Worried about my overweight oldy

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kate79

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Hi guys,

Really need advice, I have a mare in her mid twenties shes a welsh d x she's always been one of those ponies that is a extremely good doer! She is now pretty much retired from work because of back problems except lunging to try keep her moving.
This Is the first year she's not worked and she is really overweight, she's always been cresty and have always had trouble keeping her weight down.. But now it seems impossible!!!
She's really overweight and is in from 9 in morning to 5 at night and then out at night on a field with pretty much no grass! Today she came in really footy , no pulse but starting to look uncomfy! I'm obviously really concerned about lami, anyone have any suggestions?

Xxx
 
grazing muzzle?? maybe keeping her out 24/7 would help, I know when I was bringing my boy in to lose some weight at night, it wasn't working.
Spoke to the vet that was visiting the yard and she said he would consume in a couple of hours what he would in 24 hrs if he had been restricted.
I keep my boys muzzle on all the time he is out and he comes in for hay for a couple of hours a day and in two weeks he is looking so much better already.
 
Tried muzzle she got completely stressed tried it for a good week but she just got so stressed wouldn't eat or drink :( already soak her hay for 24 hours she doesn't tend to eat much of her hay when she's in xxx
 
If she isn't eating her hay when she's in then I'd suspect she's getting far more grass than you realise! Grass is constantly growing at this time of year, especially with the current weather.

I'd personally make her grazing area much smaller with electric fencing to make a small paddock or better still a track. I find mine does better out rather than stood in a stable providing grass is well restricted. I then feed a nominal amount of high fibre haylage/soaked hay to get some fibre.
 
The problem is that standing in they are using no calories at all. Ours are out 24/7 on their usual summer grazing(which isn't really enough). We would normally have to supplement this but this year they have more than enough grass, because it has been raining so much, the grass is growing continuously. If you feel that yours needs some extra fibre, try feeding straight straw chaff - one of ours isn't keen on it but a SMALL sprinkle of Graze-on dried grass (which we feed the retired cob on) gets her started.
I agree that she needs a smaller grazing area, if you can organise it a track might be a good idea, as she would have to keep moving, whereas strip-grazing limits their movement.
Can you exercise her by lunging or walking out in hand?
 
I would go with a track system with virtually no grass & soaked hay so she isn't left with no forage going through at all.
Can she be led on hacks from another horse for decent exercise. Or if her back is up to it find a small older child who weighs only a few stone that's capable of riding her?
And if its going to be an on going problem I would look to rationing her hay & exercising well over winter in the future so she comes into spring very much on the lean side. Not skinny but with just visible ribs, that way the spring grass will just get her back to an ideal weight & you only have to maintain instead of lose it over summer.
 
Trouble is, this year is so difficult to manage as the Spring flush was delayed by the drought and the grass is a full on fructan fest :o

To deal with the immediate problem of footiness, In your shoes I would call the vet, I know it is a Saturday, but prompt action now will avert a laminitic episode that will take him weeks to recover from. If you catch it very early by tomorrow he will already be on the mend.

There is that stage when the stride just goes dead, you can hear it rather than see it, this comes before footy and is often missed, particularly in shod horses. They can just shuffle from foot to foot when at rest.

Certainly right now he should be off grass completely for 24 hours (as you say he is footy). What worked for mine was complete diet replacement with Hi-Fi lite and high fibre cubes, he couldn't eat hay which was handy because the fructans lurk even after soaking. He would then have regulated access to grazing until the grass had burned off (prayed for a hot July :)).

These natives, they are designed to thrive on very poor keep. Trouble is, walking in hand will exhaust you more than him! I kept mine ticking over on the lunge, not hard work because he was getting on a bit and lunging not ideal for old legs but 10 minutes a day at a brisk marching walk kept him going.

The paradise paddock system works very well. I kept mine in his own bare paddock (during critical periods) with field shelter so he could nibble his Hi-Fi lite all day in private.

Long term as mentioned above, I addressed the weight during the winter. From January onwards he was on a falling plane of nutrition so he hit the spring with plenty in hand.

Sounds dreadful but as they get older their teeth start to go and that is a blessing in one way - they still retain their sensitivity to fructans though :o
 
Agree with RR. The grass is just too much for a lot of horses this year, making them footy.

You need them off the grass. And yes in an ideal world they would be out 24/7, So unless you can give access to that with no grass then I would bring in during the day and out with a muzzle at night. She will get used to it, and ponies are very good at giving you the " I can't posslibly eat and drink with this on" they can and they do!

Oh and call the vet is she is footy, you may well need to keep her in anyway if first signs of Laminitis.

I have two semi retired ponies ( 21 and 19 ) neither of them are overweight, they are out 24/7 in the winter without rugs, this helps a huge amount in keeping them slim :) Fingers crossed your horse is ok
 
I'd put the pony out 24/7 so she can burn off calories rather than standing about in a stable. I'd also try to lunge more (ie. daily). Tape off a much smaller area of paddock as well, I dont believe a horse can get fat unless it has the means to do so, so it sounds like he's simply on too much grass. I think its better to give too little grass and then top up with soaked hay if need be. With my little shetland who is very lami prone - during this time of year, she lives in my hardcored yard with hay and goes out on a very small paddock with minimal grass for literally 30 mins a day just to give her some time out to roll etc. more than anything. Works well for her, she is perfectly slim.
 
She has always been a really cresty mate I think I didn't plan to well! Usually from march her and my other mare ( who is on same paddock and nowhere near as fat as my old mare) are out 24/7 but with all the rain they have a field that had the most amazing amount of grass.. Usually she hits spring .. Puts on weight but them quickly levels because grass stops growing..! This year with all this rain it's been a nightmare. They are on a small paddock with no grass hardly at all as they've eaten it down but she already had the weight on her :( we don't have a school which is a bit of a nightmare at times like this!!! There is no pulse , and no heat but she is tripping so have contacted my farrier . Thank you guys for the advice .. I think I'll try the track system that sounds like a good idea too to keep her moving. X
 
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