token bucket feed when the other horses get their breakfast which is a handful of calmer chaff and lo cal balancer (not enough to feed an 11.2 and she is 15.3). She also has a handful of hi fibre nuts in her treat ball to chase around the stable at night which she loves.

She is stabled on straw which she does eat when she has finished her hay, bug I have tried her on other beddings which she also eats so straw is safer. She lies down every night so I don't want her on just rubber matting.

I am working her as much as I can, which I admit isn't masses. She is being lunged or schooled for between 30 mins to an hour around 4 times a week. I have been looking for a sharer for about 6 months but have had a succession of problems since my long term sharer went to uni ( unreliable, bought own horse after 2 weeks, accident resulting in broken leg). I have someone coming yo view tomorrow but I'm a bit disheartened by sharers and I think my YO is getting fed up as a couple have caused her issues (she hasn't said anything but I feel a bit bad about it all)

I have paid my YO to ride a couple of times and will continue if I need to, but my finances aren't great at present as I've just left full time work to set up my own business.

She can get a muzzle off in the field and the grass isn't currently long enough to consider it really.

I have some photos which I will upload later (have to dash to dog agility now!)

Any ideas on getting more weight off her?
 
If you excercise her for an hour a day at 8-10km an hour she won't be fat.

My natives are on adlib hay (or grass) all year round and if they get that amount of exercise they need hard feed to keep the weight on, never restricting.
 
I would replace your chaff, balancer and treatball with oat straw chaff, enough to keep her occupied all night and now that the evenings/mornings are lighter for !longer, take her for energetic(not fast) hacks with hill work if possiblek.
 
I have exactly the same problem due to no winter. So mine is in a rug lighter than normal/no rug weather depending. Has hay soaked for 12hrs. Is out for about 6hrs comes in with a little haynet. Till bedtime when she gets a double netted haynet for nite. No food apart from a scoop of chaff molasses free to make her feel full for the evening without hardly any calories. Also exercise has been increased. All of this is starting to have an effect - slowly but at least it is.

You could section the field off in a track round the outside so she'll hopefully walk more to get the grazing. But otherwise keep going and you should see results.

Ps I'd be in trouble if I bedded on straw though as mine would have no bed left in the morning!
 
FfionWinnie said:
If you excercise her for an hour a day at 8-10km an hour she won't be fat.

My natives are on adlib hay (or grass) all year round and if they get that amount of exercise they need hard feed to keep the weight on, never restricting.
Click to expand...

This! I've had issues keeping weight off Frankie, even muzzled and on limited food. Hes now doing an hours road work 5 times a week and hes stuffing his face with haylage and even gets a tiny feed now, but the weight is coming off :)

When he wasnt doing much he got no feed, just a handful of straw chaff with a powdered supplement, and his hay was mixed with straw. That way he always had forage, but it cut down on the calories. He was always slighty under rugged as well, although he was never actually cold, just not toasty warm
 
I have a gelding who is just the same. He used to be bedded on straw but I changed to shavings due to him eating it. Have you tried shavings?
 
Another one here with the same issue, mine was in box rest for most of the worst of the winter and is rotund looking! Now that I can finally excercise I am starting to see improvement though and I'm a firm believer that its this that makes the difference. We have a small round companion pony the yard that literally lives on nothing but remains fat, he can't be excercised so it's the only choice but it's not great for him an despite very little calories his weight doesn't change much. So Im defo going down the excercise route to tackle the issue and hoping to get in top of it before the fields recover enough to produce too much grass!
 
Honeychop oat straw chaff
Simple systems lucie stalks
Simple systems metaslim

Food ideas, def continue to soak hay

Either under rug or stop rugging completely

Track system for your field

Exercise - this is where I struggle with mine as he cant be exercised and has to be out 24/7 but mine has dropped weight and is still dropping ATM.
 
Very similar situation here, although mine gets more exercise than yours. He's filthy on shavings so reluctant to go back to that. Only things I can think of in addition are to really soak the hay if you don't already (mine is on wet but now moving to proper soaked). Plus I'm going to up his exercise sessions and do more each session. Grass muzzle will go on when they move fields, I'd try different Types to see if you can find one that stays put. Mine seems to breath food and he puts on weight.
 
can i ask all the "they live on air" natives are you rugging ? mine is clipped and no rug. trust me still too hot but this has helped reduce the waist line, as some of the extra calories has been going to maintain core temp. pony happy by the way and trust me, we are still slightly above body score 3, which is to much. but i have found keeping this way reduces the need to completely restrict food.

i don't want to turn this into a rug or not to rug debate, it just works best for me
 
Mine is, although generally in a lighter one than others. In my case he's had slightly more sporadic exercise than I'd planned, which I'm hoping will mean the increase in Exercise is all it'll take.
 
A few weeks ago I was saying the same, iv turned out now 24/7 and taken all rugs off. Weight is falling off as they are using their fat to keep warm. In fact a couple of people commented tonight on the weight they have lost. Nothing else has changed, its the taking the rugs off that's worked.
 
My little cob mare always came out of winter looking a bit well. But of course now the nights are drawing out, and the clocks are soon to change so exercising after work starts to become easier.

I'd change your bedding to shavings. Ditch the treat ball and drop the chaff. But most importantly ride her. That is what's going to get the weight off. So, hack, hack and hack some more. I'm not a fan of lunging - because unless it's done properly it's of no value at all. And most people don't lunge properly.
 
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hollyandivy123 said:
can i ask all the "they live on air" natives are you rugging ? mine is clipped and no rug. trust me still too hot but this has helped reduce the waist line, as some of the extra calories has been going to maintain core temp. pony happy by the way and trust me, we are still slightly above body score 3, which is to much. but i have found keeping this way reduces the need to completely restrict food.

i don't want to turn this into a rug or not to rug debate, it just works best for me
Click to expand...

This was my question.

My fully clipped elephant is in a rainsheet/naked in the day and fleece at night and he is dropping weight and I'm.not soaking his hay yet.
 
a full clip and light rugging worked for my filly (at rising 3 riding and lunging is obviously out of the question), she's out 24/7 with ad lib haylege (no grass in winter field) and now I can finally feel some ribs she's just getting a few hand fulls of readi grass as a token feed (just so I can get her to stay still while faf around checking her rug. She was grossly over weight before clipping despite being naked.
 
I'm struggling too. My girl is retired and not sound enough for any proper work. Only option I have left really is to muzzle her when she's out but im worried the grass isn't long enough yet.

Give me a skinny one anyday.
 
I have the same problem, both mine are overweight as I usually allow them to gain a little in autumn with the assumption they will lose it over winter and this year they have actually put some on over winter. Unfortunately neither are in regular work at the moment (basically roughed off for the winter due to my time commitments) which obviously hasn't helped.

I have just changed their routine to try and get some off. They are currently muzzled during the day on a large area of short grass (previously grazed by sheep), and on a bare paddock with a small amount of hay and ad lib straw at night. I've never had much luck with muzzles, but I now have dinky ones and they have (touch wood) not rubbed, stayed on and been basically tolerated. I've stopped even the token feed of fast fibre I usually give. Neither is rugged and I've just clipped out my cob, who is a warm horse generally and has actually seemed happier without the thick winter coat (I do have rugs if the weather turns badly and they have shelter in their fields). I'd like to clip the pony out too, but he does feel the cold sometimes.
 
Make sure you are weighing her hay accurately and maybe cut it down to 5kg and soak for 24 hours. I would also cut out the treat ball and chaff and just give her a mug of Lo Cal or Top Spec light.

Spring grass is coming through now so reduce her grazing area as much as possible. Perhaps use the grazing muzzle on alternate days?
 
Another who swopped to lighter weight rugs on my fully clipped horses a couple of weeks ago. They have all dropped a bit of weight and are now where I want them to be as we will shortly be going into spring.
 
She isn't rugged. She isn't clipped but her winter coat is well on its way out anyway.

Yesterday I spoke to the yard owner about a track system and she agreed I could set one up which is good. I had one two years ago when she was out of work and it did help
 
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