A horse owner near Manchester is warning others not to buy into social media pressure after she provided her two Welsh ponies “with a constant running buffet” which led to them becoming obese.
Sheryl has vowed she will “never let my guard down again” after innocent mistakes contributed to one horse needing to lose almost 200kg in weight, while the other has since lost 140kg.
She confesses that she “paid too much attention to unqualified experts” and encourages other horse owners to be vigilant, aware of what they are feeding and fully understand the diet they are providing.
“I have really had to reshift my thinking around feeding my horses,” says Sheryl.
“I knew horses shouldn’t be without forage and I’d see all these comments on social media about ensuring your horse has enough food. I was constantly thinking ‘will that food last the night? Is that enough?’ and I would give more. I fed to demand, which was insatiable.”
Huge weight gain
In August 2021, Floyd, a 15-year-old Welsh section D gelding, weighed 525kg, but by February 2023 that had increased to 720kg. Meanwhile Vincent, a four-year-old Welsh section D, was 620kg at his heaviest.
“I’ve had Floyd since he was 21 months old and we used to do everything together. He was out in the trailer three times a week and was so active that I didn’t really need to worry about his weight,” explains Sheryl.
“He became less active while I was pregnant and I was feeding good quality, rich hay. I hadn’t really thought about the quality of the hay affecting their weight, I was more concerned that they had enough forage and would often chuck extra handfuls of hay into their stable.
“I applied the same rules to Vincent, who was only four and not doing any work,” continues Sheryl. “I thought it was OK to give him ad lib forage as he was growing.”
Unqualified experts on social media
Floyd had a history of gastric ulcers and Sheryl was paranoid about them reoccurring, which contributed to her “throwing food at him”.
Despite several people telling Sheryl that her horses were overweight she confesses that she couldn’t see it.
“The trigger was when I changed Floyd’s hay. I saw the weight starting to come off and how much better he was moving and realised how bad it was that he was carrying that extra weight.
“I think the weight also contributed to a ligament injury that he had,” admits Sheryl.
Sheryl began feeding Floyd and Vincent poorer quality hay which she soaked, used trickle nets and hay balls and moved them to sparser grazing. They were fed 1.5% of their body weight and their weight loss has been a gradual process over more than a year.
Both horses also went to stay with her vets, Pocket Nook Equine, for six weeks to help to reduce their weight.
Regimented diet paying off
“I’m really strict with their diet now and weigh them every week. I’d love to let them eat unlimited food, but they can’t, you’ve got to find the right balance,” says Sheryl.
“Social media is saturated with the views of unqualified experts which is really dangerous and I paid too much attention to what they were saying.
Thanks to Sheryl’s controlled regime, Floyds now weighs 530kg and Vincent is 480kg.
“Floyd could still lose another 25kg but I’m hoping that will come off during the winter. The pictures of the horses when they were overweight mortify me and I will never let my guard down again with regards to their food and weight,” concludes Sheryl.
All photos supplied by Sheryl
Have you heard about Your Horse’s #FitNotFat campaign? Equine obesity is an enormous welfare problem and we’re on a mission to provide owners and riders with the knowledge, skills and information you need to keep your horse in tip-top health. It could be life saving! Find out more
