seriously need advice about overweight horse

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daretodream

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www.mukuruhorseshow.giving.officelive.com
sorry for talking about this again but its doing my head in and i really need advice

basically at the start of the year i bought my horse when he was really fit (some might say thin or underweight but he was in good condition)
when the dry days came he was being turned out all day, but still getting rode an hour a day doing lots of jumping and cantering! he gradually got fatter and fatter and i didn’t even notice until i was looking back on pics of him when he first came and people were saying to me that he was dangerously overweight and I started to panic. (if anything happened to him id never forgive myself)

I tried a grazing muzzle on him but it cut the face of him so i took it off.

now hes in full time (hes been in from the 6th Oct) and only getting 2 sections of hay in the morning and 2 at night no hard feed and hes still massive. I think he actually might be putting on the pounds instead of loosing them!

hes not getting much exercise because the fields are 2 wet and ive no sand arena or transport, hes being rode around the yard but obviously thats not enough and by the time i come home from school its to dark to hack!!! god its soo annoying!

i dont have the money to pay someone 2 ride him for me and to be honest i wouldnt want someone else riding him (sounds so selfish but again id never forgive myself if anything happened him)

has anyone got any sort of tip that can help. i no i dont have much options because of my situation but any advice would be welcome.
 
Had a pony a few years ago who I am sure lived on fresh air. Had a real problem when he was confined to the box following surgery and couldn't be exercised for 2 mths.I found soaking the hay for 24hrs then doublenetting it, in small wholed nets was the only thing that helped. It took him ages to eat, so he didn't get bored, at times I found he actually left some.
I did f eed a handful of hifi light with an additive to make sure he got all necessary nutrients.
He did loose weight.
Good luck with yours
 
I wouldn't recommend cutting out all hard feed altogether, there are lots of low cal feeds for 'fatter' ponies! If you don't want to give him hard feed, try some carrots and apples etc in a bucket...won't make him thinner but might cheer him up! Have you wieghed him? If not, I would, then you can work out if he is really seriously over weight or if your worring over nothing. If he is, you can tell by have much. You'll then have something to work towards. If you really worried I'd get the vet to take a look
 
It sounds as though he is not getting anywhere near enough exercise. You can't keep the poor boy in 24/7 with no exercise except for (presumably) a walk round the stable yard. That's cruel.

You might not like the idea of other people riding him but for his welfare it sounds as though you need to. His need for exercise (both physical and psychological) is more important than your need to keep him to yourself even though you can't give him what he needs. You don't need to pay them - lots of good riders would jump at the chance.


This would help sort out his weight problem.
 
Soak the hay for 12 hours so that the goodness goes out of it.....

Is he bedded on an edible bedding.... if so he may be eating that as well.

He must be bored rigid being in all the time, so eating is the only thing left
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He needs to be ridden every day, at least once, preferably twice. He won't care who rides him (honestly don't mean that to sound harsh) and he'd much rather be out doing something than in all the time.

Soak the hay for ages and give him some hi-fi lite (or similar) with vits/mins as he won't be getting these from what he is fed now.

He won't just lose weight from being fed less, he needs the exercise as well.

Good luck with him, I know how hard it is to manage a good-doer!
 
He needs to be getting more than 2 slices of hay overnight. Don't starve him because he is fat. Soak the hay for about 12 hours and give him ad-lib to keep his gut working. Then he needs exercising lots.

Give him a vit and min supplement as he is getting nothing from grass and if you soak it, nothing from the hay. He doesn't need a hard feed, though, apart from maybe a small hanful of good doer to mix in the vits.
 
Oh and I know you won't be doing this, but a) if he's not clipped he doesn't necessarily need rugging; b) if he is clipped, you can rug lightly and he will be warm enough. George is blanket clipped and in LWs. He is plenty warm enough.

The fact he is in 24/7 with only exercise at weekends, means he is not getting to move around enough and he will be putting on weight, because even though it is colder, in summer he was getting exercise in the field.
 
First of all I would be getting a weight tape so you can monitor his weight more closely. When you say reallly overweight - does he have a lot of fat coverage over his ribs, and apple bum and or/fatty crest on hos neck or simply a big stomach? Has he been wormed recently?

It doesn't sound like he is getting very much to eat..? After you have determined weight with the tape (could also try conditions coring - charts on internet or in books) to make sure he is overweight, could you offer him a lower calorie roughage such as soaked hay/good oat straw or no-sugar chaffs? Also I would try the grazing muzzle again too. I think most horses would prefer some rubbing rather than being stuck in all day. Also with being in he is not going to be burning off any extra calories... A greenguard muzzle shouldn't rub more than a head collar or try a shires one a size bigger than you normally would ( my pony wears a cob).

Good luck, good doers are hard work!
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I would also give him more to eat than you are. His gut needs to be working regularly. Soak the hay or even feed straw if you can.

Is there no way he can get turn out?

The other thing you could consider doing (and thi will probably be contraversial - lol) is clip him out and only put a rug on when it is very cold.
 
Before I can really give you much advice, I need more information.
What height is he - what age, and what breeding?
Is he stabled 24/7 - and what exactly does he get to eat including hard feed each day?
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Turn him out as much as possible because horses loose alot of weight just walking around the field. and if the muzzle cuts his face my friend used, you know the sheep skin fluffy noseband covers on every bit of the material muzzle including cutting it up and sewing it on.
Good luck
 
Thought I wud take the pleasure of posting some pics for everyone who doesnt know Flash!...
other info, 15.3hh, connemara cross, 4/5yo.
Photo when he first arrived:
16935651a6660237725l.jpg


And more recent:
2425454904a9034756245l.jpg


Personally I think he isnt 'Dangerously overweight' or 'close to death, heath attack, joint problems' etc etc as other people outside this forum have told you.
I like my horses quite lean but I do think he was too thin when he arrived!

I mean you have to expect him to but on abit of weight when hes in most of the time and doing NO work.

Also, just to clear things up, he isnt in 24/7. he gets out to stretch his legs everyday and is out most of weekend.

Im sure Daretodream will fill u in on the rest!
 
okie dokes thanks for the answers

right where do i start!

regarding someone else riding him, even if there was someone available to ride him there is no where for them to ride, fields are far to wet, no sand arena and he wont hack alone (well he would but hes extremely nervy without his wee buddy)

he gets turned out in a small field to stretch his legs and rode round the yard so hes not locked up all day every day, im not cruel, if i thought for one minute i was being cruel i wouldnt be doing it.
Hes not unhappy being in, I know my horse when hes sad and he isn’t, in actual fact when hes been turned out he waits at the gate to come in after a while.

ive been keeping tabs on his weight by string, hes been in from the 6th of Oct and hes only lost 3 inches of fat. he should be weighing 550kg and hes 730kg which to me is obese and extremely worrying.
I had the vet out a while ago for a different reason and all he said was that he was too fat (which I already knew)

i think hes better getting less food than getting extra and putting on more weight and risking taking a heart attack and all other problems associated with overweight horses

i have some dengie good-doer, would a bucket of it once a day be enough along with his hay?

his muzzle actually draws blood so im not for putting that on unless i get it in a bigger size.

hes a 15.3hh rising 5 Connie x

il take some pics tomorrow and and post them under a new topic called “Pics of fatty flashy”
 
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no theres no war lol, shes my sister lmao!

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Oh, ok then, I'll try to answer.
First you need to have a better idea of how much he weighs, and whether he is gaining or losing. I assume you don't have access to a weighbridge, so would advise you to buy a weightape, and start monitoring his weight weekly.
Secondly, you need to be certain how much feed he is getting. I suggest you also buy a spring balance and weigh each (dry) haynet, tallying it for the day. Gradually reduce it until he is losing a little weight each week. I'd also try to reduce the nutrient value of the hay - so buy 2yr old hay (not dusty), maybe soak it for 12hrs, etc before feeding. If he pigs it, feed him with a small hole haynet.
Thirdly, I'd probably not give him any hard feed at all - if he's 5yr old he doesn't need it for growth, and if he's not working, he doesn't need it for that.
Fourthly - I'd try to reduce the rugs he wears (if any) so he burns off energy keeping himself warm (being Connie x he shouldn't feel the cold too badly).
Fifth - I would try to increase the exercise he takes if at all possible - can you ride more/lunge/hack/turn him out in a starvation paddock so he can move around without eating?
From the photos, he is not dangerously overweight at the moment, but you do want him to lose the weight during the winter.
Good luck
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Ok, now I'm lost and feel as if I've somehow got stuck in the middle of a war between Daretodream and CVSHotShot.
Goodbye, good luck.
B
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What ARE you talking about now??

What exactly have you read that even remotely suggests a 'War'? Honestly...I think you just like to stir Sh*t!
 
Long hacks at weekends may help. Lots of smart walking and trotting, (Not plodding). That burns calories without building up too much muscle tone so your horse may lose weight. My theory is, you dont see many fat endurance ponies or long distance runners!
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Fit but lean!
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Yep, agree with shils: he isn't dangerously overweight and if you manage him right will lose it over winter.

You can feed the recommended amounts of good doer with vits and mins if you want to, but he doesn't need it. A handful of chaff will do it.

He needs to have as much hay as possible so that his gut is kept working. If it is soaked it's nutrient value will be next to nothing so will not make him gain weight.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ok, now I'm lost and feel as if I've somehow got stuck in the middle of a war between Daretodream and CVSHotShot.
Goodbye, good luck.
B
frown.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

What ARE you talking about now??

What exactly have you read that even remotely suggests a 'War'? Honestly...I think you just like to stir Sh*t!

[/ QUOTE ]

And to think I spent minutes of my life trying to help you...
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There are some seriously rude young people on this forum at the moment.
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I would agree that the pony looks reasonable in the picture, you say you are measuring with string and then give weight, how did you convert it to weight? The pony will not need hard feed, our old Appy who was a good doer until her teeth gave out had apples and carrots for her 'tea' for 20 years and lived to the ripe old age of 33. Our current good doers are also not given hard feed, unless at some point they manage to loose aany wight at all!
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Any pony kept in for too many hours a day will eat and convert that food to fat, it sounds as if it needs more turn out, more work and fewer calories, agree with soaking old hay.
 
[ QUOTE ]
There are some seriously rude young people on this forum at the moment.
mad.gif


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Couldn't agree more! What a way to show gratitude to the 15 or so people who have gone to the trouble to try and offer advice, based on quite ambiguous information.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There are some seriously rude young people on this forum at the moment.
mad.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Couldn't agree more! What a way to show gratitude to the 15 or so people who have gone to the trouble to try and offer advice, based on quite ambiguous information.

[/ QUOTE ]

Daretodream has been very pleasant, thanking people for their responses.
(I am going to ignore the rude posters, as always
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).
B
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CVSHotShot - can you please reduce your signature - it is making the post very hard to read as it is far too long. I hate to be the signature police but yours is way longer than allowed and very inconvenient.
 
Try a different make of grass muzzle. It's a bit like saddles really, every horse has a different shaped nose thus they all suit a particular type. What works for you may not work for another.
 
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