Very worried

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ecarylloh

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My horse, 23 year old Thoroughbred/Arab, is very overweight. I've seen it coming for a little while now and have been trying my best to prevent her from getting to this stage but I'm terribly worried about her.

I got her through winter in good shape, but she's a very good doer, and with all the lush grass at the moment she's just ballooned.

The main problem, though, is me. My job means that I leave for work at 5am and don't get back until about 9/10pm, so I am only ever able to ride her once or twice a week at the weekends. She is in full livery with my retired riding teacher. There are only two other horses on the land, both of whom are retired, so there are no other riders around to give her an exercise during the week.

At the moment she is on restricted grazing (about 1/3 acre), and spends half the day and all night in the stable with a tiny bit of hay. She doesn't get any other feed. I ride her for about 2 hours each week, doing lots of dressage to get her to use her muscles properly. My OH comes down when he can after work (around twice a week) and takes her for a run around the 20 acre field on a leadrope, as he is only just beginning to learn how to ride and she is not a beginner's horse.

I am giving up my job at the end of August. At that point I move to Bristol and become self-employed, so I should be able to ride her every day. However, I am really worried about her and don't want to wait until then to sort this weight problem out, particularly after reading some of the threads on this board talking about all the difficulties faced by overweight horses, and considering her age.

Does anyone have any useful/helpful tips for how I might be able to deal with this before the end of August?

And please, please don't start throwing abuse at me for letting my horse get into this state. I know she's overweight, I am trying to do something about it, but my work means I can't spend the time I need to exercising her as much as she needs, so I am looking for alternative solutions...
 
You could advertise for a rider for her in your local tack shops ect? Im sure there are a lot of people out there looking for a bit of extra riding or to get back in the saddle.
 
Well the important thing is that you are doing something about it, so it's not all bad :)

In my experience the most important thing is reducing the grass intake, in fact my mare lost weight when she was completely restricted with no exercise due to injury.

Some things youcould possibly try could be using a grazing muzzle, she will be better off out and moving rather than stood in a stable which will slow down her metabolism. The 'paddock paradise' or a track system works really well and keeps them moving, my good doer keeps at a good weight using this system if you are able to set it up.

Would your husband be able to lunge/ long line her?

Make sure she has access to plenty of low calorie fibre (soaked hay) a 'starved' horse will hang on to weight as the metabolism slows.

Adding something like Naf Slimline or Mag ox to the diet might help.

Could you advertise for someone to ride her?
 
Thank you for the replies!

Touchstone - I will certainly try the grazing muzzle and those supplements - mix them in with a bit of soaked hay?

As for finding another rider for her. I did try this a few months ago - I got a very experienced woman - friend of a friend - to ride her a couple of times. The problem is that Fleur has an incredibly sensitive mouth; I do pretty much all my steering through my legs and torso and keep the lightest contact through the reins. I told the woman this and she seemed to take it on board, but a few weeks later Fleur had a nasty sore on the side of her mouth that even now, two months down the line, bleeds occasionally. I don't particularly want to give Fleur more pain on top of dieting her, but do you think the risk of hurting her mouth is worth it? I might see if the supplements do any good before looking for another rider...
 
Electric fence your horse in to a small area and that will do the trick. However when stabled ensure that she has enough low calorie hay to nibble at. (soak the hay for about an hour to get rid of the nutrition).
 
Soaking the hay for an hour won't take away the nutrition - as far as I have read, you must soak from 12-24 hours for this. It's helped tremendously with my ArabxTB. Sixty kilos since end of March later...we're getting a waistline! Try a muzzle or make a starvie if you can't keep her in off the grass longer.
 
ecarylloh said:
Thank you for the replies!

Touchstone - I will certainly try the grazing muzzle and those supplements - mix them in with a bit of soaked hay?

As for finding another rider for her. I did try this a few months ago - I got a very experienced woman - friend of a friend - to ride her a couple of times. The problem is that Fleur has an incredibly sensitive mouth; I do pretty much all my steering through my legs and torso and keep the lightest contact through the reins. I told the woman this and she seemed to take it on board, but a few weeks later Fleur had a nasty sore on the side of her mouth that even now, two months down the line, bleeds occasionally. I don't particularly want to give Fleur more pain on top of dieting her, but do you think the risk of hurting her mouth is worth it? I might see if the supplements do any good before looking for another rider...
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The supplements are easier given in a bit of low calorie chaff, Hi-Fi LIte or Good Doer by Dengie would do, or I use Fast Fibre by Allen and Page, they are hay replacers too so mean you can feed quite a bit if you want to without piling on the pounds. Sprinkling them on hay will probably mean most of it gets wasted I think.

I'd be a bit concerned that her mouth is still sore a few months down the line, is her bit rubbing/catching her at all? Otherwise you could see how she goes bitless if it is a problem.

Good luck with her, at least you can look forwards to August when you can ride her more often. :)

ETA:- If you feed the Naf Slimline you wouldn't need to feed the Mag Ox as it already has it in.
 
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I was going to suggest asking the YO to lunge her too.
Whereabouts are you? I'm looking for someone who needs help, but it seems nobody wants someone for free in my area!
 
YO is very ill at the moment so isn't really doing much - her OH is doing the livery bits and pieces but doesn't get involved in lunging or exercising horses.

@Pavlovscat - the field is between Cambridge and Royston. In your area?
 
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