Further weight management tips needed!!

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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So, despite Ben losing 140kg in weight since this time last year, the vet says that he still needs to shift a further 50kg! He isn't obese anymore, but he apparently is still overweight!!!

How an earth do I lose more weight? He has no hard feed, was muzzled all summer from March to October, is not rugged and has a blanket clip. He comes in for 6 hours to a small soaked haynet and is ridden everyday for 45 minutes to one hour. When I can, I ride him for 2 hours at the weekend. We are very energetic when we ride with most time spent in trot or canter.

The vet thinks that I should fully clip him and turn him out in a rainsheet. I just think that he will be too cold like this, and his blanket clip covers his body over his vital organs where he needs it most. My RI thinks that I should re-clip his blanket clip and not take too much notice of the vet because she doesn't think that he is overweight.

What would you do? I guess the only real answer is to ride him for longer and with greater intensity. I hate the thought of anyone else riding him, so I guess that some early morning riding sessions (in addition to my evening riding sessions) are going to need to happen.

Anyone got any other ideas?
 
Mary Poppins said:
So, despite Ben losing 140kg in weight since this time last year, the vet says that he still needs to shift a further 50kg! He isn't obese anymore, but he apparently is still overweight!!!

How an earth do I lose more weight? He has no hard feed, was muzzled all summer from March to October, is not rugged and has a blanket clip. He comes in for 6 hours to a small soaked haynet and is ridden everyday for 45 minutes to one hour. When I can, I ride him for 2 hours at the weekend. We are very energetic when we ride with most time spent in trot or canter.

The vet thinks that I should fully clip him and turn him out in a rainsheet. I just think that he will be too cold like this, and his blanket clip covers his body over his vital organs where he needs it most. My RI thinks that I should re-clip his blanket clip and not take too much notice of the vet because she doesn't think that he is overweight.

What would you do? I guess the only real answer is to ride him for longer and with greater intensity. I hate the thought of anyone else riding him, so I guess that some early morning riding sessions (in addition to my evening riding sessions) are going to need to happen.

Anyone got any other ideas?
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Sounds difficult and you have so many bases already covered!

I agree it sounds harsh to fully clip and just have a rainsheet. Im all for being rugless for horses wintering out using their own coat for protection and fat for energy to keep warm to ( with a small clip if need be) but to make them psychically cold by removing all their hair - I couldnt do that!:cold: ( especially for the sake of 50kg)
 
Gimp said:
Sounds difficult and you have so many bases already covered!

I agree it sounds harsh to fully clip and just have a rainsheet. Im all for being rugless for horses wintering out using their own coat for protection and fat for energy to keep warm to ( with a small clip if need be) but to make them psychically cold by removing all their hair - I couldnt do that!:cold: ( especially for the sake of 50kg)
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The vet seemed to think that it was better for him to be fully clipped with a rainsheet than be naked with a blanket clip. She didn't like the idea of him being naked with the blanket clip.

His blanket clip is almost grown out (is 4 weeks old now) and when I rode him last night he was covered in sweat after 30 minutes so he does need to be clipped again, regardless of any weightloss benefit. I thought about doing a trace clip, but to be honest I am now so confused I don't know what to think!
 
First of all - now isn't the best time, imo, for just looking at a horse and judging whether they are overweight. Their coat (even with a grown out clip) makes a lot of horses look much heavier than they really are.

If he does lose some more weight I would think it would be very slowly at this point. You've still got the worst of winter to come. If you can ride him a little more then I would think that would help but if I were you I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds to me like you are doing everything you can. I'm also with you and Gimp, I'd rather a small clip and no rug than a full clip and a rug. I don't think it'd make too much of a difference.

Do you know how much hay you are feeding him (weight wise). Could you reduce the amount of hay and put it in a smaller holed haynet so that less hay lasts him longer? That is my only other suggestion really!

I'm struggling with Rubic just now too, she is in a field with good grass and she has put on a bit and is back to 475kg. I'm trying not to worry too much because winter is definitely round the corner and hopefully she'll lose weight when they go on winter grazing and the temperature drops.
 
Is it not likely that he will drop the extra weight through winter anyway. Its not very cold where I am yet which means the grass is still growing very nicely. Once it gets colder and the grass is less plentiful will he loose it? Do you put hay out in winter?
 
I dont think I could agree with fully clipping a horse in winter with just a rainsheet :frown: If his blanket clip has grown back after just 4 weeks, then that shows hes feeling the chill with just that! Perhaps as temps drop and the weather becomes more foul that may just balance it out more?
 
I am struggling with may the same at the moment and have the added problem that I can't up her workload because of her arthritis but our grass is still growing which doesn't help..

I agree with Rubic you sound like you are doing everything right and I think you are probably right to redo the blanket clip, I notice you said on an the other thread it's a different vet that came for his teeth - different to the one who gave you the initial advice? As it would be interesting to see what they say if they happen to be on the yard at any point - did they give you a target back then? have you scored him yourself and if so are you happy with that, if that's the case then I would see how winter progresses?

We need it to go cold damn it! :stomp:
 
As its November that 50kg will come off naturally surely? I would be condition scoring as oppose to the weight tape, though that's useful mine still says the same as she was in the summer!
She has a round shape and she has lost weight as my girth went up a hole, I only have a bib clip to stop her overheating. As she is out in the cold and has a thick puffed up coat, my weight tape is misleading now.

Eta if I take anything else of it will be a strange looking chaser/Irish clip. I will take off areas that are still dry even when she is soaked. That way I can be pretty confident that the skin won't get too wet. If I did a blanket clip or more I would have some sort of rug on. Purely because we are so exposed here she would need to be kept dry but not warm to lose weight, I would leave her bum with hair.
 
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Yeah I too wouldn't be keen on a full clip and rainsheet :unsure: My own vet told me do the same and it did work, but I felt very mean !! I've just clipped mine again and he's in a blanket/chaser style and out naked muzzled. Farmer wants to put hay out in a month ! There's plenty of grass :unsure: Like you I like the idea of them having a coat over their organs. The most my horse will wear is a rainsheet this winter. He'll have a full clip late Jan.

I'd rely on condition scoring rather than weigh tapes this time of year.
 
Rubic said:
First of all - now isn't the best time, imo, for just looking at a horse and judging whether they are overweight. Their coat (even with a grown out clip) makes a lot of horses look much heavier than they really are.
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She didn't just look at him, she felt him all over with her hands and paid particular attention to how easy his ribs were to feel and searched for fat pads using her hands.

Her opinion was that he needed to shift 50kg now, and that is in addition to any natural weightloss that will happen over winter.

I don't think that I can go with the assumption that the weight will just fall off in winter. That was the attitude I had in the previous year which made me have an obese horse in the spring as his weightloss just didn't happen.

He gets a medium small holed soaked haynet in his stable and no hay at all in the field. It's really not much at all and it's the only feed that he gets. You would not believe how little food he has. The only option is going to be increased exercise. It's just frustrating as it means increased arena work as it's too dark to hack in the evenings. Luckily our arena is 50m by 70m so we have lots of room to play with (am trying to think positive thoughts!!)
 
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Rubic said:
Sorry MP I didn't realise the vet stressed the need was so urgent.
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Her view was that he needs to be a condition score of 2.5 going into Spring, and currently he is a 4. There is no way that he will naturally drop that much over winter, so unless I want to risk the dreaded lami, I do need to take action.

I just feel demoralised as I have worked so hard to reduce his weight and it seems that I just didn't do enough.
 
Ale said:
Can he come in for longer?
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Yes he could I guess. At the height of the spring grass he was coming in for about 10 hours per day. The other issue is that he will soon be going out alone at night (he seems happy to do this) and I want him to have some day time with the herd as well. Therefore if I leave hm out overnight and bring him in for the whole day he won't ever spend time with his friends.

If I bring him in overnight, he will be standing in his stable for 18 hours (as he is on part livery and would fit into the routine that the others follow), and I don't want that either.

At this time of the year I think that I prefer him to be in the field as the grass doesn't have any real value. I think that he really does live on fresh air. Either that or someone feeds him when I am not there!

There is no easy answer other than increased exercise.
 
Ruskii said:
Is he muzzled now ?
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No, not anymore. I took the muzzle off when I clipped him 4 weeks ago. He kept escaping through the field to the long grass and I thought that the time was right to let him have more food. I think that was the right decision because the grass in their field isn't that great at the moment, and he hasn't put on any weight since then (but he hasn't lost any either). They have a new 20 acre field of grass that has been rested for the last 6 months to move into at the start of December so I don't think that he will need hay in the field at all this winter.
 
As some of the above - piggy winter coat adds 60+kg to him according to weight tape!!

Also we are just going into winter, I would only worry if come January it's not shifting - then look at revisiting it. We have bad weather to get through yet!! :)
 
Mary Poppins said:
I just feel demoralised as I have worked so hard to reduce his weight and it seems that I just didn't do enough.
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Oh please don't feel like that!!! You have worked so, so hard to get him to where he is right now. Ok he has a bit to go but know that these things don't happen overnight! I think with a bit more exercise and perhaps a little extra time in his stable with soaked hay he'll lose it. Good-doers just cling on to the weight. I got about 60kg off Rubic while she was on box rest but now we've reached the plateau point and it is so frustrating but I keep telling myself that I'm trying my absolute best and I think you need to remind yourself of how far you have both come since you were originally told he had to lose weight:wink:
 
If I'm honest I think your vet is being a tad melodramatic - yes an overweight horse is at risk of lami, but has he had lami before - When he was much heavier than now? If not I would say he is at less of a risk come next spring than in previous years especially when so far we have been having a mild winter. When the weather degrades he will have to work harder to keep warm and I reckon the pounds will drop off.
 
I would be surprised with the work your doing and management that he is a score of 4, if that's the case have they mentioned ems? This was mentioned to me. Its abnormal fat deposits.
Mine has shown she is dropping her weight and the deposits are going, had they not then were going to test.
 
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