feeding overweight horse

[gypsyroselee]

If a pony is out 24/7 and overweight and currently not being fed anything else would it be a good idea to bring her in in the morning and feed a hay-net which has been soaked overnight?

Would this help towards weight-loss? ( along with exercise of course)

Thanks.

[bertie666]

If shes overweight why does she need a haynet full stop? If shes maintaining weight whilst out she doesnt need anything extra

[chloe]

Ditto bertie. I'd be inclined to not feed anything else and to increase the exercise. Soaking hay overnight while it's cold is also likely to cause the hay to freeze and that's just plain unpleasant

[mags]

I think it depends on how long you bring her in for. Think of it in terms of calories - to lose weight you want to reduce calories (plus exercise). If you bring her in for a longer time so that she eats less (higher calorie) grass, but gets some (lower calorie) hay instead, it may help. But if she only comes in to eat the hay, then goes straight out, you'd probably just add the hay-calories on top of what she's already getting from the grass.
Any way you can limit her grass intake without starving her? Strip graze, muzzle...?

[bertie666]

But if she is out 24/7 she doesnt need the haynet to occupy her over night or keep trickle feeding her tummy so it seems a bit pointless!

[mandal]

As mags says, it depends how long she is coming in for. Strict strip grazing with supplemented soaked hay may help. In during the day with only soaked hay and out at night provides some reduction in calories though of course she will be moving less if in a stable. Is there a pen or barn?? Could you electric tape off an area in the field for her and give soaked hay??
You need to replace grass with soaked hay, adding soaked hay as extra wont help I'm afraid.

[gypsyroselee]

Thanks guys,

My thoughts were to replace the grass with soaked hay for the reduction in calories.

Grass muzzle lasted three days until she tore it apart.

Chloe - good point about soaking overnight.

The exercise is increasing and as we're coming into winter perhaps she'll lose the weight naturally. I'll certainly be on top of things next year!

I'm also a bit worried that she may not be getting all the nutrients/vitamins she needs just on grass?

[june]

We've had some success bringing horses in overnight and feeding soaked hay in double small holed nets. It helps if you can muzzle them while on grass but if that doesn't work then a very bare paddock is best. We feed Top Spec Balancer plus Alfa A Lite to ensure they get all the vitamins and minerals they need with the minimum of calories.

[gypsyroselee]

Thanks June,

That's really helpful.

[penny70]

I bring my pony in between 9ish and 6ish, feeding him a double handful of HiFi with feed balancer in and a slice or 2 of hay (depending on the size of the slice!) in a double small holed haylage net for that time when I need him to lose weight. It works for us, means he gets more out time than in time and also means in general I can steer clear of the muzzle (apart from when we change paddocks).

[Suz]

Following his 1st ever bout of lammi brought on by the hot weekend in Oct my poor boy has been on the strictest reigime I have ever stuck to and the weight loss is impressive. I have him on 1.75% body weight diet of hay with 2 small feeds of unmollased beet and rough stuff with mag ox, restore and pro biotics. I have been hanging his night time net from a rafter so it swings about as he eats it. He gets turned out for about 20 mins twice a day and exercised about 3-4 times a week. He will be turned out in a long thin paddock with a muzzle on soon just waiting for the weather to turn. Oh and I gave him a full clip to help the weight loss too.

[Deleted]

Soaked hay will *probably* have less calories and more non digestible fibre in it than grass atm so I think bringing in and giving a small haynet is a good idea. The best time to bring in is during the day as the sugar levels in the grass are higher during the day. I think from here on it's a pretty safe assumption that the calorie content of the grass will be dropping off (assuming no freak warm spells!) so you might find with increasing exercise she loses some weight anyway

I would give a balancer, and if you get one like Top Spec it's pelleted so you can feed it alone without having to add beet or alfa

[marmiteandpheobe]

I have a very good doer and I feed her hi fi lite and Baileys lo-cal balancer, I think the lo-cal is great as it gives her everything she needs with very low calories. She also has soaked hay at night. Have a read up about lo-cal as my mare always looks good on this, really shiny coat, good feet etc. Its also known as Baileys No14

[ticketyboo]

I'm having the same problem with my fat little pony, she was in really poor condition (1) when I got her but now I am really struggling to keep her weight down She had her grazing muzzle on but has worn a hole in the bottom!!! I thought she would be ok just on grass and hay now with not much in the grass but she has put weight straight back on

Good luck with yours

x

[companymagic]

Fat ponies are such a worry..

I have two, but my vet told me last year when I had one in for an op that they are so good at storing fat as the weather gets cold its so hard to get it off.

I have taken to working mine as hard as I can, and so far so good. They are both out on good grazing, come in over night with double small holed nets of haylage and are only feed chaff with 356 complete. Its really hard work as I work them 6 days a week, and I am shattered but I can't have them coming into spring looking like whales