My vet told me yesterday my shetland needs to loose some weight
At the moment he is in a field with another shetland and 2 ponies.
Vet advises I bring him in to the stable during the day and feed him just a flake of hay which would be fine but im on a livery yard which only supplies haylage and were not allowed to buy in our own hay.
The haylage is too rich for him and ive been told if he doesn't loose weight he is liable to get lami in the spring.

Anyone here ever tried a muzzle to stop a horse eating 2 much ?
I was thinking maybe try that and bring him in for a few hours everyday and give him a bit of straw and chaff?


Any ideas anyone?

is there no way to convince your livery yard to make an exception for him?
as it obviously is a health issue and they will end up exacerbating it with their rules
perhaps if you get word from your vet to them?

it seems unreasonable to me, but i can understand why they would say such a thing
but it seems even more unreasonable if they won;t make an exception to allow your pony to shed the weight he needs to and prevent the laminitis :/

i've no real experience with horses, but i am a fan
and i hope that you find a solution for him

Nope won't let me as they say all other owners will kick off saying they want to feed hay too.
Not fair I know but got to follow rules on the yard. Have talked to them today though and for the moment he is going to come in to my horses stable during the day and stay out at night and in summer he is going to go in the winter paddocks in the day.
Just going to have a very small amount of haylage and some straw mixed in for now. We will shift those pounds and have a nice trim pony

I know your pain! We have (had) a fat shetland who is a chronic lami sufferer (was on loan to some people who didn't notice and didn't tell us- long story). He can't walk on roads, but we make him walk about in the field. Not too much as he's old now (30 this year) but it does make a difference especially as he used to stand with his head down permanently eating. He gets 45 mins a day now, it's like having a dog!

The vet did suggest trying a muzzle with my horse as she damaged her stifle and the best way to combat it was to get weight off her. Fortunately that resolved itself before we got to the muzzling stage. we were thinking of getting one of these

Not too Hannibal Lecter-ish!

I realise that everyone's situation is different, but I would never let a livery owner dictate my horse's diet, especially if his health was at stake.
Fair enough if they insist that you buy forage through them, but to lay down the law as to what you feed is draconian and unacceptable imo. Dear Lord, it's not as though you are just deciding to be awkward.

Anyway, hope your pony shifts the weight soon.

Mrs Oggy, I am a farrier of nearly 40 years.

Laminitis is without a doubt the biggest killer of horses that I can think of. It also kills in a particularly horrible and painful way. Yes there are shoes and treatments but the best way is to avoid it altogether in the first place as much of the damage is irreversible.

If your vet is recommending your pony lose weight, please take this warning very seriously. There are now only eight to ten weeks left until the spring weather hits us. When that happens you will lose the ability to get weight off him, as he will no longer need to use up energy to keep himself warm and that means the majority of food will go straight into his fat store.

Muzzling is my preferred option but there are two drawbacks with it, the first is that a lot of ponies work out how to get a muzzle off, and a lot of people do not like the look of a pony in a muzzle. The good thing about muzzles is that they can still go out with the others, otherwise there is no option but to keep him in.

Im not a supporter of laminitics going out overnight, for the simple reason that logically night time turnout is generally longer (more hours) than daytime turnout. That gives the opportunity to eat a greater quantity of grass.

You should speak to your yard owner about the vet's recommendation. This is a professional recommendation. You should impress on them the seriousness of it. If they continue to ignore your wishes for the sake of your pony's health I would seriously consider moving him elsewhere.

I agree with Superwomble. Turn out during the day, try using a muzzle with little holes. I don't think it's a big deal about the hay. If he needs to lose weight he'd be better with a little straw to nibble overnight. Cruel to be kind is the only way.

I am 100% with Superwomble. We have several small native fatties on my yard, and they all wear grazing masks and go out in the day on starvation type paddocks. One did get out of his but it gets tied onto his headcollar with wide sport shoe type shoe laces and so it stays firmly in place!

I've had horses for 40 years and only once had my own land, the rest of the time at livery yards. I have to say I have never in all my life heard of livery yard owners dictating what owners must feed - and haylage I have never fed it to my blood horses as it is so rich and I currently have a middleweight show cob who I would never consider feeding haylage to. Do try and find a new yard where the owners are competent and knowledgeable horse owners themselves. These sound uncaring people.