Hudson's New Bod

My last post documented my woes of putting Hudson on a diet in order to, in short, save her life.  Her heavy weight, which she managed to gain and maintain on a free-choice hay diet (and, eh-hmm, lack of exercise), was linked to lameness, which appeared to be a low-level chronic laminitis.

Unfortunately, this lameness, which she had, off and on, all her life, was becoming worse with age. She got to the point where, even though she has been off pasture completely for more than a year, only eating hay, she still would have flare-ups of acute pain. 

Anyway, she has been on a strict diet of 18 pounds of grass hay a day, fed in slow-feed bags, since March. She also gets one pound of Nutrena Empower Top Line Balancer and an SE/E supplement to make sure she’s getting the vitamins and minerals she needs. 

Would you like to see the before and after shots? Of course you would! Drum roll, please…

Hudson in March

Hudson today. Are those actual ribs I see?

 At the last vet check, the vet rated her a 6 on the Henneke scoring system, which is in the middle group on a scale of 1-9, but still on the heavy side. I dare say that, today, she might rank a neat 5, which is even better.

As for her lameness, it is still there, but much diminished. She walks in the dry lot without limping, and you’ll only see the lameness when she’s making turns. I can’t ride her, but I’m hoping to continue to see improvement here.

I'm happy about these results. Even though Hudson pines for more food, especially grass, she seems overall more comfortable. Unfortunately, her terrible conformation, with her big, front-heavy body (she's half draft) and feet too small for her size, means she's set up for lameness issues. At this point, I'm just aiming at pasture sound and, maybe, good for a few slow laps in the arena.

My vet commented, after seeing Hudson, that many horse owners of overweight horses just can't get themselves to reduce their horse's feed. I definitely understand that. I really didn't want to have to go back to measuring hay and metering it out, being tied to a feeding schedule, and seeing her unhappy (as anyone on a diet understands). But, hey, this is Hudson we're talking about! She's my girl -- my much healthier girl!
 

 

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Big Trouble in Little Hayville

After years of determined effort, my husband and I reached a pretty nice place in the balance between our full-time jobs and horse-keeping. We installed heated auto-waterers (Miraco brand) which is the best nickel I ever spent. Seriously, if you can, install one.  No more frozen buckets, no more hauling water. They improved our winter horse-keeping immensely.

We also added great barn lighting, for those dark winter nights as we chip away, futilely, at frozen manure. We bought a Hay Hut that can accommodate big bales, and I fitted it with a small-hole hockey net, draped over the bale, for slow feeding. Thus, no matter what quirks occurred in our schedule, our horses were fed and watered. Voila!

 

It all came to a crashing halt when my big, and I do mean BIG, mare, Hudson, started showing a disturbing pattern of lameness. It matched the pattern I saw in our mustang, DeCato, may she rest in peace: Grass, even with a grazing muzzle, seemed to bring on the ouchies. Hard, frozen winter ground made the pain even worse. With DeCato, the laminitis became so painful, I ultimately opted for euthanasia (I'll tell you that sad story another time). With Hudson, when her X-rays showed some signs of inflamed laminae, my vet let me know that that weight loss would be key.

Ground Control to Major Hay...

You wouldn't think a horse could get so fat on just hay, but Hudson is talented that way.

So now I’m back to hay bags, three of them for each mare, doled out over the course of a day. Since starting with them a few weeks ago, both Hudson and Starlight have lost weight. Unfortunately, the process has made all of our qualities of life much worse in other ways.  Stuffing hay bags is inherently unhealthy for people, as even great hay has dust, so I wear a full-face, particulate-filtering respirator as I meticulously measure out 6-pound bags.  For the horses, even the slow-feed nets can’t prevent them from going for hours without eating. Seriously, Hudson can polish off six pounds of hay in a net in one hour.

All calm until Hudson finishes her bag and steals Starlight's

But, that’s where we are, looking once more for a better solution. There are automated slow, hay feeders on the market, but they are pricey. I can’t justify the cost for a mechanical bale feeder, especially considering that filling one means cutting a round bale. I know people do this, but to me it seems like it would be as easy as cutting a bucket of spaghetti with a fish descaler.  

A better option for the horses might be one of the automated feeders that doles out hay pellets throughout the day.  I’d still be stuffing bags, but at least they would have regular nibbles to quell the acid in their guts. 

If you have recommendations on products or practices, let me know! In the meantime, we'll take it one, bright-pink, hay bag at a time. 

Hudson's shark-like attack of the pink bag