Question
I own a 14-year-old Arabian mare that is obese (a body condition score of 8). She’s turned out all the time but the pasture is poor quality with very little grass. In addition to the pasture, she gets 1-2 flakes of grass hay, 10 lb (4.5 kg) of a fiber-based “lite feed,” 1.5 lb (0.7 kg) of a low-starch feed, 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) of chaff, and 1.5 lb (0.7 kg) of beet pulp. I ride her once a week for an hour or so. She needs to lose weight. In addition to that, she has some foot soreness and has become especially jumpy lately. Can you help?
Answer
I have some recommendations for weight loss and simplification of the ration. Her obesity may be partially culpable for her foot soreness and, if this is the case, weight loss strategies should be implemented immediately to prevent laminitic changes. If her foot soreness is related to another problem, weight loss is still recommended but perhaps is not as urgent. Working with a veterinarian to evaluate lameness is an important part of managing this mare.
Two important aspects of weight loss are reducing caloric intake and increasing exercise, when possible. It is great that you are able to work her weekly.
Arabians are notorious for their efficient metabolism, so it is not unusual for them to become overweight when forage and feed are plentiful. It seems your mare follows this pattern. The current ration provides excessive dietary energy; she’s simply eating too many calories.
Forage should be the basis for all horse diets. You’re providing several forage sources, but I don’t think she requires all of them. The fiber-based pelleted concentrate you’re feeding (10 lb; 4.5 kg) provides most of the vitamins and minerals your mare needs as well as much of the forage she requires, as high-quality Bermudagrass hay serves as the base of these pellets. The manufacturer suggests feeding some long-stem forage with the concentrate, and you’re doing that by giving her a flake or two of the grass hay. You may have to offer the hay in a slow-feed haynet so that she can spend more time picking at forage. The longer you can stretch out hay consumption, the better it is for her gastrointestinal motility and health.
You can stop feeding the low-starch feed, the chaff, and the beet pulp. If you were feeding one of these as a carrier for supplements, you can continue, but use only as much as necessary to mask the supplement.
Supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, stimulate gene expression, and reduce inflammation, thereby helping any metabolic problems that might be brewing. Fish oils are direct sources of DHA and EPA, which are the most useful omega-3 fatty acids in terms of conferring health benefits. For optimal omega-3 supplementation, we recommend the use of marine-derived source, such as EO•3.
As mentioned previously, weight loss works best if a two-prong approach is applied, using both diet and exercise. Depending on the mare’s soundness, increasing the exercise component will help her reach a reasonable weight more quickly. Consider riding her four of five days a week, gradually building on her condition. Not only is exercise beneficial for weight loss, but it helps prevent metabolic diseases later in life.
Weight loss will not happen overnight, of course, but changes in diet and physical activity will have long-lasting advantages.
