Question

I own a 16-year-old pony gelding (14.2 hands, 985 lb or 450 kg) that needs to lose weight. I’d assign him a body condition score of 7. He has been diagnosed with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID or Cushing’s syndrome) but is otherwise sound and healthy. He spends most of his day outside munching on sparse pasture and round-baled fescue. He gets 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) of ration balancer daily as well as some soaked alfalfa, electrolytes, bran, levothyroxine sodium, and pergolide. When the grass gets greener, I put him in the paddock until the other horses eat it down. What can I do to reduce his weight?

Answer

When horses or ponies have free-choice access to forage, even low-quality hay, it can sometimes be difficult to manage weight. Is it possible to restrict the gelding’s access to hay and feed him on a weight basis to help facilitate weight loss?

You mentioned that when the grass starts growing you move him to a different location. Is it possible to move him now, and provide him with about 1.5-2% of his ideal body weight in hay? This would equate to approximately 15-20 lb (7-9 kg) of hay per day when no grazing is available.

Until he is at his ideal weight, I would be cautious about letting him graze pasture, even if the pasture has been eaten down, and recommend using a grazing muzzle to help slow consumption and reduce intake.

Aside from his current nutrition management, you had noted he is sound. Is he exercised regularly? Regular work under saddle, in harness, or in a roundpen can help him burn excess calories and trim unwanted fat. Exercise of sufficient intensity to raise his heart rate for 20-30 minutes five or six days a week would likely speed weight loss. Of course, any exercise program should be started slowly and gradually increased in intensity over several weeks.