From: Togolsaram
Hi Jessica, I received wonderful help from you about a month ago regarding our 20 yr. old mare coming home. Her barn is nearly complete. I read with interest a post regarding an overweight mare and adjustments made in adapting to a new home and feeding/exercise. Our mare is also very overweight. Since she is now coming to a new home I assume your advice to the Arabian mare owner is also valid in our situation; basically starting from scratch?
We are absolute beginner horse-owners. We have ridden her no more than 5 times in 1 year (the whole time we have owned her) under supervision of her boarder who is also a horse trainer. He has assisted us in basic things such as direction, but nothing in the way of gait changing; etc. When we do ride she is very eager-acting or what seems to me to be enthusiastic. She is a Tennessee Walking Horse. She seems quite anxious to go faster, but it is not a canter, just a _very, very_ fast walk.
From your postings on the list I gather:
We have been advised to feed her one scoop of grain and half a bale of hay a day and minimal to no grass (we don't have the pasture space anyway) and nothing else. Also is snorting a sign of pleasure? She does this a lot when being fed treats, being walked and ridden. Your listserv has been an invaluable aid to us and as the day is coming fast when Mona is coming I would appreciate any time you may have to addressing my concerns. Sorry, I didn't mean to get so long-winded. Thanks in advance,
I just realized my last subject line included "happiness". This is a _major_ concern I have about our horse's emotional well-being and yes, happiness upon finding herself without her horse-mates and with six dogs.
Jami in Whitewater, WI (with just a little over 2 acres)
Hi Jami! Your concern for Mona's health and happiness does you credit. She is lucky to be coming to a new home where everyone wants to do what is right for her.
I suggest that you get in touch with the vet who has been looking after Mona in her current home, and find out whether he will come out and look after her routine care at her new home. This will provide her with some continuity of care, and the vet will be able to give you good advice about her management, based on general knowledge AND his specific knowledge about this mare and her medical history.
Since she is an older mare who has barely been ridden in recent months (years?), you do need to take it easy with her. She'll need exercise, but if she has two acres to walk around in, that will serve for part of it, and if you take her out for a gentle walk two or three times a week, that should take care of the rest of it! Your vet may have suggestions.
Mona is 20. That, combined with the lack of exercise, the extra weight, and her breed, would make me think twice before longeing her. I say "her breed" because the best gait for building up a horse on the longeline is, of course, the TROT. And that's not an option for Mona! If you can put her on a very long (at least 35') longeline and ask her to WALK, and if she cooperates, then longeing every other day for ten or fifteen minutes might be beneficial. Cantering, on the other hand, is NOT a good idea, and cantering in a circle, especially a small circle, is a burning formula for lameness in any horse, especially an unfit, overweight, twenty-year-old horse. She would probably do better walking under saddle for short periods, on straight lines and wide turns, assuming that your saddle fits her comfortably, that you balance well, and that you are alert to any signs of pain or discomfort (lameness, of course, but also watch out for her head coming up, her back dropping down, her hind legs trailing).
We'll talk again about cantering -- but let's leave it for a few months, perhaps until spring. By that time, she should have lost fat, gained muscle, and be able to go for longer walks under saddle. And by then she will have confidence in you, and you in her, so cantering will be no big deal for either of you.
As for her diet: you'll want to get your vet involved in this decision. He'll want to know, half a bale of what sort of hay? and how heavy is the bale? and what size is the scoop? and what sort of grain? These are all things that your vet will be able to discuss with you. It's entirely possible that he may suggest less grain, or even no grain -- in the winter, Mona will need hay for warmth, so he may not want to cut that back. I mention sizes and types and weights because they matter.
There's a big difference between half of a 100-pound bale of good-quality, second-cutting alfalfa (50 pounds of alfalfa at probably 17.5% protein) and half of a 60-pound bale of timothy or orchard grass (30 pounds of grass hay, at perhaps 8% protein). There's an equally big difference between a scoop of sweetfeed or cracked corn (heavy), or crimped racehorse oats, and the same scoop filled with lightweight oats (not heavy at all... and a lot less food!). And of course there's a difference between a one-quart and a two-quart and a four-quart scoop... and you STILL need to weigh the feed!
Find out exactly what she was getting at the old barn -- what sort of hay and grain -- and bring enough of that feed home with you, WHATEVER IT IS, to feed her for a week or ten days. That will let you and your veterinarian change Mona's diet gradually from the old one to her new one. A sudden feed change can induce colic, and a sudden feed change combined with a sudden change of environment would be a very bad idea.
As long as Mona can walk around full-time, she's likely to stay much more healthy than she would if she were locked in a stall. If she has free access to good hay, and always has a supply of fresh, cool water, and you put a mineralized salt block someplace where she can get to it whenever she likes, she should be quite happy. Then you and the veterinarian can work together to determine her feed program and her tooth-floating schedule and her de-worming schedule and her hoof-trimming schedule, and that will keep her quite healthy.
Mona sounds like a people-oriented horse. Spend time with her, do a lot of talking to her and a lot of grooming and scratching. And remember -- even dignified elderly lady horses are usually happy to accept treats as a mark of your esteem! Move slowly, talk softly, look after her kindly, and this may well prove to be the happiest time of her life.
Jessica
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