Whats the best way to get a horse fit and to lose weight?

O

Olivia16

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 October 2011
Messages
163
Visit site
Whats the best way to get a horse fit and to lose weight? I've heard that leaving horses out with no rugs helps lose weight, is this true?

Also, my horse is very spooky when we go on the road, any ideas to make him less spooky?? He's mostly scared of anything that's taller and smaller than him like a Tractor or a rock :rolleyes:
I'd really like to take him on the road but i'm a bit nervous. i know this would really help him lose weight and condition him.

Any suggestions??

Olivia:)
 
The same as with humans, low calorie feed and plenty of exercise:D



Setting up a track system in the paddock can help, or even doing things like spreading food, water, shelter in different areas so they aren't stood in one spot too long. Grass is the thing that will pile on the pounds in my experience, so its worth reducing grass intake by strip grazing or a track system or muzzling/stabling along with feeding soaked hay and low calorie feeds to compensate for the lack of grazing and fibre in the diet.


You can also do things like long reining, lungeing and walking out in hand if you are very nervous, ideally a companion to hack out with makes a huge difference to many horses too.
 
Feed forage, no hard feed and begin with 6 weeks of walking, building up the distance you go to over an hour, then introduce trotting and so on.
Take someone with you on a bike on the road and wear high vis, signal drivers to slow down should help horses' nerves. Try not to let your horse get fat again.
 
How much work are you doing at the moment and what type of work?

I have a good doer who I try to ride every day for at least 40 mins to keep her tum in shape. In the school we do lots of active work to shed the calories, for example canter poles, small jumps, lots of cantering. I also try to lunge her for 10 mins before work just to get her metabolism going before she is turned out for the day.

She is reasonably fit with this level of exercise although I do hack a couple of times a week as well for about 1 and a half hours each time.
 
How often is he being ridden now, what kind of things are you doing with him? What sort of horse is he - good doer, lazy, forward going?

If you're wanting to go out on the road but are nervous then do you have anyone who could come with you? A confident bombproof type horse would be ideal to hack out with if your horse is spooky. Obviously the more he sees the better he should get, spook-wise. If there are certain things he doesn't like (eg - flapping clothes on washing lines, wheelie bins etc) you could set up a little obstactle course in the field and try to spook proof him that way, let him investigate the things he's afraid of and show him they're not as scary as he thinks they are. You can do that from the ground and then as he starts to get braver ride him around / past them.
If you don't have anyone to ride out with then someone on the ground will still reassure him.

At this time of year your horse won't need a rug on, it's plenty warm enough now, though a fly rug won't make any difference if you think he'll get pestered by them. Control grazing by strip grazing or using a muzzle if he's very overweight. Take out any hard feed from his diet, feed soaked hay rather than unsoaked as this will remove any goodness in it, and build up exercise very slowly - it's the same way with humans, build up the length of time you're out in walk, then introduce trot, include hillwork etc but don't up his workload too quickly or it will tire him rather than improve fitness.
 
Last edited:
grazing muzzle day, stable at night, ride every day, building up from walk gradually, have lessons in the school, and use a low cal feed balancer in place of hard feed.

All hard work, good luck x
 
Less grass, more work! There's no magic fix.

Limit his grass either with restricted grazing, or muzzle. Limit his hay if stabled (small holed nets, mix in straw). No hard feed at all (handful of chaff with a supplement max).

Work at least 5-6 days a week, even if it's just lunging. Lots and lots of trot work (once he's fit in walk).

Getting him to hack is an entirely different task. LOTS of inhand walking and going out with a quiet sensible horse is the best way. Everyday for 4weeks min.
 
dont feed him and ride him. less feed = less spoky behaviour = you riding him more often. yay! the vast majority of horses dont need more than grass and hay, especilay if they are fat!.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top