Having an overweight horse can be incredibly stressful and you’ll find yourself spending a lot of time thinking about how you can help them to lose weight.
Obesity in horses increases the risk of of many health problems, including laminitis, equine metabolic syndrome and joint pain, which makes losing the excess weight all the more important.
Studies indicate that 50–70% of horses in the UK are overweight or obese. Unfortunately because, as a nation of horse owners, we are so used to seeing it, many struggle to recognise when their horse has an issue.
The battle of getting an overweight horse to lose weight is something that I have personal experience of. My pony is the definition of good-doer and when I bought him around 10 years ago he was very overweight. He had a bout of laminitis in our first summer together and after that I became militant. Over the next few years, I worked towards finding a sustainable way to get his weight down and, importantly, keep it off. We eventually hit our stride and he lost more than 100kg over a few years.
Of course, it’s taken a lot of commitment and it’s not all been plain sailing – for example, when we’ve moved yards, each move has required me to reassess how I can manage him best in the new environment with a different setup. Over the past decade I’ve tried almost every tactic and, although it’s hard work, it’s possible to help your horse lose weight – you just need to find what works for you both.
How to help your horse lose weight
Here are some things you can do to help your horse lose weight – the basic principles are “eat less, move more” but there are a number of ways you can arrive at this. You’ll likely need to incorporate multiple changes into your routine in order to see any results, especially if you have a good-doer.
H&H veterinary expert Karen Coumbe agrees that “the feed your horse is consuming is likely to be more important than any exercise, although both need to be considered” when helping your horse to lose weight.
1. Use winter wisely
In the wild, your horse would lose weight naturally over the winter months so if you’re trying to help your horse lose weight you can lean into this. It’s easier to get your horse to lose weight in the winter because it’s colder – so they’re using energy to keep warm – and there’s less grass around, so they’re less likely to overeat.
Horse should come out of winter with their ribs just visible, which will give some scope for natural weight gain when the grass starts to grow.
Over-rugging is a welfare problem and can have serious consequences.
2. Avoid rugging unnecessarily
Horses do not get cold as quickly as we do and over-rugging an obese horse will prevent them from losing weight. Preventing the natural winter weight loss interferes with your horse’s hormones and they are much more likely to get laminitis in the spring.
Here’s some more information about when horses feel the cold and our rugging guide for every temperature.
3. Restrict grazing
There is more nutrition in pasture and forage that you might realise, warns Karen.
“That must be factored in, which might sound obvious, but is so crucial,” she says.
Ensuring your horse isn’t overeating is a key part of losing and then maintaining weight, and there are a number of ways to do this. It’s important that horses still consume at least 1.5% of their bodyweight each day to keep their gut healthy, so much of this is advice is about extending their eating time to make the same amount last longer, rather than simply eating less.
Here are four options to restrict grazing – you might find that incorporating a combination of these will give the best effect.
4. Reduce turnout
Keeping your horse in a stable or turnout pen for part of the day will reduce their access to grass and allow you to control what they’re eating within that time.
Being turned out at night and in during the day is preferable to the reverse as there are less sugars in the grass at night. They begin to rise again around 10am, so ensure your horse comes in before then.
Strip grazing can work really well for some horses.
5. Strip graze
Strip grazing gives your horse access to a fresh strip or area of grass each day (or every time you move the fence), and using a follow fence will allow you to rest your pasture once it’s been grazed, too. You’ll need electric fencing to set this up successfully.
6. Implement a track system
A track system usually runs around the perimeter of a field, with water and hay distributed at various points along it to encourage your horse to move.
They often include a variety of surfaces and obstacles, such as small logs, for your horse to negotiate. Many tracks are entirely grass-free, but hay is usually provided ad-lib and horses learn to self-regulate their intake.
A grazing muzzle slows your horse’s intake, but cannot be used 24/7.
7. Invest in a grazing muzzle
The best grazing muzzles slow your horse’s intake by reducing the amount of grass they can access at one time. Horses cannot wear a grazing muzzle 24/7, so to successfully incorporate this into your management routine, your horse will also need to be stabled or turned out in a bare paddock with hay for some of the day.
8. Extend eating time
Use one of the best small-holed haynets or slow feeders to extend eating time. This can help prevent horses becoming bored and reduces the risk of gastric ulcers. And the more time they spend eating one thing, the less time they have to move on and eat something else.
Keeping track of droppings can help you monitor your horse’s intake.
9. Count daily poos
A great way to keep an eye on your horses’ intake – even if you’re not trying to get them to lose weight – is to count their droppings. It can be hard to tell how quickly the grass is coming through and how much they’re really eating, but if you poo-pick at regular intervals, you’ll soon notice if their daily output increases. You can then adjust their intake – by reducing hay provision or grazing access – accordingly.
10. Soak your hay
Soaking hay reduces the nutrient quality in the forage (replace the nutrients using a vitamin and mineral supplement). It strips the hay of calories, sugars and fructans, so that you can still feed a good amount to fill your horse and keep his digestive system working well without giving him any extra calories.
You need to soak hay for at least an hour, but if this is not resulting in weight loss then try soaking for longer until it does. Soaking for short periods, such as 10–15 minutes, only reduces the dust levels to help horses with poor respiratory health – it’s not long enough for weight loss.
When soaking hay:
- soak it in the shade
- use fresh water each time
- balance a bucket of water on top to keep hay submerged
- ensure the soaked hay still smells good
- hang it up to drain and rinse with a bucket of fresh water
- always feed straight after draining
11. Eliminate high-calorie feeds
Consider what you’re feeding your horse and whether you need to rethink. Not all horses need a bucket feet, but for those that do there may be a better option. For example, the best feed balancers provide the essential nutrients in a low-calorie package. If your horse is prone to laminitis, check out the feeds suitable for laminitics, as approved by The Laminitis Trust.
If you’re restricting your horse’s grazing and/or soaking hay, you should provide a supplement for horses on reduced grazing to ensure they receive a nutritionally balanced diet, unless you’ve already covered all bases with a balancer.
Introduce any changes gradually to prevent colic or dangerously rapid weight loss.
12. Change up your forage
Consider changing to a different type of forage if your current selection is high energy. For example, if you feed haylage try switching to hay, and if you feed hay consider adding straw to your horse’s ration.
Weighing feed and forage will prevent extras slipping in.
13. Weigh everything you feed
A little bit extra here and there can really add up if you’re unknowingly feeding more than you intend – it’s so easy to put more in your haynet than you had accounted for. By weighing your feed and forage, you can be sure that your horse is getting exactly what he needs, and you’ll be able to accurately assess the difference made when you increase or decrease feed or forage by small amounts.
Here’s some more information about how much hay to feed a horse.
14. Avoid treats
Don’t give your horse treats for the sake of it – and make sure no one else does, either – as everything adds up. The same logic applies to allowing your horse to snack on his way in from the field or out on a hack.
If you use treats in training, ensure you’re using a super-low-energy option.
15. Increase exercise
You don’t need to be doing super-intense training, but increase the frequency or intensity of your sessions, or both if appropriate. Ask your vet or a trainer for advice if you’re unsure what you should be doing.
My pony only really hacks, but I’ve found that committing to hacking five days a week during the spring and summer months has made a real difference. On days that you’re really pushed for time, remember that a 25-minute brisk walk or quick schooling session is better than nothing at all.
If your horse is retired, consider other ways you can increase their movement, such as a track system, groundwork or walking in hand.
Using a weigh tape is often the simplest way to monitor your horse’s weight loss.
16. Monitor weight
Monitor your horse’s weight by regularly reviewing your weight loss programme with your vet or nutritionist. Use a weighbridge for accuracy and then assess and record weight weekly using body condition scoring and a weight tape (like this one on Amazon).
“Having something concrete as a measure is useful,” says Karen.
I also like to feel my horse’s neck each day as that’s usually the first place I will notice a difference.
It’s useful to take regular photos – once a fortnight – of your horse standing square so that you can look back on how far you’ve come.
17. Ask for help
If you’re implementing these tips and still struggling or are not sure where to start, Karen recommends seeking “proper dietary advice from your vet or a trained nutritionist”.
She adds that many large feed companies are really helpful in providing sensible advice free of charge, with no obligation to purchase products.
What to do next
Use these tips alongside personalised professional advice to make a weight loss plan for your horse, aiming for steady and consistent loss. Once you’ve decided how you’re going to tackle it, begin by checking your horse’s weight so you have a start point for monitoring.
If you don’t see a change in the first two weeks, tweak your plan to incorporate more tactics to safely reduce intake and increase movement.
- For unlimited access to advice on how best to care for your horse, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
You might also be interested in:
Best grazing muzzle options to help reduce your horse’s daily intake
Is it safe to feed straw? Everything you need to know, with expert advice from an equine nutritionist
Best feed balancers for all horses: what’s on the market?
How to keep stabled horses happy and healthy
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