weight gain

[oaklawn]

my horse has a weight problem i excersized her and reduced hay even stopped graining her she just wont loose weight he is not pregnant how can i help her loose weight [/i]

[baileyandjay]

how old is she? it could be diabetes or cushings. i had a mare with cushings and that mare stayed fat as a hog on air. her diet was 3 flakes 3rd cutting grass hay and 2 hours of grass turnout during mid summer and winter. that was it and she was a huge porker even being ridden everyday for at least an hour with turnout in a dirt lot. i might have her bloodwork run if she is very obese and resists losing weight.

[pfrsue]

Two questions:

How long ago did you cut her feed back?

When you say you're exercising her, can you be more specific?

[Ryle]

Horses that are obese and remain so even without supplemental feeding may very well have some sort of metabolic condition the most common of which are Insulin Resistance (which isn't really diabetes) or Cushing's Disease.

How old is your horse? What are you feeding, exactly? What kind of pasture is your horse on? Can you show any pictures of your horse? Has your horse ever has laminitis/founder?


It would not be a bad idea to talk to your vet about this problem and possibly run a screening test to see if insulin resistance might be the problem. This can be done with a single blood sample drawn after restricting the horse to nothing but grass hay or nothing at all for 12 hours.

Here is a good article for you to look over:
http://www.thehorse.com/pdf/aaep/obese.pdf

Cindy D.
Registered Veterinary Technician

[oaklawn]

my horse i belive is 7. and she has a round bale that is shared with 2 other horses and she doent graze much because now theres 6in of snow but when theres not snow grazing is open but shes usaly in her run in shed to get away from the flys. i will have to find a good pic for u.
no she hasnt had laminitus/founder.