Weight loss for a chubby retired horse who gets fat just looking at food

[Muddy unicorn]

I urgently need to stop my retired ISH from piling on even more weight and ideally lose a bit. He’s not quite 16hh, just turned 14 and has been essentially out of work for the last two years (we tried bringing him back into work last summer with the hope of being able to hack him lightly but it didn’t end well). He’s out 24/7 (with a companion) as he has hock arthritis and asthma and in the last couple of weeks our grass has started growing ferociously and his waistline has expanded scarily quickly. I tried using a muzzle last year but had to take it off as he developed bad rubs which got infected (he has very sensitive skin). I’ve just bought a flexible filly thin line muzzle and halter and am hoping he will tolerate that better.

My plan is to move them onto one of the slightly smaller (4 acres) summer paddocks where the grass is slightly less rich but there’s still a huge amount of grass there. I’m thinking of running a track around the perimeter as opposed to strip grazing as both horses need to keep moving, but I’m still anxious about the amount of grass he’ll be getting. Would topping the track help or would that just mean they’re getting more sugar from the grass? They both have a token feed of a handful of chaff as my boy needs a sweet itch supplement.

Is there anything else I can do? I’ve been taking him for short in-hand hacks but obviously that’s not going to make a huge difference?

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have a track around an acre and it kept my two fatties lovely and slim last year so I would recommend it for movement and weight loss. If you use a combination of wooden and plastic posts it’s possible to reduce the width and shape of the track decreasing the amount they can consume. It’s the first year my EMS pony wasn’t wearing a muzzle for 8 years and he was slimmer than ever and only had one insulin spike all summer which was my fault.

Could you divide the field up making a long thin track with water one end and feed/hay the other so they have to move?

 

[Birker2020]

I urgently need to stop my retired ISH from piling on even more weight and ideally lose a bit. He’s not quite 16hh, just turned 14 and has been essentially out of work for the last two years (we tried bringing him back into work last summer with the hope of being able to hack him lightly but it didn’t end well). He’s out 24/7 (with a companion) as he has hock arthritis and asthma and in the last couple of weeks our grass has started growing ferociously and his waistline has expanded scarily quickly. I tried using a muzzle last year but had to take it off as he developed bad rubs which got infected (he has very sensitive skin). I’ve just bought a flexible filly thin line muzzle and halter and am hoping he will tolerate that better.

My plan is to move them onto one of the slightly smaller (4 acres) summer paddocks where the grass is slightly less rich but there’s still a huge amount of grass there. I’m thinking of running a track around the perimeter as opposed to strip grazing as both horses need to keep moving, but I’m still anxious about the amount of grass he’ll be getting. Would topping the track help or would that just mean they’re getting more sugar from the grass? They both have a token feed of a handful of chaff as my boy needs a sweet itch supplement.

Is there anything else I can do? I’ve been taking him for short in-hand hacks but obviously that’s not going to make a huge difference?

You can strip graze and still have enough room for them to move. It's how I've managed mine for years.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I set up a temporary late spring/summer/autumn equicentral track on mine. In fact, it's being put up today a couple of weeks layer than usual, as the grass has been late to get going. The grass is already short as they have been out on it all winter.

I then don't strip graze, they have to work for their grass. Simply removing the second water point (used to have water available in both fields) means that they are moving constantly to and fro between the two paddocks. It really works, and they are much healthier than when I used to strip graze. Two of them have PPID.

 

[SEL]

I track the field - for PSSM as much as weight. Poor Appy isn't actually fat at the moment but she tied up last weekend so grass is obviously very sweet. She's also an expert muzzle remover and gets rubbed from it.

I open up the track in stages, let the ponies onto the new bit first whilst taking her for a walk out in hand. Allows them to eat the worst of it off before she gets turned out.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Track system would probably work better might be worth testing for cushings and ems my mare had both at 14 and also retired and I struggled to keep weight down.

She was easier to manage once on prascend so if there is anything metabolic going on it's so difficult to manage them without the right treatment.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Thanks - I'll ask our vet about the possibility of Cushings/EMS

Any thoughts on topping the track vs leaving it long? It's very lush and green

Also any tips on muzzle fitting/wearing? (he's going to hate me ...)

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Longer grass has less sugar than shorter grass but you have to weigh up how much they eat when it’s long compared to when it’s short. I cut my track at Easter and it was so long when I walked it last week I’ve borrowed some horses to eat it down before I put my two out as I would rather they have a smaller acreage with shorter grass.

Muzzles need shorter grass for them to be able to get anything. On their other field I used either a Dinky XL or a Kramer one which has a rubber bucket with an oblong hole. Never had any rubs with either of them.

 

[Fjord]

I put a small track round the field and strim any long grass so my mare has to work for it. I utilise the bit that got trashed over winter so there's more space and less grass. Soaked hay dotted about to keep her moving helps.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Update: I got the vet out a couple of weeks ago as he was having a bad flare up of asthma, which obviously isn’t being helped by being overweight. I’ve fenced off about a third of the field which is mostly older grass that they were ignoring in favour of the juicy new growth (which they now can’t get to). He’s out on that during the day with a flexible filly muzzle on which he seems to be tolerating pretty well - he got a tiny rub on his nose, ironically from the seam of the padding to stop rubbing but I’ve switched the padding round and have been liberally applying vaseline which seems to be working. At night they come into a smaller paddock with virtually no grass so he can have his muzzle off overnight. Poos are back to normal rather than horribly sloppy cowpats which I’m hoping is a good sign and he’s going for a brisk walk, going up by 5 minutes every week.

Next month a local farmer is going to cut the grass on one of the summer fields for silage and I’m going to put them in there on a track round the perimeter and leave the bigger field for a late crop of hay.

The vet’s coming back in a month and if he’s still substantially overweight we’re going to check for EMS. The farrier saw him earlier this week - his feet are fabulous so while he obviously needs to lose weight he’s not currently a laminitis worry. The farrier said he wasn’t even the fattest horse he’d seen this month .

We’ve got a long way to go but it feels a bit more under control.

 

[Goldenstar]

If you have a stable stable all day and turnout muzzled at night .

 

[tristar]

I have a track around an acre and it kept my two fatties lovely and slim last year so I would recommend it for movement and weight loss. If you use a combination of wooden and plastic posts it’s possible to reduce the width and shape of the track decreasing the amount they can consume. It’s the first year my EMS pony wasn’t wearing a muzzle for 8 years and he was slimmer than ever and only had one insulin spike all summer which was my fault.

Could you divide the field up making a long thin track with water one end and feed/hay the other so they have to move?

our cob is on about 1 1/2 acres sort of track which goes round a horse walker and round pen, 2 small paddocks and a small lane, this year he is not putting on the weight, its works great, he is fit and on the move all the time to get a living off it, best thing ever to be honest, much better than immobilizing in a small area

 

[bouncing_ball]

How narrow can a track be for a single large horse? It's a long narrow field. I was thinking to track all the way round the edge? Just pondering the minimum width for track.

 

[GinaGeo]

If it’s just for one horse then I’d make sure there was enough room for them turn all the way round it and then some wider areas for them to relax.

My four are on a track which 16ft wide mostly. With some wider sections and some slightly narrower.

The narrowest bits are 10ft. Which still allows machinery to pass through. They do move through these sections without loitering.

 

[Birker2020]

How narrow can a track be for a single large horse? It's a long narrow field. I was thinking to track all the way round the edge? Just pondering the minimum width for track.

I would have said around 10ft but I don't think there is any particular guideline.

 

[Burnttoast]

Minimum width is the length of the horse but that might seem too narrow to many. Our track (2 ponies) varies from a pinch point that they can block by standing across it (horrid so-and-sos) to one corner that's about 10m (the other corners have tree clumps in them). I'm not sure how much movement a track will produce when there's just one horse on it, but that probably goes for a field too. I think they're more inclined to move in company. But at least there's usually a longer walk to the water on a track.

I'd top the grass. Sugar isn't the only digestible part of grass for horses so the volume consumed does matter.

 

[PurBee]

How narrow can a track be for a single large horse? It's a long narrow field. I was thinking to track all the way round the edge? Just pondering the minimum width for track.

If yours likes to roll when they go out then give a good area for rolling space - then have narrow track @ 6ft at least….7-8 more comfy. For multiple horses, 10ft generally.

My gelding rolled in a mud pit between narrow 5ft gate posts, (a crossing bridge over a drain to allow them to get to other grass) and bent the wooden posts over. It was the smallest space, i couldnt believe he thought it was possible to roll there! Mine love to roll in mud to use as deterrent for flies!

 

[Birker2020]

This is Gawsworth - the wide area are on the corners and under shady bits for resting I think

 

[Muddy unicorn]

I’ve just started putting the two retired boys onto the field which is going to be tracked. We’ve had so much rain in the last three weeks that the grass has shot up again and is looking alarmingly green. So at the moment they’ve just got half of one of the long sides, and they’re going onto that during the day (mine has his muzzle on). The track is mostly two and a bit horse lengths wide with bigger areas at the corners. His companion has lost a bit of weight so is fine muzzle-less. They’re coming in for a few hours in the afternoon to get away from the flies and then going out onto the virtually bare paddock overnight. Once they’ve eaten it down I’ll extend it bit by bit. They can’t stay in for the whole day as the stables get very hot in the middle of the day plus mine has asthma and his companion literally creaks when he’s been in for too long. I’m longing for winter as it’s actually much easier to manage them especially as we don’t really get much mud.