Slimming down a chubby cob!

[Yann]

When we bought Rio she'd been in a field doing nothing for six months and we suspect was still getting quite a lot of hard feed. She had an enormous grass belly, such that the farrier on our new yard was convinced she was in foal. Fortunately that hasn't turned out to be the case!!!

She's out at grass 24/7 and being worked every day in a gentle fittening programme. She still gets a very small hard feed daily with a vitamin supplement to make sure she's getting the essentials. After a fortnight the grass belly is much much reduced but she's still quite big.

Any suggestions as to how we proceed from here with her? Should we keep things as they are and just monitor her shape and condition and up her feed if she starts to lose it?

[Gemma R]

have you thought about using a green guard grazing mask. I am thining about it with Libby at the moment as she is out 24/7 an is rather a good doer!!! They are fairly expesive around £35 - 40 inc postage but they you have it year in year out (assuming the little blighters don't break it).

anyway web site is www.greenguard.co.uk

[ros]

Sounds like you're doing OK as it is, Yann. It can take quite a long time to slim a fat horse down and tone up unused muscles. (Relaxed tummy muscles will also make her grass belly look worse.) As with any human or animal, crash diets aren't safe.

Rio probably doesn't need any hard feed at all if we're being really hard-hearted - I assume you probably mean something like a handful or two of coarse mix in a bit of chop? Even so you could happily cut out the coarse mix until she's actually doing something a bit more like hard work!

[LindaAd]

The hard thing is finding just the right amount of grazing - too little, and the horses think they're starving and break out; too much, and they get fatter and fatter...

Barney looked like an overstuffed sofa a month or so ago, when the grass was growing fastest; he's on a smaller patch now, and beginning to lose weight at last. Not even a sniff of hard feed, though - however hard he works! No alfa, no chaff, nothing, and he has plenty of energy.

[CarolineR]

Welcome to the chubby Cob ownership club!!!!!! All cobs are the same I am sure, can live on thin air and still look fat. A couple of things that we do with Charlie, who as you know can eat for England and then move into France for dessert.

Weigh her every week, on the same day at the same time, so you can see the progress she is making. Try not to think that that grass belly is fat, they all get this at this time of year, even our Zak's got one, but his weight is stable.

We only bring Charlie in every other day for feed, which is an all round balancer with all the usual nutrients, mixed with 1/2 small scoop of soaked unmolassed Sugar Beet and one handful of Happy Hoof, and thats it, not more. Also we try to bring them both in overnight for one day a week, to just give them quite poor quality hay overnight, Just really to rest them up as Charlie still gets tired if left out all the time, but also to give them something not too rich in their stomachs. As you are in a large paddock with other horses, it also gives you a chance to monitor their drpping overnight to check for any changes etc. etc.

Depending on the types of pasture available, I would not normally muzzle at this time of year as the grass is passed its best, however, if still quite long and lush, then try a muzzle during the day only and off at night to see what happens.

As someone said previously a slow weight loss is far better than a complete hard change of routinue which will do her more harm than good.

Keep going as this is a long process, you then have to deal with winter feed for the cob!!!!! Charlie can still put on weight in the winter.

Good luck and we hope to come over and see her soon.

[floppy]

my horse was 6months standing in a field of grass before i bought her in march.
now she has lost her fat and built her muscle and looks super.
All i did was hack her for the first month or so everyday for 30-60mins and on some weekends i went for kong rides with other people for 3 hrs. Then she got mondays always as a day of 'rest' and instead of riding she was lunged for 10mins and then let out in the field. She is turned out everyday and during her slimming program she got energy food and vitamins after riding. now she gets occasionally energy food and eats hay and grass and is doing good!:D

[Hetfinch]

I've just taken a horse on full loan (Pally - who I reveal in another thread suffers from Sweet Itch!). Now, he's a cob and he hadn't been regularly ridden for approx. 18 months and he was VERY large when I started with him two weeks' ago.

I have been reading the thread with great interest and there sounds like some good advice here.....

Let the slimming commence!

Heather

:)

[CrAzY4pAiNtS]

When Princess got really fat, I got up early in the morning and rode her for about 30-45 minuites every other day.after about a month it really slimmed her down. Try putting him up in a stall every night. That may also help.

[Hetfinch]

I have been using the tried and tested programme of bringing him in during the day and turning him out at night. This really was drastic action, but as he has arthritis, he really did need to lose the weight.

I tried him with the muzzle. I spent nearly 42 quid to watch it being kicked into the dust and completely ruined on the third time of it being tried! The little (or rather big) blighter just wouldn't keep it on. So, in he is. It means that I have to travel up to the yard every day before work and then ride him and turn out/muck out after work, but it has been worth it. He is slimming down rather well. He looks like a different cob! And, it is getting me in good shape for the winter when I'll be down at least twice a day anyway! (oh, the joys of DIY livery, eh?)

Let me know how you're getting on with Rio, Yann. Is it working, is she getting slimmer?

Heather :rolleyes:

[Yann]

It was for a little while, regular work started doing a bit of good, but then she got a sore back so we rested her for a couple of weeks, which put things into reverse a bit. Now she's been turned out into a different set of fields which have just had a hay crop cut off them, thick and lush, fortunately she can be brought back into work now but I don't expect rapid progress. I think the main problem is that it's been so wet this summer the grass hasn't died back.

While she's healthy and happy though I'm not too worried, I'm sure it'll come off in good time. It's just a bit of a stretch for poor Nat's legs round that big barrel, especially bareback:)

[sweetbriar]

I have just been told by the vet that Lizzie is unfit and 'plump'. She's approx 20 y.o. and is still a good-doer.

I am thinking of increasing her exercise and cutting down her feed. She's only on one feed a day and she gets half a scoop of Happy Hoof and half a scoop of Hi-fibre nuts. She gets one small hay net as well.

I am going to get her brought in at night and give her a couple of hours out during the day. I don't want to encourage laminitis either. I need to get advice about cutting down her hard feed.

[Janice Corbett]

Two years ago Gypsy was BIG! She's a 15.1 cob and the Vet came to do her vaccinations and asked if she was in foal!! The measuring tape (which I know are not accurate but at least can give a guide) suggested she was about 620 kgs!!!!!!!!

So, her whole routine changed. She is out during the day and as much as possible she is in a paddock with not too much to eat, (however when we have to change fields she might then have a couple of days on more lush grazing). She is stabled every night and has a tiny amount of food - one teacup of Good-Doer, half a teacup of 16+ plus garlic and her glucosamine, and one apple. She then has to wait about an hour then she has one section of steamed hay. She then has another section of steamed hay just before I go to bed. She is ridden on hacks only 2/3 times a week. Over the 2 years she has lost about 100 kgs and at the moment the tape suggests she weighs about 525 kgs.

I check her weight weekly and although she sometimes goes up a little when she's moved onto fresh pasture she seems to have stayed fairly much at this weight for the last 6 months. At the end of last winter she went down to about 500kgs. If she went below this I would give her more hay.

I just wish I could be this good at reducing and controlling my own weight! (she says, taking anouther Boaster out of the packet!)

Janice

[Yann]

The vet and farrier both asked the same question of Rio:D

When she arrived on the yard she was actually off the end of the weightape, but with a bit of work she was very quickly back on it. We could restrict her grazing and bring her in at night but it would be very unkind and stress her out. We'll have to rely on exercise, and as she has several willing riders this shouldn't be a problem!

[H & Bailey]

Gosh this is a new one for me too!
Im used to feeding up to keep weight on!Now ive got bailey its the opposite!I need re educating a bit I think.He wasnt fully developed when I got him as he was only 3 and has now filled right out.He is now getting too fat and a bit wobbly/rippily.
I give him 1/2 a big scoop(about 2 good handfuls) of happy hoof and a tinybit of park mix(cool mix)seaweed and veg oil.He gets this once a day.He is in a field with my shetland which has pickings of grass and is very nettley and weedy(Ive just got this field so wont always be like this!)Ive been putting a net with 2 slices on the gate but theyve only been picking it.Or when the grass is non existant he goes into the field opposite which has not too much grass but a bit of clover.Failing this if its bad weather he is in the stable field which is baldish and i put up haynets with about 6 slices of hay in which does the both of them.
The shetland is just right but Bailey just seems to be getting bigger.Ive reduced his feed down from the full scoop to the half and have just changed onto the happy hoof from alphalpha.
As most of you know Im pregnant at the moment and have been told not to ride.so he isnt doing much.My 1/2 sister has been up once and did 40 mins of schooling for me.
Any other suggestions how long will the reduced feed take to work as with my grass being poor I really didnt want to knock his feed off..It also keeps our bond going as i like to give him a really good brush etc when he has his dinner.How come the shetland isnt getting really fat too?Help

[galadriel]

One of my boarders is having to work some major overtime--hasn't been out to ride much--and her horse was starting to resemble a sausage. I am now lunging her, mostly trotting, about 15 minutes a day. It's been about 3 weeks and it is _finally_ starting to show.

Cutting down feed may take longer to show if he's making up for it by snarfing down (even poor quality) grass. Perhaps you can slow down his eating by putting a brick in his feed tub, or mixing in a lot of grass, or some such, in--since you said you wanted to spend that time bonding :)

As for the shetland--I don't know if it's typical of the breed, but my shetland stops eating when she's full! She'll eat maybe a half a flake at a time and just stop, and then take a nap or hang her head out the door, or some such. Even when she has free access to hay/grass she eats as much as she needs to and then STOPS! It's amazing to see.