Summer fat camp - weight loss tips

[sheep]

I've noticed a few threads around this lately, I admit that with hindsight I have been a bit complacent, and suddenly the mare looks very chubby.
We've had a nice spell of warm weather and now we've had a fair bit of rain, so I'm concerned that the grass is going to shoot up.
Unfortunately the horse in question is a) extremely sensitive and b) extremely accident prone, so I'm wary of muzzling - instead I have brought her in off the grass altogether.

I'm feeding soaked hay day time, in a small-holed net. Overnight she is getting a small net of soaked hay, along with a trug of chaff. I'm considering trying to source straw to mix in to feed, but having never fed it before, I'm a little wary of it.

Unfortunately said horse is also off work at present, so my plan is to walk briskly in-hand daily - only have about 10/15mins free in the morning before work, but will also be able to do at least half an hour in the evenings. She has company in neighbouring stables during the day, and I'll let her have some time in the school for a roll and a scratch with my gelding on a daily basis. I'm not yet decided as to whether the zero turnout will be short term or long term!! I really don't want to deprive her of 'being a horse' but at the same time, I feel like I have to be cruel to be kind. We are 'lucky' in that we have decent amounts of grass in all our paddocks, so a bare field is not an option at the moment.

What level of weight loss is reasonable on a weekly basis? Unfortunately no access to scales, only a weigh tape.
What is everyone else doing to manage their fatties? Any other hints or tips welcome!

 

[KittenInTheTree]

We confined our two small and fat companion ponies (12hh) to a third of an acre back at the end of May, and just let them graze it down until it was pretty much bare. That took them about two weeks. Then we fenced off a second third of an acre section and let them graze that down. After that, we rotated them weekly between the two bare sections to avoid wrecking the ground, and began feeding EH Haylage in the evenings (they live out). We found a bale lasted five days between the pair of them, so that's about 2 1/2 kg of haylage each per day. They also get a token ration of plain soaked beet to carry their salt. Dry weight wise they each have 475g of beet per day, split across three feeds. We do add a pinch (no more than that!) of Hi-Fi Lite and some thinly sliced carrot to keep it appetising. They aren't having haylage at the moment, since we moved them onto their autumn section just ahead of the rains arriving. It's another third of an acre, and had been rested for ten weeks by that point, so is nice and stalky. The bare sections are already greening up, and should be ready for use again before winter.

Both ponies are now looking spot on - it took about eight weeks to shift the extra weight.

 

[sheep]

We confined our two small and fat companion ponies (12hh) to a third of an acre back at the end of May, and just let them graze it down until it was pretty much bare. That took them about two weeks. Then we fenced off a second third of an acre section and let them graze that down. After that, we rotated them weekly between the two bare sections to avoid wrecking the ground, and began feeding EH Haylage in the evenings (they live out). We found a bale lasted five days between the pair of them, so that's about 2 1/2 kg of haylage each per day. They also get a token ration of plain soaked beet to carry their salt. Dry weight wise they each have 475g of beet per day, split across three feeds. We do add a pinch (no more than that!) of Hi-Fi Lite and some thinly sliced carrot to keep it appetising. They aren't having haylage at the moment, since we moved them onto their autumn section just ahead of the rains arriving. It's another third of an acre, and had been rested for ten weeks by that point, so is nice and stalky. The bare sections are already greening up, and should be ready for use again before winter.

Both ponies are now looking spot on - it took about eight weeks to shift the extra weight.

That sounds great. I wonder if my YO would be open to the idea of sectioning off fields - not sure he will be, but could ask. Alternatively there is one almost bare paddock, would LOVE to get my hands on it but the smaller ponies are on it. At the very least, I suppose, I can stick to current regime until the other horses have the field grazed down a bit more, and then switch to 12hrs in, 12hrs out.

 

[cobsarefab]

Cobbus has a dead paddock with no grass. She gets fed a greedy feeder of very poor hay when she's in during the day. A bucket of chopped straw intended for bedding will be provided in the field if necessary. She has shifted a hell of a lot of weight but we still have more to go.

 

[sheep]

Cobbus has a dead paddock with no grass. She gets fed a greedy feeder of very poor hay when she's in during the day. A bucket of chopped straw intended for bedding will be provided in the field if necessary. She has shifted a hell of a lot of weight but we still have more to go.

Well done on the results so far
Hoping to see a less chubby mare soon, too...