Fat pony on box rest, how to get weight off *Updat

[midimoos]

Please can anyone offer any advice on this, I am feeding the recomended rate of 2.5% of her ideal body weight but still she remeins content (my polite way to say fat) I have been told that if they are without food for longer than 4 hours that it can affect there digestive system and cause colic. any suggestions welcome thanks

[jill]

I have exactly this situation with Caspar and have to supply him with plenty of soaked hay, just to keep food available for him. He has a small net of dry hay while I bathe and dress his leg, then two big nets of soaked (for at least 6 hours - I have the days lot soaking during the preceding day while the nights lot is draining, having been soaked overnight). He does have a small amount left in the morning, whereas with dry hay it would all be gone in the first couple of hours.
All the sugars soak out of it so that you can supply them with a lot more without them putting weight on.

[highlanderpony2002]

We fed Hazel exclusively on hi fi lite in a bucket while she was on box rest she hated it but would nibble it when hungry. She had no hay or feed apart from a bit of happy hoof with vitamins and minerals in. She always had access to clean straw and the bucket of hi fi She lost loads of weight and looked very trim when she was finally allowed out 8 months later. She always had food there it was up to her whether she ate it She won't eat wet hay under any circumstances

[june]

Soak the hay overnight and then put it inside two small holed nets. That's worked to get some weight off one of our Shetlands who is on box rest too.

[Susan]

With Flynn and his diet. ( see LP feature)
. a few years ago I took advice off Nicola at Top Spec and soak hay for 24 hours that way I leached out as much sugar as possible without losing the proteins still needed ..
I didnt do the hey nets.. although I know June has with her shetlands with lami.. Flynn actually had it in his hay bar when stabled..

but I can add when he was turned out at night on no grass area he had his muzzle on and still managed to eat soaked hey sucked up like spagetti.. so I know he was keeping to the little and often trickle feeding that horses tummy's must have.

But I might do the double net if we go back to any stabling.. with the hay still soaked 24 hours.. and get best of both worlds..

Hifi lite still has some mollasses in it by the way. not much.. but still some..

You dont have those silly stable mate licks do you ..as they contain loads of mollasses even the ones that say healthy licks.. no carrots.. no apples.. no swedes.. all contain lots of sugar..

treat ball with grass fibre pellets can help as well...

[laura]

ooohh these good dooers

some of us just need to look at what the "reccomended" daily intake for "normal" is and we balloon so I empathise

wheat straw ? (or mix with the hay)

[Susan]

laura when I spoke to Nicola at Top Spec that is what I used to do. she advised me to not do it, straw needs lots of water taken with it.. and it then acts like cardboard and you get fat bellies.. but the fear is you are risking not enough proteins needed to replace muscle and tissue.. so better to soak the hay. as I have explained.. rather then mixing.. hay and straw..

[emi]

I don't like feeding from a net but have taken to double netting half of Connor's hay as he eats it so quickly off the floor - it's a good way of slowing them down. Also, it's a good idea to change to shavings if it's possible and you're not already on them, because if your horse is anything like Conn, straw is a very viable snack if you're feeling unfed! Definitely echo what the others have said re soaking it - makes a big difference.

If you can get up 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and late at night) then obviously that's ideal because you can give little amounts of hay, however most of the time it's just not possible to ensure a horse goes no more than 4 hours without food.

[Amanda (S Yorks)]

2.5% of body weight is actually the ratio used to put weight on a horse, generally speaking. So you're over feeding in technical terms. 1.5% is the recommended feed to weight ratio for weight loss, though this is hard to do during box rest as it means they spend a lot of time without food. I'd definitely cut back on the amount though, even if it means feeding in doubled up haynets (which I'm not keen on but will do if I have to).

Soaking hay for as long as possible is one way to be able to feed more, though that also means that you're going to be losing valuable vits and mins in the process so would have to feed a general purpose supplement to top that up. I used to soak hay for a long time and then give some of the ration in the form of low calorie chaff, as it was lower in calories than good quality hay.

I've fed good quality straw in addition to rationing hay before, it's never been an issue for my mare and now she'll root through any clean straw I put down for her bed if she thinks it's nicer than her hay. As long as your horse will drink what is needed it shouldn't pose a big problem, especially if you're also soaking hay really well at the same time.

[graymare]

Is she rugged whilst stabled? Would you consider reducing the weight of rugs ( ie from mid-weight stable rug to fleece) and use the cold weather to burn off calories? I use this for B if she's still podgy coming out of winter, as long as there's fodder available to keep her central heating going she's been ok. An addition to this would be to do a small bib clip, again increases calories used.

[penny70]

I went for the HiFi Lite only option with my obese mare to help her lose weight - it takes them ages to eat, and at 1.5% bodyweight ratio, they tend to be able to have masses, and still lose weight...

Graymares idea of keeping the rugs off is a good one - obviously she mustn't be kept really cold, as they can't regulate body temperature really well in the stable, but we can all be guilty of over-rugging sometimes...

Good luck - it's not an easy one to solve!

[midimoos]

Thankyou all for you advice on this, I have been soaking the hay for the past week and reduced the amount of hay she is having 4lb less a day and this week she has lost 18kgs and the longest she is standing with nothing to eat is only a couple of hours due to double netting so Im not worrying about it affecting her guts x

[mandal]

Great news! ;D

Just to add to the straw debate I seem to remember Jackie Taylor saying straw doesn't have enough protein for horses.

[milo]

18kgs in a week!!! surely thats too much too fast, not sure on horses weight loss but it does seem very quick,unless she was very bloated before, are you using a weighttape?

[midimoos]

Its seems too much too fast I agree but she is 13.2hh and was 414 kgs now down to 396 kgs, as stated above I have reduced her hay by 4lbs a day so now she has 10lb at bed time 4lb with breakfast and 4 lb at lunch time, this is soaked for 6 hours and is in two haylage nets, the only other thing I have taken away is titbits, feed I have not changed all she has is a handful of good doer twice a day and a little blue level garlic scoop of hi fi nuts in a ball at night. she has always suffered from water retention even when being turned out but at the moment is holding loads of water so this could also cause fluctuation in her weight. Yes I am using a weight tape x