Paranoid about weight gain & lami - advice please!!

T

tinap

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 January 2011
Messages
4,897
Location
Yorkshire
Visit site
The daughters pony has always been a chunky lad that we've struggled to get weight off. According to the weigh tape he has been at 408kg since i bought the tape last summer. Im so worried about him getting fatter & laminitis! I dont know his breed, hes 14hh. Im always worried im overfeeding him, but other people express their surprise at how little i feed him, so could do with some cc please! He's never been ill or lame in the 3 years we've had him & hes fit, but i know with his size that he could be at risk of lami - he has a 3 acre field to himself (never short of grass!) - i cant fence it off & he just jumps over electric fencing (hence the turnout described below).

This is what he has:

2.8kg Winergy Equilibrium high energy mix a day split over 2 feeds.20ml Iron suppliment.

Mon, Weds & Fri: Turned out 9.30 am - 5pm, stabled overnight with 1 slice hay & 1/2 slice haylage (due to no more hay available)

Tues, Thurs & Sat: Stabled with 1 slice hay & 1/2 slice haylage in day, 1 slice hay & 1 slice haylage overnight.

Sunday: usually out competing.

He is ridden 5/6 days a week for around 40mins-1hr (flat, trot round village or bit of jumping) except sunday when its either pc rally (all day), jumping (2 classes 1m-1.10m) or dressage (1 test).

I dont think he's putting weight on, but i cant see it coming off either! hes a bugger to lunge in the big field, but am in the process of getting a lunge pen built so i can at least do that in a morning & the daughter can ride him after school.

Am i managing him ok or can anyone suggest any adjustments?!

These are him middle of April

picture.php


picture.php


This last week

picture.php


(sorry bit rubbish pics!!) xx
 
Firstly don't guess at a "slice of hay" weigh it out so you know exactly what you are feeding him and do the calculations so you know that you are correct. Does he actually need hard feed? My two good doers are in most of the time at the moment and are fed haylage and nothing else except a handful of chaff and the same of soaked beet.

Secondly, invest in extra tapes and posts and put up two lines of electric fence about 5 to 6 feet apart. He's highly unlikely to risk a bounce and he won't make the distance and he'll know that. Then give him a small area. If he has to be part out and part in then out and night and in during the day is better - but watch how much hay/lage you're giving him.
 
Have you tried a grazing muzzle? Works wonders with mine :) I did feel mighty mean at first as it took him a evening to work it out, but it's for his own good, and he could still interact with the other horses without penning him off in a small field, they say it reduces up to 70% of their grass intake, and I noticed the difference in a week around his waste line!
 
My mare is fine at 14hh and about 400kgs on the weigh tape although they are not the most accurate for actual weight, best for monitoring change. Can you fat score?
http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice
It's hard to see his condition from the pictures you post as he has his tack on but it sounds like he's doing a sensible amount of work. I am wondering why you're giving him high energy mix if you're trying to make him lose weight though. I would cut that out completely and give something like hi fi lite or happy hoof with equivite or blue chip lami light for weight loss.

For comparison, my horse is on the light end of good condition (you can just see her ribs, but only just), she does 1-4 hours a day either dressage lesson, long slow hack, flatwork or groundwork. She is turned out all the time on a bald paddock and I feed sugar beet and blue chip lami lite. I think high energy mix can be quite dangerous if you're worried about laminitis.
 
He does need the hard feed as he has no energy without it ( have had vet to check there's nothing wrong). I have no way to electrify the fencing after the unit got stolen, but have had 6ft wide fences before & if he can't jump it, he'll just barge through & snap it all! He's in during the day to reduce his grass intake. I thought about turning him out overnight instead but then would be out for an extra 7 hours, I think he would just stuff his face all night cos he's a greedy pig!!! Will have to give it a trial I think, thanks xx
 
Is high energy mix not quite calorific? Could you maybe change it for a low fat chaff and multi vitamin or balancer? Lovely pony btw!
 
He looks a lovely sort :)

The formula that works for us is feeding 1.75% of bodyweight per 24 hours.

We work on the loose basis that a 500kg horse will eat 5kg / 11lb of grass per 12 hours turned out, although if you have good grazing (I wish!), it's likely to be more ;)

At 408kg, it works out just over 7kg / 15lbs of total food/forage a day. So if he's spending M/W/F turned out, then getting 2.8kg hard feed & hay/hayledge, he probably is getting more than he needs.

If you invest in a hanging scale (like this one, less than £4 on ebay), then you can weigh his nets to check exactly what he's getting.

I love this system. Obviously we adjust it up or down if needs be, but it also means we don't waste money on unnecessary hard feed & forage. All of ours now just get a handful of lo-cal chaff & scoop of equivite rather than hard feed, expect the poor doers in winter, and all have plenty of energy to do the jobs we need them to do.

Ditto MinxGTi too, would muzzling him also be an option for you? :)
 
Yea sorry bout the pics- they're the only recent ones I have! As my other reply regarding the high energy mix. It's been a trial & error to find a feed that works for him, & he's performing his very best since being on it. Have tried to reduce to the medium energy but he doesn't go as well, advised by instructor to keep the feed. I think a muzzle is a good suggestion, I have way too much grass but no way to get a vehicle in to get it cut for hay xx
 
Fleabitten - brill advice thank you, will invest in a scale too! & thanks for the compliments on him! He is a lovely, albeit cheeky boy! xx
 
First of all - he is not terribly fat. You regularly see a lot worse at local shows!

We have one very similar pony. D is an unreg fell and lives on thin air. She really is the ultimate good doer. We're lucky enough to have a weigh scale and she's pretty much bang on the same weight as your boy, and this would be her routine if she wasn't on box rest right now:

Out at night with a grass muzzle on.

Comes in around 8am to a breakfast, which consists of a handful of chop top lite (completely unmollassed straw based chaff) and 400gm of top spec lite balancer. Cosequine supplement for her joints. D is a lazy pony naturally, but we found her energy levels immediatly improved when she went onto a broad spec balancer. Might be worth trying this rather than high energy mixes. My connie is also on this chaff/balancer combination, and he is the laziest pony I have ever sat on.

Has one haynet during the day of 1.5kg of hay, which has been soaked for 12 hours and is in a double netted haynet. Personally I would not rely on the leaves of a bale. Since I started weighing my nets I found leaves can vary in weight hugely. The only way to really control how much hay you are feeding is to weigh it.

Back out to the field around 8pm, with a grazing muzzle on again.

On this diet/regime, she does still put on a bit of weight during the summer. Indeed, this is the first spring she hasn't put on weight. I think it'd be impossible to have her out without her putting on a bit of weight.

Good luck!
 
That's the same, he is just naturally lazy hence the feed!! I think (brain hurts today!!) Im going to have to try & change things around! I was thinking of soaking the hay but Ive had to add the haylage because I can't get hay anymore! Can you soak haylage too??
 
I am in the same boat... I even started to self doubt myself and got my vet to fat score him, I find this is the best way to see if your boy is overweight, he was a 3.7 (on a scale of 1-5).

My routine is working really well so far and I am noticing the difference already - to begin with I introduced a muzzle over a couple of weeks, now he has the following, everything is weigh out based on his target weight of 365kg...

Turned out 19 hours with muzzle (approx 2.5kg of grass = .8kg fibre) *13-14MJ/kg DE

1 feed a day
Oat Chaff (400g) *6.2MJ/kg DE
Good Doer (400g) *7.0MJ/kg DE
Benevit Advanced
Salt & water

Stabled for 5 hours
Hay 2.3kg soaked for over 12 hours *5.7MJ/kg DE

He receives 1% of target bodyweight in fibre a day

Total DE = 51.19MJ = 12.23 Mcal = 12,231,780 calories
Over 20 mins of work = 14,600,000 calories
Projected daily weight loss (.7kg per day) = 2,368,220 calories

The 6th June is our target date to lose the 18-20kg needed, I will then recalculate what energy requirements he needs and hopefully he can start going out without the muzzle during dry periods :)
 
That's it I'm on a mission now then! It sounds like you have his diet well organised! As I've said above, I can't get hay anymore, so that's why I've had to add the haylage to make what I have left last, can haylage be soaked too?? Good luck btw xx
 
tinap555 said:
That's it I'm on a mission now then! It sounds like you have his diet well organised! As I've said above, I can't get hay anymore, so that's why I've had to add the haylage to make what I have left last, can haylage be soaked too?? Good luck btw xx
Click to expand...

Thanks - I am determined too for his sake, with the snow over the winter I got out of the habit of soaking his hay and with the lack of exercise too he came into spring looking too good for the time of year.

Can you get hold of any Oat or barley straw - then mix with the haylage and soak for over 20 mins to soften it? It will provide the bulk fibre without the calories...
 
tinap555 said:
That's the same, he is just naturally lazy hence the feed!! I think (brain hurts today!!) Im going to have to try & change things around! I was thinking of soaking the hay but Ive had to add the haylage because I can't get hay anymore! Can you soak haylage too??
Click to expand...

Hi, which feeds have you found the best for energy, I have a 14.2 connemara who is a touch on the lazy side ! Sorry for going slightly off topic :)
 
I would have thought so (not had straw for years!!) I do have enough hay if I continue to mix it with the haylage, just not for on its own. It's frustrating, I have so many friends that are having trouble getting weight on there's, & then there's my fatty!! xx
 
Bobby boy that us ok! Ours is on winergy equilibrium high energy, although they do a low & medium too. It's been fab for him & he has so much energy now xx
 
tinap555 said:
Bobby boy that us ok! Ours is on winergy equilibrium high energy, although they do a low & medium too. It's been fab for him & he has so much energy now xx
Click to expand...

Brillant, will try that:)
We're having much the same trouble as you, 4 days a week on 4ish hours of turn out, 2 days with a bit longer, in at night with a small haynet(small hole as well to keep him busy!) Ridden at least 5 times a week, sometimes 6, with pony club, shows and lessons.
Thank you:D
 
Thank you for your help:)
I won't post pictures on your topic but I have pictures in my albums, take a look if you want to and see if you think he's big !
 
Bobby Boy said:
Thank you for your help:)
I won't post pictures on your topic but I have pictures in my albums, take a look if you want to and see if you think he's big !
Click to expand...

Looks about same size! he's very nice! Photos can be deceiving - on the one of him jumping an orange filler, he looks massive, but not on the others lol!! :D:D
 
tinap555 said:
Looks about same size! he's very nice! Photos can be deceiving - on the one of him jumping an orange filler, he looks massive, but not on the others lol!! :D:D
Click to expand...

Lol, he does yes, he can change shape in a day ! The one of them in the sun with the rosettes was taken this Sunday at his first show, he could do with more muscle/less fat but it is coming :)
 
This is a better picture to judge his size - taken today

picture.php


Dont know why the daughter thought he would look at the camera if she pointed!!!!:p:p
 
he's lovely, i find a lot depends on the grass type they are grazing, where i lived before my pony was out all day and was just fine, here she can only graze, springtime onwards for an hour in the morning and a bit in the evening, and has hay a few times and at night hay otherwise her neck gets very hard
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top