Loosing weight in winter

caroline/halle

caroline/halle

Member
Nov 4, 2008
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My chub of a cob is going up the weigh tape and not down it as expected in winter! he was fully clipped in September and has had a lightweight on as he had rain scald and don't want it returning. He is mostly out 24/7 so not had much hay, which was cut this year. Now wet weather has arrived i have him in tonight on a soaked haynet. Can anyone advise how much hay i should be giving him (i weigh it dry) as i have just bought a little electronic weigh scale. Also, how long to soak it for as some say 24 hours, 12hours, or just half an hour so a bit confused. He was tested for EMS last summer which came back negative and there isn't much grass in the field so i have no idea why he is putting it on as much as he is, other than with the dark nights/weather he isn't ridden as much...but it isn't like he was in hard work to begin with anyway and his weight was on the 'ok' side. Feeling very bad as I should exercise him everyday but in reality i cannot manage that as I have full time work, part time study, a little side business and a dog who is home alone all day so i need to make sure she gets attention too.I do have a sharer who does 2 days a week but that is just gentle hacking, it makes me feel like he would be better off with someone else sometimes :(
 
Mine is fully clipped, and in a light rug. He's out 24/7 and I'm strip grazing. He's not had any hay yet and is only getting a small amount of food at the weekend after working so I can bute him. Hes only getting 3 days a week exercise. He is putting on weight. I struggled to get his driving harness done up at the weekend round his girth.
We are only just heading into the winter really so I wouldn't worry too much. The grass will soon be gone. I am just going to keep mine clipped out and in a light rug so he can shiver some weight off, but the rain sheet just protects from the elements. I will put a thicker rug on if we get persistent frost or snow.
When I start hay feeding in a few weeks I will feed about a 1/4 of a bale a day. I have a big chaff bag a its basically what ever I can get in that to carry to the field, thats his daily ration.
 
Thanks ChunkyMonkey i am glad im not the only one who has an inflating cob! We have been strip grazing too but the grass just grows soooo quickly as had been paddocked off from autumn. I will clip again this weekend to see if that helps!
 
How long are you stabling for. What are you weighing in at.

I soaked for 8 hours. Weighed and worked out the 2% she needed. I believe it worked out at 9kg of hay for 24hours.
 
Jess still isn't loosing and I think may have gained a little, she's a porker :p but I'm not worrying yet, it hasn't really got cold here yet, and until the last week or so has been relatively dry too, it's still been very autumnal.

The rough guide for total daily intake is 1.5% (of the weight you are aiming for the horse to end up at not what it is now) for weight loss, 2% for maintenance and up to 3% for gain. Obviously you need to factor in how much grass they are getting (difficult) and bucket feed too. My mare is about 560kg and was getting about 5kg of hay twice a day when on very little grass, that was shared with my 120kg mini, but I've now started the transition onto standing hay for winter and opened up a small piece (10x5m triangle) of grass last night, the 4kg net I put up was still half full this morning so I didn't give them any extra.

I find with both of mine, restricting them isn't even half the battle (though I am careful to ensure they are on restricted grazing in summer, get low cal hay, low cal bucket feed just enough to carry supplements etc.), exercise is the key and for Jess, my riding horse, doing 3-4 longer rides a week is more effective at shifting weight than a shorter ride every day. Hank is only driven a couple of time a week but that is enough to keep him a nice size, apart from by the end of summer when he really porks out :p
 
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Mine is 450kg so his 2% is 9kg he is out during the day eating grass but is brought in at 4pm just before it gets dark and gets a token feed with supplements and two soaked nets which i weigh when dry one has 4kg the other 2kg so 6kg in total. I soak them for an hour empty the water refill with clean water and soak for another hour.
 
I have a constant weight battle with my horse so I feel your pain! The only real answer I have found is exercise, exercise and more exercise. That has the best results for us. In the summer I was riding him for 2 hours every day (split into 2 rides) and he was in the best shape he had ever been. I soak my hay for between 2 and 12 hours depending on my routine that day, and this gets most of the sugar out. I don't weigh his hay as such, but he gets a small to medium sized net for the 6 hours that he is in. He is also fully clipped (had 3 clips so far this year) and lives out naked apart from when it rains and he gets a lw turnout.
 
The trouble with exercise and plenty of it is that's great if you can do it, but not all of us can manage to ride every day, or do long rides on the days we can manage :(
Belle's weight is like my own, we've reached a point where we can comfortably maintain! I strip graze, Belle is out naked with a bib clip come rain, wind hail or high water, she does however have a field shelter should she choose to use it, Belle gets a tiny handful of fast fibre to put her vitamins in and as she's still living out she doesn't get anything else, having said that I did cave and give her a net of mixed hay/straw yesterday as it had been raining for about 48 hours and I wanted to try and keep her out of the mud.
I too am not too worried just yet, her weight always seems to drop of around the end of Jan early Feb anyway, although she has lost a few kg this last few weeks, she still has a way to go to be where I need her to be coming out of winter.
@caroline/halle don't be hard on yourself - it's a lot harder than people think to keep a good doer at a healthy weight.
 
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Mine gets bigger with exercise!!! As much as it burns fat, it builds muscle. She has dropped 10kg but her overall statue is huge.
 
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OP - you can only do your best which it seems you are doing. some just don't seem to shift weight no matter what. one of mine used to be a skelton and no matter what i did he just couldn't get past anorexic! upon retirement he has however found his niche and is now obese practically! horses will be horses, you are doing your best and IMO thats more than enough;)
 
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Thank you for all your replies!
I struggle to ride during the week but going to try juggle some things round so i can ride two days during week then at weekend as exercise is only thing i can change at this point but as someone pointed out it is fitting it in!
Fully reclipping him this weekend @Mary Poppins my boy is a lot like your Ben buildwise do tou fully clip him all year round or just during winter?
If its really wet i keep him in either 6pm-8am if in at night or 8am-6pm if in during day (if a weekday...of weekend its just when it dries up) id like him to be about 550kg so need to feed around 8kg, so im gessing 5kg of hay if in as not sure how much grass he gets but his head doesnt come up so im guessing its enough!
 
orbvalley said:
OP - you can only do your best which it seems you are doing. some just don't seem to shift weight no matter what. one of mine used to be a skelton and no matter what i did he just couldn't get past anorexic! upon retirement he has however found his niche and is now obese practically! horses will be horses, you are doing your best and IMO thats more than enough;)
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Thank you for your kind words that made me feel better!
 
caroline/halle said:
Thank you for all your replies!
I struggle to ride during the week but going to try juggle some things round so i can ride two days during week then at weekend as exercise is only thing i can change at this point but as someone pointed out it is fitting it in!
Fully reclipping him this weekend @Mary Poppins my boy is a lot like your Ben buildwise do tou fully clip him all year round or just during winter?
If its really wet i keep him in either 6pm-8am if in at night or 8am-6pm if in during day (if a weekday...of weekend its just when it dries up) id like him to be about 550kg so need to feed around 8kg, so im gessing 5kg of hay if in as not sure how much grass he gets but his head doesnt come up so im guessing its enough!
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From your profile picture it looks like our horses are very similar. Ben is jet black with 4 white socks as well. I don't need to clip him in summer but I start in early September as his coat comes through so thick it is unmanageable. Last year he was out of work between January and March so I didn't do a late clip, but this year if all goes well I plan to clip monthly until about March. I am aiming for Ben to be about 527kg on the weight tape. At the moment he is about 560kg so we have a little way to go!
 
Kennedy is 596 so realllly needs to loose some! i have increased riding to 4 times a week and as it is dry he hasnt had a rug on except for the last 2 nights. my fieldmate now wants to start feeding hay but it is good stuff that still has a sweet smell and i have been soaking kennedy's if he has been in. he is out on his own at night so i want him to socialise during the day so he has company, but i dont want him having unsoaked hay, there is still enough in the field to pick at since they are fed/in on a night...is it true if the field is still green there is enough to eat? i give him a small soaked net on a night now since it was -5 the other night
 
caroline/halle said:
Kennedy is 596 so realllly needs to loose some! i have increased riding to 4 times a week and as it is dry he hasnt had a rug on except for the last 2 nights. my fieldmate now wants to start feeding hay but it is good stuff that still has a sweet smell and i have been soaking kennedy's if he has been in. he is out on his own at night so i want him to socialise during the day so he has company, but i dont want him having unsoaked hay, there is still enough in the field to pick at since they are fed/in on a night...is it true if the field is still green there is enough to eat? i give him a small soaked net on a night now since it was -5 the other night
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I'm sure you would be quite shocked at Belle's field, it always looks as though there is no grass at all, but she manages to find plenty! I used to get told I was cruel to not let her have grass and to feed her soaked hay and straw and to leave her out naked in all weathers.
 
Mine was going to have his shoes off this week but when I took his rug off I looked at him and went :eek: Shoes have gone back on and he's going out this weekend driving ! Every weekend he is going to be doing something as the weather has been brilliant at the moment with no mud so I'm making use of it ! I keep saying I'm going to clip him, then don't find the time. I have too this weekend though as his arthritis is a progressive thing and being over weight will only make it worse.
 
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