We've become so accustomed to seeing shiny, sleek-coated horses with lots of extra flesh that we easily forget they're actually fat. Some people actually use the phrase, "well conditioned," a term that should be reserved for fit athletes. Round ponies are called "cute," rather than "chubby." Carrying extra weight around is no healthier or desirable for horses than it is for us. But, even if you recognize your horse needs to lose weight, you may be unsure how to go about it without starving or depriving your horse. Stop worrying. Trimming down your horse doesn't have to stressful on either one of you.
Many horses are overweight simply because they are being fed too many calories. The major offender here is grain. Horses love grain, like people love ice cream and fast food, but that doesn't mean it's good for them. Horses should be fed grain only when they're unable to maintain a normal weight on hay and grass. Despite this fact, it's difficult to find a horse that isn't receiving some type of grain.
Put It To Use
- Get your horse's current weight, using a weight tape or scale, if possible.
- Determine your horse's ideal body weight.
Feeding grain is reinforced by advertising that leads owners to believe they have to feed grains to get necessary vitamins and minerals into the horse. The combination of that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from seeing your horse obviously enjoy what he's eating, and rationalizing doing it so the horse gets things that he actually needs to get, is a powerful one.
Yes, It's Calories
The first step in designing a weight-loss program is to figure out why your horse is overweight in the first place. This begins with a look at calorie intake. A rule of thumb is that a horse in light work needs the calorie equivalent of about 2% of his body weight in hay to keep a normal weight. For a 1,000-pound horse, this works out to 20 lbs. of hay. Admittedly, some horses will need a bit more, some a bit less, but this gives you a starting point.
The calories in hay are expressed as DE (digestible energy) and given as Mcal/lb. (megacalories/lb.). Hays actually vary widely in their calorie content, from 0.7 Mcal/lb. or less for poor-quality hays, to over 1.0 Mcal/lb. Most decent-quality hays are between 0.8 and 0.9, so we will use a figure of 0.85 Mcal/lb. to illustrate calorie intakes. That 20 lbs. of hay is providing the horse with 17 Mcal of energy.
