- Diagnosing Overweight Horses. Horses’ body condition should be continually monitored via body condition scoring and use of a research-based weight tape.
- Feed Management for the Overweight Horse. To start, overweight horses should not be fed large amounts of grain or concentrate feeds. ...
- Navigating Access to Pasture. Overweight horses should have limited to no access to lush pasture. Restricting pasture time or utilizing a grazing muzzle can help decrease pasture intake.
- Handling Hay for Overweight Horses. Overweight horses should be offered moderate quality grass hay at 1.5% of current body weight, split into several meals per day.
- Exercise. Exercise should be encouraged via whatever means possible, including hand-walking, riding, driving, lunging, etc.
How much should I Feed my overweight horse?
Limit an overweight horse’s diet to 1.5 percent of their body weight daily. For example, a 1,200-pound horse should receive 18 pounds of feed daily when restricted to 1.5 percent of their body weight.
How to get a fat horse to eat less?
This small amount of food will help appease the fat horse and it will meet its needs for protein, vitamins, and minerals not provided by the hay. Another option for feeding-time frenzy is to purchase some hay cubes or pellets and feed a small amount (again, less than a pound).
How do I get my horse to eat hay?
For hay and haylage, this can be achieved by feeding in small holed hay nets and, if necessary, one hay net inside another, to make your horse work really hard for forage.
How do you keep a horse busy when feeding?
If your horse is a playful character, hanging up vegetables or chopping and putting in a foraging ball can also help to keep them entertained. The physical form of the feed that you choose can significantly affect how long it takes your horse to eat it and the amount of chewing required.
What to feed a horse that needs to lose weight?
Reduce hard food intake Slowly wean your horse off any unnecessary feed, instead feed pelleted vitamin and mineral supplements or balancers to provide your horse with the nutrients that they need to stay healthy.
How do you deal with an obese horse?
Top Tips for Managing the Overweight HorseManaging an overweight horse. ... Weigh your horse feed. ... Avoid the little extras in your horse's feed. ... Factor in forage. ... Keep your horse occupied. ... Monitor your horse's grass intake. ... Exercise plans for overweight horses. ... For more information about managing your horse's weight.
What happens if a horse gets too fat?
Increased stress on the heart and lungs. Greater risk of laminitis or founder. Increased risk of developmental orthopedic (bone and joint) problems in young, growing horses. More strain on feet, joints, and limbs.
How do you slim down an easy keeper horse?
Divide the total amount of hay fed into several feedings per day to reduce the amount of time the horse spends without feed. If a drylot paddock is not available and the horse has to be turned out on pasture, a “grazing muzzle,” which allows the horse to drink, but not graze effectively, can be used.
Which hay is best for overweight horses?
Legume hay, such as alfalfa and clover, contain more calories per pound than grass hays. Instead of alfalfa, feed a high-fiber, good quality grass hay (Timothy or Orchard Grass) free of dust, mold and weeds.
Can hay make a horse fat?
Horses can overeat grass, especially if the pasture is lush, but it is also easy to let a horse get too fat from eating hay. And, sometimes too little hay can mean a horse will lose weight.
What are the signs of obesity in horses?
How to tell if your horse is overweightThe ribs should be visible or easily palpable.There should be no, or minimal, crest.There should be no fat parts over the shoulder area or the ribs.There shouldn't be a noticeable gully on top and between the horse's hindquarters.
Why is my horse getting so fat?
PPID causes changes in the fat and muscle distribution in affected horses. Fat accumulates in the crest of the neck, tailhead, over the eyes, and in the sheath. At first, horses may have more overall weight gain but over time, they lose the muscle along their topline leaving more of a potbellied appearance.
What horse breeds are easy keepers?
Most pony breeds are easy keepers, and smaller, hardy horse breeds such as the Arabian or Mustang have many representatives with this trait. Many draft horse breeds, such as the Percheron are also easy keepers, as are most mules and donkeys.
What causes Cresty neck in horses?
Overweight horses and ponies often develop fatty tissue deposits along their body. When these fat pads develop along the upper curve of their neck, the animal is said to have a cresty neck.
What would make a horse lose weight fast?
5 reasons your horse is losing weightExtreme weather changes. Most horses tend to lose weight in the winter as they burn more energy to stay warm and have less grass to choose from. ... Dental problems. ... Parasites. ... Pecking order. ... Hay quality.
Will horse riding help lose weight?
A study carried out by The British Horse Society in 2011 revealed that riding can expend sufficient energy to be classed as moderate-intensity exercise. An hour's schooling session or group lesson burns off 360 calories – the equivalent to an hour peddling up to 10mph on a cycle ride.
Why is my horse so fat?
It can be either a cause or effect of other disease conditions or problems. Obesity can worsen orthopedic conditions such as arthritis and may predispose horses to laminitis. It may be due to simple overfeeding for the amount of exercise being performed, or it may be due to an actual disease condition.
Do grazing muzzles work?
Do grazing muzzles work? Research studies have found that grazing muzzles can reduce grass intake significantly – one study found an 83% reduction over a three hour period.
How to increase weight loss in a horse?
If possible, exercise the horse more often than it had been before dieting, to increase the rate of weight loss. If an exercise or dry lot paddock is available, where there is no pasture available for grazing, regular turnout will allow for increased activity and weight loss. Share:
Why are horses obese?
What are the Causes? The causes of obesity in horses are simple: too much energy (calories) consumed, too few calories expended due to lack of exercise and certain medical conditions. Management of the obese horse requires changes in the feeding program as well as the exercise program.
How to lose weight on a horse?
Weight loss can only be accomplished by reducing the number of calories going in and increasing the number of calories expended. So a combination of diet and exercise is in order to shed extra weight from an obese horse.
What is the body condition score for a horse?
The Body Condition Scoring System is a numeric score to establish if a horse is fat or thin. Body condition scores go from one through nine. One meaning very skinny and nine meaning obese. Ideally, you want your horse to be around a five.
How to limit pasture access?
Limit access to pasture by using a grazing muzzle and replace legume hay with grass hay. Legume hay, such as alfalfa and clover, contain more calories per pound than grass hays. Instead of alfalfa, feed a high-fiber, good quality grass hay (Timothy or Orchard Grass) free of dust, mold and weeds.
What percentage of feed should an overweight horse eat?
Horses at an ideal body weight usually consume about 2 percent of their body weight in feed (includes hay, grain products and supplements) daily. Limit an overweight horse’s diet to 1.5 percent of their body weight daily.
How much should an overweight horse eat?
Limit an overweight horse’s diet to 1.5 percent of their body weight daily. For example, a 1,200-pound horse should receive 18 pounds of feed daily when restricted to 1.5 percent of their body weight. All horses should receive the bulk of their feed and calories from hay.
What is the BCS score for horses?
BCS uses the Henneke scale (1=poor; 9= extremely fat) where horses scoring: 4 to 6 are ideal. 7 to 9 are overweight to obese. For more information on body condition scores visit Purina Animal Nutrition’s website. To learn how to figure out your horse's body condition score watch our video.
Why do horses get hot?
Obese horses can have trouble controlling their body temperature. This comes as a result of the excess fat both directly under the skin and surrounding vital organs that traps in heat. This is a concern in warmer weather, as horses can quickly become dehydrated. Overheating can also be a large factor in poor performance.
How to help a horse with overweight?
Overweight horses are prone to disease, overheating and poor performance. Restricting diets and easing into regular exercise can help horse’s reach a healthy body weight. Routinely monitor your horse’s body weight. Body condition scores of 4 to 6 are ideal.
How to determine a horse's ideal body weight?
To calculate your horse’s ideal body weight you need the following measurements: Height, from the top of the withers.
What happens when a horse gains weight?
When a horse gains excess body weight as fat (adipose tissue), their performance and use declines. Bearing excess body weight impacts hoof health by weakening the hoof wall, heel buttress, and bars of the foot. Obesity is a risk factor for developing osteoarthritis and other joint problems.
When is a Horse Overweight?
A professional assessment is the best way to determine a horse’s or pony’s weight and body condition. Weigh tapes are only useful for monitoring your animal, but they cannot accurately measure its true fat content which means that you will have no idea if it needs more food than what you’re already feeding them.
Health Risks of an Overweight Horse
Overweight horses are more likely to develop disorders and diseases, including –
Diet Changes
If you want to lose weight, then your horse does too. One of the major keys is having a daily calorie deficit through diet and exercise. This can be hard because it’s easy for portions to creep up when estimating by volume instead of count so make sure they’re always eating less than they should on any given day!
Exercise Regimes
Horses need to be continually entertained, but sometimes it’s hard for them to find ways of keeping themselves busy. Using haynets and other items will help keep your horse from getting bored or frustrated with their food!
Nutritional Supplements
Some people feed their horses with hay or pasture alone, but this can be dangerous because of the lack in diversity. When a horse is on just hay and grass for food they must eat more to meet their dietary requirements which leaves them susceptible to bloating.
Overweight Assessment
Hopefully by now you have started using the condition scoring system. Being able to evaluate if your horse is too skinny, too fat, or just right is the first step. Information and examples are available in Dr. Bray’s Corner. Monthly body weight records are very useful and easily accomplished with the weight tape.
Identify Production Level
What does your horse do for a living? Is he a companion animal who basically lives in a 12’ X 20’ paddock, a large dry lot, or small pasture? Is she a brood mare or pregnant? If she is pregnant, how far along? Is he a riding horse? How frequently and how long do you ride? What percentage of the exercise bouts were a walk, trot and canter? For working animals, this information allows one to estimate the energy demands and group the workout into categories of light, moderate, moderate-intense, or intense..
Current Diet & Feed Selection
How many pounds of forages, concentrations, and/or commodities are consumed per day? What is the fiber content of the commercial mixes that are fed? What feed ingredients of the commercial mix are in the highest quantity? Understanding feed label information will help you differentiate between feedstuffs or mixes that primarily provide a source of energy, protein, or fiber.
Strategy
The easiest approach is to increase the exercise while maintaining the current feeding program. Decreasing the amount of feed is another approach. Do not forget the ground rules in feeding forages. Those rules can be found in Dr. Bray’s Corner.
Exercise
Turnout fields for self-exercise horses are not of much value. Granted, the larger area may force them to walk as they quench their curiosity, but controlled exercise is better. If he is not ridden very much, then pony the horse along side one of your riding horses. If you do not have a spare and like to walk, take him with you.
Ration
Total feed intake for horses in a weight reduction program will approximate 1.4 – 1.75% of body weight. Do not forget the minimum forage intake of 1.4% BW for maintenance horses. You may be able to feed higher levels depending on the type of work or production level. If you are uncertain, visit with your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist.
What should I feed my horse?
Feed clean, late-maturity grass hay. Hay will be primary diet component of horses managed in a drylot, barn or large paddock with minimal available pasture. Fat horses should be fed hay that was harvested in late maturity.
What do horses eat?
The horse consumes calories from its pasture, hay, and grains and/or concentrated feed (such as a sweet feed). But most people underestimate the importance of hay and pasture in the horse’s diet.
How to reduce the amount of grass a horse eats?
The best way to reduce pasture intake is to put the horse in a drylot (sacrifice lot) where you will be able to control the amount of food your horse will have access to. This is, of course, only feasible, if there is space in your property for a dry lot. Confining a horse to a dry lot may decrease his level of activity, which will, in turn, reduce the number of calories he uses each day. Consider using a young horse as a companion to keep the fat horse moving—just ensure the horses get along so no one gets hurt. Remember to feed the youngster separately, as he will need a diet designed to meet his needs.
How to get a horse to move?
In a paddock, put hay and water away from fence lines, gates, resting places (and each other) to encourage movement. Use feeding devices or practices that slow the rate of eating or increase the work of eating. For example, use a small-hole haynets or, when feeding hay in the pasture, put it in many small piles to make the horse move from place to place. If you normally blanket your horse in the winter or keep him in the barn a lot, you’re helping him reduce calorie use. So, minimize blankets and time in a barn as much as possible, to maximize calorie use in the winter.
How much hay should I feed my horse?
Some feeding guidelines suggest that a horse should receive two pounds of hay for every 100 pounds of body weight (or 20 pounds of hay for a 1,000-pound horse). That is a pretty good guideline for a horse in moderate body condition, but for the very fat horse, it is probably more than is needed.
How much hay should I give my horse to lose weight?
A reasonable starting point then for a weight loss hay allocation for that horse would be 2 pounds of hay for each 100 pounds of the target weight, or about 17 pounds of hay per day. If no weight loss occurs at this rate of feeding then, the amount can be slowly decreased.
How do horses lose weight?
A mature horse will lose weight and condition when the number of calories it consumes is less than the number of calories it uses. Therefore, to decrease body condition the horse must either decrease calorie intake or increase calorie use (or, ideally, both). It isn’t healthy to starve a horse into weight loss, ...
What does it mean to restrict your horse's feed?
Feed restriction means that overweight horses and ponies might inevitably spend some time without anything to eat. Ideally, this time needs to be kept to a minimum and it means that not only do you need to use as low-calorie feeds as possible, but you also need to be as cunning as possible to try to increase the amount of time it takes your horse to consume its feed.
How to keep a horse entertained?
If your horse is a playful character, hanging up vegetables or chopping and putting in a foraging ball can also help to keep them entertained. The physical form of the feed that you choose can significantly affect how long it takes your horse to eat it and the amount of chewing required.
Why do horses use muzzles?
One of the main benefits of using a muzzle is that it still allows your horse to go out to pasture for some exercise and contact with other horses.
Why is it important to monitor a horse's weight?
Regularly monitoring your horse’s body weight not only lets you keep a close eye on how your management regime is affecting your horse’s waistline, but it’s also important for other management factors such as supplying the correct quantity of wormer. Regular weighing makes it much easier to notice whether your horse’s weight is steadily creeping up ...
Is it easy to lose weight on a horse?
Achieving weight loss is certainly not easy and, with horses and ponies, there are a number of additional factors that make it particularly challenging. Restricting the feed intake of an animal that has evolved to spend most of its time eating increases the risk of problems such as colic and gastric ulcers, so the key to success is balancing feed ...
Can horses graze on grass?
Most of the time, what they are actually referring to are horses that do very well on grass alone . For very overweight horses and ponies and those prone to laminitis, it might be advisable to avoid grass access completely until their weight is reduced. A grazing muzzle is one way to allow your horse to have some grass access ...
What is the essential fatty acid for horses?
Fat provides various fatty acids for the horse. Essential fatty acid requirements have not been established for horses, however, most equine diets will likely meet essential fatty acid needs. Linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid are essential fatty acids that cannot be made by the horse and must be supplied by the diet.
Where are fats digested in horses?
Fats/oils are digested in the small intestine of the horse and are a concentrated source of dietary energy, providing approximately 2.25 times more energy than an equal weight of digested carbohydrates. The typical horse diet consisting of pasture, hay only or hay plus concentrate has low amounts of fat (2-4%).
How to increase fat content in diet?
The fat content in the diet can be increased by selecting feedstuffs in the concentrate part of the diet with a high fat content or by adding fats or oils. Feedstuffs high in fat include vegetable oils (100%), rice bran (15-18%), flax seeds (30-40%), and heat-treated soybeans (15-22%).
Why is oil good for horses?
Oil decreases the thermal load and enhances metabolic adaptations which potentially could improve athletic performance. Lastly, oil is great for skin and coat condition. Supplemental oil should be introduced slowly to avoid intestinal disturbances (loose feces). Once adapted, horses can utilize up to 20% of the diet as fat.
Does oil help horses?
For any horse that needs lower starch in the diet, oil can replace the calories lost when lowering the starch content. So, feeding supplemental fat will increase the energy density of the diet, allowing for a reduction in the amount of concentrate needed to meet the horse’s energy needs. Examples of horses requiring lower starch are horses ...
Health Risks of An Overweight Horse
- Disease
Overweight horses are more likely to develop disorders and diseases, including – 1. Laminitis 2. Equine Metabolic Syndrome 3. Insulin dysfunction. Their levels of the stress hormone cortisol can also be elevated when compared with non-overweight animals. - Reduced Performance
When a horse becomes overweight, their performance and use declines. Bearing excessive weight strains muscles as they try to work properly which can make it harder for the horse to function normally. This is especially true when considering hoof health; obesity weakens the hoof wall, he…
Diet Changes
- If you want to lose weight, then your horse does too. One of the major keys is having a daily calorie deficit through diet and exercise. This can be hard because it’s easy for portions to creep up when estimating by volume instead of count so make sure they’re always eating less than they should on any given day! Horses are very different from humans. For example, we can go for we…
Exercise Regimes
- Horses need to be continually entertained, but sometimes it’s hard for them to find ways of keeping themselves busy. Using haynets and other items will help keep your horse from getting bored or frustrated with their food! Exercise is a great way to lose weight, but it should be gradual and health of the horse should always come first. Increasing exercise for an overweight horse c…
Nutritional Supplements
- Some people feed their horses with hay or pasture alone, but this can be dangerous because of the lack in diversity. When a horse is on just hay and grass for food they must eat more to meet their dietary requirements which leaves them susceptible to bloating. To prevent these problems it’s important that you give your horse an energy supplement li...