equine

[horseloverme]

i have a 4 yr horse.
i have put a guard on him when he goes to field to limit the grass hes eating, because his stomach seems to be
quite big.
but when he comes in hes eating a lot of his straw, could this be whats making his stomach so big or do you think
he may have worms although i have wormed him in sept
hes new ive had him 3 wks?

[Lily_b]

Have you had him vetted in order to confirm his general health etc?

Could you change his bedding to shavings seeing as he's eating a lot of the straw?

[ewaef]

you should get him vetted to make sure hes healthy. At the age of 4 til about 6 and a half they get bored very easily, hav u given him any toys. I find they enjoy the balls that you put treats in, (you can get them for dogs too) and they have to roll them around to get the treats out. i used to have to put a muzzel on mine for a few hours evryday. Altho at this time of year the grass doesnt have much nutrients in it, if you are worried about it you need to make sure you have sorted it out before sping when he / she will realy get fat iff they eat too much.
sorry this reply is so long!
i hope its a help.
good luck

[ewaef]

o and i forgot to say, if he had worms he probably wouldnt have such a fat belly. do you give him feed?

[wildwood]

You should really join a local horseclub. An experienced horse person can probably tell by the shape of the stomach what's ailing. It could be as simple as a certain weed in the paddock that is giving him wind. You need to get it sorted pronto though. With all due respect, nobody can diagnose your horse's possible ailment/discomfort on this forum.

[Clanad]

Living here in the ranching country of western U.S. provides a lot of opportunities to understand our working horses and their oddities. You say you've placed a guard on the horse for pasturing... I'm assuming you're taking it off once he/she is returned to the stabling area, which is where the horse is eating the straw, no?
You've probably caused the problem without realizing it. You've noticed, I'm sure, the horse, sometime in the past, occasionally knawing wooden structures in the barn or fencing. If so, you've discovered that horses like to chew. Since you've prohibited him from satisfying that urge by use of the guard while in the pasture, he's most likely simply chewing the straw to, well.... chew the straw.
Like the others have suggested, it's not a bad idea to have a Vet look at your horse, but absent any sickness symptoms, the Vet is probably going to come up empty handed. We see a lot of chewing by our horses, but that's just what horses do. Are you exercising the horse adequately? If not, he could just be bored which results in additional chewing.... Best of luck!

[janbreed]

Hi, I strongly advise you seek expert opinion, messing with a horses gut can be dangerous. My horse is on a strick diet because of laminitis, we have got over this, but he will always be prone to it. I limit his grazing ie only allowed on a small part of pasture with limited or hardly no grass. He only wears the shield during the spring, and when there is any growth spert . His weight is managed by only letting him out 12 hours of the day and he never goes out hungry, he has a feed before he goes out, if he does get hungry there is a hay net in the field. I feed him Dodson & Horrel 'Safe & Sound' or spillers 'HappyHoof' which he can have good quantities of without effecting his weight or laminitis. IT IS IMPERITIVE YOU DO NOT STARVE THIS HIND GUT - THIS NEEDS TO BE KEPT ACTIVE, OR THE HORSE WILL GET COLIC PROBLEMS, HENCE A SWOLLEN BELLY. My lad is a happy chappy, he is not hungry, the circulation is kept happy, we have loads of fun, hope this helps, but do take care. Jan

[lankeela]

As there is no goodness in the grass this time of year I would let him graze to his hearts content, but try to stop him eating the straw, either by changing to shavings or peat, or spray disinfectant lightly over the straw. Hopefully letting him eat the grass will mean he is not hungry when he comes in.

You can have a test done on his poo to see if he has a worm burden.

[horsestache1]

I agree with Lankeela, there is not nutrition in the grass at this time of year, so just let him graze. Were you told to put a grazing mask on him? if so why?

When you wormed him did you worm him for tape worm as well as round worm?

He's probably just got a "grass belly" after eating all the lush grass over summer, and not getting enough excersize, a bit like a "beer belly"

Just go and talk to someone who has had horses for a number of years, they will give you advice.

[cheries]

Hi, further to Lankeela and Horsestache's advice, I would be rather wary about leaving your horse without food via the use of a guard. Horses are trickle feeders and are better off when they have a constant supply of forage such as grass or hay. If you don't give them access to this then they can develop colic, as I think someone has already mentioned.
You maybe could consider double worming this horse to kick start the stomach's chances of improving. By double worming I mean worming for two types of worm; tape and round. Most good saddleries will sell these.
I have two horses; a 17.2 hh thoroughbred eventer who NEVER puts weight on and a 16.3hh Clydesdale mare who has a belly like she is about to give birth! My point is that there is a strong chance that this horse is naturally quite rotund, do you know anything about it's history or it's parents? Can you make the judgement that it is "quite big"? Could he naturally be this shape?
I'd definitely have him vetted before you start putting the poor thing on a starvation diet.