Let me start by saying I’m having the vet out soon. My pony is about 12-14 years old according to the dentist (she is a rescue) and has never foundered. She is 9.1 hh and currently 385 lbs. When she came to me a year ago, she weighed over 400, so she has made progress. She still has fat deposits (along her neck mostly) and less noticeably on her back. She is lacking the back fat ridge that she came with and I can now feel her ribs (with a bit of pressure) but the fat pockets are still worrying. My farrier in particular is worried about her foundering. She is on a strict diet; she gets almost no grass (only a nibble here and there when she is walking from her paddock to her stall), hay for breakfast and dinner, a ration balancer, and I recently started her on smart metabo lean pellets from SmartPak. I do try to soak her hay if I remember/have time. She also gets exercised regularly, either ground work or driving her cart. Obviously I want to avoid her foundering at all costs, and even with her weight loss over the last year my farrier still thinks she is at high risk. What else has everyone done as preventative measures to horses prone to founder? Has anyone had success with the metabo lean pellets?
Have heard people like Remission. I think keeping her off grass, exercise, and being on top of the sugars in her hay, are about what you can do.
Horse Journal did a study awhile back ago finding that magnesium could help.
http://horse-journal.com/content/content/21294/magnesium-story_0.pdf
I really like SmartMetabo-Lean. Folks have good results with Remission, but my mini did really well on the SmartMetabolean.
He’s on mostly dry paddock/pasture, no grain and 1st cutting hay. He looks like he should have a metabolic syndrome but so far has tested OK.
Added the SmartMetabolean to his diet and he lost 40 pounds within six months. He is still overweight but I was very pleased that he lost anything. I swear he eats rocks. 
I’d get rid of the rb and replace with a vit/min supp, if she even needs it. Mature, stemmy low NSC hay in a small hole net only. Tiny hole, like 1".
I tried Smart Metabolean and didn’t get much in the way of results. Put the horse on Remission and saw changes pretty quickly. As a plus, Remission is inexpensive and available at Tractor Supply.
I started feeding ours Wellsolve LS…a low starch feed. Not sure if they being horses instead of pony makes a difference.
However, I have noticed a sharp drop off in pep and energy so I’m inquiring about that. Hay and LS doesn’t seem to give them any extra energy.
[QUOTE=stb;8725542]
I tried Smart Metabolean and didn’t get much in the way of results. Put the horse on Remission and saw changes pretty quickly. As a plus, Remission is inexpensive and available at Tractor Supply.[/QUOTE]
Isn’t that interesting? I had the opposite happen. I’ve often wondered why this is the case sometimes. I certainly had hoped the Remission would do the trick since it’s so less expensive. 
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8725535]
I’d get rid of the rb and replace with a vit/min supp, if she even needs it. Mature, stemmy low NSC hay in a small hole net only. Tiny hole, like 1".[/QUOTE]
Ditto this, other than I don’t know that the hay needs to be “mature, stemmy”, but definitely low NSC.
Save your $$, don’t bother with the Smart Metabolean. I had one that was diagnosed via bloodwork, as IR, changed diet, put him on SM only to have numbers skyrocket 4 months later and full blown Cushings.
[QUOTE=Dune;8725746]
Ditto this, other than I don’t know that the hay needs to be “mature, stemmy”, but definitely low NSC. [/QUOTE]
Low NSC hays are usually more stemmy and less leafy looking to the eye. Of course you need to get it tested to know for sure. But usually the nice soft leafy green stuff has more sugar and protein. Once it’s gone past it’s prime, it’s less nutritious. So you can send of some pretty soft green stuff to get tested and be disappointed in the NSC, or you can look at some less than spectacular first cutting and have a better chance at getting what you want. When you are feeding the fatties, they just don’t need the high octane race horse hay. Of course, again, you can’t always attest to quality by just eyeballing hay, but you can increase your chances of making the right choice first.
My hay guy knows exactly what I want and gets it for me. I’ve tested a few mature first cutting batches and they’ve always been low NSC. Although it doesn’t look as appetizing to me, the fatties hoover it up despite using a small hole hay net. The race horse hay he gets me is much greener and leafier, and tested higher in NSC the couple times I sent it in.
Ditto Remission and now. Grazing muzzle is mandatory. Do your research via www.safergrass.org
For the metabolic horse, I love to feed EquiPride. You give them all the good stuff they need but none of the sugars & starches. You feed a cup, not pounds.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8726075]
Low NSC hays are usually more stemmy and less leafy looking to the eye. Of course you need to get it tested to know for sure. But usually the nice soft leafy green stuff has more sugar and protein. Once it’s gone past it’s prime, it’s less nutritious. [/QUOTE]
No. Mature, brown hay is lower in protein. Maturity is weakly correlated with NSC. NSC is more about stressful growing conditions before harvest. I’ve tried my best to explain the science behind this, but I guess in the horse world, scientific evidence is not as important as how many times people say something incorrect.
see page 6 http://safergrass.org/pdf/GrassCHO-Safer.pdf
ALL the hays in this study were VERY overmature and stemmy, but were subjected to drought stress and lack of nitrogen. They averaged higher than average grass hay as per dairy one database.
I just bought a slow feed hay bag with 1" holes, I’m sure she’ll be super impressed with that. I do have a grazing muzzle for when she’s on grass, but she’s in a dry lot right now so it’s not necessary. People who use remission, what do you feed it with? She gets no grain currently, just the supplements… And I know remission is a powder, so not sure what would we be best choice to feed it with to get her to eat it. Where can you get equipride? (Tractor supply?) my mini is in the same condition as maunder described above, looks metobolic but has tested okay thus far.
I use a handful of beet pulp (shreds, soaked for just a minute) to get my fatty to eat his supplements and make him think he’s getting some real food.
[QUOTE=minidriver;8726745]
I just bought a slow feed hay bag with 1" holes, I’m sure she’ll be super impressed with that. I do have a grazing muzzle for when she’s on grass, but she’s in a dry lot right now so it’s not necessary. People who use remission, what do you feed it with? She gets no grain currently, just the supplements… And I know remission is a powder, so not sure what would we be best choice to feed it with to get her to eat it. Where can you get equipride? (Tractor supply?) my mini is in the same condition as maunder described above, looks metobolic but has tested okay thus far.[/QUOTE]
My mini absolutely loved the taste of Remission and would lick and lick the food bowl. Of course his eating habits are why he’s so fat in the first place.
1" holes can be too small for some hays and are way too small to start out with. I use 2" and 1.5" hole hay nets.
I’ve had the best luck with Platinum Performance Metabolic Support and chia for my metabolic pony and minis. 2-2.5% of their body weight in slow feeders…have more than one and set them up in different places. Once I started these two supplements it was much easier for mine to self regulate. My 13.3hh pony was 920lbs before I change her diet and she’s now 715lbs.
I’d go to a vitamin mineral supplement and carrier. This way you can make up for anything they hay lacks with the fewest calories…so you can maximize the hay.
[QUOTE=Katy Watts;8726500]
No. Mature, brown hay is lower in protein. Maturity is weakly correlated with NSC. NSC is more about stressful growing conditions before harvest. I’ve tried my best to explain the science behind this, but I guess in the horse world, scientific evidence is not as important as how many times people say something incorrect.
see page 6 http://safergrass.org/pdf/GrassCHO-Safer.pdf
ALL the hays in this study were VERY overmature and stemmy, but were subjected to drought stress and lack of nitrogen. They averaged higher than average grass hay as per dairy one database.[/QUOTE]
I stand corrected…:yes:
Maturity is weakly correlated with NSC. NSC is more about stressful growing conditions before harvest.
Maturity is weakly correlated with NSC. NSC is more about stressful growing conditions before harvest.
Maturity is weakly correlated with NSC. NSC is more about stressful growing conditions before harvest.
Thank you. One down 6 million more to go. Why is equine science so impervious to new science??? I swear, PhD nutritionists/veterinarians who understand statistics (yet don’t understand plant physiology) refuse to incorporate this concept into their world view. All plant scientists I questioned say ‘oh ya, sure’.
[QUOTE=minidriver;8726745]
I just bought a slow feed hay bag with 1" holes, I’m sure she’ll be super impressed with that. I do have a grazing muzzle for when she’s on grass, but she’s in a dry lot right now so it’s not necessary. People who use remission, what do you feed it with? She gets no grain currently, just the supplements… And I know remission is a powder, so not sure what would we be best choice to feed it with to get her to eat it. Where can you get equipride? (Tractor supply?) my mini is in the same condition as maunder described above, looks metobolic but has tested okay thus far.[/QUOTE]
www.sweetpro.com - click EQUIPRIDE
So the hay bag actually went over surprisingly well, it slowed her down to the point where there was just a little bit left in the bag in the morning. I did get some remission as recommended here, but now I’m wondering… Do you think it’s okay to feed the remission with the smart metabolean? Or should I wait until I run out of the metabolean to start? (I still have a month supply left)
