OklahomaHorses Magazine July 2021

12 OklahomaHorses • July/August 2021 owner compliance, adhering to the diet plan. Researchers clearly showed that owner compliance to diet plans strongly impacted the ability to achieve weight loss in obese horses. One of the most helpful management techniques to reduce body weight is to remove access to pasture entirely. Horses that are completely restricted from pasture access lose more weight than horses that are allowed even partial access to pasture. In fact, horses can be quite savvy and learn that their grazing time will be limited. In response, they simply learn to eat faster. One study even showed that ponies can consume more than 1% of their body weight in 3 hours. Unfortunately, grazing pasture is the most natural form of man- agement of a horse, allowing freedom of movement, contact with other horses and the ability to ingest a more varied diet. How do you allow all of these great benefits of pasture, including social contact, exercise and mental health and not exceed dietary guidelines? A grazing muzzle may be the best option. The use of grazing muz- zles can limit intake to 77-83% of what can be achieved without a muzzle. Be sure to select one with appropriate fit and monitor the horse for signs of rubbing or abrasions. Other strategies to promote gut health and reduce boredom are to use a slow feed- ing hay net or feeder that has small holes to pluck out the hay. These devices increase the total time the horse spends eating, thus reducing boredom and allowing a more continual intake of saliva and feed into the GI tract. Diet selection is also key for these horses. While we typically think of selecting the highest quality hays for our horses, we may need to think a bit differently for the obese horse. Of course, the hay should be free of mold and noxious weeds, but it may be better to select hays of greater maturity or more fiber content. These hays will be lower in digestible energy, essentially allowing the horse to consume more while reducing caloric intake. If in doubt, consider testing the hay to see if it is a good fit for the overweight horse. Nutrients, such as protein and key vitamins and minerals, can always be added back in the form of commercially available ration balances. Increasing exercise can certainly be a great tool to enhance weight loss. Owners do have to be realistic about their time commitments. For example, a horse that is consuming 45% more calories per day than it needs would have to work at a strong trot for 65 minutes a day! It may be easier to tackle both diet and exercise together. Be mindful of the overweight horse’s ability to exercise and the heat load when beginning a conditioning program. Weight loss can be frustratingly slow to achieve, but abrupt weight loss should be avoided. In general, the best management would address weight gain as soon as it begins. A healthy condition score of 5 is always ideal. Get used to actually feeling your horse to see if its fat cover has increased, or take pictures of your horse on a monthly to bi-weekly basis. Often, we don’t recognize the weight gain if viewing the horse every day. It does tend to creep up on you! Just remember, an overweight horse can be as unhealthy as a thin horse. Weight loss in horses can be a frustrating endeavor but one that is worthwhile for the long-term health of the horse.