The British Horse Society (BHS) will be tracking the weight loss journey of an obese pony to help educate owners on how best to manage their horses’ weight. Dancer is a 12-year-old, 14.2hh mare, who weighs 560kgs and has a fat score of five out of five, which means she is obese.
Nina and her mother recently purchased Dancer and together they are determined to get the coloured cob back to a healthy weight. The BHS has teamed up with Nina to help her achieve this goal.
“We knew she was going to be a project and we had to get the weight off her for her long term health,” Nina said. “There has been a history of a bit of laminitis so we really have to use this winter to crack down on that weight issue, and it’s really imperative that we do, because otherwise we’ll going to go into the spring and she’d going to get the spring grass and load on the calories, and of course we’re more at risk of her getting laminitis again which we really don’t want to happen.”
Since having Dancer, Nina noticed that Dancer was incredibly keen to eat, which seemed like a behavioural issue. She has been using pheromone sprays to try and keep her calm. She is also being strategic with feeding, turning her out in a smaller paddock and using double haynets, increasing visits to the yard and only one haynet at a time.
She also eats low calorie chaff and low calorie balancer and has no treats.
“We are making sure she is never without and she has a constant steady trickle,” added Nina.
The BHS Horse Care team will share regular updates on Dancer and Nina’s progress and the highs and lows that come with giving your horse’s lifestyle a “healthy overhaul”.
Have you heard about Your Horse’s #FitNotFat campaign, which is supported by Dodson & Horrell? 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
