Good Grain Alternatives
Beware the latest craze of "low-carb" feeds. Most of these are heavily fortified with fat, so the actual calorie level is very high. If soaking beet pulp isn't a grain-replacement option, substitute hay cubes or pellets, chopped hay, or a no-grain, no-fat feed, consider feeding one of these products:
• McCauley Brothers Alam (www.mccauleybros.com, 800-222-8635). This is a pelleted, beet-pulp-based grain substitute. It has some added fat, though, so don't overdo it.
• Triple Crown Lite (www.triplecrownfeed.com, 800-451-9916). Unique combination of low calorie/sugar/starch ingredients with a high level of mineral fortification.
• Happy Hoof and Showing Chaff (www.seminolefeed.com, 800-683-1881). Both products are pelleted beet pulp and soy-hull-based feeds, grain-free.
Straw
Straw may look low-calorie and unappealing, but fact is straw provides as many calories as average grass hays and is often high in sugar. It's readily consumed, especially by horses on diets. We recommend you bed the horse on shavings or another type of alternative bedding.
Grazing
Nothing packs the pounds on a horse more reliably than good pasture. Nature intended grass to be the horse's perfect food, but it didn't plan on horses having an unlimited supply without covering many miles a day to get it.
One of the most difficult things to accept is that grass intake will have to be limited if not prevented. You can still allow the horse or pony the benefits of moving around on turn out by using a grazing muzzle that sharply limited grass intake (see March 2003). For extremely overweight animals, or those with metabolic problems, grass intake should be prevented entirely.
Lo-Cal Treats
Your horse should have an advantage over a person trying to lose weight since he really can't cheat. Unfortunately, keeping to the prescribed diet seems to be harder on owners than it is on the horses. Be careful not to project your own feelings about dieting onto the horse, or make assumptions that your horse is craving certain things or feeling deprived. Fact is that most horses adapt extremely well to a weight-loss diet.
If you want to share some treats, forget the grain- and molasses-based treats or, worse yet, donuts or any human food you used to use for treats. Sugar-free candies, like an occasional peppermint, are OK, but it's better yet to substitute along the same healthful lines as recommended for human diets. A few carrots, a handful of grapes, a prune, or a few alfalfa pellets are much better choices. Fresh carrot and fruit bits are better than dehydrated/dried because the natural water content dilutes the calories. Think portion size, too. Don't give your horse that whole apple, split it with him.
