| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 484.1 | Try Horsie Toys | NCMWVX::MAYR | | Mon Jan 18 1988 13:17 | 10 |
| Try giving him some toys to take out his excess energy on. Several
that have worked well for me include: empty plastic gallon milk
jug suspended from the ceiling; large (10-12" diameter) heavy-duty
rubber ball left on the floor of the stall. Mine have gotten
"destructive" with these toys, but it sure has saved on stalls and
feed buckets! One mare even learned to be a fair soccer player!
Good luck,
Cathie
|
| 484.2 | some suggestions... | ASD::NAJJAR | | Mon Jan 18 1988 13:40 | 20 |
| Sue,
Does Gus get turned out at all during the day? That will help by
letting him get his energy out in the paddock. Is there someone
you can trust with him that you can have lunge him a few times a
week or hand walk him if he can't get turned out?
If he's really getting too fat you should tell the owner that you'd
like to cut back on his hay because what's happening is that she's,
in effect, rewarding him for being destructive. Every time he starts
pawing or banging (or whatever he does) she tosses him some hay
so he associates the destructive behavior with food (the owner of
the barn where I board does this with her own horses as well).
The extra weight will make it a little harder for you to get him
in shape for the spring anyway.
Good luck,
Julie
|
| 484.3 | Kicker & Exercising | MED::D_SMITH | | Mon Jan 18 1988 15:32 | 19 |
| Our quarter/morgan was a stall kicker when we first got him.
I would yell and scream every time he did it. I did notice that
the only time he kicked was when someone was around. I got the impression
that where he was before us, this was a way to get attention. So on
that note, I ignored him whenever he did it. Now being 4 months later,
he has not kicked at all, almost like he never did it before.
I also hung a milk jug with some grain in it as a toy or passtime.
Our Thoroughbred was getting a little on the heavy side of things
too, so I have cut him back on concentrated food (grain) a bit.
A few weeks later I started lunging daily. He gets 10 minutes both
directions with few minutes walk before and after and all trot in
between. Sometimes canter but this is in a large circle (25').
Now he is in much better shape with a strong muscle appearance, and
his breathing is not as heavy immediatly after a five minute trot.
His pulse rate has also gone down about 20 beats per minute.
|
| 484.4 | Feed less grain... not less hay | CSMADM::NICKERSON | Bob Nickerson DTN 282-1663 :^) | Mon Jan 25 1988 14:09 | 11 |
| If you are still feeding grain, cut that back not the hay. Horses
who can live on hay alone do much better than horses on grain alone.
If you are not grain feeding, it sounds like your horse doesn't
get enough exercise. Be careful that you don't underfeed since
its lots easier to remove weight than it is to put it on especially
during winter months.
Regards,
Bob
|
| 484.5 | | MIST::BACKSTROM | | Wed Jan 27 1988 00:41 | 16 |
| re: .4
Depends on the type of grain. Oats will produce a lot of body heat.
Corn or barley on the other hand will put on weight. Of course,
grain should only supplement the hay, since hay provides the 20 - 25
pounds of bulk the horse is designed to consume daily.
re: .0
Could be that your horse has a mineral deficiency or lacking a vitamin.
Make sure you have free choice salt and supplement vitamin A. Check
for joints swelling, deficiencies seem to manifest themselfs there.
If the place where your boarding is large, then the hay they ordered
should have an analysis with the shippment, check it.
Larry.
|