Saturday, October 8, 2011

Pudgy Ponies

Let's face it. I have fat horses. There were a couple of winters where we struggled with Johnny's weight, but besides that, I've always had tubby horses.

I do like John's weight...but Romeo needs some help. He has an extended day Freedom Feeder, but he ate a 6''x6'' hole through it. I'm not quite sure how in the world he did it, but I patched it and flipped it over. The company is wonderful about replacing them, but I am hoping this is all the damage he will do and he won't need another one.

Johnny has had his since April of this year, and isn't exactly easy on them, but they are still in fabulous shape:
"Nom nom nom"
*Insert caption of your own choice*

Granted, they are supposed to be able to move them around like this to get the hay out. Romeo is just a little unhappy about the "diet" situation. I would like him to be about 50-100lbs lighter. I definitely think it would be beneficial to his joints to be a few pounds lighter.

Speaking of joints, I rode Romes twice last week. Both times, he was pretty stiff in the back end, especially the hocks. So, I don't think the MSM and Cosequin are doing enough. Betsy and I decided that this was probably a good time to start him on Polyglycan, and I will let you all know the results. He got his first IV shot on Friday. He gets it once a week for 3 weeks in a row, and then maintenance is 1x a month. He also probably needs chiro/accupuncture, but we live in the middle of no where, and there are none around. I'm trying to hold off on injections until next summer :/

4 comments:

  1. Hi my name is Mawghan McCabe and I am the Cavalor rep for the mid south and responsible for opening new markets. I noticed you saying you were interested in the feed and also saw on your blog you have a horse you would like to lose weight. We have excellent feeds for both weight gain and weight loss. Please give me a call at 615.566.3282 or email at m.mccabe@cavalor.com. Thank you Mawghan (Morgan)

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  2. What worked to help keep Bif's weight down was using the ration balance version of Empower, Empower Balance (green bag). I need him to get a fair amount of food so I can get his 5 billion supplements into him.

    One pound (recommended amount for a 1000lb horse) is just under 3 cups, so more volume to use for his suppies. Less calories than the 1 cup of Senior I was using with him. AND he actually likes it! I'm not a huge Nutrena fan, but this is the only non-Senior feed Boyfriend is willing to eat, so I've been super pleased with it. He's kept his weight down very nicely on it.

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  3. Thanks!!

    Have you ever looked into Triple Crown line? I was looking into the Triple Crown Low Starch or Senior feed. I have been a little worried about both of my horses having IR since I looked their "symptoms". Romeo has some odd fat deposits and Johnny has the classic cresty neck (although I don't want it to go away, I love it!)

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  4. I've used the TC Senior for a young horse that needed to put weight on. He really liked it and did well on it. It's not a low calorie feed, I think it runs around 1,300-1,500 C/lb. It's reasonable in the starch category.

    The TC Lite, Boyfriend wouldn't eat. Same thing with McCauley's ration balancer. For the longest time he would only eat Nutrena or Purina Senior. He wouldn't (and won't!) touch Ultium, Nutrena Prime, TC Senior... he's just a little finicky bugger.

    He likes the Empower Balance better than the Senior, I think, and using a splash of Apple cider vinegar on his food helps him clean up all his suppies with dinner.

    I use AniMed's Remission for Bif after his "is it IR?" scare last year in the summer. It has definitely softened up his crest, although he still looks handsome and manly ;-) He's never shown any more IR-ish symptoms. It certainly doesn't seem to hurt, and it is super inexpensive. http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d54319d4-0302-4385-932e-3ee2db9f7b2f&gas=remission We have two horses on it, so get the big size and it lasts forever. Usually he gets just the 1/2 ounce, if he's eating a lot more young/rich grass, I give him a full ounce.

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