What to feed my overweight horse

[Laura2184]

Hi,

My cob is slightly overweight and needs to lose the weight before spring, he is out from 08:00 - 18:00 and gets 2 nets of haylage at night in his stable. There is never any left in the morning so I can't reduce this.

He is being ridden 3-4 times a week and when the clocks go forward he will be ridden almost every night.. thats my aim anyway!! :rolleyes:

At the moment he gets a tiny handful of chaff to put magnesium in and thats it.

Now my problem is he's running out of the chaff and I threw the bag away so can't remember what it is but I know it'll be something low calorie as we've always been battling the flab :o

What shall I buy next? Preferably something without sugar/ alfalfa/ etc I just need something to add his magox too. I would like it to have vitamins etc in it too.

Feeding is such a minefield, help!! :confused:

[gordysgirl]

Maybe something laminitic approved like Happy Hoof or Safe & Sound, HiFi Lite. All low calorie chaffs designed for those who only need to look at grass to pile on the pounds. Def no sugar of molasses.
Haylage won't help, any way of feeding last years hay instead? Soaked to remove as much nutrients as poss.
Have you tried cutting out the chaff altogther and just feeding supps by hand? Or adding little bit of water or honey & making a paste. This is how we feed our supps in spring when no feed required.

[nelle]

I've just started soaking my pony's hay in preparation for the spring grass as it soaks the sugars out. Could you perhaps substitute the haylage for soaked hay?

Is he rugged? You could try leaving him unrugged or reducing the weight of rugs so that he uses his surplus fat to keep himself warm.

[shandy84]

Happy hoof etc are all high in sugar, personally would get some unmollassed beet pulp put a tiny dollop in a bowl with a vit supplement in and magnesium. HH require you to feed high quantities in order to get the vits

Also echo the no rugging and swapping to soaked hay instead of haylage

[gordysgirl]

For feeding such small amounts I would have thought soaking beet would be a bit of a pain! Also if you do too much you end up throwing it away as it goes off - especially if by some miracle the weather gets warmer! Beet pulp is also used for conditioning & weight gain!
I think the problem with feeding tiny quantities of anything is that according to their recommended feeding amounts you are never going to give them enough to get all the vits they need.
I would aim for the vit supplement route & if you can avoid any feed altogether!

[shandy84]

I have only known it for weight gain when fed ad lib :)

Happy hoof I was advised by my vet to avoid due to sugar levels etc an basic hifi lite would be just as good for the mixing in of vits, I suggested the beet because as it is wet it will stop it sticking to the bowl

[Laura2184]

Thanks for all your replies, he is fully clipped and is naked at night in his stable and only wears a lightweight rug in the day to keep the mud off.

The whole yard is on haylage at the mo so it'll be quite hard to move to hay but the whole yard will be moving onto hay in about 3 weeks.

Can anyone recommend a vitamin supplement which isn't really expensive!?

''Or adding little bit of water or honey & making a paste. This is how we feed our supps in spring when no feed required.'' thats a good idea gordysgirl, never thought of that :rolleyes: Would feeding honey cause a problem though with the sugar?

[star*]

It's good that he is getting enough to last him overnight so you an't reduce it but if he were mine I'd put him on soaked hay instead. And cut the feed you are giving him and give him something like baileys lo cal or dodson and horell ultimate balancer and you can add the magnesium to that if you need to.

[Laura2184]

I am considering having a word with the farmer tonight about me switching to hay earlier than the others. How long do I soak it for and do I need to let it drain completely before giving it to him?

[star*]

Soak i for how long you think neccesarry so it's up to you I'd say couple of hours but longer than that would be fine as he needs to loose weight. Then he will get all his vits and mins from a balancer like lo cal or ultimte.

[gordysgirl]

With the honey - just a small blob required! Not even a teaspoon - just so it smells & tastes sweet! Ours don't even need that & are happy to eat a ball of supps! Doesn't need to be honey, just anything yummy smelling really!
Cheap vits - NAF do a good all round vit & mineral supplement. Or there is equivite (not sure on price). NAF pink powder is an all round balancer/probiotic/vit&min in powder form. About £12.50 a tub lasts 30 days or so.
Shandy84 - you are right about sugar in happy hoof - had missed the sugar bit!

[gordysgirl]

Double posted

[Laura2184]

Thank You, reckon I'll swop to soaked hay asap and feed NAF Vit supplement and magnesium with a blob of something tasty!

This should get the fat shifted!! Fingers crossed! :D

[Razzledazzle]

I have only known it for weight gain when fed ad lib :)

Happy hoof I was advised by my vet to avoid due to sugar levels etc an basic hifi lite would be just as good for the mixing in of vits, I suggested the beet because as it is wet it will stop it sticking to the bowl

Are you sure about the sugar in Happy Hoof... it is made for laminitics and recommended by the Laminitis Trust. My 12.2hh pony had laminitis very severly and was fed this whilst recovering...recommended by vet.

[Razzledazzle]

I have only known it for weight gain when fed ad lib :)

Happy hoof I was advised by my vet to avoid due to sugar levels etc an basic hifi lite would be just as good for the mixing in of vits, I suggested the beet because as it is wet it will stop it sticking to the bowl

Are you sure about the sugar in Happy Hoof... it is made for laminitics and recommended by the Laminitis Trust. My 12.2hh pony had laminitis very severly and was fed this whilst recovering...recommended by vet.

[Shanik]

Are you sure about the sugar in Happy Hoof... it is made for laminitics and recommended by the Laminitis Trust. My 12.2hh pony had laminitis very severly and was fed this whilst recovering...recommended by vet.

I was thinking the same. Our Cob and Shetland get HiFi Good Doer, Cob in light work at the moment.

[Pink's lady]

Echo others about changing him onto hay. If you can't then I would try and get ahold of some good quality straw and mix a little (about a 1/3) in with his haylage to make it last longer.

Other things that's very very important is exercise - lots of exercise burns calories but also speeds up his metablism. Would you be able to lunge him for 10mins every night that you can't ride? Just needs to a short as he'll get bored but even 10mins with a couple of laps of canter would do him the world of good. If he's good to lunge it needs to preperation from you either - clip the lunge line to his head collar and off you go.

As for his supplement - the NAF General Supplement is good stuff and you may well find he licks it willingly out of the bowl with nothing esle - my lot do:rolleyes:

But it can be difficult then everyone else is getting a bucket feed and he gets nothing. I would have a look at readigrass/Graze On as a chaff. It is high energy by weight but it's so light weight that a large handful of it has less calories than a carrot. It tastes yummy and takes time to chew, so he should be happy.