That's one fat horse........

She has a pinch of safe and sound at breakfast and tea, just so she's not left out at feed time, a 6 kg net at 4.30pm, half a 6kg net at 7.30am she's out rugged from 10am to about 4.30 there's hardly any grass in the winter field.
 
Ok - I was a bit harsh, but it's out of concern, not nastiness. It does appear that she hasn't lost a lot in 7 months, bearing in mind that she's less shaggy now. I agree that weightloss should be gradual, but she should be a lot trimmer now - that crest really bothers me. She shouldn't have such a massive crest in winter if she's on a correctly managed diet. How often is the vet seeing her/when did he/she last see her.
My vet tells me off for mine being fat, and he is nowhere near as big as her!
 
co-jack said:
She has a pinch of safe and sound at breakfast and tea, just so she's not left out at feed time, a 6 kg net at 4.30pm, half a 6kg net at 7.30am she's out rugged from 10am to about 4.30 there's hardly any grass in the winter field.
Click to expand...

What exercise is she getting - and has she been tested for metabolic issues?
 
And how much does she weigh?

If she's roughly 450kg (wild guess here) - I'd be giving her 6kg total (hay and hard feed, double netted to slow her down, and probably soaked as well. She's obviously getting some goodies from somewhere - could be that there's more grass out there than you think. I've noticed that none of mine are dropping off much - they're out 24/7, on minimal hard feed, and have about 20kg of new hay and 20kg of old between 4 (all tb or wb types) so they must be getting some goodness from the grass still - bunch of porkers!
 
TrasaM said:
Having read Mr D Thomas comments on Kelly cobs thread I'm sure he's quite capable of convincing someone that nits mites and worms are perfectly normal for a horse and confer huge health benefits and as such are an additional bonus. :p
Click to expand...

Sadly l've had personal dealings with Mr Thomas & his old partner Dagmar about 11 years ago when they were nr haxey. l got my mare from them - l'd originally gone to view another horse but took a shine to her she was not for sale at the time & we agreed a trail period in which everything worked out. I'd taken an experienced friend & if l didn't have my horsey quals & experience l would probably not got her. When l checked things out with the breed society it was ok but admittedly she was alittle nervous & hadn't been described accurately but like some people have mentioned with the turn around dealers have wanting to make a profit they dont have horses long enough. Saying that this couple were convicted l would steer clear of dealers like that but they are some good dealer out there so they get dragged down. Since then l've bought two ponies privately & they may cost more but l've got all their past history & only had the odd hiccup which you expect when you've a new addition to the family. It doesnt matter whether you buy from a dealer or privately theres no guarantee that your new horse will reach your expectations its a lottery but thankfully mine was an happy ending :)
 
Last edited:
co-jack said:
She has a pinch of safe and sound at breakfast and tea, just so she's not left out at feed time, a 6 kg net at 4.30pm, half a 6kg net at 7.30am she's out rugged from 10am to about 4.30 there's hardly any grass in the winter field.
Click to expand...

What weight of rug is she wearing? She should have the absolute bare minimum on, ie a lightweight rain sheet. If she has to heat herself up she'll use more energy and burn fat. Definitely do not put a padded rug on her. And she ought to go without a rug in the stable at night.

That sounds like a lot of hay, is it good quality stuff? I would cut her down to one 6kg haynet and divide it into two nets with small holes so she can't eat it so quickly.

Like Auslander said she needs to be doing regular exercise. In particular aerobic exercise such as trotting and cantering. What riding does she do?
 
Last edited:
She has small holed hay net at the mo, planned on double net and soak hay after Xmas. She's exercised between 4 and 6 times a week 1/2 days hacking rest on lunge only about 10/15 mins each side tho on lunge this def needs increasing.
She has a 250g rug on today but she is clipped and has a little runny nose, winds are very strong and its pouring down here. She has a 180g stable rug :-/
Ye I will split the 6kg net double net it and increase her working time.
You can still see some green on the field but really is basically bald! She will be on this field until July so more room for weight loss.
No she hasn't been tested for metabolic issues because I have done this gradually, there is still a lot of room for me to cut down on hay and increase exercise.
She is on crap hay not quality.
 
I don't know whether this will be of any use to you or not but my friend has a heavy weight cob who's about 14.2hh max. She claims he's 15 lol but he's not ( must measure him) in March he was underweight at 518kg. I didn't see him for a few months and was shocked about how fat he'd become by June. He wasn't weighed at this point but he has lost weight on vets advice since then due to having sore feet but was not tested for laminitis. ( useless vet)
He was weighed last week and although thinner is now 555kg!! He needs to reduce to about 525/530 max. I Dread to think how heavy he was at his fattest! No surprise then that he's just had his blood tested for insulin resistance because he's been footsore and lame on and off since June, when he was at his fattest.
Anyhow a cautionary tale and hopefully lesson learnt. Your girl is lucky that she's not had problems because of her weight.
 
Why not try hacking out more than lunging so often? Make sure when she goes hacking that you do lots of trotting and if she's unfit then build up to doing cantering. A half hour of solid trotting would do wonders. You need to get her out of breath in order to raise the metabolism and burn fat.
 
If you can get her fit enough that she can cope with a canter every day that will help. You really want to get this sorted now, if she's that weight in summer you'll never shift it and be having health problems. If you feel she needs a rug stick with a lightweight 40g, can she not be out 24/7? The longer she's out the more likely she is to move around and lose weight
 
Someone on here (can't remember username, sorry) has a coloured cob that was a similar weight to OP's horse when she first got him. She was really successful in slimming him down and he's a stunning boy now. If someone can recall her name it might be of some use to pm her.

Nice horse underneath all of that fat. Good luck. :)
 
Ye I thought she would be prone to laminitis with her weight and I'v kept my eye on this, no problems so far.
She's very fresh and forward and strong when out so tends to jog most of the hack anyway she constantly pulls, She will start to relax only on the way home on a 3 hr hack tho. She's not good alone so I tend to rely on others to hack with, as much as I'd love to jump on everyday and go but shes very nervous and gets really tense.
I just do what I can.
I'v not tried cantering her round the school a few times before taking her out yet, she might be bit more settled then worn out even!
I'v tried her in a trap and she was good, apparently she was a driving horse for 7 years then ridden for 3 years, don't think she has done much hacking tho in those 3 yrs.
 
Ohh I'v just bought 5 heavy weights ready for the snow :-/ but ye ill use lightweight rugs, more cantering in the school, 3kg nets soaked and double netted ill re post a vid in a few months.
Thanks for the help
 
co-jack said:
Ye I thought she would be prone to laminitis with her weight and I'v kept my eye on this, no problems so far.
She's very fresh and forward and strong when out so tends to jog most of the hack anyway she constantly pulls, She will start to relax only on the way home on a 3 hr hack tho. She's not good alone so I tend to rely on others to hack with, as much as I'd love to jump on everyday and go but shes very nervous and gets really tense.
I just do what I can.
I'v not tried cantering her round the school a few times before taking her out yet, she might be bit more settled then worn out even!
I'v tried her in a trap and she was good, apparently she was a driving horse for 7 years then ridden for 3 years, don't think she has done much hacking tho in those 3 yrs.
Click to expand...

I was going to ask whether she was still as quiet as her original advert as she looked rather more lively in your new video!
 
If she's spent more time as a driving horse, could you hack her with small blinkers on, see if that settles her? Or maybe big fluffy cheek pieces. Doubt she'll need heavyweights anytime soon unless you've got her fully clipped? Another idea can you put her hay into several nets and tie up around her stable so she's moving around more
 
Yes def more lively :-) suppose its like us really gives you a lift when you drop a size! She'll be bouncing all over the shop when she's a lot lighter!
 
An old mare like that, so obese, would be hard to get in shape. She needs to be chucked out on a hill for the winter to forage for what she can get. Lets face it that is how she was bred to live. Piddling about with small holed haynets will make not a jot of difference. It might just save her life.
 
Well she's hard to fit having a big chest so I grabbed the bargains of the ones I knew fitted her. I'v ordered a lot of the net and been stung for delivery charges sending them back when they don't fit at the chest/neck.
 
co-jack said:
Ohh I'v just bought 5 heavy weights ready for the snow :-/ but ye ill use lightweight rugs, more cantering in the school, 3kg nets soaked and double netted ill re post a vid in a few months.
Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

I am afraid an overweight native should never be wearing a heavyweight rug. That would be completely over-rugging her. If she was clipped out over 2 months ago then she's hardly going to have no hair.

Perhaps you could sell them on ebay though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top