Prince update!

The work is brilliant Keira. You asked for constructive criticism, so I will take you at your word. He looks a little bulkier than I would personally want with spring grass about to erupt.

But I'm thrilled for you with the handling progress. We'll done.!
 
ycbm said:
The work is brilliant Keira. You asked for constructive criticism, so I will take you at your word. He looks a little bulkier than I would personally want with spring grass about to erupt.

But I'm thrilled for you with the handling progress. We'll done.!
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Yes - you are so right and something I am being told quite a bit at the moment. Thank you ? He is just on hay when he comes in at night - I removed his dinner a week ago due to his um “plumpness” ?

But the problem I find (as a beginner horse owner) is, that he gets very angry if hungry. So I bought some oat straw to try to fill him up with no calories but he is still livid that his dinner has been removed! Do I just accept that and soldier on? I put his well being above anything else so I’m happy to deal with his tantrums if that is the only road to success xxx
 
Keira 8888 said:
Yes - you are so right and something I am being told quite a bit at the moment. Thank you ? He is just on hay when he comes in at night - I removed his dinner a week ago due to his um “plumpness” ?

But the problem I find (as a beginner horse owner) is, that he gets very angry if hungry. So I bought some oat straw to try to fill him up with no calories but he is still livid that his dinner has been removed! Do I just accept that and soldier on? I put his well being above anything else so I’m happy to deal with his tantrums if that is the only road to success xxx
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Oh that is so difficult when you love the horse! Right now, I think you need to settle for angry I'm afraid, laminitis is a killer. Take a read of Red's story with Rigsby for moral support.

ETA I'm starving my mare and it really pulls at your heart strings, so I know how you feel!.
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SatansLittleHelper said:
I cannot tell you how much I love seeing your posts, Prince really is the luckiest boy ❤
You should be incredibly proud of yourself for how far you have both come x
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Thank you SO MUCH - that is really kind. I feel embarrassed to share my crappy little steps forward as I know they fade into the background of true equine achievement- but our journey started on this forum and I’m going to continue with my tortoise like updates ???? Your reply means so much to me, through all the criticism and conflicting information on other sites - this is my happy nest where I can share our highlights ☺️☺️☺️ Thank you for being so kind - it honestly means the world xx
 
ycbm said:
Oh that is so difficult when you love the horse! Right now, I think you need to settle for angry I'm afraid, laminitis is a killer. Take a read of Red's story with Rigsby for moral support.

ETA I'm starving my mare and it really pulls at your heart strings, so I know how you feel!.
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Thank you! Ok - I can do this ?? tough is often the most sincere so I’m going to take this very seriously and get him slimmer before April. I will post another pic then and would love your opinion, thanks so much. I’m such a soft shmuck, he only has to look at me with a kind eye and I’m like a human fruit vending machine!!!!!!!!!!!????
 
Now there is a horse that landed on his hooves when he met you!

As for the weight/diet I got well over 100kg off my Draft mare, who was obese when I bought her by giving her hay split into 3 or 4 different meals (depending n when she came in at night) and trugs full of plain oat straw chaff. She did have a small feed of dampened Agrobs haycobs, so that I could give her salt and Aloe Vera juice in her bucket.

ETA, I didn't soak the hay or feed it in nets, I just filled her up on chaff and she learned to self-regulate.
 
ycbm said:
Oh that is so difficult when you love the horse! Right now, I think you need to settle for angry I'm afraid, laminitis is a killer. Take a read of Red's story with Rigsby for moral support.

ETA I'm starving my mare and it really pulls at your heart strings, so I know how you feel!.
.
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What is your mare currently eating? Does she get angry when hungry? X
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Now there is a horse that landed on his hooves when he met you!

As for the weight/diet I got well over 100kg off my Draft mare, who was obese when I bought her by giving her hay split into 3 or 4 different meals (depending n when she came in at night) and trugs full of plain oat straw chaff. She did have a small feed of dampened Agrobs haycobs, so that I could give her salt and Aloe Vera juice in her bucket.

ETA, I didn't soak the hay or feed it in nets, I just filled her up on chaff and she learned to self-regulate.
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Thank you so much! I’m intrigued - what does the aloe Vera do? How much salt do you give her? Thank you ? xxx
 
Keira 8888 said:
What is your mare currently eating? Does she get angry when hungry? X
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She currently gets 6 kilos of soaked haylage and as much long barley straw as she will deign to eat. She doesn't like it so she won't eat much. By 9 when I feed them breakfast, she is standing pawing the floor with a hangry front foot, but I just have to harden my heart.
 
Keira 8888 said:
Thank you so much! I’m intrigued - what does the aloe Vera do? How much salt do you give her? Thank you ? xxx
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Aloe is clinically proven to assist with ulcer repair and is very settling for the gut. I feed my mare 25ml a day. 5 litres is about £40 on ebay.
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Keira 8888 said:
Ok!! Hopefully this vid will come through ok!

So we have been working really hard on trust and respect (and truthfully me not being scared of him due to his size and history ?)
We have been doing repetitive work on lining him up next to our crappy old yard mounting block (the WORST mounting block in the world as it squeaks and moves every time you get on ?) He used to kick backwards and then run away from it BUT now we can do this! After months of (very novice) repetition! Please be kind as I don’t have an ounce of experience - just trying my best ?? Any constructive comments MASSIVELY appreciated as always xxx



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You disappeared! :p:D
 
I agree with the dietary advice. I'm managing my oldies with a bucket-cocktail of branded, bagged, plain and flavoured oat straw chaffs and speedibeet as well as their soaked hay rations. It's massively important for their long-term health. It's not made easier by our 21 yo screaming like a banshee every time he sees you (he has always done this) making you feel quadruple bad!
 
you aren't making tortoise progress at all, the work you are doing now is so important and it will make such a strong foundation for future work. so you are right to be focusing on what you are focusing on. I get rescues in and the latest one is a massive bolshy warmblood who ran rings around his last owner and is a bit of a handful. I'm doing exactly what you are doing, teaching to back up and lead politely. if you get the respect on the ground and the communication, then that feeds through to ridden work later. so never think you are going slow!
 
Keira 8888 said:
Thank you so much! I’m intrigued - what does the aloe Vera do? How much salt do you give her? Thank you ? xxx
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The aloe vera kept her stomach acid down. I suspected that she had ulcers but following a tip on here tried aloe vera, rather than scoping and it worked, stopped her grumping but if we ran out, we knew by the 2nd day she was missing it. We gave her about a tablespoonful of salt, all horses usually benefit from it. ETA, she would chew a salt lick prior to being given salt, now we give salt to them all.
 
Another who thinks Prince is a very lucky lad.
You're doing great with him, and progress on basic manners and handling is so important. Most of us on here aren't competition stars, the only thing you need to achieve is a happy, healthy horse with whom you can have fun whatever level that is at.
 
I think solid ground work can be so much harder to teach than ridden work, especially for a beginner. Plus with history of being a bit bolshy and as a novice yourself I think his ground work looks great. He's backing up nicely, with no pressure and lovely and straight.

The hanging basket made me laugh, my mare would have been exactly the same.

Agree with chunkiness. My mare gets honeychop lite and healthy which is low sugar and added bonus of no alfalfa. If Prince isn't bothered by alfalfa then their plain oat straw chaff is even better, it's got puny amount of sugar in so like others have said you can fill him up on that. Or topchop zero I think is the lowest of them all.

As for them being angry, they will eventually get over it. My mare used to get breakfast and dinner and this winter when I stopped dinners and she came in from the field and couldn't find her feed bowl in her stable ready and waiting she hit the roof. This carried on every day for a ridiculous amount of time but now she goes in and just munches her hay instead. I can even make her breakfast now outside her stable and she doesn't scream at me. This is a mare whose sole purpose in life is to eat. Horses are creatures of habit but give them enough time and they will eventually break those habits!

I see he is clipped, does he go out rugless? If he doesn't I'd start whipping rugs off, it's a lot milder now and the more calories he can burn the better (I can't remember if he is in work?). Going rugless has been a complete game changer for my naturally porky native.

To be brutal, it is far more painful for a horse to develop laminitis than to get a less tasty dinner/less dinner.
 
Keira 8888 said:
Thank you SO MUCH - that is really kind. I feel embarrassed to share my crappy little steps forward as I know they fade into the background of true equine achievement- but our journey started on this forum and I’m going to continue with my tortoise like updates ???? Your reply means so much to me, through all the criticism and conflicting information on other sites - this is my happy nest where I can share our highlights ☺️☺️☺️ Thank you for being so kind - it honestly means the world xx
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I think you're doing great! There are plenty of amazing riders who don't know the first thing about how to handle their horses on the ground and accept bad manners as the norm. To me, you seem like a proper horse person who wants to get the absolute best from the relationship rather than just the perceived "fun" stuff.
 
Is he hangry or just upset at not getting a bucket? Could a handful of straw chaff, maybe with some celery added trick him into a good mood?
 
ownedbyaconnie said:
I think solid ground work can be so much harder to teach than ridden work, especially for a beginner. Plus with history of being a bit bolshy and as a novice yourself I think his ground work looks great. He's backing up nicely, with no pressure and lovely and straight.

The hanging basket made me laugh, my mare would have been exactly the same.

Agree with chunkiness. My mare gets honeychop lite and healthy which is low sugar and added bonus of no alfalfa. If Prince isn't bothered by alfalfa then their plain oat straw chaff is even better, it's got puny amount of sugar in so like others have said you can fill him up on that. Or topchop zero I think is the lowest of them all.

As for them being angry, they will eventually get over it. My mare used to get breakfast and dinner and this winter when I stopped dinners and she came in from the field and couldn't find her feed bowl in her stable ready and waiting she hit the roof. This carried on every day for a ridiculous amount of time but now she goes in and just munches her hay instead. I can even make her breakfast now outside her stable and she doesn't scream at me. This is a mare whose sole purpose in life is to eat. Horses are creatures of habit but give them enough time and they will eventually break those habits!

I see he is clipped, does he go out rugless? If he doesn't I'd start whipping rugs off, it's a lot milder now and the more calories he can burn the better (I can't remember if he is in work?). Going rugless has been a complete game changer for my naturally porky native.

To be brutal, it is far more painful for a horse to develop laminitis than to get a less tasty dinner/less dinner.
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Honey chop plain oat straw chaff is just that - it contains no alfalfa, or indeed anything else - we have 2 on it atm. Top Chop Zero has something in it which makes them want to devour it, so it's not much use for retraining them to self-regulate
 
I have a hangry fatty too. She also gets the honeychop chopped straw and little else. Made worse by living with one of those annoying sorts who can eat anything... This morning she stamped on the bucket of fake food and tipped the lot out, then gave me a look. I put it all back in the bucket and gave it back to her. She ate it. I felt bad. My sympathies lie on her side of the equation.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Honey chop plain oat straw chaff is just that - it contains no alfalfa, or indeed anything else - we have 2 on it atm. Top Chop Zero has something in it which makes them want to devour it, so it's not much use for retraining them to self-regulate
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Ah my bad! I knew there was a reason I decided on the lite and healthy and I thought that was why. Hmmm now I can’t work out why I decided against it ?
 
I have mine on Top Chop Zero - he can't have hay whatever I do to it, so he's on haylage. To avoid overfeeding, he has about 6 big double handfuls of Top Chop in a bucket, dampened down, at night alongside his haylage ration.

For about the first week, he dived in and polished off the lot as soon as he got into his box.
Week 2, he picked at it after the first few mouthfuls.

Now, he'll only eat it when it's the only game in town so it's doing exactly what I wanted it to do :)
 
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