Going into Spring with the best Doer ever

flump1967

flump1967

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2005
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new forest
Right!

Flippin spring is here in the sunny south and I am doing my best to be well armed against the seemingly ineveitable pony weight gain.

So far I have

1.Bought a water butt to soak hay for at least 12 hours, actually more like 16 now I work out the timings.

2.Started to get Arns into a routine of coming in every morning to get him off the grass. (This needed building up as he his the only one coming in and stables are Amercan Barn so he can't see the others)
Am planning that being in 10-2 will at least have him off the grass when sugars are highest and fits in with my home stuff as am entirley DIY.

3.Got a Greenguard muzzle and headcollar and got the saddler to make it Field Safe with a velcro bit inserted.
Am planning that when there is enough grass to go through muzzle (too short at the mo) will put it on when I turn him out at 2pm and if he accepts it will build it up so he wears muzzle 2 - 6pm when OH will stop off on way home and remove it overnight, also putting my hay on to soak at same time (bless him!).

4.Have cut feed down to half scoop of Hi-Fi Lite with calorie free multivit added.

5. Decided we will do a minimum hours exercise every day of some sort - in-hand hacks, ridden hack/school, long-rein or lunge.

6.Asked YO if we can have only grazed down grass when we rotate, even if I have to go and poo pick new field after others (not everyone poo picks here) first so that we don't have lush grass.

7.Asking freinds who ride better/faster than me to exercise Arns whenever possible to up his workload as I can only plod.

This is me doing my best but I am still v.worried.

Any helpful thoughts?

Any tips on how to introduce muzzle for the first time and how long I should expect him to stay in for? Do you think 1 section of well soaked hay for 4 hours stood in or should it be 2 sections?

Am in a dither of worry as he has lost about 50kg over winter but having taken his rainsheet off at the weekend he now suddenly looks much fatter overnight.

Am telling myself that it is where his coat has fluffed up and he can't possibly have grown overnight (very minimal grass in field) but I am still like this :eek:
 
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You sound like you have the bases covered, as for the soaked hay I would personally offer two sections as once it has been soaked for that long all the sugars have gone so it is more for something for them to do.

Havent had experience with a muzzle so cant off advice there sorry :p
 
WWo! You sound like you've got it covered! CAn't really offer mjuch advice - I too have a good doer - its a constant battle!!!
 
I'd go for 2 sections aswell as all horses have a psychological need to chew which is why they graze for a large portion of the day. If you can put it in haylage nets, or better still 2 nets one inside each other just to make him take as long as possible to eat the hay and keep him busy.
 
if you are trying to get him to lose weight, 1% of his body weight in hay is what to feed per day. I found a spring balance from the local tack shop handy for weighing my laminitic mares haynets to make sure she was getting the right amount. you could also double net any hay to make it last longer.

greenguard muzzles are hopeless i'm afraid. The horses very easily push them aside and they can get the headcollars off by rolling. They also rub very badly. We went through every muzzle on the market and found the shires or best friends ones to be most resiliant and most difficult to get off. i've never really allowed an adjustment period for muzzling. always just popped it on, fed them a bit of carrot so they cotton on there are holes and let them go figure it out.

i'm always disinclined to put fatties on well grazed land. stressed grass (which is what you get on grazed paddocks) is high in fructans. Longer grass is actually less harmful.

everything you've mentioned is what we'll be doing with my good doing cob :)
 
Hmm - am wondering about asking vet for Founderguard... he has never had lamminitis - would they still prescibe it I wonder? Are there any negatives (other than cost, I know it is pricey) to Founderguard?

EB - Was it the new style GG muzzle that you had with theri own headcollar or the older stle? Asking beacuse am told new ones are better. I hope so!
 
Conflicting ideas on grass length... but sugar is stored closer to roots, so comsumption of shorter grass theoretically results in higher sugar consumption. That and longer tgrass is more difficult to eat with a muzzle on - not impossible, just a little more time consuming :p
 
you might be just as well arn a probiotic/digestive supplement. much cheaper than founderguard and we had great success with it helping to stop our mares laminitis. Dengie triple XP is good :) yes, was a new style muzzle with headcollar. hanging gathering dust as baby horse wouldn't keep it on. the £10 unbranded shires-style one was much more successful! you've got your stabling and muzzling times spot on so i'd just try things, see how you go :) i've one like arn who needs to slim down and another who needs fattening up :rolleyes:
 
Thanks will look into folks suggestions :)

Quick question this morning:

In my never-ending quest for new worries I am now wondering if I have to introduce soaked hay slowly? I am pretty sure I don't as it is still hay afterall.

Can anyone reassure me I can just start feeding his hay soaked straight away please?
 
Hi Flump, soaked hay should be fine fed straight away. I have a laminitic mare and have also found the shires muzzle much better than the greenguard, my two managed to push the mouthpiece aside and ate as much as they wanted! :)
I am thinking of bringing my two in during the day and putting them out at night- still muzzled, because the fructans are lower at night. I give mine top spec anti lam, it has magnesium and a prebiotic in it plus all the vits, minerals etc. they have this with a handfull of chaff once a day and thats it.
Also strip grazing the paddock helps. All the best x
 
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