"Pone"-IR related

[jandjmc]

I purchased a 9 year old gelding over the internet in January. He had a full winter coat. When I received him, he had a cresty neck and fat deposits on both sides at the girth area. This horse had been out on pasture with minimal care for 3 years. The fat deposits are "lumpy". This is what I call "pone".

The vet put him on an insulin resistant diet. He is on Remission supplement and vitamin E. He's being worked 2-3 times a week and is much better body condition-more muscle, less fat, body score of 6. His neck cresty-ness has gone down along with the "pone" on one side. The side where the fat deposits were and are the largest hasn't made much progress.

Will this fat deposit ever go away? Does anyone out there have a horse with the same issue? If so, what worked for you?

Thanks!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I'm not sure if its the same issue but we have a gelding who is very prone to obesity. We've had him for 6 years (or 7 can't recall for sure) and it has taken me until this past winter to see any significant loss of that lumpy belly fat. I started feeding him from a hay net, weighed every ounce of his food and fed him apart from the herd to be sure he got his and only his food. I also began feeding a low starch ration balancer pellet at the recommended amount (it is weighed and counted as part of his total feed.) I feed him 2lbs of hay in the morning and 2 lbs of pellets/hay at night which is 2 % of his ideal body weight as well as I can estimate what it should be. He is still not perfect but we've lost the neck crest entirely, he no longer has a crease in his butt (or his back) and he for the first time ever is playing with the rest of the herd. Of course once he was allowed on grass for a couple of hours each day we did see some of that weight return but still no crest and crease. The first place we see it is on his belly, that lumpy look is becoming apparent again, tho not as severe as before. So what that long drawn out story was meant to do was to explain that yes I believe those fat deposits can be melted away with the right diet (excersize is a bonus that makes the diet a little more flexible). I think perhaps you are still over feeding him a little since he is still hanging on to some body fat.

 

[targetsmom]

Good for you for all the changes you made and the progress so far!!

We have a cresty-necked, insulin resistant mare who is not otherwise overweight. She is on the low starch diet, no grass, Remision feed weighed, etc. With her, the cresty neck is the biggest cosmetic issue and we use layers of neck sweats, sweating gel and also vigorous rubbing. You might try the rubbing on his fat spots, as it does seem to help her neck. Ours is a show and driving mare (that does OK in halter too) so she gets free lunged/driven and/or jumped several times a week. Her biggest issue is lack of energy at the shows from the low starch diet.

 

[jandjmc]

Thank you for the feed back. I'll just give my program a little more time and try some massage.

 

[HGFarm]

Cinnamon is awesome for reducing fat on a horse. The mare I purchased that came with a free thyroid problem with it was so obese I thought she would die. Feeding her soaked rinsed beet pulp in the evening, I started just adding a pinch of cinnamon in it and built her up to about a teaspoon full every evening. In two months she looked like a different horse. I could tell a difference in DAYS. Also, cinnamon is good for helping to control blood sugar. I bought my cinnamon in bulk at a local store that is a 'farmers market' kind of thing that has lots of bulk products.