What do you do with a gooddoer who is putting

My mare balloons on haylage. Shes on soaked hay with a handful of low cal chaff for her supplements. Ive also got her some fibre blocks for the winter which are compressed so takes them ages to get through it. Also mixed her hay with straw when she was on box rest to help keep the weight under control
 
Cut out anything apart from soaked hay mixed with straw which is measured; get proper trickle nets and get him onto shavings pronto. He's old enough to be taken for walks so do that to burn some calories.
 
My Draft mare was definitely obese when I got her. She had to be fed on haylage as we couldn'tget good quality hay. I wouldn'tuse a haynet if you offered me a lottery win. The mare had her haylage split into three feeds with trugs full of oat straw chaff, we got through two bags per week! Then I gave her mag.ox which after a month or so made her her lethargic, so I stopped it again but it has 'reset' her appetite and now she o.ly eats a scoop or two of chaff every night. She is now a much better weight
 
Dexydoodle said:
My mare balloons on haylage. Shes on soaked hay with a handful of low cal chaff for her supplements. Ive also got her some fibre blocks for the winter which are compressed so takes them ages to get through it. Also mixed her hay with straw when she was on box rest to help keep the weight under control
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What fibre blocks do you use? Interested for my good doer who needs to be fed from the ground on vets advice, but is also a greedy so and so!
 
ester said:
I was thinking this one might be better http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/maintenance/3

I've never fed my Frankie haylage, I would probably avoid it at all costs ;). I was brought up on hay and the only ones that got haylage were the real oldies that needed the weight (and then they only got half hay/half haylage).
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Thats the one hes on, must have put the wrong link before!

Its not proper haylage, its between hay and haylage, very dry but wrapped. Its also all thats available, so its what he will be getting :)

I cant soak hay, I cant manage to lift it. I also wouldnt dream of stopping him eating his bed! If he wants to nibble on straw then thats fine by me. I'm also not leaving him stood for hours with no food.

I'll up his exercise, but it wont get to the stage where its classed as proper work, but it should help.

The fibre blocks dont last very long at all! A few mins once they have the hang of them. He did used to get hay pillows when he lived out so I might try that again as well
 
My ID mare is a good doer with navicular so important she doesn't balloon. Her nets are doubled and she gets a mix of straw with haylage. I also leave an ad lib fibre block in her stable which she eats if she's hungry during the night. So far so good :)
 
Why on earth are you feeding him so much when he is doing so little exercise?

Yes, he needs calories to grow, but not so many that will make him fat! He also needs to stimulate his bone growth by moving around and strengthen his ligaments and tendons with exercise.

Although I'm not surprised he is eating so much, he has nothing else to occupy his time most of the day!

Is he backed yet?
 
I have not read all the replies, so I am sorry if I go over old ground. My lad is now 6 going on 7. He stopped growing upwards only this year, and has REALLY filled out over the last six months. Last spring he took a 5'9 rug - he is now proudly sporting a 6'3 ! He's only 14.2, although he may be higher - i need to borrow a measure.

Anyhow, he has always been prone to put on weight. I tried various feeds, and then started trying balancers (lo cal), and settled on Top spec Lite. £24 bag lasts him three months, at rate suggested by their rep. I also give him their Cool Condition cubes for more ooomph, and swear this has made his frame grow as well as it has. Nothing else, except for a squirt of veg oil.

He is out during the day (muzzled in summer) and in at night. Currently, he is on 4 sections of hay a night, less in the summer, and one in the morning. He is hacked every day that it is not raining (!) for over an hour.


This regime has been the making of my lad - I hope it helps you.
 
If I fed ab lib as in hay my natives would burst.... The 24/7 ones have a slice of hay and a Stubbs scoop of chestnut lite, basically hi-fi lite. Swap for hi fi lite and cubes , straw and hay mixed. How longs he bring turned away for?

why not try baileys low cal and hi- fi lite, minerals and vits without fat
 
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I am also not a huge haynet fan but I also have a horse who would stuff himself until he burst given half the chance thus a tricklenet is a necessary evil. Good thing about them is that with an unshod horse you can get away with tying them slightly lower (obv still high enough to keep the string out of the way!) than traditional nets. An idea that has been suggested to me that I have yet to really explore is the possibility of having a haybar or similar and then attaching a tie-ring to the bottom and putting the trickle net in there so that the eating position is more natural (pretty sure I've also seen designs of nets to go over hay bars). I'd also cut out the linseed oil and be feeding the bare minimum of everything else just so he gets his vitamins and minerals. Could also try soaking your hay.
 
tankgirl1 said:
What fibre blocks do you use? Interested for my good doer who needs to be fed from the ground on vets advice, but is also a greedy so and so!
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Ive got the feedmark ones. She is a greedy girl and will wolf through hay but the fibre blocks do seem to last. Friend at the yard tried for her mare as well and got on well with them. They're not the cheapest way to feed but I dont use it as feed as such, more a way to keep some fibre going in whilst being able to restrict intake a bit
 
Slow feeders are basically some form of box with some form of mesh or netting over the top, so the forage is "on the ground" but they have to graze it rather than just taking large mouthfuls. I have 2 in my field built from pallets - a wooden box with a lid that is a frame with mesh covering it, I think it is 2" holes at the moment but will be making new ones for next year (I have youngsters out 24/7 and no hard feed so it is more to stop wastage at the moment). You can make various versions to go in stables, using corner feeders or buckets, google slow feeders for different ideas, there are loads!! Here is an example of a commercial one that could easily be made at home with a bit of imagination and simple tools.
http://www.porta-grazer.com/
And this is a link to different homemade ideas that might give you inspiration. You can make them really easy to fill - some people use wheelie bins for example, cut a hole at the bottom and cover with mesh or net, very easy for you to fill, put a bolt on the lid to lock it, and wheel it in to the stable!!
http://paddockparadise.wikifoundry.com/page/Slow+Feeders
 
dollyanna said:
Slow feeders are basically some form of box with some form of mesh or netting over the top, so the forage is "on the ground" but they have to graze it rather than just taking large mouthfuls. I have 2 in my field built from pallets - a wooden box with a lid that is a frame with mesh covering it, I think it is 2" holes at the moment but will be making new ones for next year (I have youngsters out 24/7 and no hard feed so it is more to stop wastage at the moment). You can make various versions to go in stables, using corner feeders or buckets, google slow feeders for different ideas, there are loads!! Here is an example of a commercial one that could easily be made at home with a bit of imagination and simple tools.
http://www.porta-grazer.com/
And this is a link to different homemade ideas that might give you inspiration. You can make them really easy to fill - some people use wheelie bins for example, cut a hole at the bottom and cover with mesh or net, very easy for you to fill, put a bolt on the lid to lock it, and wheel it in to the stable!!
http://paddockparadise.wikifoundry.com/page/Slow+Feeders
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Oddly enough, In have a spare wheelie bin and was going to do this when he was living out 24/7. Dont know why I didnt think of using it in his stable. Thanks Dollyanna :)
 
It is very difficult with fatty ponies. When I bought my pony 18 months ago, he was massively overweight. He taped in at over 500kg and he is only 13.1hh!

I got the weight off by chucking him out naked with hay and straw. I was lucky in that the YO lives on site so he could have minimal forage but in small amounts throughout the day. Nature took its course and the cold and less food made him an ideal weight. He now self regulates his feed and if anything is struggling keeping weight on this year.

You say you dont want him to go hungry, but I think you need to to get the weight off. You need to be cruel to be kind for the sake of his health. Benji now tapes at about 375kg and looks so much better for it. He now gets half a bale of hay a day and lives out 24/7. He is rugged this year but is clipped.

My new mare is the same, she is very fat so she had rugs whipped off and chucked out 24/7 with minimal hay and a token feed of fast fiber when my boy gets fed.

This is a before an after (well after and before as the pictures are the wrong way round!)

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If yours is in more than out then he needs a lot more exercise and stimulation as I am sure he loves standing in eating all day but you are just asking for problems in later life.
 
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