Weight lose / diet / insulin resistance

mynutmeg

mynutmeg

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So Roo has been steadily gaining weight since the spring grass started coming through and I think we narrowly averted a bout of lami (she's never had before).
She's been on restricted grazing since they went out for the summer but while the other two fatties in her field are loosing weight she has been gaining so I'm thinking it's pretty likely she's early stages of insulin resistance - she puts the weight on her crest (it's about 2-3 inches tall at the moment :eek: ), tail head and shoulder pads. At the start of the week she seemed a lot more 'footy' than usual on the stoney ground across to the school so she is on a new regime now - she's coming in on a morning to a small soaked haynet and not going out again till evening and I'm going to try and source some good straw so she can have more forage as she's going through a double netted haynet very quickly. Her exercise levels are being increased anyway as she's coming back into work after having Milo but I have to be careful about increasing it as this is her coming back after a tendon injury but we're working 4-5 days a week with 15-20 minute school sessions and hour long hacks, mostly walk with trot levels slowly increasing.

Feed wise she's out on a pretty bare paddock, very little grass - I'm aware the short stuff is higher in sugar levels but I have a choice of this paddock which is very closely grazed down or very, very lush (knee lenght) grass.
She's getting about 4kg of soaked meadow hay and a small bucket of top chop lite chaff (unmollassed straw / alfalfa chaff) so she can get her powders (joint / multi vit / hoof supplement).
I've just added magox in to her diet as well.

How quickly can I expect to see results in her weight levels? Any suggestions on how to speed up the weight lose / management changes that would be beneficial to her?

Weight wise according to the weigh tape she's 540kg, ideal weight for her is about 500kg (weigh bridge agrees with the weigh tape when she's around 500kg) so we have quite a lot to loose - score wise she's probably a 7.5 - 8! Obviously she can't stay this way.
 
I'd reduce the amount of hay, I know she's on poor grazing but it's amazing what they can get out of it. I'd double net the hay in haylage nets to make it last longer & soak it overnight if you're feeding in the morning. Or better still muzzle her in the daytime so she's still out & moving around but can't eat as much.

I'd try taking her off anything with alfalfa in, it may be coincidence but my IR one goes footy if he gets feeds with even a small amount of it in.

It's probably worth talking to your vet to see about getting her tested & if any meds could help her. Metformin works well for mine
 
When you say a small bucket of Top Chop Lite, what exactly do you mean? If it is a normal builder's bucket full of chaff then it does sound excessive if you are just giving it to add supplements!
 
Shes gets about 3/4 of a stubbs scoop of chaff a day.
Hay is double netted and soaked already. Until.i can get hold.of some straw to give her something to munch on I'm reluctant to reduce the weight of hay as its only lasting a couple.of hours as it is and shes already standing for a couple.of hours. Ccan I leave hay soaking for 24 hours - im only in the yard once a day and need to leave everything ready in her box as she is just pulled in for.me. at the moment its soaking for 1-2 hours while im on the yard on an evening

I thought grass had to be a reasonable length for them to use a muzle - the field shes in is very, very short so dont think any grass would go up through a muzzles holes but will try her and see if she can eat anything with it on. footiness wise shes totally back to normal after 2/3 days of coming in for the day - shes brought in about 8/9am for me amd then im up, ride amd shes turned out about 7/8pm
 
Could someone recommend a chaff thats unmollassed and doesnt have alfalfa in it? The only one that doesnt have at least one of those two ive managed to find is readigrass which seems quite high calorie levels.
 
Sounds very much like mine. Her paddock is very short but she is muzzled and the weight is steady. She is looking trim but has obvious fat pads.

I am sure she is getting something out there!

I have similar dilemma, stay in short paddock or move to lush field so have stayed.
 
My boy was diagnosed Insulin Resistant after going down with Lami overnight,very fit and not very overweight.The hay is not being soaked for long enough,it really has to be minimum 6/7 hours to remove all of the sugars out of it.My boy was on Hi Fi Lite and when diagnosed we looked at his feed-couldn't quite believe that the hi Fi lite still had sugar levels of about 7%-only about 3% less than normal Hi Fi.I changed onto Hi Fi Molasses Free which has about a 2% sugar content?It's the sugar/molasses levels which need totally reducing.You would probably be better muzzling in a field with longer grass than no muzzle in a very shirt grassed field.Especially this year because if the weather,the short grass is dangerous as it's permanently coming through and that is when it's at it's richest.The grass when longer has lost a lot of its higher sugar content and with the muzzle on they have to work so much harder.My boy has never had any meds for his-all done off diet and exercise.No carrots/apples-only treats mine gets is sugar free polos.Even changes like the above will make a difference and with the exercise-when you are able,even a couple of good walks in hand will help shift the weight.Good luck I know what a nightmare it can be!
 
Same as everyone has suggested above but I also found the cinnamon helped mine to lose weight. Good luck, it's a nightmare this time of year!
 
Can you find the time to up the hours you are hacking out, if it's all steady work it shouldn't harm her recovery.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions - shall try and organise a way to have her hay soaked for longer, have sourced some good straw so will sub some hay for that so she has roughage going through without the calories.

Work wise our hacks are about an hour or so usually and am gradually increasing them and increasing the amount of trot she's doing
 
So about 10 days / 2 weeks into our new regime of minimum 5 days a week work plus soaked hay / straw she's lost about 20kg!! Am so pleased with her - within about 24/48 hours of the new regime and coming in during the day she was much better on her feet / less footy and she's totally back to normal now :-)
 
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