Calico
Member
Today the farrier came to trim hooves on my two minis. I was at work so my dad was the one who was home to meet the farrier- I didn't speak to him myself. When I got home, my dad told me that the farrier had been concerned about my horses' weights. Now, I know my gelding is fat. I had asked the farrier the last time he was out (2 months ago) how he thought my gelding's weight was, and he'd told me that he was a little fat but that there wasn't too much I could do about it and that minis are almost always a little fat. Now 2 months later, he's suddenly worried that he's overweight to the point that he could easily founder.
The thing is, I'm doing everything I can to take care of my two horses the "right" way. I'm a new horse owner-- I've had the gelding for just a week or two shy of a year now, and my filly since spring. I'm still learning. But most of what I know, I learned from places like Lil' Beginnings and other mini-specific websites. Some of the things the farrier told my dad contradict what I've previously heard. My farrier obviously has much more horse experience than me, and even has a few minis himself, but I wanted the opinions of the knowledgeable folks here before I took all of my farrier's advice. There are a few points I'd really like opinions on:
1) I'm feeding them too much. Everything I've read said that horses should have hay available at all times to keep their digestive systems running well. Every morning and every evening, I fill two regular-sized Busy Horse slow feed bags with orchard grass hay for them. (About 3/4 flake per bag, roughly.)They get no grain, and almost never get fed treats. I do feed them each 1/2 cup of ration balancer (Enrich Plus) twice a day. They don't totally pig out on their hay. Sometimes there's still hay left in the nets when I go to refill them. They're on a dry lot, so no pasture or additional source of food.
Should I be cutting their hay ration? It seems like I'm feeding them pretty basically and minimally as it is....The farrier told my dad that he feeds 4 full sized horses one flake twice a day. (That's one flake for the 4 of them to share, not one flake each). That seems like very little, so I'm a little wary of taking his advice.
2) Exercise isn't going to help. The farrier basically told my dad that exercise isn't going to help my minis lose weight. Since I've noticed my gelding getting fat, and haven't felt like there was any way I could cut their food rations, I've been making an effort to get him out for walks and jogs as often as possible. It's not every day, because I have a physically demanding full-time job, but I do what I can. I can't imagine that exercise wouldn't help. But again, the farrier is the one who makes his living by dealing with horses, and I'm just a newbie.....
I also find it kind of funny that 2 months ago, the farrier wasn't concerned about my horse's weight, but now all of a sudden he's concerned. I don't disagree that my gelding, especially, is definitely overweight. Like I said, I've been doing what I can with exercise and what I thought was a standard mini feeding schedule even before the farrier mentioned anything.
So, what are your opinions on the farrier's comments? Is he right? Or is there a different way I should be going about getting my horses back into shape? I really want to take the best care possible of my minis, and I'm here to learn!
The thing is, I'm doing everything I can to take care of my two horses the "right" way. I'm a new horse owner-- I've had the gelding for just a week or two shy of a year now, and my filly since spring. I'm still learning. But most of what I know, I learned from places like Lil' Beginnings and other mini-specific websites. Some of the things the farrier told my dad contradict what I've previously heard. My farrier obviously has much more horse experience than me, and even has a few minis himself, but I wanted the opinions of the knowledgeable folks here before I took all of my farrier's advice. There are a few points I'd really like opinions on:
1) I'm feeding them too much. Everything I've read said that horses should have hay available at all times to keep their digestive systems running well. Every morning and every evening, I fill two regular-sized Busy Horse slow feed bags with orchard grass hay for them. (About 3/4 flake per bag, roughly.)They get no grain, and almost never get fed treats. I do feed them each 1/2 cup of ration balancer (Enrich Plus) twice a day. They don't totally pig out on their hay. Sometimes there's still hay left in the nets when I go to refill them. They're on a dry lot, so no pasture or additional source of food.
Should I be cutting their hay ration? It seems like I'm feeding them pretty basically and minimally as it is....The farrier told my dad that he feeds 4 full sized horses one flake twice a day. (That's one flake for the 4 of them to share, not one flake each). That seems like very little, so I'm a little wary of taking his advice.
2) Exercise isn't going to help. The farrier basically told my dad that exercise isn't going to help my minis lose weight. Since I've noticed my gelding getting fat, and haven't felt like there was any way I could cut their food rations, I've been making an effort to get him out for walks and jogs as often as possible. It's not every day, because I have a physically demanding full-time job, but I do what I can. I can't imagine that exercise wouldn't help. But again, the farrier is the one who makes his living by dealing with horses, and I'm just a newbie.....
I also find it kind of funny that 2 months ago, the farrier wasn't concerned about my horse's weight, but now all of a sudden he's concerned. I don't disagree that my gelding, especially, is definitely overweight. Like I said, I've been doing what I can with exercise and what I thought was a standard mini feeding schedule even before the farrier mentioned anything.
So, what are your opinions on the farrier's comments? Is he right? Or is there a different way I should be going about getting my horses back into shape? I really want to take the best care possible of my minis, and I'm here to learn!