Question
My teenage mare is entirely too fat, hanging somewhere near an 8 on the body condition scorecard. She’s not a big mare, and a weight tape puts her at about 1,300 lb (590 kg). Right now, she’s on stall rest due to a suspensory ligament injury and white line disease. We are going to move her from the riding program and into the broodmare band once she’s healed, but I think we need to get her weight under control. She is allowed as much hay as she chooses, and she receives one-half scoop of senior feed twice a day. How can I help her lose weight?
Answer
I have several recommendations to improve your mare’s diet and help with weight loss. First, I recommend changing her feed from the senior product you’re currently feeding to a ration balancer pellet, which is more suitable for weight loss. In order for the senior feed to provide the necessary protein, vitamins, and minerals, she would need to get at least 6 lb (2.7 kg) a day. That amount would provide far too many calories and prevent weight loss. Ration balancer pellets are concentrated feeds designed to deliver necessary nutrients without added calories.
In addition to an appropriate ration balancer, she will require at least 1.5% of her body weight in hay daily. For her size, she would need approximately 20 lb (9 kg) of hay. For digestive health, forage should be available as often as possible. Unfortunately, when seeking weight loss, we have to find creative ways to slow consumption. In order to make the limited amount of hay last longer, I recommend putting hay in a slow-feeder net that has small openings. This will increase the amount of time it takes her to consume hay, thereby reducing the amount of time she is without forage.
Horses on stall rest with limited access to grass are missing out on a source of vitamin E, which supports important body-wide antioxidant defenses. To deliver natural-source vitamin E, I recommend adding 2,000 IU of Nano-E to her feed daily.
Another beneficial supplement for horses on stall rest is DuraPlex, which is designed to support bone health. Research shows that horses experience bone demineralization during long periods of inactivity. DuraPlex provides specific proteins, along with vitamins and minerals, to promote bone turnover. Your mare would benefit most from this product during recovery. DuraPlex is available in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. In Australia, horse owners should look for Bone Food Plus.
I commend you on your forethought as your mare segues from a riding horse to a broodmare. Research has shown that mares that are too heavy often have trouble conceiving, so mares should be kept in more moderate weight, a body condition score of 5 or 6, for example.
