Both my mare and I need to lose weight so I've started taking her for walks but getting her to really put some

Question

effort into it has been a chore. At first I was practically dragging her. Yesterday with lots of leadrope jiggling and tons of you can do its and lets gos, I got her to trot until we were both breathing pretty hard but it was so much work it was ridiculous and when she stopped on her own again I couldn't get her back into a trot. I have a medium length white lunging whip but it is unwieldy and tapping her on the butt or snapping it on the ground beside her has no effect at all. I was thinking maybe a light tree branch with lots of leaves I could wave beside her. I know I spoil her but if I have to force her to do this it is going to take all the fun out of it for me. You guys are such a wealth of info and it is always gratefully appreciated. Thanks for always making life a little easier.

Answer 1

Riding is a good way to lose the weight. If you are able to that is. Keeping her trotting will help her lose the weight and you will to. It's the way I stay fit all year round is by riding. I notice when I haven't rode for a month or so cuz I feel fat and I am sluggish. If you can't ride her, then lunging her will help her cuz she is just being lazy and not wanting to do the work. Once you can get her to stop being so lazy playing games with her will help, and it keeps her mind thinking too.

Answer 2

girl that horse is just being lazy  give a good little pop on the butt then she will know what that whip is capable of and not want that to happen again so when you raise it she should pick up pace since she is thinking" hey I know how that felt last time" and she will start picking up on her own...

My horse was lazy when I had him in the round pen so I gave him a pop now he knows just my hands now....   good luck

Answer 3

Yes, are you walking her to get both yourself and her some heart-pumping exercise?

If so, you'll find yourself getting a LOT more heart pumping exercise than she is.

such loss of weight for both humans and horses is the proper mix of eating right and good exercise.  Exercise like running, walking or use of machines like Elliptical and step machines is the type of workout that will cause you to burn fat - but it won't help much without changing your eating habits.  

For myself, I find that the more I work out, the hungrier I get and I eat more (yep, it's a mental thing).  I had to change the amount of food I ate, when I ate and what I ate AND exercise at least 10 minutes a day.  It's not a one-time thing, it's a change in the way you live your life.

Likewise, if the horse isn't getting routine exercise - by that I mean a half hour's ride at least a day, she won't get in shape either.  And if you're feeding her too much feed or too high a quality of feed for the exercise she's getting then she's getting fat.

Here's what I'd do right along with making the changes in my own life outlined above.

Switch her to an all grass hay if she's currently getting hay high in alfalfa content - the alfalfa is like carbs, high in protein that is not needed if the horse isn't working.

If she's not working at all, and doesn't need supplements, she probably doesn't need any grain or at least very little.  However I would say "but I can't take away her grain, she loves it so much" so that's probably what you're thinking - then switch her to a lower protein content grain.  For example, if you're feeding a 14 or 16% sweet feed, switch her to a lower protein, like 12% without the sugars.  I have had good success with Purina's Strategy.  It's a moderately priced, low starch pelleted feed.  Nutrena makes a good product in their SafeChoice feed that's low starch and protein as well.  Cut her amount down and switch her feed to drop the calories she's taking in.  However, don't just switch her grain, you'll send her system into shock and she might colic - start by substituting 1/4 of her grain with the new stuff, then a couple days later, 1/2 with the new stuff, then 3/4 with the new stuff until it's all the new stuff, then cut back after a while if the exercise and change in grain don't start to drop the weight.

For exercise, if you cannot ride her on the trails or in an environment that causes her to "work" physically, you can lunge her.  20 minutes twice a day or a half hour or so each day will be enough work to slowly take off the pounds.  However, simply lunging can be VERY boring for the horse.  Use lots of gait transitions, change directions, work on your cues to get her to switch directions on cue - do things to make the lunging fun for her with mental challenges to keep her from thinking "well, this is boring walking in circles".

Walking alone will not cut it.  You need to at least trot half the time and give her warm up work.  For example, start at the walk for 5 minutes and change directions a few times, then trot for 10 minutes changing directions a few times, maybe do another 5 with varying gaits, walk a few rounds then trot, then walk and change directions.  Then allow her a cool down time by walking maybe the last 5 minutes.

You could also add cavaletti for her to go over while lunging.  If she'll lunge in an open area or all around your arena with different obstacles, that will be more fun for you both as well and pass the time.

Remember, being overweight can cause things like founder and joint problems.  Staying in shape is important for all of us to improve and maintain good health.  Make sure she's getting enough water to keep the nutrients moving through her body (you know how they talk about drinking 8 glasses of water a day helps flush the weight causing things out of our system?).  Make sure she's happy - if she is bored without food as she's accustomed to there are all sorts of toys and stuff that dispense small amounts of treats or nutrients that will keep her busy while not stuffing her full of too much of the wrong kinds of food.

I would suggest to you however, that only a small portion of your efforts to improve both your weight situations can happen together - she just needs A LOT more physical work than you do.  Walking a mile for you is a good chunk of exercise - for her, it's just getting warmed up.

Answer 4

you could try just lunging her to get her weight off as this way it will be easier to keep her going with the lunge whip if she starts being lazy and if you were wanting to lose weight too, you could just walk on your own and plug some earphones in - that's what i do. while lunging  you tend to walk circles with them anyway so that will also keep you exercising too.

Answer 5

I would lunge her in circles but keep moving the circle around so you move too! Believe me, if you have a large round pen or a long lunge line, you will move! Way go to!

Answer 6

why don't you ride the wait off her and if she gets tired then walk her back. You could ride her every time you catch her and when she started running from you cause she didn't want rode you could chase her and y'all could both lose wait

Answer 7

Well Dont Start With The Idea Of

'Lets Go Hurry Up Fast Fast Fast'

If She Needs To loose weight it might hurt or just be uncomfotable for her to trot/canter ect...

so start with just simple walks out going at your own speed

then slowly start bringing up the pace

Also Have You tried lunging ?

if your horse doesnt listen during walks then try lunging this might make her feel more like shes being ridden & led more, if that makes sense

the more you act in control the more she will belive that you are

&& remember to treat her when she does do well & Remember treats dont have to be food they could be a good old pat or just some love

Answer 8

For everyone that answered above if you read, SHE wants to lose weight while helping her horse, (walk trot ect) So that is why shes not riding her... !

Answer 9

Why are you walking your mare, and not RIDING HER?? Is she lame, or does she have another physical problem which is keeping her from being ridden? Does she have training or behavior issues which bother you, and you are not riding her because of them?? Really, what you are doing is not helping either your mare or yourself- and in fact, depending on how overweight you are, you could end up really hurting yourself, or giving yourself a heart attack if you keep this up. As it is, the only one getting any exercise right now is YOU, not your horse, and you are getting the wrong kind of exercise, not to mention getting really stressed in a way that is not very healthy. Your horse is smart- she's figured out that she doesn't have to work very hard, and that you don't have the emotional strength to discipline her and insist that she do as she's told. Instead of you training her- she's TRAINED YOU- and naturally, you don't appear to like it much. Most of us don't like being dominated by an animal which is less intelligent than we ourselves are, but this is what has happened to you.

I would longe this mare for about 30 minutes a day to start with, and then make a point of getting on and riding after the longeing sessions. You don't have to ride for long- 15 to 30 minutes will do just fine- but you DO need to make sure that the mare is ridden at all gaits, in both directions of the arena or paddock, and that she does what she's told. Right now, she's just being lazy, and YOU are the one who's paying the price. That has to change, and change quickly, for both your sakes. Who's in charge here- your horse, or YOU?? Your mare sounds like she needs to learn who is dominant here- and it ain't her, if you get my meaning. A ship only has ONE master, and she isn't it- and somehow, you need to make that clear to her.

This doesn't mean you need to beat your mare, or be abusive to her- but it DOES MEAN that you need to make her respect you. If you really want to lose weight and get in shape, there is no better way to do this than to spend an hour or so riding at the sitting trot for 3 or more days each week, or doing work at speed, such as jumping and galloping. I own a mare too, and I ride her every day the weather will allow ( we don't have an indoor arena, so I can't ride when it's raining) for at least 30 minutes a day, oftentimes more than that. Doing what you are currently doing will never get you to this point, and you are going to get hurt if you keep it up, as I said a moment ago.

As far as leading or work in hand goes, you do need to carry a whip of the right length, and yes, you need to USE IT !! Your mare needs to learn to stay with you, and not drag on you- and she needs to stay in her own space, not in yours. When she tries to hang back like that, pop her one in the butt- and make her stay with you. You should be next to her left shoulder anyway, at all times. The mare should stop only when you do, and walk or trot forward when you step forward- in other words, you need to teach her to follow your body language, because this is how all horses communicate with each other.

I hope this helps you out.

Answer 10

Is there a reason you are not riding her?  Getting her to trot around a lot while riding will also be a work out for both of you.

If you cannot ride her, a dressage whip would probably work better.  Hold it in your left hand with the whip part behind you.  When she becomes a bit lazy, you can tap her without having to turn around.  Many times, tapping on the side will work just as much as the rump because it imitates the leg.