Getting weight off a mare

Question

I went up this weekend to visit my mare who is being bred, she is about 2 1/2 hours away and will be back at the end of the month. When I got there, the stallion's owner mentioned that she might have issues getting pregnant because of how overweight she was. I thought this was odd, because I knew she had a bit of baby weight (she foaled May 28) but was not as grossly obese, as he seemed to think, when she left my farm. I went out into the field to look at her, and she was HUGE! She had put on easily 50-75lbs in the three weeks she has been gone, and she did not need it. She has been on the same feed as she has been since the birth, the only thing that has changed is the kind of grass.

She honestly shouldn't have any issues with getting into foal, but I want to get her back to a healthy weight as quickly as possible. The filly will be at her side a few months yet, so she needs to keep that nutrition, but do you have any tips on getting her back into shape? The stallion's owner stalls her as much as possible to keep her off the grass (she's still gaining more weight) but with a growing and hyper little filly that is proving difficult. She should be coming home at the end of the month, so I'm hoping to have a plan in place by then. Tennessee Walkers are insanely easy keepers!

Thanks!

Answer 1

Could you just go out and walk with her? Riding would be difficult I guess, but even an hour walking up and down hills would be better then nothing. Sounds like she is being a slug when she is outside. That or its too much time standing still in a stall? If she's on supplements I would just cut back, same with any hay intake and try and get her out and about.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

The horse you see is my Tennessee Walker standing 18.2 hands tall. Yes, I said 18.2 hands tall. He also foundered, and spent 8 days in the equine hospital. He has never been overweight, but the vet wanted to get some weight off of him any way. He is confined to a small paddock area and is not allowed any grass. That is what foundered him. He gets three flecks of hay twice a day, and a half scoop of low protein feed twice a day. Since your mare is in foal, you may want to get some, "Mare and Foal" to feed her, and get her off grass as much as possible. Foundering is no joke, and it would be even worse if she is in foal.

Answer 3

It is normal for horses to gain this time of year, especially mares.  It may be that your mare does not need any grain even though she is nursing her foal.  I would have the vet check her to make sure there is no metabolic abnormality.

I don't know if she will be hard to get pregnant.  I had a mare who was a very easy keeper.  I purchased her as being barren.  She became pregnant at her first breeding since I had gotten her slimmed down before breeding her.  Some mares are less fertile as the summer goes on , too, so when the day length gets shorter, like now, you may need ask your vet about hormone treatments to insure there is a viable egg ready while the mare is with the stallion.  

Hopefully your mare is one of the greater number who take advantage of the grass, gain weight and are very healthy with it.      

Answer 4

Take her for a walk. It helps. If possible ask the guy who breeding her to walk her everyday for 20 minutes. Our minis get really fat and so do our 37 horses. But we keep them active.They run and play. Ages range from 4 months to 23 years. The mini's get lazy sometimes so I take them for a twenty minute run. I cover over 16 miles a day walking, running, riding and training horses.