Overweight Horse

[medsecslave]

My daughter's horse is desperately overweight due mainly to her not riding him any more. I've started bringing him in at night but just wondered about using a muzzle during the day. Can anyone give me advice on how they should be used, length of time left on etc. Thanks.

[jaq1964]

I'm no horse expert, so this is not an educate answer!
I used to own a horse when I ws younger and he was probably a pig in a previous life.
It seems a shame to muzzle a horse during the day if it is to be kept outside. I shouldn't imagine that grass contains that many calories to really affect his weight, also, imagine how you would feel if you were on a diet and stopped from eating healthy food. I'd say that he is getting too much food in his bucket, or maybe the wrong kind of feed.
I would contact your vet and arrange a proper diet plan. Perhaps you could put the horse out on loan to an eager teenager who would love riding him.

[medsecslave]

He's only on grass, the trouble is that it grows so fast and he just eats and eats. The muzzle has gaps in it which would still allow him to eat but would just restrict the intake. I just need to know whether I use it in the day and still bring him in or use it in the day and leave him out overnight or any other tips on using them.

[blue eyes ;)]

not sure about the muzzle,ther not actually that good plus you have to keep an eye out in case the horse gets things stuck in it or gets hooked on a fence or wire......i used to have horses.is there any field you can use which is fairly bald(no grass)? we used to put our fat ponies on that to stop them over eating.make sure hes in over night and dont feed him anything,just few carrotts in a bucket at night and 1 section of hay.give carrotts in the morning before turning him out also. put him on shavings so he cant eat the straw.this always helped with our ponies as one of them was lamenitic so she had to be fed very little.you could put up electris fence and section off the baldest part of the field for him so he cant reach the lush grass.

[blue eyes ;)]

also if you have 10 mins when you bring him in you could lunge him quickly as thats good excersise for him if hes not being ridden....or i know you didnt ask the question but you could put him on share or loan for a while so someone can excersise him if hes sound and has no lemness or anything(wasnt sure if you had him on field rest or your daughters just not riding at the moment.hope this helps a bit.x

[medsecslave]

The lady who owns the land keeps the best fields for her horses and those belonging to her daughter. She won't let me put our horse in with them because they'll either fight or there's no space for another one so we're in a massive field which she won't allow us to fence off. The other horses are a bit overweight but are being ridden regularly. I just really worry about laminitis, he's SO fat. I think I'll need to advertise for a rider to get his weight down and then may think about selling him which will be a sad day for us all.

[saxy_jag]

Again, I don't much about horses, even though I used to ride until about ten years ago, but advertising for a rider would seem a sensible option. There are plenty of enthusiastic youngsters (and not-so-youngsters) out there who welcome the chance to be involved.

Why not start by asking at the nearest riding school? The staff may well know someone who'd be suitable/interested. Good luck.

[blue eyes ;)]

i loaned 1 of my ponies to a riding school....so she was still mine but being used on hacks and on the school,i paid nothing and she was looked after.that way you can also get to ride your own horse as well!!

[lankeela]

Mine went on loan to Riding for the Disabled - it solved the exercising problem and I still got to ride him when I wanted.
It was also the most enjoyable time for him - he loved the kids and even used to sort of 'drop down' to let them get on him.

I know one suggestion for laminitis is to turn them out at night rather than during the day - don''t know why. Alternatively, why don't you ride him? Good for both of you!

Would love to share him, what area and is he a plod? (Gave up circus ponies many years ago).