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Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 12:15 am:

My horses tend to be very fat. I have reduced their grain ration lower and lower in an effort to slim them down to no avail. They live in a pasture that is non-fertilized coastal bermuda with access to a free choice mineral block. For the past week or so, I have given them no grain at all and haven't given them hay for about a month. They are rarely worked but I plan to remedy that situation right away.

Here's the real question. Can they be healthy with grazing only or do I need to "feed" them? If their girth is any indication, they are getting plenty to eat. In addition to work, how can I start getting the fat to come off?

Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 6:45 am:

As long as the grass is healthy it will be fine feed for the horses. Not their girth but their conditon determines are they getting enough Care for Horses: Disease Prevention and Health Care: Weight, Condition, and Eventual Height Estimation. If I knew a way that there was a way to get thin besides dieting and exercise...
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 12:38 pm:

Hi Cynthia, our three horses are on 12 acres and graze, graze all day & night. There's a variety of grasses, and we attempt to mow often and keep grass fairly short. The horses are at a healthy-plus weight, not grossly fat but definitely big in the girth and we call it a grass belly. I have noticed that when the grass is shortest, they seem to loose a few inches around the middle. My theory is that the tall grass is mainly fiber and just puffs up the stomach. This may be totally incorrect or my imagination but I think it does make a difference. They are lightly ridden, recreational trail horses, so probably also could use more exercise. I only feed them about two handfuls of Sea Pellets, maybe 4 alfalfa cubes and their Millenium Gold supplement once a day. The feeding is for supplement and to keep them coming happily to the shed so we don't have to chase to catch.

Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 10:27 pm:

I have a fat horse too. I have cut out all grain except a tiny treat to keep her coming in. I have a small area fenced off next to a run in were she spends most of her time. I've found I can only let her out for about 5 hrs for weight to come off. She has a shiny coat and is very healthy.

Posted on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 12:06 am:

It's clear that I will have to exercise the horses. As with my own personal program, I was looking for a shortcut but there's no getting around it. Have you had any experience with a grazing muzzle? I have no way to limit their time spent in the pasture, so that's not an option. Here in Central Texas we may be looking at an extended DrOught so pasture may become a non-issue.

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 2:08 pm:

Cynthia,

I have been using a grazing muzzle for about 8 weeks now on my pony gelding who is on a lush pasture.

The pony is still a little cresty (I guess it may never go away completely) but he is a litter thinner and has not been laminitic since he has been wearing it.

I turn him out in the a.m. and have been bringing him in in the p.m. at which time I remove the muzzle for some free time. It took him about a week to get used to it, but he knows he has to put it on to go outside!

I bought the Deluxe Grazing Muzzle from Valley Vet Supply. It has a built in break away halter and I think I paid around $59 or so, and it has been worth every penney just for the peace of mind. I think their website is www.valleyvet.com

Hope this helps. Lisa

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 11:44 pm:

I don't have a way, currently, to keep the horses off of the pasture to shorten their grazing time but appreciate those of you who have suggested that as an option. In the future I may do some cross-fencing and create a dry lot for them to spend some of their time.

The grazing muzzle is something I might try, Lisa. My horses are "cresty" especially one in particular. I'm getting worried about her because she is having chronic foot problems which may be related to her weight or to her eating habits. She's going to the vet in the next day or two.

I wonder if my horses do need a supplement such as you mentioned, Linda. What are Sea Pellets and Millinium Gold? I do want them to get the proper nutrition while slimming down.

Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 12:26 pm:

Hi Cynthia,the Millinium Gold is a biotin,vitamin and mineral supplement we purchase at our local feed store. Our farrier suggested it for better hoof growth. And the Sea Pellets are a pellet feed containing no alfalfa but basically plain oats and fish meal. I'm buying more this weekend and will write in a complete ingredient description. The feed is to supplement pasture grass and to keep them coming in to the shed. The Millinium is just 2 ozs and the pellets only a few handfuls. We are also riding more now that rainy season is over and the best news, we got a new trailer (aluminum, 3 horse Exciss). At least two days a week we trailer them away from the pasture for ride or visit to friend's arena. We call these horse diet days, as they are away from their grassy acres for hours. And it seems to be helping. My arab mare is much easier to girth up lately and doesn't look like the tub she was a few months ago.

Posted on Monday, Jun 3, 2002 - 12:26 am:

I was not quite right about the Sea Power Pellets, they do have alfalfa Dehy Meal as the 10th ingredient on a long list, which begins with ground oats, ground barley, wheat millrun, ground corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, fish meat, molasses cane, salt, kelp, and a then a long list of minerals. It's popular in my area because our soil lacks minerals. The pellets are 16% protein, 3% fat, 8.5% fiber. As I said, they get these about two handfulls of Sea Power Pellets and the biotin supplement just once a day in addition to the pasture. A few years ago, when we first moved them to their current home, we kept feeding them alfalfa cubes just out of habit, as they were previously in a more dirt than green area. Pasture plus lots of alfalfa cubes quickly resulted in chubby horses. With good pasture, I would imagine most horses don't need anything else.

Posted on Friday, Jun 14, 2002 - 10:57 pm:

I too have a problem with a couple of my horses being extremely easy keepers and getting overweight. I have found pulling them off the pasture during the day helps, but they still aren't losing much weight. I feed a half a small coffee can of an oat, sweet feed, corn mixture twice per day. Would it be better to feed the grain mixture just once per day instead of twice or just do away with the grain totally? I was interested in the pellets that were mentioned. Who makes this product?
Thanks for your input.

Posted on Saturday, Jun 15, 2002 - 12:43 pm:

Hi Joanie, the Sea Power Pellets are from O.H. Kruse Perfection feeds. There is not much on the web about them, but perhaps your local feed store can get some information. Sea Power was recommended to me by other horse owners in my area because of the vitamin and especially mineral supplementation.

Posted on Saturday, Jun 15, 2002 - 1:59 pm:

Joanie, I don't see why you'd want to add pellets, which provide a concentrated source of calories, to their diet if they're already overweight on the forage. Why not get your forage tested if you're worried about it's nutritional content? They'll be much better off grazing for hours than chowing down pellets for a few minutes...

Posted on Saturday, Jun 15, 2002 - 10:23 pm:

Hi, Joanie. I talked with my vet about my fat horses and she says that they don't need any grain at all if they get good quality grass hay and a good mineral block. Mine have both. If they don't begin to lose weight on this regimin along with increased exercise (Dr. O. advised this as well), she says I may need to restrict their pasture time especially when grass is lush. This last part is especially important for my horses since a couple are cresty and one has had laminitis before.

Posted on Sunday, Jun 16, 2002 - 4:59 pm:

Thanks for all the input. The only reason I was questioning whether it was alright to feed just once per day is that I would like to keep the horses coming up and I have heard so much about feeding twice per day. As a youngster we always fed only once per day and never had a problem.

Posted on Sunday, Jun 16, 2002 - 8:47 pm:

Let me answwer this more pointed question Joanie. Horses do better with twice daily feeding but only to a point. We have a pretty good idea that more than about 4.5 lbs per 1000 lb body weight, at one time is hard on the digestive system on the horse. We also know that even at smaller amounts that twice daily feeding will increase the horses abiltiy to utilize the nutrients, slightly. But once you start talking about very small volumes once daily is no big deal. But Melissa's question is right on: why feed grain to a fat healthy horse?
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 17, 2002 - 11:23 am:

Thank you Dr. O for clariying this for me. Is there something I can use to keep them coming up that is low in protein and high in fiber? I don't want to have to catch each of them to put them in the stall to take them off the grass. My grass is very rich so I pull them off the field during the day and turn them out at night. My leg was injured in a riding accident and I am still recuperating so I am not able to ride mine every day. One of the horses that was overweight foundered on the spring grass and was not able to be ridden. She is now able to be walked only. One of the horses is just coming up two and still growing. Would just vitamin supplements without grain be okay for her?
Thanks for your input,
Joanie

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002 - 7:02 am:

How about a very small chunk of carrot? It should do the trick and do to its size should not be a problem. Yes vitamin supplements should be Ok without grain but how do you plan to get them in the horse?
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002 - 11:50 am:

I wondered about carrots or apples. As far as supplements my filly likes the liquid 747 supplement and will usually lick the feeding bowl for it.
thanks again,
Joanie

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 19, 2002 - 6:05 pm:

Dr. O,
I mix my suppliments with a small amount of shredded beet pulp. My horses slurp it down like candy. :o) Linda in Ca.

Posted on Monday, Jul 8, 2002 - 11:52 am:

I feed a pelleted vitamin/mineral supplement that both horses will eat plain, out of my hand.

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 9, 2002 - 8:29 am:

Another way to get a vitamin down is chopped bagged hay like Dengi or Triple Crown Grass Forage---just a small handful will not add many calories (it would just be a couple of oz of grass hay)--and any powdered supps will mix in.

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 9, 2002 - 4:33 pm:

There is a new product that I just came across by Seminole Feeds. It is designed for horses that tend to founder or are overweight. It is basically fiber enriched with vitamins and minerals. The product is called "Happy Hoof". I have started using it, giving my mare just one handful instead of the recommending alotment, just to have something to give her when feeding my other horses.
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