to fat

[Margo + Sara]

My 14.1 conamara x has been getting fatter and fatter i feed her 3 stub scoops of chop and 1 stub scoop of sugar beet twice a day, they have a feeder of haylage in the field which she eats constantly since she is the boss of the field, but with the time of year there isn't much grass so we cant take it out. A hay net of haylage on a night. she is only in light work being ridden about 3 times a week. i am getting a little bit concerned about her health as she gets really sweaty after half hour of so of jumping trotting and cantering, does anyone have any ideas how i could get a bit of weight off her without having to take away her feed as she loves to eat and gets so morngy when i try and put her on a diet lol, can you get diet food for horses? if so whats the best kind? should i replace her night time haylage with hay? does she need more excercise?

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[bingbong]

horses are just like humans

when people want to loose weight they have to eat less and exercise more... horses are the same ;D.

yes you can get diet food for horses .. but i really do think your feeding her far far too much esp for a cob

my friends cob gets fed less than a hamster - honestly !!!

by feeding her too much your actually being cruel when i know you only mean well to her and want her to be happy.

if i were you i would contact a feed company for advise ;D

but something along the lines of a vit and mineral supplement designed for horses needing to loose weight and hay will prob be enough i would think but im no expert your better phoning a feed company like top spec

[chestnuttymare]

Connies are natives and normally quite good doers. Do you feed the 3 scoops of chaff twice a day or is that split into 2 feeds? That sounds like an awful lot of grub for a pony in such light work. Sugarbeet is also quite fattening, if she likes the taste, i would give her a wee bit of it, but perhaps not as much as 2 scoops a day. A horses stomach is only about the size of a rugby ball. Why don't you soak hay for through the night, it will take the goodness out and reduce calorific value, but she will still be eating so she doesn't feel hungry. I think I would agree with BB and ring a feed company for advice. Nicola at top spec is really helpful.

[Margo + Sara]

sara, stop feeding her so much,i give her a little scoop of chop and that is it,and heres an idea start riding her more,she is sweating up cause she got a winter coat why dont YOU pay to get her clipped ,and cut her haylage down on a night,she doesnt need an extra large haynet crammed full,but i forgot u dont pay for it,love your mumxxx

[shoetimeshadow]

now now girls......
Why dont you do as the others have said and get in touch with the feed companies, they will tell you exactly what she should be getting fed as some one said before you wont be doing her health any good at all.Then once you have found out what she should be getting why dont just one of you do the feeds then there is no confusion at all.
Good luck girls sorting this one out.
xxxxx

[Margo + Sara]

I didnt think i was giving her way too much, bless her lol. i think starting from tomorrow i will put her on a proper diet, would it be best to cut it down like half a scoop at a time? and would maby 1 and a half scoops of chop and half a scoop of sugar beet with abit of garlic enough for her or still to much? and i cant clip her mum she hates the clippers she kicked up a right fuss last time i tryed lol, does any one know how much it is for them sadated?
sara xx

[chestnuttymare]

Yeah, i would cut it down over a few days. Personally, I wouldn't clip her if she is doing so little work. I think some fittening work is probably in order, like trotting up hill for a bit and proper striding out walks rather than plodding along. I wouldn't be cantering about and jumping etc if you are riding so little. It's kind of like asking Johnny vegas to go and play 90 mins of football. (not that i am suggesting she is that fat lol).
Her breaking sweat isn't a bad thing, it means you are getting her heart rate up and that's when you burn calories.
Good luck, I think you should take some before and after pics.

[Alliecat]

Mmm, you are feeding your Connemara as much as I am feeding 17.2 of fairly lightweight TB! She has evolved to live on not a lot of hill grass in the winter, which is why she lays down fat in the summer, so I'd really question whether she needs extra feeds as well as ad lib haylage. . ? If the others she is field sharing with are also natives, you may want to consider oat straw & a vit/mineral supplement instead of haylage - she'll still get the right levels of nutrition from the supplement & have something to nibble on all day, but not enough nutrition to lay down any more fat.

The only thing I would add is that a native in very light work doesn't really need rugged up unless it is absolutely Baltic. If she is heavily rugged up, then take it off! She'll survive nicely with nothing more than a rain sheet.

[yellowrattle]

Hi,

The girls have given you sound advice.

I used to own a Dales and she got nothing, but good hay in the winter.

The only time she had any hard feed was when she was doing ODE, hunter trials & hunting, and that wasn't that much.

I only rugged her when she was fully clipped out, and she used to be worked twice a day to keep her weight down.

Speak to someone from a feed company as BB has suggested, you'll be suprised how helpful they are.

[Margo + Sara]

thank you all for the advise, i wouldnt want to take her night time feed away because she gets jellous when the others are being fed but i am going to cut her feed down to 1 sccop of chop on a morning and a scoop on a night with maby abit of sugar beet and see how that works out and i will change her haylage on a night to hay or that oat straw will she still need supliments if she is getting haylage through the day? I didnt realy rug her up much last year and she look like a fuzzy bear lol so i have been putting them on her this year so she wont get as fuzzy because she wont let me clip her but the rugs are not that thick.

[susank]

agree with the others far to much food, my Welsh Sec C literaly gets one mug full of Chaff, nuts and very very very watery alfa beet, twice a day, he is only on haylage at night and thats only an armfull to give him something to munch on, they have a vitamin and mineral bucket in the field at all times so I know they are getting their vitamins, but once they are all in they will get an inividual bucket in their stables with them.