Something needs to be done!

You Wont Forget Me

You Wont Forget Me

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 April 2011
Messages
762
Location
Sunny Scotland
Visit site
Ive noticed for quite some time now that my boy has been getting a bit of a belly on him(HUGE:o), He is turned out everyday for 8hrs+ with a grazing muzzle on, when he's brought in he was given 2 haynets (although leaving 1 full) and given a decent sized hard feet... oh and he's ridden from 30mins-1h30 everyday:rolleyes:

We has the vet out the other for vac. and said i should really cut him now, so decided to cut his hard feed right down, she said the hay was fine for just now.

Few days later...Today!! I went for a jumping lesson, and was told he looked obese:eek:(fair enough tho) I was then told he looks like a cob:mad:!! And much to his disgust (being WB X TB) He went out and jumped AMAZING:D just to prove them wrong:p.....Anyway, i have been advised to also give him one haynet a night instead of 2 (fair enough)

I have decided to leave him totally rugless too. I am also thinking of changing him to hay...for less sugars ect ect...;)


So.....Whats your views? whats the best way to shift weight off your horses???....
 
My girl is a very good doer. 15.3hh ISH

At the moment she is out 24/7 on minimal grass. No feed

When she is in she gets 1 haynet a night (standard large one, not enormous), double netted, tiny holes. I know she will finish it in the middle of the night and then have nothing, but there is nothing else I can do. She is a pig and eats really fast! It's not ideal, but I'd rather that than her being overweight.
 
ok exercise is always the way to go - which you are doing - but i question 2 haynets . my mare is out for 12 hours a days but in at night with small feed of happy hoof and a slice of hay on floor. she is a sec D and a damn good doer never wears a rug and only change in diet is 2 slices of hay in winter ( ok 3 if snow on ground or prolonged minus 2 temps) and she does damn fine - I really feel we worry alot about horses still having hay in morning - yes they are dribble feeders they need to eat for 16 out of 24 hours but if i gave baby the hay for her to have some left in morning jesus she be gross lol - and ummmm given 1 slice a night there was some pickings on floor and she never eats bed even the good clean nice straw put down :) so mmmmmm look at what your horse needs what you believe it needs :) dont we worry about them lol :) xx
 
You Wont Forget Me said:
So.....Whats your views? whats the best way to shift weight off your horses???....
Click to expand...
I would say soaked hay and exercise. My fatty is steadily loosing weight with soaked hay. The problem is you can't tell how much sugars and carbs are in hay/grass unless you have it tested.
He may be able to have the same quantity hay if it's soaked. Long periods with no forage are also problematic.

Has he a gutter etc?. If it's just a belly I'd still go with soaked hay and something like yea sacc.
 
Some photos of your boy would help to give a balanced opinion on his weight. I must say that two haynets seems a tad excessive but really it depends on the size of the haynets.

The weight of your animal should be taken very seriously and if an experienced horseperson has commented on his weight then I personnally would heed their advice.
 
My chunky friesian is out all night only has a rug if cold and wet. He stands in and generally dozes for a few hours each day and has a handful of chop and his supplement before turnout. He's worked about 4 times a week.
 
I don't rug my horse unless she's clipped. Last year it was -10 and snowing and she was absolutely fine. She wore a cooler briefly because she got soaking wet when I drove her around pulling a sleigh in the snow(!) but that was it and she had a bib clip.

I soak hay for 24 hours before feeding - bear in mind that if you do that it takes the vitamins out so you need to feed a balancer if you aren't already. I feed blue chip lami-lite for the hoof supplement but one that doesn't cost £30 a month would be just as good - equivite, say.

Long slow exercise is much better for fat burning than cantering and jumping which builds up the heart and lungs. We try to do lots of long walking hacks. You can also walk them out in hand for a change in pace if you're as easily bored as I am.

Get a weigh-tape and use it. Also get a spring balance and weigh haynets. Personally I found it quite hard being told my horse was really fat by some people and fine by others and that I had to cut down her feed to almost nothing by the vet then that I was being cruel by certain liveries. Also it's incredibly hard to monitor changes when you see them twice a day. I found that a weigh-tape gets rid of all that because it's completely objective and just gives you the facts without anyone's opinion weighing in. Also it gives you results to encourage you to stick with the diet week by week. I like making graphs.

I still like to give my horse treats especially during groundwork sessions - now I use high fibre nuts as treats - they are much cheaper than the nasty molassed ones as well.

I can't muzzle my horse as she will self-harm rather than wear it so she just has a starvation paddock. It makes moving yards hard though. You are lucky to have the option of muzzling :)
 
Very few horses work as hard as we think they do - so I would drop all his feed, and just give him a token handful.

1 hay net - double netted.

And work.
 
My Tb is out all night, in during the day, has a small brekkie (1 small apple and a scoop of chaff with vits and mins to top up), and then he has 4lb of hay (very small haynet) to last him until 5.00pm, and no more. He spends much of the day snoozing, and he is worked 6 days per week in the evening.
I would cut the rugging out (I don't put a rug on unless it drops to 6 or 7 degrees or constant rain), cut the hard feed down to a handful token feed, and only 1 hay net at night, preferably soaked first, and double netted as someone else said.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top