Overweight cob feed advice

Rosasmum

Rosasmum

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Nov 3, 2014
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Hi,

I have a 14hh mare cob who is 4 years old. She comes to us on the 21st nov. She is very overweight and currently on grass and hay. LAst year she was feed chaff and pony nuts. I am aware that she needs to lose this weight to prevent laminitis, she hasn't had it before.

I was thinking chaff light, alfala light with speedbeet and balancer. I would slowly introduce this to her, I know that she needs a high fibre low calorie feed, but would need minerals etc. does this sound a good combo? What do you feed? She is very placid and is probably lazy, as she is not worked much. She would be ridden 4-5 times a week if no time to ride then lunge. It's pretty much light work.

Thanks
 
I would cut out hard feed altogether. On that amount of work she will be getting everything she needs from hay and grass. I would also soak all her hay to remove as much sugar as possible and ration this as well.

My horse is ridden everyday and does a fair amount of work. I haven't given him a hard feed for over 2 years now, he just has grass in the field and small soaked haynet. This does him throughout winter and in summer he is muzzled for all his turnout. He literally lives on fresh air and simply doesn't need any extra food.
 
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Do you need to feed her at all?

Personally I'd feed soaked hay to supplement the grass if it starts to get poor in winter. If you feel the need to give a balancer then I'd find a low iron one without molasses (forage plus, equimins or pro hoof are all good ones that I know of) in a handful of speedibeet.
 
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Thank you for your advice, I was more worried that I didn't feed her she would not have enough minerals and vitamins. She lives out throughout the year apparently, she is a good doer. I don't mind soaking the hay and not do a feed. The owner said that when it frosts over in winter you will need a daily feed. I was so worried about her weight and the risks of this, I didn't want to bulk her up anymore.

I also heard that they need to chew a lot of forage to make sure the digestive system doesn't get effected.

I will not feed her unless she needs it. I'll be buying a girth tape and keep a diary of her body conditioning throughout.

I heard of the pro hoof, I saw spillers lite balancer originally that states no molasses because the dengi contained that.
 
You're on the right side of winter for her to be overweight but of course you don't want to continue that vain into spring. I'd try her without any hard feed and get her a mineral lick for vits and minerals. You could shove a bale of straw in the field and let her feast on that adlib, and supplement with hay twice a day. I don't rug mine, he grows a lovely thick coat but slims down over winter with this sort of management, although I appreciate folk have diff views and needs regarding rugs.
 
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I would stop giving her a hard feed at all. As we are heading into winter this a good time to let nature help you out here !

Is she on loan to you or was it an ex owner who mentioned about feed when it frosts over ? If your her owner then you'll have full control.

Is she clipped at all ? I'd start by doing a low trace and/or not rugging or only rugging in foul weather. Cobs are notoriously good doers !!
 
Balancers to provide extra minerals are a very personal choice. Some people swear by them, and others (like me) don't think that they are necessary. I think that it very much depends on the individual horse. If your horse has good feet etc. and is in good health on grass/hay alone, then I don't feel the need to give anything extra. But if the horse has any health issues then you have to feed accordingly. I do give my horse access to a salt lick in his stable (he comes in for 6 hours during the day for his soaked hay).

I do like my horse to have some additional hay during winter which is why he comes in for his haynet, but he has never had any hay put out in the field. Our fields are big and full of grass, so it all depends on what your grazing is like. If your grass is poor I would recommend that you put extra hay in the field rather than give a hard feed.

You will never find a 'right' or 'wrong' answer about feed (or anything else about horses) as opinions will vary hugely. You just have to go with your own judgement and be guided by your horse. I do believe that it's important to have a horse who is a healthy weight though - so many horses are overfed and far too fat. It's so unfair on them.
 
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She will be mine, which makes it so much easier, because the one we are loaning is really overweight, but she doesn't work. It's my plan to make sure we get our horse fit, would hate for her to get ill because of it. Thank you for your advice. I won't be feeding unless she was losing it rapidly, I'll get a mineral stick. She has a thick long coat, hasn't been clipped. Thinking of a lightweight waterproof, incase it rained and we wanted to ride her. She is full of hair lol.
 
For the last 2 years my horse has been blanket clipped and out naked throughout winter to help aid weightloss, although this year he is fully clipped and will be rugged when I redo it. Clipping for weightloss is another very controversial topic but it has certainly worked for us.
 
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I used to not feed anything but a mineral lick but my horse started licking the ground so I knew he was missing something. He's now on a handful of hi if lite and slimline naf. It hardly covers the bottom of the bucket. It's really a bit of suck it and see really. Just don't go changing things too much too soon as this can stress them out if they're being moved aswell. Do it gradually
 
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My pony doesn't get any hard feed. He always has access to a Himalayan pink salt lick (and he loves it) and he and his field mates also share access to a bucket of seaweed, which they scoff when they fancy some extra minerals. I don't see them licking the ground these days so assume that they feel they are getting the trace elements they need. He does get a handful of chaff every day with a scoop of magnesium in it as he has had laminitis and I believe that magnesium helps to balance their metabolism to make a recurrence less likely.

You sound very sensible and focused on your new cob's well being and I am sure she will thrive with you. May we see a picture of her?? :)
 
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Rosasmum said:
She will be mine, which makes it so much easier, because the one we are loaning is really overweight, but she doesn't work. It's my plan to make sure we get our horse fit, would hate for her to get ill because of it. Thank you for your advice. I won't be feeding unless she was losing it rapidly, I'll get a mineral stick. She has a thick long coat, hasn't been clipped. Thinking of a lightweight waterproof, incase it rained and we wanted to ride her. She is full of hair lol.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't worry about a rain sheet unless you are really pushed for time, mine just gets a quick sponge off of the mud and towel dry anywhere the tack sits and that's it, if she's just wet she gets a rub with a towel, again where tack sits and she soon dries out once we get moving.

Ditto what everyone else has said regard hard feed, hay etc
oh and welcome to NR :)
 
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If you have a fat horse then stop feeing it, put out a mineral lick and leave her to lose weight, feeding a fat horse anything never got it to lose weight.

Our lot get nothing, no hay , no haylage, no hard feed until they start to look like they need it. Generally after January the first. They have a mineral block they can have a go at.

I like them to start the spring with a hint of ribs.

We ride ours from the field wet, makes not a jot of difference. We only rug if they are old, ill or clipped
 
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Thank you so much, you have really put my mind to rest. Here is a picture it was taken 2 months ago, but she has put on more weight. I'll get another picture on Friday. I pick her up on the 21st, I'm getting everything ready for her.
 

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Echo the others, a lot of advise on here comes from experience. MP shifted loads of weight of her horse and he looks great now.

No feed a trace clip and equibites to get the mineral in but only if the grazing is poor.

That said looking at the photo he is not overweight
 
This was 2 months ago, but since then she has a big belly, you can tell from the back. I'll get another picture of her on Friday and I'll post it. When I went to see her, I forgot to take a picture. The owner sent me that one.
 
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