Should I stable my fat horse?

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littlen

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My horse has come out of summer very fat! Embarrassingly fat. I am trying my best to do something about it so please don't lynch me just yet.

His summer routine started off great. He was muzzled 24/7 and has worked hard all summer. He looked great until about August when he started to gain weight.

However approx 1 month ago he had a facial injury which meant I couldn't muzzle him any more and can't until it heals fully so the muzzle is out until next spring once it is healed. He has ballooned since then, and has gained more and more weight in the past month. His field is small but it seems it is still too much, I can't restrict it any more as YO won't allow it and his companion is too thin so needs more grass. I have no other fields or turnout options and he is very stressy in the stable normally. Basically it is this field or stable and no option of more restricted turnout. I could move yards but he is very happy here and it took him months to settle.

He is out 24/7 at the moment. Unrugged but he is getting clipped at the weekend. He is worked approx 4 times a week for an hour a time. I am trying to up this but due to weather and work restrictions I've struggled this past month. He has also had two weeks off due to my injury which hasn't helped! I have advertised for a sharer to up his excersise since July with not one enquiry!

I feel hugely guilty and need to get his weight down ASAP.

Would it be better to
A) leave him out longer so he is moving around more and try and work him as hard as possible. My logic behind this is that he will be colder and also moving more,
Or should I
B) bring him in on a night so I can weigh out and ration what he eats, even though he may just gorge during the next day?

Also I plan to fully clip him his weekend except legs. He sweats so much all over his body when worked. Could I turn him out without rugs on mild days or is this cruel?!

Any other tips would be fantastic as I am getting desperate now!!
 
same happened to me, years of keeping it under control and it went to pot in September. I found stabling in the day and out at night didnt help. stabling 24/7 won't be good for your sanity (or the horses!) i now have pony in a strip of the field which is now bare and soak hay over night for her. 1% (before soaking) of the weight she should be (this allows for another 1/2 % for the small amount of grass she may graze). she's clipped and in a rain sheet on days like today. hay one end of her strip and water at the other and exercise. its now coming off (she doesn't have a muzzle as she would rip her face off, she would if i left a headcollar on as well or a fly mask. its starting to come off
 
Would your YO allow you to fence off a small section of the field for him and let the companion have the rest? More grass for the one who needs it and less for him! If not I'd try stabling with a trickle net. Could the companion come in then too with lots of hay? It might suit both of them.

Would a greengague muzzle (is that what they're called? The plastic ones that attach to headcollars) work with his injury?

I'd keep a rug on him if he has a full clip, but maybe a bit of a lighter one than normal?
 
In answer to turning out without a rug when clipped - on mild, dry days I often turn mine out without their rugs on when they are fully clipped. They seem to love going out without rugs in the snow on a sunny day too. I certainly wouldn't be rushing to put heavyweight rugs on my horse if they were over weight.

It might be worth trying bringing him in at night with a double netted and well soaked hay net. My understanding is that a horse generates a lot of heat digesting food so by leaving him out in the field overnight probably wouldn't be much help. The mild, wet weather we have had recently has kept the grass growing so you have my sympathy with trying to control your horse's weight.

In the distance past when I first had ponies they always dropped off a fair bit in the winter but then we didn't have rugs.
 
My YO won't allow any fencing of any kind which is a nightmare!

I have managed this all summer with the muzzle.

He managed to get a huge abscess caused by trying to get off the muzzle, hence not being able to wear it. He removes a greenguard in 30 seconds flat! My vet is worried about his skin getting wet and breaking open again if I muzzle him as it is still weak and not fully healed.

I am thinking maybe if he is stabled he won't be able to gorge overnight and I can soak his hay, but then again he isn't moving so I'm not sure what to do for the best?! Maybe if he is out at least he is moving!

I'm worried sick about laminitis at the moment.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
Simple answer would be no as he will just stand at a net stuffing his face out he will move around to keep warm and to find the grass but that will only work if you have an area of short grass to put him on. I find that it takes my ponies far more energy than they can get from the food to get enough to fill their tummies if they are on short grass contrary to popular belief it is the ideal solution to fat horses. Better still if you can use a track or long thin strip rather than a big or even small square. He can eat twice what he needs in an hour if you send him out into a field hungry after a night in a stable
 
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stick to just the rain sheet when you have clipped him, unless the temperatures really tumble. sorry my other suggestions aren't possible for you as they are what has started to work for me. the in in the day and out at night had no effect at all! maybe stable for a while (my last pony on box rest kept her weight down well when she had to be in despite her lack of exercise) until the grass actually stops growing! over winter you will get it down x
 
I am having exactly the same problem at the mo, only difference for me is that I am allowed to manage my own little patch as I wish. I have managed all summer by muzzling and strip grazing but during our lovely September he has put on far too much weight. I am standing him in from 7am til 3pm every day and out at night, he is blanket clipped and only wearing a rain sheet overnight. He is very slowly starting to drop a little but I am going to have to be very careful come April! I shall watch this thread for ideas as I can never decide which method is best.
 
Leave him out through the winter. The grass will gradually lose it's feed value from now on. We strip graze ours through the winter until they have eaten the field bare and then give them a bit of hay and by spring they have usually lost a bit of weight if they need it. In summer they are kept on pretty bare fields with a bit of hay if needed. They are all really good doers but we now have it so they keep the right weight.
Stabling a horse which is on a diet makes it more difficult to avoid the risk of it having an empty stomach for a long time with the health and behavioural risks associated with that.
 
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I have to stable Fatty to control his weight even autumn hunting five days a fortnight is not enough too allow him free access to grazing once his track is having its winter break he's exercised daily when not hunting and goes out for three or four hours .
F
 
Yep - sorry stable him, the bit of wondering round to find fresh grass won't make up for the extra calories. If you can exercise twice a day that might help, get someone to hack her for you in the am and school in the PM.
If she's that bad would the YO let you turn out in the school overnight?

My fatty had a lightweight rug and clip from early Feb onwards to make him look close to an RSPCA case by the time spring comes as muzzle and extra exercise just couldn't keep spring grass off him
 
Since winter is setting in, he will b using up a lot of enery to keep warm. Wintering out will definitely keep weight down because stable will b warm and more food than nibblig outside. Personally i dont like clipping becasue it messes up the horses system and means u have to rug them which also upsets their system. If clipped yes turn out on mild days rugless but a rug will be needed at night when it is cold because the coat is un naturally short. This defeats the poing of wintering out being better than stable because rug will mean he is warmer than normal. I would say whatever u do though, out is the best option for your horsey
 
I got weight off my obese Draft mare (she was like that when I bought her) by putting her out unclipped and unrugged during the day with a measured amount of haylage in the stable at night with a big trug of oat straw chaff to fill up on if she was hungry. We went through 2 bags of chaff per week, that first yr.
She is now a sensible weight and is maintaining it, we have swapped back to hay and she seems to be much better for it. IIWY, I wouldn't give your horse a full clip, because you MUST rug for the weather then, it would be cruel not to. However, if you just give her a bib clip, you could leave her unrugged 24/7 in almost all weathers and yet you would be able to work her without her sweating too much..
 
Stable at night with straw to eat (no hay) and a tiny hard feed with vitamin powder, out grazing 6-8hrs. Full clip and leave naked all day and night, even if its raining (unless very heavy prolonged rain). It's not cold at the moment and the fat will keep him warm, if he's not shivering he doesn't need a rug. When the weather really changes with a temperature drop use a cotton summer sheet at night and a no-fill turnout for day, no neck covers. It sounds a harsh regime but its better than having laminitis, he'll have a full belly and won't be freezing cold. If he gets borderline underweight he can have some hay.
 
My cob isn't particularly a good-doer, but there are some at my yard that only have to look at a blade of grass - constantly weigh-taped and managed. It's hard work!

I would stable overnight with a double netted portion of soaked hay. Poss a little oat straw, as others have suggested as a top up. Maybe provide a small portion of chopped straw chaff with a balsncer to make sure his basic vits/minerals are covered.

Turn out day time only.

I'd bib or blanket clip and only use a rain sheet (as long as he's not shivering). Cotton stable sheet at night (or nothing if mild).

Be good if you could work him a little harder once he's clipped - more trotting/cantering. Add in a couple of lunge sessions maybe. Which wouldn't impact on time too much.

In the meantime, the grass will be eaten and going off, which will help as you head more into winter.

Good luck
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
Stable at night with straw to eat (no hay) and a tiny hard feed with vitamin powder, out grazing 6-8hrs. Full clip and leave naked all day and night, even if its raining (unless very heavy prolonged rain). It's not cold at the moment and the fat will keep him warm, if he's not shivering he doesn't need a rug. When the weather really changes with a temperature drop use a cotton summer sheet at night and a no-fill turnout for day, no neck covers. It sounds a harsh regime but its better than having laminitis, he'll have a full belly and won't be freezing cold. If he gets borderline underweight he can have some hay.
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I don't like the idea of this, full clip and leaving him naked??? why would you do that, Is about 4 degress here atm. Whilst I don't rug mine, they are not clipped, out 24/7 on plenty of grazing and are not over weight. Exercise is the way forward, so getting a sharer or going for long hacks at the weekend would be good. 1 hour 3/4 times a week is very light work.
 
I agree get a sharer. He needs to move a LOT more. I had a sharer one winter who took my boy for loooong hacks 3-4 times a week. He came out of that winter looking very well. If she'd ridden I would ride again and he was mega fit and looked great. He wasn't massively overweight going into the winter but came out if it the best he'd ever looked. I'd advertise a sharer with unlimited riding and see if that helps.
 
Four hours exercise a week is virtually nothing. I know lack of daylight is a problem, but long (2 - 3 hour) hacks at the weekend/your days off would be a start. Get him fitter and get him moving. If you give him a bib clip he would not need a rug at all.
 
A friend on my yard has started this regime with her portly chap (cant be ridden at the moment which caused him to put weight on) and he has lost 18kg in a week - small paddock to graze in during day (sectioned off area within his usual field) then in at night to a weighed and well soaked haynet. As his weight decreases the amount of soaked hay decreases too...I think owner is working on 1% of body weight for soaked hay amount overnight.
 
AngieandBen said:
I don't like the idea of this, full clip and leaving him naked??? why would you do that, Is about 4 degress here atm. Whilst I don't rug mine, they are not clipped, out 24/7 on plenty of grazing and are not over weight. Exercise is the way forward, so getting a sharer or going for long hacks at the weekend would be good. 1 hour 3/4 times a week is very light work.
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Because where I am its 10 degrees at night ie not cold. In a week or two after clipping the horse has a little hair anyway. I wouldn't rug a horse in a summer coat in 10 degrees so why just because its officially autumn and horse is clipped? OP states their horse is naturally a hot horse anyway.

In 4 degrees I would rug as I posted, in a cotton summer sheet at night and a no-fill turnout for day. The horse needs to use up more calories than its consuming if its to lose weight. If OP is already exercising horse as much as they can and restricting diet as much as possible without severely impacting on horses quality of life, then that only leaves keeping warm as a way to burn more calories.
 
I have exactly the same problem. My mare is a very good doer and also doesnt stop eating - she is constantly eating when out (although we found out she had EMS). Previously she lived out 24/7 and I too struggle with providing enough exercise or small enough fields so I have started bringing her in at night from 7pm to 7am) with well soaked hay (1.25% of her bodyweight) in a double netted haynet. She isnt clipped so isnt wearing rugs. Within 2 weeks I started noticing a difference in fat pads so am convinced that stabling overnight is helping a lot!


Also it may be worth considering testing for cushings/ems with the free blood test they offer as my mare was showing some signs like pot belly, fat pads and always hungry and she did have very high levels of ACTH so she is on 1 x pergolide a day to see if we can bring levels down and help her a bit. It may be your chap has a touch of EMS if he struggles to lose weight.
 
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