Over weight horse

[Donn Hewes]

Well, I had an interesting visit with the vet yesterday. Unfortunately my mare is not bred. Oh, well. All my horses and mules are fat except George. He has been able to handle all the pasture because even as a six year old mule he is still filling out. Connie the Suffolk is fatter than the rest. Obviously these aren’t the fattest horses anywhere, but the extra weight isn’t good for them.

Working them more is not the issue, I work them as much as I can, trust me. It is my feeding program. I guess it sounds a little silly – but we liked the system we had. Grazing horses are actually very beneficial to sheep pastures. They don’t share the same parasites, and help “clean” alot of parasite larvea out of lamb pastures.

I am definitely going out of the fat horse and mule business, just not sure how I will accomplish it. In general, a moderately over weight horse is already weakening the lamin of the hoof (before laminitis), can’t work as well in the heat and will have breeding issues. All things I don’t want.

One of the oddities of this is that it will likely take more hay (time and exspense) to keep a horse thin than it did to keep them fat ( on pasture). So far it has taken more time and effort to clean the barn twice as much.

[karl t pfister]

I pastured horses aggressively for years and have a now decided that the mostly hay diet is best for me and them . They get a little grass , basically feeding enough hay so they don’t rip all the grass out by the roots . It is almost the same amount of hay summer and winter . THe pasturing deal was great for mares and foals yearlings etc . but we stopped the breeding so I miss the fertility on the hay fields as well . I do feel the horses are better off now but they thought they were happier on the sea of grass , not to mention the worm load .

[Does’ Leap]

Don,

We graze similarly and I don’t feel that my horses are fat, and I think they work less than yours (certainly the haflinger does). I agree that the horses do great things for our goat pasture and break the parasite cycle as well. We have relegated our horses to areas we want to work on though, and rarely have them on our super sweet fields, only when they totally get away from us and it doesn’t look like we can mow. They are out about 14 hours a day, but I do push them on paddock size. Goats aren’t like sheep in that they won’t really take a pasture down very low, so the horses serve that purpose well every once in a while.

Kristan

[Howling Farmer]

Donn —
I was just curious how your weight-loss reduction program was going and what you are doing now. Milt has lost some (between haying and clipping and keeping the lawn cut he is on the Acres to Mow Weight Loss Reduction Program), but my farrier just came out and said he’s still too fat and needs to lose 100-150 lbs.
Leslie

[Howling Farmer]

Kristan — Could you provide a bit more detail about the paddock size you use and how many horses? If you use Electronet, estimating in terms of how many of the nettings would be great. How long are the horses in the pasture before they are moved? I’ve been putting my horse in after my cows, but am thinking of putting him in after the goats (different pastures) instead. Thanks!
Leslie

[Donn Hewes]

Fat horse report: I think my fattest horses have lost a little weight, but not much. I should make up a weight tape for them. I have made Connie and Lady’s collars smaller. I tried a grazing muzzle for a week or two, and decided it was not for me. It left marks on the mares face. Currently I am useing my old system, but being more careful to not overfeed them at lunch (one bale for five horses). Making sure to not cheat and turn them out early, or bring them in late. Also we have put them in a few places that could be cleaned up pretty close.

Leslie, I prefer a single strand of poly wire to electronet for horses. I have put them in electonet once or twice, but it would be pretty easy for them to put a hoof in the fence.

[Howling Farmer]

Donn — sounds like your progress is similar to mine…I have had to take in Milt’s collar and belly band, but he is still fat. I thought he was looking pretty good, but the shoer pointed out all the areas filled with flab. As a skinny person, I never really appreciated how hard it is to lose weight. I need to measure him again. On the Rural Heritage site, there’s a place where you can put in the girth and length measurements, using a regular tape measure, and it will calculate the weight. Don’t know how accurate it is. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the grazing muzzle, because that has been suggested and I’ve been resistant, partly because I thought Milt would rub it.

I use single polywire, not Electronet, for horses too. I was just asking for size in terms of Electronet because if he’s following the goats, the size I would make his paddock would be based on theirs.

Leslie

[Does’ Leap]

Leslie:

I just read your previous question posted to Kristan. I’ll answer since she is milking. Depending on the thickness of the grass and its quality, we generally set up 3 net fences for 55 goats for a 12 hour period and then they are moved to a fresh paddock. The goats are followed by our 2 drafts (1600 lbs per) and one halflinger (1000 lbs). They stay in the same paddock for about 14 hours cleaning up what the goats left. We have never had a problem with horses getting stuck in the net. If your voltage is good (>3KV), horses won’t go near it.

This system works well for us for a number of reasons:

1. The goats are able to top-graze the most nutritious forage and the horses clean-up the “waste”, thus limiting their intake.
2. We don’t have to set up a separate fencing system for the horses. This is a big time saver.

Good luck.

George

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