Re: Getting fat horse into shape

["S. Brown" <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

<< My question is this, do I limit his feed? Should a horse that is being
 ridden a lot be put on a diet? If so how much hay should he get? We
 have nice green brome hay. Also, is it all right to do light riding daily?
 Say 4 to 5 miles a day at a walk and trot?  I do not have time to do
 long rides three times a week, so I thought it might be better to do
 short rides more days out of the week. I really need to get some weight
 off of this boy. Can anyone tell me what would be the best way to do
 this? >>

I live in the kingdom of easy keepers! ;-)  We have 2 "diet pens" that
horses can be turned into if they start getting too portly...which is not
unusual at our place, even with the owners. ;-)  The diet pens also open to
boarders if needs be.  Considering our facilities and location, we tend to
attract the middle aged (30-60) woman with one horse that is the center of
their life.  The horses that end up here are of two varieties -- mid-ranged
priced dressage horses of Training to 1st Level, with a high predominance
of TBs....tall and lean -- and Arabs, Arab crosses,  Appendix type QH, and
old foundation stock Colorado Range Bred Appys (Blue and the caretakers
stallion & 3 mares (stallion & 1 mare live in our barn)...shorter,
stockier, MUCH easier keepers...even the Arabs...these being used for
mainly trail or schooling horses.  

One of the requirements of the barn is that all horses get weight taped
every 2 months at the same time they are wormed.  We keep stall records
(tablet forms that I had laminated and hung with a wet-erase marker on each
stall) and the diet is adjusted after every weighing if needs be.  Our
caretaker is worth his weight in gold since he will follow individual
nutritional requirements to a "T" -- we request the horse owners buy all of
their own supplements -- that way they can adjust and feed however they
want.  George (the caretaker) will alert someone if he feels that their
horse is getting too much of something...and he's probably 98% accurate!
;-)  If a horse starts getting too portly (which isn't unusual since George
errs to the side of too much if anything,) the recommended diet change is
discussed with him.  It's always done gradually and the amount of work the
horse is doing being taken into consideration.  If they currently pasture
potatoes, they will get hay and possibly some supplements as needed, but no
grain products...or just enough to carry the necessary vitamins, minerals,
biotin etc.  The horse always feels it gets enough to eat since there is a
*small* amount of grazing in the diet pens but not enough to really make an
impact and they get dry-lot fed a grass hay twice a day.  If they're in the
diet pen and there is very little grazing, they will get a small flake
midday...more for entertainment and bowel function than anything else. ;-)

My recommendation (what we do here and I'm NOT a vet ;-)) is to gradually
cut back on the feed, working toward eliminating the grains but keeping the
rest in good balance.  Make sure they are getting adequate nutrition with
the remaining food.  If they're very portly and have been nothing but
pasture potatoes for ages, start a gradual work program of correct lungeing
-- 1/2 hour 3-4 times a week at first, gradually increasing the time until
they're up to an hour 4-5 times a week.  MMV.  When they get to this stage,
I incorporate riding -- actually, I don't lunge before I ride since I
prefer to use the warm-up time for myself as well as my horse, so when I
get to this stage, I usually switch to riding exclusively.  During this
time, I keep a close eye on their energy level and weight loss to make sure
that I'm keeping up with the nutritional requirement increase.  The borders
tend to follow the same pattern, however I seem to have gotten more than my
share of "easy keepers". ;-)  You'll be amazed how quickly they seem to
lose the weight and get their muscle tone back!!  It's quite possible to go
directly to riding, depending how unfit and overweight they are -- but be
very careful since their bodies need to adapt to the increased stresses.

Sue


Since most of the horses are working now