Possibly a very dumb question re box rest and weight

[Cinnamontoast]

Creature is currently on box rest (x rays need to be discussed with vet before he can go out). He is quite fat. He has no hard feed, only hay and is on shavings since the weekend or he tends to eat his bed. Other than soaking his hay to cut calories, what else can I do?

He was just going back into proper work before he went lame and had dropped lots of weight.

 

[touchstone]

I think soaking and weighing hay is the best bet, you could substitute part of his hay ration for something like Dengie good doer which is only 7mj de, especially if he needs supplements or try adding oat straw to his hay for him to nibble (mine wouldn't touch it though!)

 

[Mongoose11]

Well, if you could see him several times a day you could reduce his hay intake from what you were planning to give him? If you can get to him five times a day to give a small ration then you might be able to keep him happy with less hay overall.

Or - quick order of a trickle net would help.

 

[Maesfen]

Leave him on his hay; he'll only fill himself up so far and then take a break but for box rest I think it's important they always have something to nibble on around the clock; you can worry about his weight when he's back to start work IMO.

 

[JFTDWS]

I'd feed straw, at least in part and reduce his hay right down. Even with that though mine came off 4 months box rest looking heavily pregnant year before last

 

[Auslander]

Creature is currently on box rest (x rays need to be discussed with vet before he can go out). He is quite fat. He has no hard feed, only hay and is on shavings since the weekend or he tends to eat his bed. Other than soaking his hay to cut calories, what else can I do?

He was just going back into proper work before he went lame and had dropped lots of weight.

To a degree you have to suck it up when a horse is on box rest - unless its becoming unhealthy.

Please don't soak all the calories out of his hay - that's all he's getting!
He won't lose weight (quite the opposite) if you take away his one source of nutrients. This is why you see so many fat laminitics who are out on bare fields, and basically living on a handful of chaff and a few vits and mins/ Their bodies are in starvation mode, and are hanging onto fat reserves like there's no tomorrow.

 

[touchstone]

To a degree you have to suck it up when a horse is on box rest - unless its becoming unhealthy.

Please don't soak all the calories out of his hay - that's all he's getting!
He won't lose weight (quite the opposite) if you take away his one source of nutrients. This is why you see so many fat laminitics who are out on bare fields, and basically living on a handful of chaff and a few vits and mins/ Their bodies are in starvation mode, and are hanging onto fat reserves like there's no tomorrow.

I agree that starving a horse will encourage it to store fat, but I disagree that soaking hay causes them to. Soaking hay means that the body still has plenty of fibre to digest, so the body won't go into starvation mode.

 

[Auslander]

I agree that starving a horse will encourage it to store fat, but I disagree that soaking hay causes them to. Soaking hay means that the body still has plenty of fibre to digest, so the body won't go into starvation mode.

But this horse is having no hard feed, so hay is his only source of food. I agree with you re soaking hay -as in, it is still a good source of fibre, but I would not feed only soaked hay without using a low calorie balancer to make sure the horse was getting its quota of essential nutrients.

 

[MrsNorris]

I replaced some of mines soaked hay ration with a mix of Hi Fi lite and oat straw chaff (about 50:50) Hi Fi lite only has 7.5 Mj of DE and oat straw only about 6 so I found this cut the calories down a bit and kept him happy.

 

[touchstone]

But this horse is having no hard feed, so hay is his only source of food. I agree with you re soaking hay -as in, it is still a good source of fibre, but I would not feed only soaked hay without using a low calorie balancer to make sure the horse was getting its quota of essential nutrients.

Agree with you there, which is why I also suggested a low calorie chaff for any supplements.

 

[Auslander]

Agree with you there, which is why I also suggested a low calorie chaff for any supplements.

I like the feed balancers that state they are suitable for laminitics - low volume, low calorie, yet with all the goodies they need.

Mine is on field rest, and it drives me nuts when the yard busybodies say "Ooh - you shouldn't give him so much hard feed - he isn't in work" (He has 2 scoops of D+H Safe and Sound, a cup of micronised linseed and a concentrated glucosamine supp). He's a 17hh MW, who imho is fed the appropriate amount of hard feed for a horse of his size, to supplement his grazing and maintain him at a healthy weight - and also to help his body repair itself. He has lost a bit of excess weight, and condition scores 5.5 - he looks fantastic for a horse who isn't in work, and lives out 24/7, so I must be getting something right!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Well, if you could see him several times a day you could reduce his hay intake from what you were planning to give him? If you can get to him five times a day to give a small ration then you might be able to keep him happy with less hay overall.

I work full time. His lovely sharer can get up once, a friend does hay am and I do pm.i can do three times on weekends, but five times a day?!

Leave him on his hay; he'll only fill himself up so far and then take a break but for box rest I think it's important they always have something to nibble on around the clock; you can worry about his weight when he's back to start work IMO.

I kind of hoped someone would say this

I'd feed straw, at least in part and reduce his hay right down. Even with that though mine came off 4 months box rest looking heavily pregnant year before last

I can cut the hay with straw. He's now on a handful of unmollased sugar beet and a sprinkle of chaff so I can get glucosamine down him.

Thanks to all of you.