Weight loss for a shetland

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Magicmadge

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I have a 3 year old mare, overweight and had laminitis in the past. (not owned by me then) I am trying desperately to get weight off her. If i push too hard with exercise she goes footy. She is on an almost bare area about menage size and in during the day from about 12pm till 7pm. When in she gets two small feeds of lite chaff and fast fibre and soaked hay just a small net. Doesn't seem to be losing. What am i doing wrong? I don't feel like i can give her any less.
 
I have a Shetland x who is in a similar situation. He is losing weight but is not out as much as yours. He is out from 8pm - 7am. If he has his grazing muzzle on he just goes out in the field. If he is having a break from the muzzle (it rubs) he has a tiny patch, about 20 feet x 20 feet to graze on.
During the day when he is in he too has lite chaff, 2 handfuls per day, and three very small haynets spread over the course of the day. To bulk up his diet and to give him something to chew on he also has ad-lib straw.
At first the weight fell off him but it has slowed down now and I ca see it taking the rest of the year to get the last blobby bits off him.
 
Firstly, don't beat yourself up about it :) It takes time, sometimes years! but it will come off eventually;

I wouldn't do anything else, sounds like you're doing a good job.
As long as she's not getting fatter, try not to worry, she probably lose some more over the winter
 
Magicmadge said:
I have a 3 year old mare, overweight and had laminitis in the past. (not owned by me then) I am trying desperately to get weight off her. If i push too hard with exercise she goes footy. She is on an almost bare area about menage size and in during the day from about 12pm till 7pm. When in she gets two small feeds of lite chaff and fast fibre and soaked hay just a small net. Doesn't seem to be losing. What am i doing wrong? I don't feel like i can give her any less.
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Can she do any exercise at all?? I lunged Ty to get the weight off him that worked for me but i understand if she get footy this isnt going to possible. Is she ok to walk out in hand?? Even the littlest of exercise helps.

ty went from this..

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to this..

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Like the others have siad as long as she doesnt put more on, it will come off in time
 
Maybe cut out the chaff? I feed my chubster fast fibre with naf slimline which seems to help. Maybe also add magnesium to see if that helps with the footiness?
 
How long are you soaking the hay for?

Do be careful when taking weight off a shetland, as they are prone to a condition called hyperlipaemia, which occurs when fat comes off the body and enters the liver/blood stream, usually when a horse is losing weight suddenly for some reason.

When dieting shetlands, they must continue to get food, just the right kind of food.

When we're getting weight off any of ours, they usually come off the grass entirely, or onto a dust patch of grass, but we supply them with adlib hay that has been soaked for a minimum of 12 hours, sometimes for 24 hours but with a change of water halfway.

Exercise is also useful, but this is sounding difficult for you. Why is the shetland footy if worked? Is it borderline laminitic, or is it struggling with stoney ground?
 
Thanks for your replies, you did an amazing job with your boy stinkbomb. This is Bonnie

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In these pics she doesn't look too bad, but she is carrying too much and my farrier has told me to get her down to help the feet. I think the footiness is due to the hard ground and also my bare paddock is stony. Hay is soaked between 6- 8 hours so will up that. I was giving her the chaff and fast fibre to help things keep moving through as she gets very little of anything else, there is no grass in the paddock. I sprayed off the weeds before this dry spell , there were more weeds than grass and now it is so bare the grass has died in the heat to i think. Will try her out and about on the verges also and see how she goes. How much soaked hay should she get? It is this years hay too, can't get anything else around here. She weighs 245 on the weigh tape.
 
I have a 32" mini shetland and she only has a small kiddies beaker of fast fibre she is on a bare paddock and has adlib soaked hay and gets lunged long reined and wlked out in hand and has lost weight doing this and is looking just right now. I only give chaff with the fast fibre in winter (small handful of happy hoof)
 
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