My poor horse is getting too fat. I have seeked advidce on how to get her back in shape. I was told to take her out on longer rides and too push her up and down hills until she is sweating a lot, I have done this a lot to the extent that her sweat does be all over my levis. She is loosing wait slowly but just wondering do horses sweat different just like we do? Cause i am sick of riding in wet levis 501's. Especially when riding bare back. And I dont think it would be too comfortable for my horse with wet jeans rubbing against her back.
Answers:
More excercise and stop over feeding her/him.
Try cutting back a little on her food.
You can also lunge her. You don't have to be on her back to exercise her.
Also change her feed. Give her stam instead of sweet feed and try and keep her off the grass and just feed her alfalfa.
Keep in mind though winter is coming. And a fat horse has a better chance in surviving winter than a skinny one. Especially if they stay outside.
She could just be picking up on her nature instinct because of winter being around the corner. Horses will do this even if winter is in a warm climate.
try running it more and use a saddle
Some horses sweat no matter what, some have to really be working hard. Look into one of those Western blankets that you usually fold in half, don't fold it lay it so it hangs down her sides and cinch over it, it will help protect your legs from getting soaked and turning black. A cheaper way is to cut a strip of plastic from a bag and tape it around your calf for a sweat proof barrier. Good luck
is she pregnant? what are you feeding her!? does she stay in a stall all day? take this into consideration. longer rides and sweating is ok but if she goes to eat before cooling down she can get sick, do some warm up andcool down stuff too, use a lunge line. try to reduce food intake and increase pasture time. my gelding has a barn but stays out all the time, eats oats and grain mixtures once a day(about one gallon) plus an all day supply of hay and of course grass and duh water, he doesn't look thin but i wish i could get weight on him!! so just put her to pasture, it will do wonders. oh and my family has 10 horses and 15+ ponies and never had an overweight one since ever!!
In order to effectively answer this question, we need to know the details of your feed schedule. Is your horse on pasture, dry lot, or stable? How many acres of space does your horse have to move around? If you are feeding hay, what type of hay are you feeding? How much? How big is your horse (height)? What breed? How old? Are you supplementing with any concentrates or grain? If so, what type(s)?
If you can answer these questions, we may be able to help you better. Also, what makes you think your horse is too fat? (Please describe it).
Less green grass (This is VERY fattening), more hay and less grain. Not too many treats. And to save the levies. get a saddle or some chaps. Also if you don't want to ride that much, lunge her instead. That's a great work out for them too if you go long engouh. watch her wind thouhg. Don't need a winded horse. That could be dangerous.
Our horse was wicked fat when we got her. We cut down on her food and gave her more exersize. We also are switching to Triple Crown lite food because thats what our other horse ate and he stayed a perfect weight
Instead of riding her so much perhaps try lunging her more. Just don't push her too much or she may injure herself. Also consider a different type of feed. If you are giving her sweet feed then you should change it up or mix less of it in with a different kind. Also get her out of her stall and in with other horses. they are social animals.
Another thing, try riding with just a saddle pad, or soft capris.
I think you are doing the right thing with her exercise regimen. Contrary to some of the other answers, longeing her more instead of riding will not help. Riding (especially at the trot) burns many more calories than longeing. Also, people tend to "over longe", circles and uneven weight distribution can be taxing on a horse's joints.
I would suggest keeping up with what you're doing, but try a diet change. Finally on the market feed companies are realizing that horses have different metabolism rates (just as people do) and that some horses just need to take in less fat and calories to maintain an ideal weight.
Nutrena has just come out with a product called Lite Balance that people have had great luck with. Also Purina Mare %26 Maintenance is a great feed that you can feed a small amount of and still ensure that your horse is getting all of the vitamins %26 minerals she requires. Purina Horse Chow has been around forever and would probably work, but is not as high quality feed as the other two. I think you would have success by trying one of these feeds.
If this doesn't work, you may want to consider having some bloodwork done. Sometimes a thyroid or other condition will keep weight on her no matter what you do. There are supplements for these kinds of disorders which actually are not as expensive as one would think.
Keep up the good work, remember horses feel much better at a healthy weight just like people do. Happy trails and good luck to you!
I know this is a rough answer but how much are you feeding her? Is she ever out in the pasture?? She has to have lots of exersiz but it doesnt mean you have to necessarily ride her alot. That could be dangerous if where you live is cold. you should give her only one and a half scoops of grain at each feeding time, but you should put a mineral enhanced salt block in the middle of her feed bucket so she doesnt feel deprived. It will make her drink more water than usual which is good for her. Make sure she gets plenty of excersize even if it means just leading her around you on a lead rope. Good luck. Got any good tips on how to fatten my horse up? She was abused a couple of owners back so she is real skinny, and she needs fattening up desperately.any help would be appreciated! Good luck with your horses diet! : )
You are doing the best thing by riding her.
Get a saddle that will help with the wet Levis problem.
I hate it when they sweat so bad you are soaked.
My husbands mare is like that in the summer.
She is also heavy and we ride her every day with lots of hills and lots of trot time to burn calories.
She gets only a handful of grain to take her vitamins in. And free choice grass hay for 12 hours per day. The other time she is on pasture but wearing a grazing muzzle to limit her grass intake.
Grazing muzzles work great. They can still drink and get some grass but not as much and it will cut back on how much they are eating.
dont push her to much, this can actually cause her to gain wait.
if you are feeding her grain or alfalfa hay consider stoping and swiching to grass hay but cut back slow you dont want her to colic.
OR maybe shes pregantent
exercise will help but she needs to be on a diet too. if she is out in a pasture you can buy a grazing muzzle. it snaps on to her halter and limits her grass intake. she can't have it on all the time. just like during the day and off at night or something. give her just a little grain once a day if you want. add that to her exercise everyday and that will help her lose weight. when you do ride her it doesn't have to be until she's dripping with sweat. a lot of trotting and not so much cantering will work the belly off of her. this is what we did with a fat pony and he lost weight.
take some advice from an expert. i have been training horses for a long time and i know the worst you can do is push her. too much sweating can cause heatstroke in the summer and pnemonia in the winter. just take her to a open feild and work her on a lunge. first at a walk, then a trot, then a canter,and back to a walk. do this several times a week riding her occasionally. also you should keep her from getting too much feed. it wiil help a whole lot.when you are done always remember to give her a good brushing a nd get all the sweat off if she sweats. it could make her sick. well i hope that helps. it works on my two horses every year.
Doing long rides completely at a trot are better than making her run her heart out. It will help build her muscles in her hindquarters when she's going up the hills, and it will burn fat faster. Burning fat is an aerobic activity, so it requires oxygen, meaning that she can't be running. Same applies to humans, which is why it's better to power walk or jog than to do sprints.
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