# Weight gain good doers!



## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

Hi all,

During the summer months i have a huge problem with keeping the weight off my two guys. 

Storm a 12.1 Welsh b just has to look at grass and he gets fat! We usually section a paddock off for him although he gets quite unhappy being seperated from Star. He is exercised 5 out of 7 days.

Star a 14.3 Welsh D can be much the same although needs a little more grass than Storm. He is also exercised 5 out of 7 days.

What do I do??? I'm really worried about laminitis, although neither of them have ever had it the weight gain is not healthy. And yet the weight gain has started even though they are turned out in a paddock with very little grass and they don't get fed at all!!!

Just wondered if anyone out there had any ways of dealing with natives and weight issues and could offer any tips or advice. I would be very grateful.


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## Hetty (May 7, 2011)

Restricted grazing, so a minimum of 4 hours a day grazing, and feeding them hay if they need more fibre.


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Why dont you try a grass muzzle? that would also mean storm wouldnt have to be seperated from star as you would restricting his grazing.

A couple of people at my yard put muzzles on and the bellys went right down, I have just invested in one for Star for when they move onto more grass because she is a bit of a porker too :tongue_smilie:


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## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

Hi, I did try a grazing muzzle last year it did work for a while but I had to stop using it as he was getting sores round his nose from rubbing it trying to get it off. Still could have another try.

If limiting his grazing how must space is he required to have. Don't want it too small. Feel so sorry for him.


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

I think everybody has the problem with the sores on the face unfortunately! My plan is to use it during the day and take it off at night or vice versa, which ever I think will suit her better!  That way her face will get a bit of a break!
Star is a bit of a flapper and to be totally honest a bit of a tart! lol I just know when I try it on her we will be having a bit of an arguemnt! Took me all last summer to finally get her used to her fly mask and we still have a bit of fuss now. She is a horse that knows how much of an advantage her height is (16.3hh to my 5ft2 :tongue_smilie The head goes up and I cannot reach unless I stand on something!! The girls at the yard find it highly amusing to watch  I do always win these battles though so I am sure this time will be no different!!


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## Maz3643 (May 15, 2011)

All you can do is try to restrict the grazing if you are able to, split your paddocks with electric fencing..soak your hay as this will reduce the calories and nutrients, not affecting the horses intake so much..in the summer my boy is out at night, but comes in in the morning to a handful of chaff for breakfast (he thinks he has had something then!) and only a haynet of say 5-6lbs! to last 6-7 hours, he sleeps half the day..you have to be quite strict if weight is a problem!
Maz


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## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

Well for now he is in a restricted paddock of minimal grass. He is out on it night and day as i can't have him in at the moment due to annual repairs being done on the stables. He is given a small haynet of soacked hay and some fruit and veg daily. And of course he is out to be exercised, groomed etc.

My friend is really bugging me at this time, telling me I'm being cruel not letting him be out in the larger paddock with Star. However Storm is surprisingly not too bothered about being seperated and can groom Star over the fence. To be honest she should have a look at her own, it's a highland, hardly exercised, very overweight and still feeds it a winter sized feed daily. Why that horse doesn't have problems i don't know. Anyway, excuse my little outburst there, just flew out!


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

I attampeted the mask on Sunday, Turns out Star does not graze or drink with it on so unfortunately cant use it! I am having to put her on a diet, And she is TB! So can totally see where you are coming from with yours!
I have loads of comments telling me my horse is over weight and I need to do more, So far she is in strict 5 days a week work (selection of hacking, jumping, schooling and lunging) on a handful of chaff and mix with her supplements (was twice a day but have reduced it to once a day) And she is on well eaten grass so not on a lot at all! She is obviously just a good doer in the summer! She wasnt last year because of her still being in very bad condition but she is happy now so obviously making her keep her weight better.
What else more can I do exactly! People annoy me who make stupid comments because they feel that they know more than the owners and feel it is our fault our horses may gain wieght in the summer. These people 9 times out of 10 dont have a clue with miserable horses! So dont worry, just do what you think is best. 

A friend suggested to me yesterday putting Star on a balancer, so she is getting all the nutrients etc she needs but not the calories! Maybe give this a go?


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## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

Great idea, will put balancer on the shopping list for tomorrow. Don't know why I didn't think of that, stupid me.


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

I didnt think of it either haha! Now I think about it, I think it probably should have slapped me in the face as soon as I realised I needed to do something! 
Going to give it a bash over the next couple of weeks, Let me know how you get on and I will let you know how my Star does too :thumbup:


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## Maz3643 (May 15, 2011)

Good Luck with the balancer..


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## Dawny. (Apr 15, 2011)

I feed Unltimate Feed Balancer with my shetland pony and he is doing great weight wise I feed it all year round. Fed others and he put weight on!!! So carefull you choose the right one.


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## fat fred (May 26, 2011)

My friend and I have this problem! We share a shetland and her horse is a cob, mines a sports horse but they all look like hippos in the summer! We have been allowed to leave them on the winter grazing which is sparse and very short not been fertilized etc, but they're still huge. I ride 6 days out of 7 and do hard work for 4 days (hills, schooling, jumping within his fitness levels) Even in winter they are on 'diets', we have worked out a daily allowance based on size, work load etc and gone from there. We weigh ALL feed and ours get breakfast lunch and tea. We've got some chaff that is high in fibre and low in everything else (called ?cool fibre? not sure would have to check the bag) and have replaced a % of haylage with that. It fills them up and takes a while to eat. In summer they get nothing other than the grass - we've tried muzzles, my horse takes his off and then helps the other 2 out of theirs! He likes to play! I tend to bring him in for a few hours a day say between 10 and 4 as apparently the sugars in the grass are highest when the sun is at it's highest at midday. I also keep an eye on the weather and if we have a lot of rain followed by sun I keep him in a couple of days and turn him out at night due to the growth spurt on the grass. I know what you mean about people getting at you over it though, my friend gets really upset and worries endlessly because her lad is getting on a bit now. I turn it in it's head a bit and ask what they suggest, expian what I'm already doing and then ask for suggestions - you'd be amazed how many people change the subject as they really haven't got a clue!


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Fat Fred, I am loving your idea on turning the questions back on the people making comments! I am doing all I can with Star but yet people still think they know better. It is very tedious and just because they have never had to deal with such problems they feel that us, the owners, must be secretly over feeding them or something! Such a load of nonsense lol 
I think you just need take it with a pich of salt and carry on with what you know best. Yes they can try and give advice but its our choice whether we take the advice or not 
Star seems to be doing well on this new balancer, can see a slight difference already!!
Starlight Express, Have you invested in the balancer? If so does it seem to be helping?


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## fat fred (May 26, 2011)

Yes Melx, I agree with you there. Another thing I have said about the Shetland is that there's no wonder he's fat seeing as his system was designed to forage for food in a sparse area, often walking miles in a day, and that his instincts tell him when he finds food to stuff as much as possible down his neck as he doesn't know where the next lot will come from and to 'bulk up' in summer ready for the winter. So with all these instincts in him and the way we have to keep the ponies when they are domesticated (on fenced off fields, often fertilized etc and very small compared to the areas they would normally cover to obtain the same amount of food in the same amount of time) it's not actually the fact that we neglect them, it's nature ensuring that they survive. Instincts are very powerful, horses still spook at things that won't actually harm them but they respond to their instincts. Doesn't just apply to the Shetland though - I would think it applies to all horses?


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

I have a prime example of this conversation!! So... I went to the yard on Sunday and there was only one other lady there at the time. We got talking as usual and she just turned round and went "also just so you know your horse is severely over weight! Why does she have a rug on? She should be let to get cold to lose some weight! You only ride for 10 minutes at a time so thats not going to help!" ..... I could not believe what I was hearing! So I simply replied "each time I ride, I ride for an hour which I do 5 times a week. I tried a muzzle and she would not eat or drink so that is out fo the question and she is on a low cal balancer so not getting any calories. As for the rug, it is a sheet and is only to stop her getting wet as she does lose condition and shiver in the rain. I am not offended by anyone telling me about Star if they have a sensible asnwer to what else I can do to make a change, I know what she looks like and I am doing my best so the comments are a waste of breath unless you have another suggestion for me?"..... to this I got a reply of "Oh, well, I didnt realise all of this. I dont see you ride her that long because I am not here when you ride really and I didnt realise the other parts. I am not critisizing just making sure your managing. People comment on mine (he is very old and underweighjt but she doesnt feel he needs to put any wight on!!) and I just ignore them!! I cant think of anything else you can do as you are already doing everything you can I can see now"...... Funny how quickly she changed her opinion once she realised i wasnt in fact over feeding her purposely!! lol 

Must admit it was quite satisfying having someone realise that they had completely spoken out of turn and that just because I am only 21 I am not completely stupid!! lol


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

grazing muzzles are good,i have used these,sores are a problem at first until skin toughens up a bit.My mare is on a paddock which she has grazed down to nothing,she has a field supplement lick available,i feed no hay/hard feed during the summer.


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Starlight Express, Any news on your boys progress? My balancer seems to be working and also have started using the muzzle again at night, as much as she hates it! It is doing her good though and the belly is slowly starting to disappear! I have found the balancer to be very good, especially with a thoroughbread as its not making her fizzy at all but is keeping her at a nice weight! 
Hopefully you are having the same outcome!


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## Steff (Mar 28, 2011)

Im so depressed about my pony at the moment. He is a 13.2hh Connermara x Welsh c. He can gain weight just looking at food. Hes very fat at the moment, most of the fatness seems to be in his neck  His tummy is not that podgy. We have faaaaarrrrrrrr to much grazing at our yard for the horses there. I have made him a smallish field with electric tape, which he likes to break through electrified or not. He wont keep a grazing muzzle on  He has hardly any feed (i dont like feeding in the summer but as the others do he has a lil something to shut him up) and a small net at night. I try my best to not have him in the field to long but i sometimes get stuck at work, a good day would be out at 10.30am and in at 3.30-4pm, bad day out at 10am in at 5-5.30pm  As i am to big for him i dont ride him anymore. I try to lunge him a few times a week as a bit of exercise, im hoping to start in hand walking him around the orchards near by but i always have my dog with me at the stables and they dont get along so cant walk them together and i dont like having to leave the dog in the car. 
I am considering turning him out at night as the sugars are less in the grass, but with that he will be turned out longer ie some nights 5.30-6pm till 9-10am some night 7-7.30pm-9-10am. Just dont know what to do for the best.


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Have you tried a starvation paddock? The feed you are giving him would be better to have the least amount of calories as possible, this is one thing I have found with mine! 
At the moment Star is on baileys low cal balancer (3 mugs a day, 1.5 morning and night but a pony his size would be less) And has her grass muzzle on in the day time and off at night, luckily she has started eating and drinking in it so I dont need to worry when its on now! She also does 5 days a week work.
It is slowly going, albeit with constant comments from people on the yard about how over weight she is as if they dont think I know what she looks like! 
At the end of the day the owner knows their horse best and peoples constant comments dont help so we just need to ignore them unless they have decent suggestions!! This is my new outlook on it 
Thats why I love these forums because were not the only ones with these problems, other people are in the same boat and actually want to help instead of judge!


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## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

Hiya! Sorry been ages, had a bad week  
Well the boys have been on the balancer for nearly 2 weeks now. I'm using baileys lo-cal. I've not seen a huge difference so far but it is still early days. I'm measuring them with weight tape weekly, so hopefully I will see a slow steady drop in the weight. 
Storm decided to jump into the next field twice last week, damaging the electric fence. Cheeky little man! So I've lined the top of the fence with wooden rails and electric mounted on top. He hasn't jumped since. Seems i've won the battle lol! 

Melx, glad to hear your noticing a difference with Star, gives me some hope. Has she become used to the grazing muzzle then? Has she found out how to drink and eat?


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Hi Starlight express! Yes the muzzle is now working!  I started by just putting it on at night so that if she wasnt eating or drinking it was cool enough for her not to get dehydrated, After the seond night I asked the girls at the yard what they thought and we all sat and examined the muzzle and it was pretty obvious she had been eatin in it because there was grass and dirt around the edge of the hole! I took this to meaning that she was proving a point by only eating when I wasnt around... lol So I kept at it, and last Saturday Tried it on in the day! She had been worked in the morning, so didnt go out until about 10.30am so I let her have a drink first and then put it on. I came back at about 4.30pm and she was absolutely fine! She had it on again Sunday and then missed the day Monday and had it on Monday night, Tuesday, and Tuesday night (she was very bloated again!!) Went to the yard Tuesday evening and it was as if someone had let the air out of a balloon!! lol Deflated dramatically!!
Now she has it on in the day and off at night. Figured this is the best thing to do as she wont expand loads just at night and she also cant gorge in the day, I dont want it on 24/7! 

I must admit that using the balancer alone I dont think would have made a lot of difference, with the muzzle it is working well! You may have already said but have you tried a muzzle on your two? I would recommend them to anyone after the change it has made in Stars belly!!
Just wish I had of taken before and after photos to show you all


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## Doolally (Oct 12, 2010)

I've got a chestnut ayrab and everything rubs her given the chance, but this muzzle has never once rubbed her and she wears it for 12hours at a time 10 Grazing Muzzle - Dinky Rugs although it's made by dinky ponies they make all sizes - my mare wears large pony.

I've never had to get to this stage with my mare as the muzzle and exercise keeps her weight down, but i've heard people have really good results with a 'paddock paradise' system, so instead of the classic starvation paddock you create a track round the edge of the field with electric fence so they graze down a small area and have to keep on walking round to find grass, and the non-fatties can go in the middle


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Doolally, I have never heard the paddock paradise idea but must admit it sounds a lot better than just a plain starvation paddock due to the excersize involved, a vital part to weight loss!! 
I have come across another unforseen prpblem which I forgot to mention in my last post but basically had my saddler out and my saddle does not fit! So Star is now having a week off to recouperate and will then just be lunging her until I can afford a new saddle  Not good!!!


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## Starlight Express (Feb 25, 2011)

I think I will re try the grazing muzzle. Thanks Doolally for that link. That muzzle looks a lot more comfortable and is padded, great! Think I will buy a couple. I'll get this weight off my boys yet!


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

I am taking the route of sewing some sheep skin onto my muzzle!! Saves me buying a new one 
The muzzles are amazing when they work!!


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## Doolally (Oct 12, 2010)

Melx said:


> Doolally, I have never heard the paddock paradise idea but must admit it sounds a lot better than just a plain starvation paddock due to the excersize involved, a vital part to weight loss!!
> I have come across another unforseen prpblem which I forgot to mention in my last post but basically had my saddler out and my saddle does not fit! So Star is now having a week off to recouperate and will then just be lunging her until I can afford a new saddle  Not good!!!


Nothing's ever simple with horses is it!!Hope you can get a saddle sorted soon so you don't miss out on too much summer riding


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## Melx (Dec 23, 2009)

Had another unfortunate and annoying situation when I got to the yard this morining, All of the horses in both fields (boys and girls) decided to break all the fencing down and escape into a field with grass to your knees, Star didnt have her muzzle on..... Could not beleive my luck!! lol Although atleast now everyone elses horses are as fat as mine :tongue_smilie:


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## nomi (Nov 1, 2011)

weight gain if we raise exercise routine and raise a eating capacity of safe healthy and nitrated foods then weight raise nautically


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