RC: Fat horse

[flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)]

Tamara wrote:

> Pumba is way too fat.  He is 14 hands and about 1300lb. 

That sounds like my gelding when I got him at the age of 9.  He sticked
at 16H, but is now more like 15.3 due to all of the fat he lost over his
top line.  The weight can contribute to founder, so it is a concern!

First, has he had any blood work done to see if there is an endocrine
disorder.  I'm not a vet, but your vet should be able to reccommend what
to draw.

For Rocket, we took away <all> grain and placed him on free choice grass
hay (NO alfalfa or grazing), lounged him, and broke him to line drive
(aka ground drive).  As soon as I could find a saddle that would stay on
(NOT fit - just stay on over all the fat), we started doing light riding
and workouts to recover some damaged muscles and continue to loose
weight.

Within a 6 mo period he trimmed down to a "well fleshed endurance horse"
look and entered his first 30 mile LD.  He felt better and his tack fit!

Don't feel like you are depriving the horse with offering only hay, as
long as he always has some in front of him.  As always, to loose weight
just decrease calories and increase work.  (Now if it was only so easy
for a person (me) to do!)

Good luck!  At least he's an easy keeper!  I'd rather have that than try
to force feed calories to a picky eater like my old mare.

Linda Flemmer


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