# Workout Program for the Overweight Horse



## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I would put him on turnout, if possible, but only for 8 or 10 hours a day. With the rest of the time on a dry lot.

If you really only rode him lightly for 10 minutes and he was puffing, I would start to check heart rate and base the length of time on that. Resting, once he starts to act tired, and time recovery to resting. There are good guidelines available online. I would say ask your vet, but many are better at treating symptoms than conditioning. Or they are more familiar with already somewhat fit horses.

I like getting obese horses into shape. Some can only take walking for increasing amounts of time. I may vary the rate of the walk. When I do add trotting, it may only be for two minutes, followed by walking for 5 to 10. It is hard to gauge without being with the horse. Two minutes of solid trotting, even slowly, may be too much for yours. Or you may be uncomfortable with the way it tires him.

One thing I like to do for the very out of shape horse is to run cold water on their legs after a workout. Those poor soft tissues are likely in sad shape. And a good rub down. I don't want them to get a build up of lactic acid from exerting themselves with an inefficient metabolism. Aerobic vs anaerobic energy, and all that. If they get a build up of lactic acid, they are sore and won't like me.  Sometimes the aftercare takes longer than the ride! 

Good luck. I'd love to hear of his progress.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

What is he eating? Morgan's tend towards IR, I hope that you have a current hoof X-ray to make such there are no laminitic changes. 

I would try to have his outside as much as possible. Pull a T4 from the vet. Put him on a ration balancer like Triple Crown 30% for grain. Quality Hay as required. No grass. 

Start light walking work. Trot 10 mins. 2 mins canter. 1-2 weeks. If he is tolerating add 5 mins trot and 3-5 canter. And then go from there. Evaluate his weight once a month.


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Thank you for the suggestions - I totally understand the aftercare comment. After our 15 minute ride, his legs were showing signs of wind puffs. Completely normal for the circumstance, but made me quickly realize how much work it will be to get this gelding back into good working condition (he was surprisingly perfectly sound, it didn't look at all like his weight actually bothered him in that regard).

This is what he USED to look like:









I don't have an update to date picture of him, but now looks something akin to this:









If anything, riding him is going to get ME into shape! :lol:


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Dehda01 said:


> What is he eating? Morgan's tend towards IR, I hope that you have a current hoof X-ray to make such there are no laminitic changes.


Luckily, the owner's sister is a vet whom we know and we have all of the horse's records. His only current issue is that his teeth need to be done, badly (very badly...).


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

That picture (even with him fit) makes it look like he may have difficulty bridling where he would need to as a Morgan saddle seat horse. His neck comes out like a lovely hunter. At least with the kid riding him. What level are you talking? Local or class A shows?


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

His food intake must be monitored carefully. I certainly would *not *give him 8-10 hours grazing. Horses will eat for 45 minutes and then start to browse so he would get a maximum of 1 hour twice a day grazing and then be on a dry lot or in a stable with a nibble net. 

If I could I would work him two or three times a day, 45-60 minutes a time, mostly at a walk for the first couple of weeks, then trotting slowly and steadily.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Foxhunter said:


> His food intake must be monitored carefully. I certainly would *not *give him 8-10 hours grazing. Horses will eat for 45 minutes and then start to browse so he would get a maximum of 1 hour twice a day grazing and then be on a dry lot or in a stable with a nibble net.
> 
> If I could I would work him two or three times a day, 45-60 minutes a time, mostly at a walk for the first couple of weeks, then trotting slowly and steadily.


I do suppose _where_ and on _what_ the horse would be grazing on has to influence the amount of time to let him out.

In my region, 8 hours would not harm him. Limiting one to that number of hours would tend to make a horse lose weight.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

A lot depends on the weather and the types of grasses as that can alter the fruton sugars in the grass. 
The fact that a vet was/is involved with this horse says diddly squat about their prowess of equine veterinary knowledge. To allow a horse to get obese is as bad as allowing it to be underweight.

I am, with the grazing, going by my experience, here,me end on a bald paddock the grasses straining to grow contain more sugars that on a gree paddock thus leading to a more likelihood of laminitis.


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Foxhunter said:


> His food intake must be monitored carefully. I certainly would *not *give him 8-10 hours grazing. Horses will eat for 45 minutes and then start to browse so he would get a maximum of 1 hour twice a day grazing and then be on a dry lot or in a stable with a nibble net.
> 
> If I could I would work him two or three times a day, 45-60 minutes a time, mostly at a walk for the first couple of weeks, then trotting slowly and steadily.


This is a lot what I was thinking.



Foxhunter said:


> A lot depends on the weather and the types of grasses as that can alter the fruton sugars in the grass.
> The fact that a vet was/is involved with this horse says diddly squat about their prowess of equine veterinary knowledge. To allow a horse to get obese is as bad as allowing it to be underweight.
> 
> I am, with the grazing, going by my experience, here,me end on a bald paddock the grasses straining to grow contain more sugars that on a gree paddock thus leading to a more likelihood of laminitis.


He would certainly not be going out in the field at all, because the grass is long and fresh right now and we have been getting A LOT of rain; the grass is very rich this year. He'll be on a dry lot/diet field, being worked in 4-5 days a week with two of those days beings worked once in the morning and once in the evening.

About his health: it's really not the vet's fault. You can ask a vet for a novel's worth of advice, but that doesn't mean the owner will follow it. A grown man in his fifties owns this horse (it's his daughter's ex show horse) - it's not like his sister lives at his house and watches to make sure the doctor's orders are being followed. I personally know the vet so I guess the situation is different.
@Dehda01: I have to respectfully disagree - I do not see any sort of Morgan Hunter frame in the way the horse is being ridden in this image. Maybe it's not perfect, but we have to really take into account that there is a 12 year old riding him. I'm not sure how involved you are with the discipline on a regular basis, but I ride with a trainer who shows at the National Level at a barn that specializes in the Morgan breed. She has personally chosen this horse as a prospect for me based off of experience. Don't forget that as I mentioned, my trainer has personally seen this gelding in action in the show ring. I think I'm going to have to trust her opinion over yours, sorry! I appreciate the feedback but that's really know what this thread was about.... More about what sort of exercises I can do to get him back into shape safely so that we can condition him to be the show horse he once was!


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

I rode Arabians and Morgans regionally for over a decade. He looks to bridle low compared to what wins in region 1. But we have a lot of very modern horses, and he looks to be thick in his throat latch compared to our horses. IMO. I loved my thicker horses, but they just couldn't bridle the same way. 

But having a kid ride can certainly set them low, and having a mature, taller and stronger rider can certainly set them up bigger. I hope I am wrong.


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## Idrivetrotters (Jan 5, 2013)

I love getting pasture puffs into shape, conditioning is one of my favorite things to do (I conditioned Standardbreds for racing for almost 20 years now I condition mostly OTSTBs and TWHs for LDs/Endurance) and I'll give my outline and with you having several months to get him in show shape.

First 30 Days is mostly filled with walking and light trotting. First week or two (depending upon prior levels of fitness) is just spend walking. This is not a plug along walk, I'm looking for a 4 beat forward walk with breaks of "snail walking" to let them have a break. I let them have longer rein so they can drop their backs and stretch between the Forward Walk and the Dog Walk. I start out 30 mins working my way up to 60 mins of a solid walk. I love taking them out on trails to keep them from being bored and encourage forwardness. I introduce light trotting/intermediate gait (I ride a lot of gaited horses) last couple of weeks, nothing serious, looking for a good transition with the horse's power coming from behind.

Next 30 days is introducing quality trotting and light cantering, again, emphasis on quality with power from behind.

After 90 days of mileage the horse should be in shape enough to start working with more collection so I can focus on refinement. I want the horse in shape so that physically and mentally the horse is engaged, forward, and having the fitness to do the job.

He looks like a nice Morgan, I love the "old style" that are just tanks with no quit to them. Have fun and also, take photos about once a week or so to see progress, and again, have fun.


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Well, we ended up passing up on this guy because we just didn't think his price was reasonable for the condition he was in and they didn't want to budge. I want to reiterate that along side his being very out of shape, his teeth were TERRIBLE.

The latest news: my trainer offered me her seven year old 2014 High Point Champion (Country Pleasure) Saddlebred mare to try out for the summer. I had my first lesson on her yesterday and she is a lovely ride (the training is all there and she's got the natural talent required to be a Saddle Seat horse), but she too has her issues. My trainer bought her off of a client in 2015 who wanted to get out of show horses and go back to her western riding roots. This lady loves to start horses but never quite finishes them with finesse. She basically taught this horse how to hold the classic Saddle Seat frame, but never how to use her body. It's sad, but many SS horses are trained this way, and it's *not* correct. But that's not how my trainer runs her program (she's one of the good ones out there), and the first thing she said when I got on is we've gotta do what we taught my previous mare: how to use her back and hind end.

She's a tall, lanky thing with literally no muscle except in her neck (because it's the only body part she was trained how to use). My trainer is in charge of her feeding program right now since it is her horse, but I'll be doing almost all of the riding. We're going to put some weight on her, then start going lots of bending exercises to get her to give to the rib cage and start using those hocks to track up. Hopefully throughout the winter, we'll start to see some topline develop.

...Does anyone have any additional suggestions for this? I'm pretty experienced with these lack-of-topline horses but this is a pretty severe case. I'm definitely open to further input.


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