Overweight Horses: Winter Management

Feeding the overweight horse can be tough, but winter poses an even greater challenge. Most winters here in central Texas are comparatively mild, but those cold snaps can make it difficult to manage the delicate balance between providing enough energy to stay warm, yet not so much that your horse is unable to shed those unwanted pounds.

When considering the feeding program for an overweight horse, it's important to consider the forage type, along with quantity and frequency he is being fed. The overweight horse benefits most from grass hay over legume hay due to its reduced calorie content. Most overweight horses do best on grass hay with a ration balancer to provide balanced levels of necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

• First, consider how frequently he has access to his forage. Is he limit fed or allowed free access anytime of the day or night? Generally speaking, limit feeding the overweight horse is one half of a critical equation to helping him shed those pounds. Forage should make up the bulk of any horse’s ration, and the overweight horse is no exception. His daily forage ration should be between 1 to 1.75 lbs of hay per 100 lbs of body weight. For a 1,000 -lb horse, this would range from 10 to 17.5 lbs of hay each day.
  
  
• Next, consider his living arrangement. Is he kept by himself or does he share feed with herd members? If possible, put him in isolation from other members of the herd to help control his intake. In the wild, overweight horses often bully their way into their herd-members' food supply, but as domesticated animals, they need not exhibit this behavior when a consistent, good-quality supply of food is provided. Isolating him from those he can bully will keep his portion size to what you fed him.
  
  
• Finally, consider how he is managed. Is he kept in a stall, coat clipped in a heated barn? Is he turned out on a regular basis? Does he live outside with access to a run-in or loafing shed? How he is managed can play into how to help him lose weight, yet stay warm during the most brutal winter months. Horses that are most frequently stalled benefit from turnout, safe footing permitted. Those turned out full-time should be monitored for the need of a blanket when weather conditions deteriorate enough to warrant one. Moisture penetrating the thick winter coat as well as a biting winter wind can cut through the toughest of their protections.
  
  

Helping your overweight horse shed pounds during the winter can be a delicate balance, but with some effort and creativity he can start out the New Year on the way to being a trimmer, healthier animal. And we're here to help, too. Call or stop by anytime, and our nutritional advisors will be happy to assist you in selecting premium hay and supplements you can count on all season long.

NOTE: This post is adapted (with permission) from content proudly brought to you by our partners at Nutrena and Cargill Animal Nutrition. The original article appears here.