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Discussion on Overweight stall rested warmblood
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New Member:
Brnrat
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Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 2:07 pm:
Dear Dr. O:
My 16.2h Trakehner mare (currently weighing 1324 lbs) is at stall rest and being handwalked 40 min per day for suspensory ligament injury. She had autologous bone marrow transplant surgery in December and has been at stall rest for 5 months now. My barn feeds twice per day and I feed twice. She gets 6.5 lbs timothy hay in the am, 3 lbs pure timothy hay pellets at noon, 4 lbs timothy hay at 4 pm and another 4 lbs timothy hay at 8:30p. She also gets 2 small buckets (total 3/4 lb of soaked beet pulp)per day in order to get her vitamin/mineral supplements down plus 10-12 carrots per day. If fed at 1.5% of her body weight she should be getting a minimum of 20 lbs of hay per day and is currently receiving 17 lbs of forage. Would it be advisable to cut her feed back even further or wait until she can gradually increase her level of exercise? I would estimate that she is a body condition 7 or 8 (hard to tell with warmbloods as she has those narrow hips and large barrel that swings when she walks but does have slight crease down her back). Thanking you in advance for your assistance.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 6:48 am:
I think at a 7/8 condition you should go ahead and address the problem. You need to cut back the carrots first and if that does not decrease condition then the beet pulp, at these levels the hay would be the last to get cut back.
DrO
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Member:
Brnrat
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Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 12:28 pm:
Thanks Dr. Oglesby. Over what period of time should I see a decrease in her condition after instituting the above recommended reduction? Should I weight tape her again after 2 weeks? 4 weeks? We have at least 3 more months of handwalking to go before she can be legged up and I don't want her to gain any more weight. I might add she is a big girl with substantial bone - all warmblood - no TB. How would I determine what her ideal weight should be? Thanks.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 7:34 am:
3 to 4 weeks is plenty of time to reevaluate feeding. I would strive for a condition of about 6.
DrO
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