overweight pony

Laura82

Laura82

Member
Nov 28, 2017
53
47
18
41
so feeling today like an awful mum to my boy! He's gone overweight by a fair amount and I really need to get it back off him.

The past 6 months have been tough with him being lame, yard move and me going into a not so nice place its been hard to even just get myself to the yard, so now I've had a shock to the system and I really need to pull my finger out. I've had great plans for hacking out but only managed a couple of times and because the new yard that I am now on is still being built we don't have an arena yet. We have walked out in hand and done a wee bit of lunging but I need more of a plan. I've ordered an equiami to at least make the lunging more productive. his feed has been cut to the minimum so at least he gets his joint supplements and he's out through the day on short grass and in at night until

any help would be appreciated x
 
The best thing I ever did was switch to keeping mine on a track system, its nothing fancy, I just fence off the middle of the field, basically creating a track around the edge. I stuck my GPS watch on Jess and in the same paddock as a paddock she did about a mile a day, with the tack in she did 5 miles a day. There's just something about a long narrow space that makes them move more and I think the fact its a loop helps as it's never ending :) I have about 2 acres and their tack is about half that area wise, then I let them strip graze the middle over the winter when the grass has less nutrients in it.

Do you soak his hay when he's in? that can be good for further cutting calories going in. TBH for mine exercise has been the key to slimming her down, I find a few longer rides does more for her than riding for a shorter time daily.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huggy
no I don't so I think I'll start doing that with his hay. I'll ask the farmer to pop in a track system as well, I'm lucky he's good for doing things you need
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey
Definitely soak his hay, and make sure you do it properly not just chuck some water over it. Put it in a big enough container that it's fully submerged & weigh it down with full water buckets or similar for at least six hours, then drain it, rinse it & hang up to drip so it isn't so wet when you put it in the stable.

Rather than lead out in hand ride him, he'll have to work a bit harder to carry you & that's a good thing. Make sure it's a nice brisk walk & while longer is obviously better even 10 minutes is a lot better than nothing!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huggy and Kite_Rider
carthorse said:
Definitely soak his hay, and make sure you do it properly not just chuck some water over it. Put it in a big enough container that it's fully submerged & weigh it down with full water buckets or similar for at least six hours, then drain it, rinse it & hang up to drip so it isn't so wet when you put it in the stable.

Rather than lead out in hand ride him, he'll have to work a bit harder to carry you & that's a good thing. Make sure it's a nice brisk walk & while longer is obviously better even 10 minutes is a lot better than nothing!
Click to expand...

All of this ^^
 
I feel your pain. After 6 months of box rest and a year of lameness in total, my boy is hugely overweight. I am hoping that we will get good news from the vet to proceed with more work and then it will be operation weightloss. He has previously lost weight before (a total of 180kg) so I know what I need to do. My top tips for spring/summer are:

1. Have him out overnight and in during the day with just a small soaked haynet for company. I soak for about 2 hours. Any more than that and he won't eat it. Getting him off the grass all day was the biggest factor in getting him to slim down last time.
2. As much exercise as I can manage. He has lost all his muscle on box rest, so it will be months of walking to build him up again. He is lazy and walks like a snail, but I am aim to get him walking out properly. As well as riding, I want to get him long reining as this works his muscles without the weight of me on top of him. When we were really getting the weight off I was riding him for 2 hours per day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I would love to be able to do that again this summer.
3. Very little hard feed. Just a little bit of speedibeat to put his supplements in.
4. Restrict his grazing where I can. I would love a track system in place. We have another fatty this year who showed signs of lammi last year so hopefully this may be possible to arrange something for both of them.
5. One more controversial option for the colder months is to fully clip and turn out naked or with just a rain sheet when it's wet. This has worked really well for us in the past.

Good luck in getting the weight off. It isn't easy!
 
Laura82 said:
no I don't so I think I'll start doing that with his hay. I'll ask the farmer to pop in a track system as well, I'm lucky he's good for doing things you need
Click to expand...
My inner fence is just electric fence, I do have wooden corner posts now but didn't to start with :)
 
Had my own thread on just this subject a few months ago, and agree with carthorse - if he can be ridden, it definitely makes a difference. I had no saddle, so we were going out for about 49 mins 3 times a week, just walking. Only realised what a difference it had made when I looked at before and after pics! I'm going to try the track system this spring if I can, it sounds like a good idea. Also the no rugging that was suggested - didn't have the heart to clip him, but he's out 24/7, and none the worse for it. Good luck!
 
Spoke to the farmer last night and he can do a track system no problem for me, he is also getting a barrel down so that I can soak his hay over night/ through the day depending when it's going in his stable. I have also left his rug off past couple of days because its not overly cold but looking at him he has a decent coat on him!
 
So it's been 7 days of Williams diet amd he's showing weight loss already. He's being exercised 30 mins to an hour each day, haynets soaked and the weather hasn't been awful so he's been rugless. Now my concern is had he lost it a bit quick?
Here's day 1 and day 7 pics20190218_182755.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20190218_182839.jpg
    20190218_182839.jpg
    162.3 KB · Views: 16
  • 20190218_182935.jpg
    20190218_182935.jpg
    196.1 KB · Views: 17
  • 20190218_182959.jpg
    20190218_182959.jpg
    180.9 KB · Views: 19
I honestly think you should stop panicing. He does not look OMG-obese in the first and yes, I do agree he has lost weight in one week and a good amount. I would leave it at that, just let him be a horse, ride him and stop micro-managing his every bite. The weather changes, he looks fab and you will end up stressed and so will he.

Just my two penn'orth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huggy and Trewsers
He's definitely in show condition in the first one, but I think by day 7 he's looking much better. He does look cross though - maybe he's hungry? You could go a little slower...

He's very glossy and handsome!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huggy and Trewsers
We've been out hacking every day and I've just upped the chaf in his fees to bulk it out a bit more so he feels like hes getting a bigger feed. Its top spec lite he gets so theres no sugars it anything in it.
Vet is out tomorrow to do his flexion tests amd booster then physio week after. He doesn't look like he's lost anything this week
 
I'd say he looks better, though still a way to go. Combining a diet with exercise is definitely the way to go if you can, it keeps the metabolism up so they burn more calories.

One thing I would say is don't assume no/low sugar means no calories, these good doers seem to convert almost anything to food!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kite_Rider, Jessey and Huggy
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back