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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Dec 2009 : 7:51:31 PM
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I know that having a fat horse is not a laughing matter but my mare is permanently fat. In summer i strip graze her which seems to work but in winter they run as a herd as they need the shelter from various parts of the field.
Please tell me that lots of you are struggling with fat arabs too? does anyone have any advice on getting the weight off? im particularly desperate to get the weight off her this year as shes supposed to be going to stud in the spring and at this rate she will be too fat to get pregnant.
She only wheres a lightweight at the moment but i think shes cold as her ears are cold and when i slide my hand inside the rug her fur is cold to the touch.
I clipped her back in October and didnt start rugging her until end of November but it hasnt helped at all.
Please post pictures of your fat horses and ways to lose the weight.
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Edited by - Holly on 10 Dec 2009 10:26:37 PM
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Pashon2001
Platinum Member
3575 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2009 : 8:54:14 PM
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| A light weight rug can make a horse colder, as it flattens the fur and stops the natural air warmth cushion that happens when a horses hair stands on end in cold weather. Your horse would be better off naked (as long as she doesnt waterlog) or clipped with a heavier rug. |
     
www.jarvastud.com http://hocon.webs.com/ |
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rosie
Platinum Member
England
3662 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2009 : 9:10:28 PM
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Our 2 are both good doers.
Both are out 24/7 with no feed but obviously enough grass.
My mare (rising 20) is now about right but the 2 year old is a tad overweight still, but not too worried as hopefully he'll start to lose a bit soon & when they come in for the winter he'll get a token feed whereas the oldie will get more as she's getting clipped & coming back into work.
Hopefully, both will be spot-on before the spring grass comes thru' - then the battle of the bulge will start again! |
     
Last picture courtesy of Sweet Photography |
Edited by - rosie on 05 Dec 2009 9:11:21 PM |
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Cinnypony
Gold Member
1160 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2009 : 10:06:56 PM
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When I bought Cinny she was somewhat chubby, plus still had a foal belly. I was told that she only had to look at food and she got fat - photo below is the first day I met her
However she now does endurance and I have the opposite problem in terms of keeping weight on her.
Susi |
    
Cinnabar Moth --------------- -----------CF Matilda ----Red House Gaia
Susi
https://www.facebook.com/CinnabarEndurance/ |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2009 : 11:32:32 PM
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Cinny pony- she looks like a completly different horse...colour and shape!
the other problem with my mare is that she injured her spinal cord by doing a somersault in the field a few years ago and now has wobbler type symptoms so she can't be ridden like a normal horse. she can only be ridden on flat roads, never off road as she trips up and no jumping as she falls over on landing, infact she generally doesnt like to canter although gallops round the field when she feels like it and scares me thinking that she will fall again.
her saddle doesnt fit her at the mo or her girth so if i do take her out its bareback walks for us.
i will take some photos of her fattness tomorrow and again next month to see if she loses any weight. thinking i might clip her out and put a medium combo on her and see if that helps. might have to separate her and my youngster from the others so that they dont get so much haylage. she wont be happy though! |
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lcoates
New Member
England
2 Posts |
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Cinnypony
Gold Member
1160 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2009 : 10:11:38 PM
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Hummm Holly - that is definitely more difficult.
Flat roads - hopefully you live somewhere flat as I can see her somersault has not made your life easy.
The first photo was taken on a dull October late afternoon, (the mohican growing out bridlepath doesn't help) and the second one this August at Barbury Castle - she has got lighter in colour, not sure why???? |
Cinnabar Moth --------------- -----------CF Matilda ----Red House Gaia
Susi
https://www.facebook.com/CinnabarEndurance/ |
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Karon
Gold Member
England
1411 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 09:11:26 AM
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Cinny is gorgeous  My two chestnuts are definitely different shades summer and winter, BTW.
I too have fat Arabs  Two of mine are very good doers, and I manage them with a track round the field in summer, muzzles if necessary and soaked hay. I don't separate them from the other two, but if I felt the other two needed more hay than the good doers I would split them up into pairs, to make life a bit easier. Mine live out, which does help keep their weight down in winter. |
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Meggie-Lu
Platinum Member
England
1519 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 09:48:21 AM
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| My friends horse Gerry a part bred arab, lives with two other horses one being a 16.2 tbxid and a tbxarab who is now just over a year old, he was very fat when he moved into the feild with the other, this has been the best diet he is now a lovley shape! If it's possible make the feild smaller and move another horse in. I no that thats not always possible, failing that you could get a sheep!!!! Haha |
   Danger Mouse |
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Eeyore
Gold Member
1181 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 12:07:21 PM
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Holds hands up.
Mine have fat bellies which I'm guessing is mainly due to being fed ad lib hay together with being good doers.
However, I'm not going to starve either of them because of the gastric ulcer risk. I've had my boy scoped and treated and veterinary advice is that he stays on his ad lib forage diet. He didn't have bad ulcers but is a very stressy horse so I have to minimise the risks with his management.
I think the only way they would get slim is with a high workload which is not possible for me because I'm struggling with my own health at the moment and working full time.
I'm very careful with the type of grass they are turned out on, their food is always good quality but low calorie and they are unrugged but with lots of shelter and stabled at night.
As long as mine are happy and not at risk of laminitis I just accept the fat tummies |
Heléna
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Nichole Waller
Gold Member
England
1168 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 2:27:38 PM
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Ozzy has quite a large tummy... .
I bought him in May as a 4 year old and he looked reasonably in proportion. I think he had lived out 24/7 before i had him and i'm sure the lady i bought him from said he was out in the winter with no rug, no hard feed and no hay.
My field he lived in during the summer had more grass than what he had with his previous owner and he developed quite a large tummy....! I also feed him two small feeds a day of Lo Cal balancer and chaff. (He has the same amount summer and winter). He did grow nearly 3 inches over the summer in height and quite a few more inches round the middle....
He is now on the winter grazing during the day and in at night with a good amount of soaked hay. He has a medium rug on, but i do change it to a thin one depending on the weather. There is never a scrap of hay left in the mornings and he still gets his two small feeds a day of Lo Cal Balancer. He is ridden about 3 or 4 times a week and this is mainly slow work. This morning a had to let the girth down another hole so i could do it up . I can't believe he is still putting on weight this time of year with the field now like a marsh with blades of grass poking up....
I suppose it's better to have a good doer than one who is difficult to keep the weight on...
Next year when he is 5 i'll increase the workload and see if we can slim the belly down a bit (that's his and mine...) |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 6:16:22 PM
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| Well I have taken her rug off today and she will now remain naked!! Hopefully in the weeks to come i will start to notice a difference. They live out 24/7 with natural shelter, 1 feed a day and some haylage at night. I will save their winter grazing until after xmas as it is ankle high lush grass and i will put the oldie on it on her own to munch it down during the day before i let nakeeta any where near it. |
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Cinnypony
Gold Member
1160 Posts |
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zalah
New Member
Scotland
25 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 10:46:46 PM
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Hi Holly, yep fat arab here too.to make it worse he had High suspensory ligament damage in both front legs so didn't work much for a year. This summer I kept him on soaked hay and no hard feed just a carrot and he's looking better. Legs now repaired, I Managed to get him out loads hacking and my friends Dales X Arab gives him lots of hard work keeping up with him. Tor is now managing to keep up if not pass Ally when galloping. Excercise is the key but when they have a sick note from the vet its hard. What can we do  |
[/IMG] [IMG]http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/zalah1/MyPrince.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/zalah1/100_0118.jpg[/IMG] |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 10:36:03 AM
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I will try and take pics today but as usual it is raining in cornwall and blowing a gale!
The annoying thing is is that i think the wobblers type problems would be less of a problem if she wasnt carrying so much weight. I dislocated my knee 5 weeks ago and have been in cast for 2 weeks and obviously not riding. im hoping to start riding again as soon as i get a dry day so will try and take her out for some walks although it will have to be bare back as girth will not reach by about 20cm!!!!! |
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Pasha
Platinum Member
England
3622 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 2:40:53 PM
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I haven't tried this myself, but just an idea:
Would you be able to give her magnesium seperately from the others (in her own little feed)? Just a thought, but I have read testimonials about the wonderful slimming powers of magnesium - guess it stems from the theory that 'good doers' are fat becasue they have a metabolic issue or being fat has given them a metabolic issue.... anyway, maybe worth a try? It's not expensive versus supplements on the market (thinking F4F). Think I read somewhere about a NAF product too? Slimline maybe? Might be worth a try anyway. If you can get her nice and slim over the winter, spring won't be such a worry x |
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Gerri
Platinum Member
England
4211 Posts |
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basbob
Gold Member
France
1356 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 6:32:47 PM
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My mare living out in the summer with next to no grass - don't know where it came from!
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Meggie-Lu
Platinum Member
England
1519 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 8:06:49 PM
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| Merlin has a nice shape 2 him now he's not arab but i ride at least once a week, but he is lunged hard 2-5 times a week and he does go 2 the beach. He was a riding school horse, and he was very very fat when he first came to the yard, now he is a nice shape, he lives out wiv 2 other horses on rich grass, he has a rug on but only a light weight one. However they only have one feed in the morning and they have no hay in the feild, the other 2 r nice shapes aswell. It depends how fast they digest food and how much work they do. Merlin lives with a part bred arab Gerry and he is always hungry! He is always eating! |
Danger Mouse |
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Evie
Platinum Member
England
3513 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 8:54:21 PM
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My mare was pretty fat in the summer when we had so much grass, but is getting back to her normal size now its December and will stay like that until the spring grass starts coming through.
Here's a pic of her taken in October
Even though I thought she was a fattie in the summer we managed to get Grade 1s in the 3 competitive endurance rides we did so she still must have been fit even though she did have a bit of a round belly! |
Bristol |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2009 : 10:43:02 PM
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Ohh Evie I wish my mare was the same size as yours but shes much fatter. I promise i will get some pics up of her royal fatness asap.
I will look in to the magnesium idea and see what my vet says. Anything that works must be tried.
Thanks
Holly |
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Songbird
Bronze Member
England
152 Posts |
Posted - 09 Dec 2009 : 5:43:31 PM
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Lo-Cal and lots of exercise! I just manage to keep control of Zaks weight but it takes discipline and energy on my part. If I don't ride him for a week his girth shows it.
www.songbirdarabians.co.uk |
Kit Rolfe |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2009 : 10:17:26 PM
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Here is Nakeeta my chubby little princess
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Kharidian
Platinum Member
England
4297 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2009 : 11:03:22 PM
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Ooh, I see what you mean. She does look a little chubby over the quarters and quite a grass belly. What a shame you can't work her, but being clipped and naked surely she'll lose weight over winter.
You've said you give her one feed a day + haylage.....what hard feed are you giving and in what quantities (need to know dryweight rather than "1 scoop" as, of course scoops can very considerably). Maybe you're inadvedrtently overfeeding her? Also, how much haylage is she getting? As she's out with others, maybe she's getting the lions share? Personally I wouldn't feed haylage to a mature good-doer - especially as you can't ration it.
Just my opinion, I'm not an expert on nutrition.
Caryn |
Kharidian (Prince Sadik x Khiri)........ Alkara Cassino (H Tobago x Rose Aboud)
aka "Roger".................................... aka "Chips"
     
The first image is from an original painting by Pat Shorto.
South-East Essex |
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Montikka
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2653 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2009 : 09:12:24 AM
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basbob your mare is gorgeous!!
I'd try to section her off Holly. The grass has kept so well this year that she's probably ok on just that for a while. Then hay rather than Haylage.
I'm no expert either - but I use Horsehage Hoofkind for good doers if I feel they need a bucket feed. It is mostly chaff but has biotin and a few pellets to make it nutritionally balanced. So no other hard feed needs to be given. It's cheap at around £6 a sack which lasts two fatties at least two weeks.
Her crest doesn't look too huge - hopefully when it gets colder she'll drop some weight. I read somewhere that grass continues to grow if the temp is above 7 c, so she would benefit if it was restricted until the temp drops.
She's lovely by-the-way |
   
Louise, Warwickshire |
Edited by - Montikka on 11 Dec 2009 09:29:35 AM |
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Eeyore
Gold Member
1181 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2009 : 09:48:39 AM
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She is lovely, so are all of the other horses on this thread, funny how they are all mares!
My mare has a barrel tummy, without her winter coat you can see her ribs clearly in summer but the barrel is still very much there.
I'm sure she is just a natural apple shape I put a thread up last week with pics of my two on.....
I stopped feeding haylage a couple of years ago. It's definitely more fattening than hay if you want to feed forage ad lib like I do but of course it's harder to get good quality hay. I also cut out alfalfa and moved onto Safe and Sound, another good thing about this was that mud fever disappeared too. |
Heléna
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Fat Arabs- Update-pic of nakeeta added
soon.
