Crash diet- for VERY fat pony

Harlequin32

Harlequin32

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Feb 20, 2008
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Our pony is very very fat and i am obviously a bit worried.
She has a decent size paddock to herself and lives out. I will fence a section off to restrict her grass but not done it yet as y/o keeps saying she's going to swap fields- just never does:rolleyes:
I thought i may stable her in my horses stable during the day when he's out but do i give her a haynet? does this mean she will just be in filling her face instead of out doing the same!
Seems a bit mean leaving her with nothing.
She's huge and its a problem as her saddle no longer stays in place so she cant even be exercised properly- like a vicious circle
 
Ponies always get the fattest!

Restricting the grazing would be good, or if that's not possible have you thought of a grazing muzzle? They can still eat but not just as much. :)

It's not a good idea to leave for long periods without food, otherwise they just gorge themselves when they get back to the food! :eek:
 
id leave her in, and soak her haynet for a good amount of time.

other than that.,, smaller paddock.. get your horse to graze down current paddock, or a muzzle.

and of course, more work, even if you can do 10 mins of fast lunging work a few times a week, it will make a huge difference,.
 
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Hadn't thought of lunging- thats a good idea I could stick her on the lunge easily before work even.
I will do the fencing tomorrow I dont think the field swap is ever going to get done!
Will also soak hay well, maybe dig out haylage net to keep her busier.
She can be ridden just no fast work as the saddle flies over her head almost;) Will crack on with that then- was quite horrified at how quickly it came on!
Dont know about the muzzle as she manages to remove rugs and headcollars quite well:rolleyes:
 
rider her bare back?

personally id go for get your horse to graze the paddock right down, then if needed give her soaked hay.

from this moment on treat her like a lami pony, no treats, no feed little grass and hard work! if it rains leave rugs off, let her burn up some fat.
 
bareback if saddle doesnt fit ;)

ditto exercise- most 'thin' threads focus on soaked hay and muzzles etc which is only half of the story :)
 
Her saddle is fine for walking rides- she's not at all bothered by it.

Need to think of some hills to trot her up!

Am half considering trying to ride and lead but may not be the best idea;)
 
Lunging, muzzle, strip grazing, if you bring her in double bag her haynet so it takes forever to get the hay out.

Long-lining?

If your little 'un can stick on let her ride bareback or get a bareback pad so she has a little padding, plus it will do wonders for her balance!
 
Thanks everyone. I am not allowed to put my horse in her field i dont think, but may just pop him out there for a while when she's in or being ridden or something. Certainly not putting out together as she can be very marish and mine gets really hooked on mares then i have trouble with him.
No-one else will have their horse out with her as she apparently "attacked" someone when we tried that.
Maybe will take before and after photo's!
 
jaydevon said:
10 mins of fast lunging work a few times a week, it will make a huge difference,.
Click to expand...

xloopylozzax said:
ditto exercise- most 'thin' threads focus on soaked hay and muzzles etc which is only half of the story :)
Click to expand...

I definitly agree, but the thing is, lunging is quite strenuous anyway due to it being circles and it will do damage to limbs on horses that are the right weight if done for too long, nevermind a horse that is already putting extra strain on it's joints by being overweight.

If I were you I'd be stabling with soaked hay (barely anything in it, just to keep the gut working) and then give a balancer feed that is lo-cal (Bailey's lo-cal, topspec lite/topspec antilam etc) and let her shift some weight that way. Encorperate lots of in-hand work, lots of walking (bareback or in-hand) etc and lunging after she's shifted a bit more.

I only say this because my lad was very overweight and it would have been a catch 22; lunge to loose weight, but lunge and cause joint problems. I stabled him and walked him in hand and got him to shift some weight before I started lunge work on a big circle to reduce joint stress.

Eta you can always try long-reining instead of lunging :)

Good luck!
 
Will she long rein out on hacks? Or even just be led out on hacks.

I agree that so much lunging of an overweight pony is not necessarily the way to go, but if you could lunge 2-3 times a week and lead out 3-4 times a week she'd quickly start losing weight.

Various feed companies these days do the equivalent of slimming products for horses which boost the metabolism but make sure they get all the nutrients they need. Might be something worth thinking about. I swear by Metaslim from Simple Systems these days.
 
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