Stabled during the day - does it make a difference on weight?

Fools Motto

Fools Motto

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 June 2011
Messages
6,600
Visit site
AS title. My filly 12.2+ pony is, well basically fat! Too fat for my liking, but I suppose as far as obese ponies go, it could be much worse.
She is out 24/7 currently on barely an acre with my mare. The grazing has been previously grazed by cattle, not been fertilised has many 'poo-zones' * and a few buttercups. In truth, it is a bit of a poorly kept pony patch.

*deliberately so there is still room for them to not want to break out to look for more grazing, and yet less edible grass! The cattle will be put in to graze it again soon, and it will be harrowed. Both are worm count free.

However, they are still finding plenty to eat. I reduced the size AGAIN the other day, after kind farrier said 'bit too fat'. I feel guilty as I know she is porky.

I can't bring myself to muzzle her, she is only a baby, and she will get it caught on the fencing/hedges/fallen tree, as that is cattle-fence barbed wire, not pony proof... and she does go looking for trouble while playing. So, to stable her during the day is a strong option. BUT, seriously, does it help or will she just go out in the evenings and gorge?

I don't often see her stuffing her face, she loves playing, and will often be standing with my mare, just resting.

So, thoughts??
 
It definitely does make a difference. My little hooligan lost his muzzle last week so he's been coming in during the day to a soaked haynet while I wait for the replacement muzzle to arrive and he's looking good. If I left him out 24/7 unmuzzled I'd have to roll him in as he'd be too fat to walk ;)
 
I am afraid cattle grazing is not suitable for horses it's usually rye grass which is rich and what owners cannot get their heads round. Cattle can process rich grass horses are far less tolerant as its too rich. Horses need meadow pasture and good pasture management.

What work is the pony getting?
 
I have had one of mine in for 2 weeks every day and he doesn't look any different. I think he just stuffs his face all night when he goes out. Muzzle time soon I think.
 
I too feel mean for muzzling especially as her bucket muzzle rubbed so badly. Got a dinky muzzle which so far has lived up to claims won't rub. She now has it on daily coming in for a couple hours a day.
 
It works for me, although other measures need to be put into place as well, if your horse is really prone to weight gain.
 
I've thought about the subject of dieting fatties a lot because I keep Highland ponies. There is no doubt in my mind that some natives have what I can only describe as an eating disorder. Some are like this because of their breeding, others because of the way they are managed.

I don't think simple starvation is the answer. Horses are trickle feeders and are happiest when they are continually moving and searching for new shoots of grass. Deprive them of food and surely they will be more inclined to pig out when they get the chance?

As a breeder, I've deliberately chosen the slimmer type of stallion and got rid of any of the mares that were inclined to get over weight. The result has been a lot less worry and I can safely leave ponies on reasonable grass to regulate their own weight. Haven't had a single case of laminitis either.
 
I am also liveried on a cattle farm and it can be quite hard, the grass is very rich, I spend 90% of my time obsessing over my cobs weight, I am determined he won't be a 'fat cob'

I share the field so can't strip graze it, so he's either in during the day and out at night or he wears his muzzle during the day. If his poos get particularly sloppy he's in in the day and muzzled while out at night... He doesn't even lose weight on this regime, he just stays the same, but at least we're staying at a reasonable weight.
 
We have a pony at work who wears a muzzle 365 days a year - I feel far less 'mean' seeing her in that than I did when she was confined to the box for 3 months with cushings-related laminitis! She is now perfect weight-wise - you can make out her ribs, and she has lost the pockets of fat. She is out for about 5 hours a day (muzzled), and fed hay that has been soaked for 6+ hours.
If you want your pony to lose weight it needs to take in fewer calories and/or use up more! Grazing muzzles are great because they still allow the pony to trickle feed, as is natural, they just make the trickle smaller. Some of our youngsters are out overnight and come in for 4-6hrs a day - they still have hay available to them, but they generally just use their stable time to catch up on some sleep before going back out to continue gorging on the grass. So no, it doesn't make a difference weight-wise, it just let's them recuperate in preparation for another binge-eating session!!
 
Dry Rot said:
I've thought about the subject of dieting fatties a lot because I keep Highland ponies. There is no doubt in my mind that some natives have what I can only describe as an eating disorder. Some are like this because of their breeding, others because of the way they are managed.

I don't think simple starvation is the answer. Horses are trickle feeders and are happiest when they are continually moving and searching for new shoots of grass. Deprive them of food and surely they will be more inclined to pig out when they get the chance?

As a breeder, I've deliberately chosen the slimmer type of stallion and got rid of any of the mares that were inclined to get over weight. The result has been a lot less worry and I can safely leave ponies on reasonable grass to regulate their own weight. Haven't had a single case of laminitis either.
Click to expand...

Great way to describe them! Standing in and the putting back on grass mine would stuff. I knw she is only 2 but a small walk in hand, lead her gently off another? It might help
 
I was told by a highly respected horse vet many years ago that most horses/ponies can hoover up in an hour as much as they would eat in 24 if they are hungry. Added to which being stabled doesn't burn many calories, which compounds the problem. Can you set up a track to keep them moving around their paddock - could be around the outside or a U shape or whatever you can manage so long as it is long and narrow.
 
I found it works for me, I can control how much they eat in the stable (I soak hay for 12hrs &double net!!) and then turn out on a managed area of grass...makes me sound like a control freak!!!
No hard feed required this time of year.
Also benefits from being out of the hot sun (when finally comes out to play) and I find there are less flys in the stable.
If it has rained then I don't need to worry about if they are wet before tacking up.
 
I am having dilemma as recently moved my fat ponies onto a new yard with good grass and not in a position to bring them in!!

they're not really fat but bigger than I want them and heading that way.
Mine are currently in a horseshoe shaped track system so they have to walk up and down it and for example if they're the other side and fancy a drink they've got to walk all the way back to the other side to drink ergo moving more :D

Going to stick baby pony in another paddock though so she can eat that down. This way, my older fat girls can rotate between a paddock they've eaten down, the horseshoe, and the paddock baby will eat down. I have finished college now too so in theory they can work everyday. Going to monitor their weight weekly and see if this new system makes a difference!
 
I bring oldie in every now and then to rest her tummy and have break from flies but when she got really fat last summer I stripped weight off her bringing her in. Tiny tiny net in morning, tiny tiny net at lunch and tiny net just before turn out so not gorging. Used 1 small slice per day.

I also have 2 muzzled, coblet 24 7 from first grass of spring, and a tv who gorges, boosts and goes wildyyhen runs out of grass. It's helping me keep his,weight consistent and my grass last as I just put on New paddock. He'll be muzzled nights only from next week. They don't seem that bothered now they're used to it and soo much easier than stable hopping them all.
 
Kaylum said:
I am afraid cattle grazing is not suitable for horses it's usually rye grass which is rich and what owners cannot get their heads round. Cattle can process rich grass horses are far less tolerant as its too rich. Horses need meadow pasture and good pasture management.

What work is the pony getting?
Click to expand...

OP has stated that the grass has not been fertilised and it's not the type of grass that is rich it's what gets put on it to make it grow that is the problem.

All my school paddocks were rye grass and all my ponies were fine on it. Cows don't have to eat rich grazing - depends on whether they are dairy or fattening. We raise beef cattle on our Pony Club grounds and they get fertilised ones a year and they do fine.
 
Really hard to take a picture that shows the state of the paddock!





I know it isn't ideal to keep it looking like this (ie, bit poo'y)


Oh, and those waiting to come in and help me de-fat the ponios!



And him too!


Gotta love the blacks!
 
Supposedly there are fewer sugars in the grass overnight so less calories. My fatty is kept in her fatty paddock for about 23 hours with hay, she gets let out when I'm poopicking to socialise then put back in the paddock, I've also upped her workload. She has started jumping out though so may have to start muzzling.
 
kaiserchief said:
It definitely does make a difference. My little hooligan lost his muzzle last week so he's been coming in during the day to a soaked haynet while I wait for the replacement muzzle to arrive and he's looking good. If I left him out 24/7 unmuzzled I'd have to roll him in as he'd be too fat to walk ;)
Click to expand...

hehe that made me laugh my mare comes in in the day for 10/12 hours and that is the only way I can keep her weight down in fact last week after she had been to a show I decided to let her stay out for a couple of days she waddled in like a big momma so had to keep her in for 4 days just to deflate so now back to the day in and night out I think some horses are just greedy (mine is)just like some humans are :D
 
I'd try a grazing muzzle. They're not as big a deal as you think, and they come off if they get stuck on anything. They made a great difference to our fatties the first couple of years they wore them (then I think they worked out how to eat through them more efficiently and the muzles didn't have as much effect!). She would be happier out than standing in. We used to bring ours in for two or three hours a day for a rest from flies and to get the muzzles off.

ps, always buy the bright pink muzzles, they're easier to find when they get them off!
 
OP - you need to get your head round a grazing muzzle. I was gutted when I had to eventually put one on my new forest x cob who has just turned 4. I felt so so cruel. Put it like this - last summer she was obese - and I mean seriously, disgustingly obese. I didn't realise as it had crept on gradually and I suppose I did notice, but put my head in the sand. Then I got there one night and she was colicking from too much rich grass and was in severe pain and really distressed. Although the vet treated it with buscopan and painkillers, it could have been far worse and was a real wake up call for me

Mine goes out at night with a grazing muzzle on and during the day either goes into the starve patch or comes into the stable. Bringing them in does make a difference. I give her crap hay which she nibbles at but doesn't eat a lot of.

It's worth considering - it has to be a better option than laminitis and colic...
 
My horse recently had to be admitted to hospital and the vets advised me that a muzzle is the way to slow intake down. to manage his weight I used to bring my horse in everyday and he was out at night but the vet told me that they just eat more knowing their routine and the fact they will be bought in off the grass .

So I was told to either graze on a very very short paddock or muzzle 24/7, or as much as is reasonably possible. I have to admit, even when he was bought in during the day and unmuzzled, he was still fat, but Im finding the muzzling more is helping and the proof is in the number of poo's I pick up !!! :) I know muzzles seem awful but they do work and the horses cope well with them if introduced correctly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top