Using winter to slim fatties down...

katie_southwest

katie_southwest

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Ok so Iv never worried about my mares weight before, yes shes a cob so shes never going to be 'skinny' , even when she was being worked 3 - 4 hours a day she was blimmin fit, but still stocky.
This year she has got a lot bigger than I would ever like in the summer. I know its not just me, everyone seems to be saying they're struggling with the weather weve had etc but I just feel terrible.
She has a muzzle and is being worked as much as I can, but I feel its not going to come off entirely until the winter.
The past 2 winters shes lived in overnight due to having mud fever one year and the livery yard not allowing 24/7 turnout in winter (everyone kept them in if it rained etc so spent alot of winter stood in)
This year I have moved and rent my own field so she will be out 24/7 (they have a field shelter also) along with her 30 yr old companion :) bless him.
The oldie will be rugged as he needs to keep warm and cant afford to lose condition, but I just dont know how to approach winter with her....

Do I leave her unrugged, but Ill have a wet horse to ride? and she does sweat with her full winter coat (think wooly mammoth!)
Or do I clip and just put a rainsheet on to keep her dry for riding...?

What do others do?

Ps Im in no way saying Im going to leave her shivering all winter to lose weight, but any tips to use winter to my advantage would be great :D
 
I would in an ideal world, give her a low trace or bib clip (or more if working harder), have her lightly rugged to keep clean and dry. No extra hard food, access to a mineral lick and just hay in the field if lack of grazing (imagine oldie will need access to ad lib?) and lots of work!
 
I left my 19 year old TB out all winter naked, bar one night (he hates rugs-don't think he's forgiven me yet!), unclipped. He looked spot on weight-wise and he hasn't gained his usual amount of podge this summer. He gets fed sod all, just a bit of Fast Fibre. This year I might want to do a bit more with him, so he will probably be clipped, in which case I will rug him as lightly as I can get away with. Nothing slims them down as quick as being a bit cold! Although the winter before last, when it was really cold, he was chaser clipped and managed to get his 300gm rug off. It was frozen to the ground when I went up in the evening to get him in and he was toasty warm, despite being naked in sub zero conditions with half his fur off!:eek:

Must have been his impressive post-summer fat store:p
 
Either clip and a light rug/rain sheet or no clip and unrugged :)

I don't clip my two natives and only the older one at 21 has a rain sheet on if its windy and wet.............NOT if it is windy OR wet! Works every year and I never have a problem spring/summer with their weight, even this year!

And don't feel guilty, she will love being out 24/7
 
I slightly under-rug mine - he's not cold but he's not 'toasty' either, he's fully clipped in winter. I never up his hard feed but I will up his haylage (can't tolerate hay) when he's in at night.
 
Thank you :)
Yes oldie will first have half of the field that Iv saved for him of grass, which will keep him going for a while as he struggles with hay. Hel also get fed twice daily.
I thought along the same lines, probably a trace clip, and then just a rainsheet to keep her dry and clean for riding. She wont be getting any extra feed, just some chaff for her supplement.
 
Mitchyden said:
I would clip out and rug with the lightest possible rug. I'd be careful with rainsheets as when it's torrential rain, they have a tendency to leak a lot.
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Depends on the rug - my Shires rainsheet kept mine completely dry in the torrential rain we had a few weeks back :)
 
I always use the winter to sort out any weighty issues.

I save a field for the winter and let the grass get really long and keel over. Then strip graze this so there is plenty of bulk for full tummies but not much goodness. This means in a normal winter they are not fed hay until Christmas and any excess condition is gradually removed in a healthy way.

The only time this changes is when it is frozen/snow or rough weather, then they get ad lib hay until it passes. The last bit of their winter field is a lovely old hedgerow and they nibble on that for weeks with the added advantage that they can watch the neighbours TV over the hedge.

January is always a tough cheerless month so ad lib hay, but with half an eye on Spring. What I don't want is them actually putting on weight in the winter, which is what they are more than capable of doing!

Once January is out of the way I will start holding them back in case there is an early spring (this is the good doers only btw :)) so that we are ready for the flush whenever it arrives.

This year was so tricky because we had no rain, then no rain, then no rain and I was holding them back thinking is this grass every going to come. Just as well because once the grass came it hasn't stopped!

This only works really because they have plenty of natural shelter and sandy soil so no mud. Can't bear to see miserable cold horses in a sea of mud.
 
When was a kid my ponys where trace clipped and unrugged in winter and they did just fine.
Using the winter to get wieght off is natural and horses are designed to do it.
 
I do the same as rebelrebel. Keep some really long grass and strip graze it. Usually lasts until Christmas, then feed haylage in the field until spring. Field is then sectioned off again so the grass can grow.
I give my cob a full clip except for legs, she lived out last winter with lightweight rug and 100g rug when it was really cold.
 
Winter is the best time to get weight off them, just hold off on the rugs.

The first winter we had B he only had a rain sheet on when it was wet and he lost weight :-)

This winter he will be rugged as he's coming into it just under a perfect weight so don't really want him loosing any xx
 
Mine live out unrugged. I ride my warmblood regularly through winter,I just make sure he does not get too sweaty. If he does,I will walk quietly until he is dry.
Even light rugs squash the coat and prevent it working to its full potential.

I have also worked at a yard with unrugged competition horses,some of whom had a woolier coat than mine. They seemed to thrive.

Ad lib forage is the key to keeping horses warm.

I attended a talk by our local equine vets. They were in favour of not rugging good do-ers to encourage the natural weight loss and metabolic equilibruim seen in wild native ponies.
 
Mine is too hot so I trace clip and leave unrugged. IF she feels cold, I will then rug her. She has a rug on maybe a handful of nights throughout the winter.
 
The thickest rug mine ever gets on is a mediumweight with no neck when it's about -10... he spent much of last year in a lightweight and I was add-lib haying. This year he will be clipped earlier (working harder this year), still lightly rugged (plan on a lightweight until christmas) and not on add lib hay but then he will have more grass in the field during the day where as last year they had nothing.

Hoping to see the shaddow of a rib or two in spring ;)

I would clip - maybe even as much as a blanket clip and rug lightly. giving a little extra hay in harsher weather ;)
 
Don't want to spoil it for you, but our welsh x tb winters better being out 24/7 then when he's in :o :D

Clip and rug imho, then you can take off the rug on the cold but dry days :)
 
Ill be clipping Wee S out and rugging her lightly as she will have to come in at night and be out during the day and shes been fully clipped and ruggless all summer on near enough bare earth and is still looking too round.

Mind you she hasnt been able to get ridden much due to a saddle fiasco but even now in work 4 days a week and getting nothing but what she can scrape from the grass and a cup of turbo/balacer she is still stocky.
 
If you don't mind a dirty horse she could live out unrugged with a chaser or trace clip. At least through autumn and spring. See how she goes in the coldest weather. If you want her rugged try a full clip with a rain sheet. You can always go up to a medium weight rug in the coldest weather, or do a trace clip second time round and keep the rain sheet.
 
Clip and rug :) you can rug so horse is clean and dry and work them hard without having to wory about sweat.

Mine looses more weight when in as he wont eat much hay when in but will happily eat all day when out
 
Thanks guys, I think I'll clip and put her rain sheet on. She has a 100g if it gets really cold but im going to try and be strong, shel be fine, I have to keep telling myself the whole point is not to keep her lovely and warm!!!
 
I must be the only one who finds it easier to get weight off in the summer. The fatties go ont a bare paddock and have a handful of hay twice a day. No muzzles. They slim down really well and I am not worried they are without forage for long periods as there is always some grass to nibble on. Come winter and I am double and tripple netting. Loads more effort!

ETA: I am not keen on slimming horses down by keeping them slightly cold. Though I hate over rugging and think many horses need less than we would often think, I think purposely making them slightly cold is cruel IMO.
 
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Wagtail said:
ETA: I am not keen on slimming horses down by keeping them slightly cold. Though I hate over rugging and think many horses need less than we would often think, I think purposely making them slightly cold is cruel IMO.
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couldn't agree with you more... I frequently stick my hands well under my horse's rug to see how warm he is and he certainly isn't cold. I hate it when people describe their horse as 'toasy warm' though... I couldn't think of anthing more unbearably uncomfortable than being 'toasty warm' under layers and layers of unclean clothes...
 
I have the dilemma of either keeping a rug off to let my good doer keep the belly off or rug him to keep his arthritic joints warm. In the winter, I barely have time to ride except the weekend so most days he got walked round the drive on the yard in the pitch black to loosen up any stiffness:rolleyes:We did well last winter and he coped better in the cold than he currently has been in the heat. My two only went into lightweight sheets when it was cold AND wet. They have a great big field shelter full of straw so they did have the option to stay dry if they were cold. As a general rule I always strip my ponies rugs off in the day unless it's forecast to rain. The relief on their faces to be able to let their backs meet fresh air (no matter how cold) and have a bloody good scratch says it all.
 
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