Trying to get weight off

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sam72431

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I have a Dutch warmblood who I'm really struggling to get weight off she is always a pretty good doer but she had to stay in for a week for an injury about a month ago and piled the pounds on even on reduced rations she is now back in work she is ridden six days a week probably on average for half an hour she is out in the day in at night but I just get the weight off, she is worked pretty hard when I do ride. She is fed two scoops of hifi good doer and two scoops of bran she has cider vinegar limestone glucosomine and naf general purpose supplement at the level for a horse at rest, I have to be careful as she is highly strung that's why she has bran just to fill her up and she likes the taste of it and won't eat very well without it. She has 8kg of hay a night, I don't soak it as she won't eat it soaked just to annoying. Any other ideas I'm worried as it's not even spring yet and I'm dreading how much more she will put on, thanks for reading
 
i'd cut her feed down a bit my horse is a good doer and he gets 1 and 1/2 scoops (hifi lite, pasture mix, speedi beet and oats) between his break fast and dinner, i'd definately say that would be the first step
would you be able to excersise her twice a day like lunge her in the morning before she goes out and then ride her when you normally would. I wouldnt say half an hour a day is going to make her lose weight she'd need more
and whats her access to food like in the field while she was out
 
I have a fat warmblood who's on a diet and she's getting half a scoop of Happy Hoof a day and thats it. I would cut back your feed as much as possible.
 
Hi,

I have recently changed over to Top Chop Lite because my pony is fast becoming a fatty. It is very similar to Good Doer but is unmollassed and contains no preservatives or colourings. So although it has a DE of 7.5 in comparison to 7 for Good Doer. Good Doer has slightly more sugar in it so perhaps it may be an option to change over to Top Chop Lite??

I feed this with a mug of high fibre cubes soaked and Top Spec Senior balancer.

According to the Top Spec Top Chop bag, 1 scoop of chaff takes as long as a section of hay to eat. Im not sure how correct this is but my mare certainly takes a lot longer to eat her food.
 
You need to cut the feed right back.......a handful of Hi-Fi Lite will do! And hay needs soaking, if she refues to eat it at first, tough, she'll soon get used to it. Alternatively we put a very fat Welsh D on 1/2 hay 1/2 straw and it has worked a treat!
 
Excerise is the key, Lots of cantering, not so much trotting as this put starin on their legs. I excerise my very good doer 5 times a week, not necessarily for a long time, but I get him working and puffed out even if its for 20min. He's on a scoop of hi fi good doer and alfa beet which is basically flavoured water to wet the hifi, bit of oil and salt. I dont recommend over complicating feeding and be careful your horse is getting all he needs woth a supplement if you are soaking hay.

Double up hey nets too if you find she eates her hay really quickly.
 
Make sure youre not rugging her, rugging means she uses the rugs to keep warm and not her body fat.

Active walking and trotting is best for burning fat, not cantering.

If you cut back on food too much the body may hold on to fat reserves because it goes into 'starvation' mode. So make sure she still has acess to hay for most of the day i.e. no long periods without food.

Weigh tape her and condition score regularly and make sure that you are not confusing a big pot belly or lost muscle (common at this time of year and after a lay off) with fat.
 
I find lunging twice a week in between normal work works wonders. Trotting is the only pace that will tone and tighten up those tummy muscles, you will not get the same results in walk or canter.
 
You can reduce her forage so that she is receiving 1.5% of her bodyweight (approx. 7.5kg) of hay a day. You can feed it little and often in small-holed haynets to make her takle longer to eat, and soak it to reduce its nutritional value and energy content further. I would feed just the vitamin & mineral supplement with a handful of low energy chaff (the Hi Fi Good Doer is perfect) and a handful of bran. 2 scoops of bran is quite a lot: bran has little or no actual nutritional value and, when fed long term, it has been known to rob the bones of calcium and weakne the joints. The bran will not, unfortunately "fill her up" as horses never eat until they are full. Their digestive systems are designed to process about half of the gut's capacity at any time. However if your horse will honestly not eat without the bran being there, then a small amount can be fed.
In order for her to lose weight, she will have to be using up more energy than she is consuming, and no diet is effective long term without exercise. Thus, as already recommend, I would do anything you can to get her moving: from putting her haynet on the opposite side of the stable to her water, to 10/15-min lunging sessions or in-hand walks as and when you can.
It may also help for you to turn her out at night and bring her in during the day, avoiding turnout at dawn and dusk, as this will avoid her grazing when the grass is highest in sugar.
Even better; turn her out 24/7 - if she is unclipped then leave her with a rainsheet on only so she uses up extra energy keeping warm - however don't leave her unrugged completely for long periods of time, as it will be a shock to the system anmd very unpleasant if she hasn't grown a sifficient coat over the winter from being rugged up - in a small taped paddock, letting , before moving it a few metres so it is 50:50 old:fresh grass. This will help to keep her happier, healthier and moving (which a stable doesn't allow) as stables are generally dusty, stressful, stationary places.
 
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