Weight concerns

[Tiffany]

I own a 16yo ID mare who's always been a good doer. She was diagnosed with navicular last year so I like her out as much as possible to help circulation in her feet. However, if I let her she would just eat continually.

Anyway, if she's out she wears a grazing muzzle, when she's in she gets a net in the morning, 1 in afternoon and 1 at night. All double netted. She also gets 2 tiny feeds of Happy Hoof and Hi Fibre cubes and I mean tiny.

She's ridden 4-5 times a week, although mainly walk and trot and lunged once a week.

I don't like her stood without anything going through her gut for too long but the slimmer she is the better for her.

Bit of a vicious circle, any other ideas anyone please?

Thanks

 

[Mike007]

I think Oat straw is your friend here.It is so important to keep the fibre going through them. Threshed hay is another possibility,this is grass cut late once it has set seed and threshed through a combine harvester . It has a much lower energy content than normal hay but if well made extremely palatable.

 

[nikicb]

I have a new horse who was a bit of a fatty when I got him (he's 1/4 ID and 1/2 Connie, other 1/4 TB). I have put him on a long thin paddock (around 1/4 acre over all) which had quite a lot of grass to start with but now fairly short, but at this time of the year there is enough new stuff coming through daily. The good thing is he walks all the time to find new shoots of grass to eat and over the past week or so has started to drop his weight thank goodness! He's out 10 hours at least a day now (in old home out around 2 hours a day) but has to exercise more for what he gets.

 

[PucciNPoni]

I think Oat straw is your friend here.It is so important to keep the fibre going through them.

About 18 months ago you suggested this to me for my overweight good doer Mike - and I have to say I did it and I have never looked back. My horse still gets double netted half straw half hay and looks amazing on it. In fact, every other horse on my hard is looking rather portly this year and they've all been started on the same.

OP, go for it!

 

[Tiffany]

I think Oat straw is your friend here.It is so important to keep the fibre going through them. Threshed hay is another possibility,this is grass cut late once it has set seed and threshed through a combine harvester . It has a much lower energy content than normal hay but if well made extremely palatable.

Yard doesn't have Oat straw although I'm sure they won't mind me buying some in so I'll give it a try - thanks

 

[Tiffany]

About 18 months ago you suggested this to me for my overweight good doer Mike - and I have to say I did it and I have never looked back. My horse still gets double netted half straw half hay and looks amazing on it. In fact, every other horse on my hard is looking rather portly this year and they've all been started on the same.

OP, go for it!

Good to hear it works - did you switch completely or have you always mixed hay with Oat straw?

 

[Tiffany]

I have a new horse who was a bit of a fatty when I got him (he's 1/4 ID and 1/2 Connie, other 1/4 TB). I have put him on a long thin paddock (around 1/4 acre over all) which had quite a lot of grass to start with but now fairly short, but at this time of the year there is enough new stuff coming through daily. The good thing is he walks all the time to find new shoots of grass to eat and over the past week or so has started to drop his weight thank goodness! He's out 10 hours at least a day now (in old home out around 2 hours a day) but has to exercise more for what he gets.

Unfortunately, my girl jused to jump out of one field to another if grass getting low in her paddock. Hence the muzzle now

 

[PucciNPoni]

Good to hear it works - did you switch completely or have you always mixed hay with Oat straw?

I mix half hay and half straw. I don't want to completely take away the nutritional value of his forage, just need to slow down the consumption. Mine tends to scoff his net really quickly so hence the double small holed net. But we have a bale of hay and a bale of straw next to each other and I just grab a handful of each and stuff

Some of the horses might pick around the straw and eat the hay first, but if they're hungry they'll eat the straw. I only started doing this 18 months ago (he was on soaked hay before that, which was messy, time consuming and a pain - and didn't do much for my horse as he still finished his small amount too fast). what I like about the feeding of straw is that it's a bit more difficult to get it out of hte net, so slows him down. But it also keeps him munching for longer as I can actuallyl put more in his net.