bringing a REALLY fat horse back into work

[evans36]

So I know there have been a ton of threads on here with suggestions for bringing a horse back into work. Intervals, etc. I have read some, plan to read more.

I’m about to start working with a halflinger airfern. He doesn’t look fat from far away because he’s built to be more… rounded… I guess, but he is really crazy fat. He’s probably an 8 on the Henneke scale. He lives in a field 24/7. The last time he was in a program at all was summer 2013. I have hacked him out on trails and sat on him a few times lately, but that’s all the work he’s had. I know for a fact he can gallop from one end of a large field to the other to chase around some horses without having a heart attack. But that’s his only real exercise.

He’s very athletic. But… how in-shape does a horse need to be before you start the interval programs? Is there a baseline? If so, what is it, and how do I even get him there? I would love some tips and recommendations.

PS- Please let’s not talk about his feeding program. He only gets the tiniest handful of grain in the mornings, and only because he breaks things if the other horses are eating and he is not. He’s not mine, so there’s not much I can do to change his feeding program. I know he’s fat, and I know it’s a problem, but I think exercise is the only fix at this point.

[Jealoushe]

Well you asked - yes he needs to be completely cut off grain. Not all horses need grain, and obese ones certainly do not need it. How about a single carrot instead? He won’t be breaking things if he has foundered…

That being said - diet time. Cut what you can by %5 or %10…muzzle? Slow feed hay nets? Something…

Start with walking. 10 minutes for week one. 25 minutes week two. Add trotting week 3 for 5 minutes and increase walking to 35 minutes. Etc etc. Long and slow and include the diet. Safest way to do it.

Good luck.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Why would you want to try to add exercise without addressing the obesity? Why would you not address what is certainly going to kill him? At least muzzle him. Also, there’s no reason to give him grain. There are other things (don’t know what they are) he can be given which do not have all the calories and sugars grain has.

Longe line is your friend. Walking 10 to 20 mins, trotting twice around, walking 5 mins, trotting twice around (do it in sets of three, change directions. Increase to trotting 5 times around, etc. Its pretty basic and straight forward. If he doesn’t know how to longe, here’s your big chance to train him.

Even healthy horses can use longeing as a conditioning tool. Asking an out of condition horse to bend and learn his balance without someone on his back is invaluable. He can get quite strong this way.

Oh, yes. And get him off grain and off full grazing. His owner needs to be told that she’s killing her horse if she doesn’t.

[Blugal]

Grazing muzzle and/or spending time away from the grass. If he founders you will have issues. Also extra weight is extra pounding on his feet and joints when he is being worked.

As for the program, I think Jealoushe is being nice to the horse… but being a fat Haflinger, he might need a more gradual start than what I generally do. I usually start with 10 minutes of lunging (trot) plus 5-10 minutes of trot under saddle interspersed with walk breaks, then work up (increase approximately 10 minutes per week). Long slow distance is ideal, so walking should go from 10-15 minutes, to 20, 30, 40, minutes and incorporate hills.

[CHT]

Can you pony him? I would think it would be easier on his joints than longeing, and he could likely do with getting fit without the added weight of a rider at first.

I think I would be more aggressive than the above posters. Not sure why he just needs to walk at first…he isn’t coming off stall rest and should have some pasture fitness. I would likely trot until he gets out of breath (nostrils flare), then walk to recover and repeat. Let his actual fitness tell you how long to go.

[Bensmom]

I totally understand having to give him something to keep him from going nuts when all the rest are eating! With my air ferns, I moved them onto just a mineral balancer – it isn’t grain, but they view it as dinner anyway, and it gives the vit/min they need. We are using Equalizer which is Seminole’s feed balancer for grass hay/pasture.

I feed Nutrena for everything else, but their grass balancer is red, and when my grey mare eats it, she looks like she has a really bad lipstick job. She also will stop eating it after a while – that has happened a couple of times now, so I don’t even try any more.

If he’s on a lush pasture, a muzzle would be a good option as well. The back to work suggestions sound good to me. I think that putting a base of fitness with a lot of walking/a little trotting built in would be my personal preference, as I was happy with that system for getting endurance horses fit after the summer off.

Best of luck with him!

Libby (owner of three air ferns)

[AKB]

I would see how much walking he can tolerate. Since he is turned out, he might tolerate a daily 5 mile walk for week 1. Then, start adding a few minutes of trot. If he seems at all out of breath when you trot, go back to walking. If you put the Track My Hack app on your phone, you will know how far you are going each day.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Walking, CHT, is the great conditioner. When a horse is out of shape, heis very unbalanced, and when unbalanced, prone to injury. An out of shape horse cantering on the longe line falls into/onto his inside shoulder, panics, falls on his forehand. Any one step on the forehand is a step closer to unsoundness. Any crooked or not-striaght step is a step closer to unsoundness. He can walk for hours and get conditioned and it only takes twice around on the longe at a canter fast, unbalanced, (scared, many times) pounding on the front end to end up injured.

Walking is good, start up with the trot when he has a bit more balance, and condition some good balance and straightness into him. Riding, keep his shoulders up and don’t let him fall in. All this can be done at the walk. Then the trot and canter come with ease .

[Winding_Down]

[QUOTE=evans36;7681641]

PS- Please let’s not talk about his feeding program. He only gets the tiniest handful of grain in the mornings, and only because he breaks things if the other horses are eating and he is not. He’s not mine, so there’s not much I can do to change his feeding program. I know he’s fat, and I know it’s a problem, but I think exercise is the only fix at this point.[/QUOTE]

So you can’t change his eating program. That’s a given. I would walk him for 20 minutes daily the first week and then add 10 minutes per week for the first month. Then include trotting with 3 minutes per week, adding 3 minutes per week. I would not lunge him as you don’t need him to be doing anything tighter than large circles until his weight has dropped.

I would also gradually add hills if you have them. Use your own judgement as far as determining what is too much. You want him to get tired… But not overly so.

He’s fortunate to have someone intervening.

And a tiny handful of grain isn’t going to add much in terms of calories.

[justhoofit]

Assuming he’s not difficult to ride, I would just get on and start riding. Lots of walk breaks, monitor his breathing. Keep it light and simple. 15 minutes at first then increase as he gets more fit. See what he can handle, he might surprise you.

[NCRider]

[QUOTE=justhoofit;7681916]
Assuming he’s not difficult to ride, I would just get on and start riding. Lots of walk breaks, monitor his breathing. Keep it light and simple. 15 minutes at first then increase as he gets more fit. See what he can handle, he might surprise you.[/QUOTE]

No to this. it’s not about his breathing, it’s about his joints. Walk until he’s dropped some weight. And talk his owner into a grazing muzzle.

[Huntin_Pony]

Has he ever been really fit before? In my experience, horses that were fit and have had a layoff tend to come back into shape more easily that those that have never really been fit before (even if they are really pudgy).

I would not do anything different at the beginning (I agree with the gradual under-saddle approach using timed intervals - not longeing.), but then if he used to be fit, you may be able to increase the workload a little more quickly. If you have hills, they are your best friends. LOTS of walking up and down, with breaks if he needs them. Excellent aerobic exercise and strengthening too.

Ultimately, you need to be very sensitive to the horse’s needs and stop before you think you need to, for the first month at least. Muzzle.

[evans36]

Thanks, everyone. It’s interesting to hear the responses and to see what confirms the thoughts I had and what didn’t. Honestly I’m not sure the longe is something he’s ready for right now, except for possibly a couple loops around. They’d be pretty awkward though, judging from how tough it is getting him to balance in a straight line. I just don’t think he could balance himself well enough for that yet.

However, the hacks we’ve been on lately have been 30m-hr and he doesn’t really seem “pushed” by that work. It’s mostly walking, some trotting, and the occasional canter (when he is throwing a tantrum and tries to canter, so I make him go on that way for a bit). I had thought to continue similar work, but just increase the frequency.

Ponying… great idea, but probably not safe with this troublemaker.

As far as his previous fitness levels, summer 2013 he was making occasional novice-level efforts on our cross country course with a teenager who had no fear. But he certainly hasn’t been fit enough in the past few years to canter a cross country course without strain. He’s very athletic, so it’s a little deceiving because he can make an excellent short-lived effort, and his endurance level at low speeds is pretty high. He seems to be able to make a sustained trot effort, and could walk on the trails all day. I think he really just needs some cardio, but I don’t want him to have a heart attack.

Diet… sigh. I hope you’ll all just trust me here when I tell you that I’ve tried. I have advanced the causes of no grain, different concentrated feed, and a grazing muzzle. He’s not mine. I have limited levels of control. I’ve decided to make him a project more for his health than anything else, and because he’s a nice horse to be left in the field. There isn’t anything else that I, personally, can do besides ride him.

I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on signs to look for as you’re evaluating whether you’re pushing hard enough/pushing too hard.