# potbelly-how to get rid of????



## amyjoy85 (Sep 3, 2012)

I have been trying to get rid of the potbelly on my 2 year old filly and it won't go away. I got her at 6 months old as a rescue in really bad shape. Now she gets used as a therapy horse in nursing homes




I've struggled to keep her belly at the right spot and it seems like nothing I do works lately after we moved here (SC) from Oregon. She's 29-30 inches tall (growth was stunted due to malnourishment as a foal) and weighs roughly 150lbs. I feed her 1/4 lb triple crown lite with a little dab of tc senior and 1.3 lbs orchard/timothy hay 2 times per day. I rotate de-wormers and stay utd on shots and feet. Her hair has never really grown "normal" after the first time I clipped her. It has a funny feel to it in some spots. At first I was thinking protein, but now I'm not sure. I can feel her spine a little if I push my hand down a little from her withers to the front of her hip. Her hip is rather fleshy and I can't feel her spine at all. I can't feel ribs or see ribs. I've tried upping her grain and her hay (used to be on omolene 200, but just made her tummy get bigger) but didn't do much except add to the belly. Does anyone have any ideas? Sorry for the bad picture. Her neck looks horribly short for some reason. Her conformation is really pretty nice.


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## Ashley (Sep 3, 2012)

Is there a reason you are feeding her a "lite" and "senior" feed instead of a growth feed?

I would suggest deworming, more grain, less hay. If she is getting pasture she doesnt need any hay provided it has good grass. Part of it might just be her.


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## muffntuf (Sep 3, 2012)

What is the protein content of the feed you are feeding - that is generally the culprit.


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## jandjmc (Sep 4, 2012)

I'd also recommend looking at the protein content of your feeds. It probably isn't high enough. Horses need a higher protein level til at least 4 years old. Protein may also be the reason the coat has a funny feel. I have had great luck adding alfalfa to the diet which helps prevent ulcers and has a very mild laxative effect which keeps things moving along the digestive tract, plus has 18+%protein.

(I don't recommend feeding only alfalfa.)1/2 alfalfa and 1/2 grass plus a higher level protein concentrate might help.

She's a cutie-

Best of luck!


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## mel (Sep 4, 2012)

If she is bedded on shavings, could she be eating them? Had a small 28" ish gelding who looked great except the big gut, drove myself nuts trying to figure it out.. caught him munching shavings, reduced the shavings in his stall, belly went down.


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## kay56649 (Sep 4, 2012)

mel said:


> If she is bedded on shavings, could she be eating them? Had a small 28" ish gelding who looked great except the big gut, drove myself nuts trying to figure it out.. caught him munching shavings, reduced the shavings in his stall, belly went down.


Really??????? My mare always picks her grain she drops out of her shavings and I'm sure she eats some in the process. I just started leaving her outside for the night after she had her filly this spring! I wonder if it was from that because she has a huge belly!


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## Marty (Sep 5, 2012)

She looks pregnant to me. Congratulations!


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## tanya&tinka (Sep 5, 2012)

I have no advice but the little yearling filly I am getting has a HUGE belly too, its ridiculously big, I can't wait to get her home and start working with her



I know she has been wormed regularly so I'm thinking its a grass belly but it is really Big. All Sounds like good advice - I will need to be doing something similar with my little girl


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## Jill (Sep 5, 2012)

Trotting helps with a belly (round pen, over poles), HOWEVER, I think there is an issue with the feed program. A lite feed and a senior feed address two opposite situations...

If this were my horse, I would first:


Get her off the light feed and the senior feed, and put her on a general "adult" complete pellet. To me, she doesn't look either under or over weight, but the belly is an issue... look at the flesh over her neck and hip to see what I think I'm seeing

Just in case, a 3 day course of double deworming w/ Panacur / Safeguard

If possible (this could be THE issue), get her on only orchard grass, or strive to find the "softest" of mix hay. Timothy can be very coarse, and often times, a "big" belly is from feeding minis hay that is too coarse. I feel they are best kept on very leafy, soft hay. Hay that is "horse quality" isn't (for my money and herd) necessarily MINI quality


Good luck and a big high five for your work with her in nursing homes!!! You are doing good work!!!


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## Jetiki (Sep 5, 2012)

Being from upstate, SC I can tell you the grass here can be rich, I have seen the big bellies from the local hay aka fescue its just too coarse for these little guys. I have a few of mine that don't get grain at all with no problems. I do put a round bale or two out in the winter and I notice their bellies get bigger with the coarser hay. I feed an alfalfa mix, or straight alfalfa in the barn, if you can't do that then cubes and beet pulp help get that belly off. Its what I have found works for me.

Karen


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## Helicopter (Sep 6, 2012)

I sometimes have to wonder if these big bellies are just the way a particular horse is built. I have a couple with gigantic bellies, look like they should have foaled 6 months ago and one of them is a gelding. They are also half siblings. Identical in shape right down to the massive tum tums. You could hold a dinner party on their backs..... 4 settings, wine glasses the lot.

None of my other horses have this problem.

Just wondering.


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## amyjoy85 (Sep 6, 2012)

Thanks. The protein content of the grain she's on is 12%, 3% fat, and 20% fiber. The senior feed was because I was going to put her on that with our older mini for added protein and nutrients, but I called Triple Crown and they said she wouldn't be getting her nutritional needs met with it since we would have to feed such a small amount, so the TC lite was to make sure she got all her nutrients and then the senior was to give a little added stuff. We are getting to the end of the bags in the next couple weeks, so I'm on a hunt to figure out what I can do for my next bag. What do you guys feed your minis for grain?

I can't change the hay to straight Orchard. I wish I could! That's what they were all on before we moved here from Oregon. We got the closest thing we could find. I hate the coastal hay that is here, but that and fescue are pretty much the only things grown here besides alfafa which i won't feed straight to them. I found a supplier up in NC that has a good mix of orchard and timothy for a reasonable price, so we got our years supply there. I used to have her on the mini horse and pony feed that purina makes, and then later switched to Omolene 200. They were decent for her, but still had the belly with the O200. It has just been recently I tried the TC lite since it's targeted to minis and is easier to get, don't have to feed as much as purina, and costs much less.

Oh, there isn't really much grass in our pasture, and their stalls are 3 sided run in shelters with packed dirt floors. They are fed out of rubber bins (hay in one, grain in another) so they don't eat off the ground often...just if they flip it as they eat. We stay with them to prevent our piggish mare from eating others grain.

Here is a pic the day i got her before any grooming. She had never really been handled. They had to lasso her to catch her when I went to go see their herd. The rest looked good though! She was the only foal. Then 5 weeks later, 3 months later after clipping. She was 6 months old, now she's 26 months. She had never had her feet trimmed before I got her and it made her stand weird. The farrier came out for an emergency visit that night she came home and her legs have since corrected themselves



I don't want to know what she looked like under all that hair those first few weeks.


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## Ashley (Sep 6, 2012)

By the looks of it you were working with a malnurished horse from the get go. It can take a long time for a belly like that to go down! It wont be an overnight fix.


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## mel (Sep 6, 2012)

I agree with Ashley, you had a lot to work with from the start! Give her time, and a good feeding program, you will see results. There is a huge change from the first pic. to the last, it may be hard to see at first because you see her every day. I don't think you have a shavings eater from what you said in your post, my mini ate shavings like it was candy, even prefered them to hay and grain!!


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## amyjoy85 (Sep 7, 2012)

I called the Purina nutrition people and decided on Purina Senior Active Healthy Edge for a grain. It's 14% protein, 8% fat, and 18% fiber. I used to feed this to my 15 year old stallion and he did very well on it (was dumb to switch him--he did much better on this than Triple Crown). They said it is really a formula that is fine to have foals up through seniors on. I am going to try it on all 3 of the minis and see how they do. I am going to take pictures to have a visual of how they do over time. With the amounts they told me to feed to all three horses, one bag will last me 28 days


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## Hosscrazy (Sep 7, 2012)

One of my minis was developing a "hay" belly and I recently changed her feed from 100% timothy hay/pellets to 50% alfalfa hay/pellets and 50% timothy hay and I already see a difference.





Liz N.


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## Cupcake (Nov 21, 2012)

I have the EXACT same problem, got her at 10 months, 90 lbs looking like yours, lots of coat and very little horse underneath, ribs and spine clearly underweight but with a potbelly. I put her on total equine, 2 cups a day, grass and hay. Wormed her and she gained weight quickly, also gained inches, unfortunately also gained more belly! So much that she looked pregnant! So per advice of people on this board I put her on alfalfa only and muzzle her during turnout. She can nibble on grass but that's it. And all she seems to do is get fatter. So I reduced her feed to the point of now just giving her a couple of pieces to nibble on, I might as well reduce it to nothing. I give her lots of turnout, so she does get the exercise but the belly stays the same. I'm wondering if switching to another feed higher in protein is going to do anything for the belly or if it will just add unnecessary calories? Is grain really necessary? I know plenty of big horses that are on hay only and do fine. The alfalfa she gets has very coarse pieces in it, but she eats it fine, as far as the consistency I would imagine the coastal I feed my big gelding would be better but I'm afraid it will just add belly if I mix in grass hay. I feed her with a slow feeder net and she gets the same amount of alfalfa everyday. I'm just afraid she's not getting enough nutrition without grain but don't want her to get overweight by me feeding grain... Stuck between a rock and a hard place, either way would be unhealthy. Help?


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## chandab (Nov 21, 2012)

Cupcake said:


> I have the EXACT same problem, got her at 10 months, 90 lbs looking like yours, lots of coat and very little horse underneath, ribs and spine clearly underweight but with a potbelly. I put her on total equine, 2 cups a day, grass and hay. Wormed her and she gained weight quickly, also gained inches, unfortunately also gained more belly! So much that she looked pregnant! So per advice of people on this board I put her on alfalfa only and muzzle her during turnout. She can nibble on grass but that's it. And all she seems to do is get fatter. So I reduced her feed to the point of now just giving her a couple of pieces to nibble on, I might as well reduce it to nothing. I give her lots of turnout, so she does get the exercise but the belly stays the same. I'm wondering if switching to another feed higher in protein is going to do anything for the belly or if it will just add unnecessary calories? Is grain really necessary? I know plenty of big horses that are on hay only and do fine. The alfalfa she gets has very coarse pieces in it, but she eats it fine, as far as the consistency I would imagine the coastal I feed my big gelding would be better but I'm afraid it will just add belly if I mix in grass hay. I feed her with a slow feeder net and she gets the same amount of alfalfa everyday. I'm just afraid she's not getting enough nutrition without grain but don't want her to get overweight by me feeding grain... Stuck between a rock and a hard place, either way would be unhealthy. Help?


Is she up to date on deworming too?

What grain are you feeding (brand and type)? How big is your little girl?

Not always, but usually grain seems to be necessary for the babies to get all the nutrition they need. Might need to at least add a vit/min supplement that balances alfalfla to be sure she's getting balanced vit/min.


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## Leeana (Nov 21, 2012)

Daily wormer and good grain/hay and beet pulp. Daily wormer really helps.


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## Cupcake (Nov 21, 2012)

I Feed "total equine Feed" ! Heres whats in it http://www.totalequine.info/Total_Equine.html

I worm her on the same schedule as my big horse. I'm not a fan of daily wormer but I've been hearing about a "power pack"? What is it/how do you do it?

She grew from 27" to about 31" in the past 8 months. She's now 18, almost 19 months. She was only 90 pounds when I got her and I estimate her at at least 200 now.


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## chandab (Nov 21, 2012)

Cupcake said:


> I Feed "total equine Feed" ! Heres whats in it http://www.totalequi...tal_Equine.html
> 
> I worm her on the same schedule as my big horse. I'm not a fan of daily wormer but I've been hearing about a "power pack"? What is it/how do you do it?
> 
> She grew from 27" to about 31" in the past 8 months. She's now 18, almost 19 months. She was only 90 pounds when I got her and I estimate her at at least 200 now.


The "power pack" is a 5-day course of double dosing Panacur or Safe Guard (Fenbendazole); its to get rid of encysted strongyles.

Taking a quick look at the Total Equine, for a mini you'd only feed a pound or less. Perhaps its not quite the right feed for her, not all feeds work for everyone, maybe try a growth formula. Many like the Purina Junior or omolene 300, others have good luck with Nutrena Safe Choice (not a growth formula per se, but can be fed to all ages). for what I can get, my preference is Progressive Nutrition products or Triple Crown Growth (I'm using the TC on my weanlings).


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## Hosscrazy (Nov 21, 2012)

I've always had my minis on timothy hay and recently I noticed one of my minis had a pot belly... I started giving her a mix of timothy and alfalfa to increase the protein level and I definitely see the difference! I've never been a fan of alfalfa with minis, but it sure made a difference in her case!

Liz N.


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## HGFarm (Nov 21, 2012)

There are so many myths about feeding alfalfa. I, and most of the southwest U.S. have fed straight alfalfa for years (40 now for me) and have never had a problem, nor have I had a problem with pot bellies. The only ones that look like they have pot bellies are the pregnant ones, LOL Alfalfa is not something I would free feed though- you dont need to. My horses all carry good weight over their backs as well, without feeding a ton of other supplements.

Grass hay just doesnt cut it, especially with Minis, and even more especially with a growing one.

You are doing a great job but I would up the alfalfa.


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## momofmany (Nov 21, 2012)

This has been a really good thread for me to learn from, my new little rescue mare also has a pot belly and she is apparently not pregnant, just rollie pollie. She does not have a cresty neck or a squishy fatty rump and I can feel ribs under there so she was probably just fed a diet that wasn't given too much thought before she came to me. I had been giving her just hay for the first few weeks as another mini owner suggested but the vet had me cut down the hay to a pound and add in a half pound of grain (I bought the Purina mini/pony). I may add some alfalfa pellets too to increase the protein because the grass hay I have is good quality and my large horse does well with it but from this new info it sounds as if may not be the best for my little one.


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## mydaddysjag (Nov 21, 2012)

Are there falled leaves in her pasture that she might be eating? Even the "safe" ones can make give them a huge belly


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## Cupcake (Nov 21, 2012)

It's entirely confusing to me. From reading various threads some say feed alfalfa only, then half and half grass hay, feed or no feed... Sorry but as a newbie to minis I'm just confused. I did feed her enough total equine for her weight, allowed no grass since June (muzzle, so also no leafs) and alfalfa only, it's free feed as I fill the nibble net completely at night and it lasts her until the next night. She's also the type that will eat EVERYTHiNG she will get her mouth on, even agave (Texas). So the muzzle is also for safety because she would chop anything and everything otherwise. Now if I give her additional feed - changing to a mini feed from the total equine would I then not ADD to the weight she already has? I'm worried that I then would not only be dealing with a big belly but also with an obese horse. I don't intend to starve her and I'm sure she eats more alfalfa then her weight percentage already. I just don't know what to do, apparently the alfalfa only didn't reduce the belly much, it did put some "dents" in it, she doesn't look like a very pregnant mare ready to pop anymore but it's still way too big on her.


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## chandab (Nov 22, 2012)

Cupcake said:


> It's entirely confusing to me. From reading various threads some say feed alfalfa only, then half and half grass hay, feed or no feed... Sorry but as a newbie to minis I'm just confused.


It can be confusing to those who aren't newbies as well. Ask 100 horsemen, and you are likely to get 100 different answers as to what is the best feed program; everyone does what works for them. Heck in my own barn, I have 3 different feed programs, or maybe its 4; I have most of the mares on one feed program, most of the boys on another, the babies on another and two special needs horses on their own programs. One size does not fit all, despite what some feed companies may claim.

If you don't like how your horse is looking on your current feed program, all parts may have to be changed (or just one), but make one change at a time and give it at least a couple weeks to see changes before deeming it not working (unless you see negative changes, then you'll want to stop what ever change you made as it obviously wasn't a good choice).


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## Cupcake (Nov 23, 2012)

Thank you and i know about the various opinions on feeding, dog owners and parents are the same 

As I said I have been able to put "dents" I'm her belly. Of course it's now harder to tell with the fuzziness of the wintercoat. Is it "bad" if I take her completely off feed and just feed alfalfa? Would she additionally need supplements and if so what is recommended for a 19 months old? How much exercise is ok for this age? I think that would also help.


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## chandab (Nov 23, 2012)

Cupcake said:


> Thank you and i know about the various opinions on feeding, dog owners and parents are the same
> 
> As I said I have been able to put "dents" I'm her belly. Of course it's now harder to tell with the fuzziness of the wintercoat. Is it "bad" if I take her completely off feed and just feed alfalfa? Would she additionally need supplements and if so what is recommended for a 19 months old? How much exercise is ok for this age? I think that would also help.


You would probably be fine taking her off all grain and just feeding hay, but I would find an appropriate suppement to balance the hay to be sure she is getting balanced vit/min. If you go with alfalfa hay, then here are a few suggestions for vit/min supplements to balance the hay (all links will be to products on SmartPak's website, just cause they are easy to look-up for me, most supplements will be available elsewhere):

Select 1 - http://www.smartpakequine.com/select-i-76p.aspx?cm_vc=Search

SmartVite Maintenance Alfalfa: http://www.smartpakequine.com/smartvite-maintenance-alfalfa-pellets-7889p.aspx?cm_vc=Search

Mega-Mag: http://www.smartpakequine.com/megamag-1815p.aspx?cm_vc=Search

I haven't used them, so you'd need to do your own research into what is best for you.


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## HGFarm (Nov 24, 2012)

Cupcake, I would never free feed that much alfalfa. They could become obese and nutritionally there is no need to feed that much.


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## Cupcake (Nov 25, 2012)

so do i Mix the alfalfa 50/50 with coastal or would that then cause a grass-hay belly? What supplements are recommended for a 1.5 year old filly? Does she really need them or would she be ok on just hay?


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## disneyhorse (Nov 25, 2012)

Cupcake... I would talk to your vet.

Hay varies nutritionally in every area... Here in so california our grass hay tests fairly high in nutrition. In that case, we can feed less than 50% alfalfa to meet protein goals.

We can't properly suggest without knowing the quality of hay... Even alfalfa can vary wildly in protein depending on quality...

Supplementation would then happen if your hays don't test adequately for something.


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## Cupcake (Nov 25, 2012)

I get both coastal and alfalfa from California. Both high quality 3 strung bales for $23 each

*string

I will ask my hay supplier for the numbers tomorrow


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## Cupcake (Nov 25, 2012)

Oh and the vets here are not familiar with minis, neither are the farriers. Seems like everyone that has minis here does their feet themselves. Which brings up another question for me bit I will post that in a separate thread, have to take pictures first.


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## chandab (Nov 25, 2012)

Minis are still horses, and for the most part a good farrier and a good vet should be able and willing to work on minis. Just a few cautions with minis, don't use Quest (moxidectin) dewormer and be very careful using bute (dosage is very important).


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## Cupcake (Nov 25, 2012)

I know, that was one of the first things instilled in me as a new mini owner, had to educate my vet though as he would have given bute after her accident if I hadnt stopped him. IMO my farrier is not taking enough heel off which doesn't make her hoof like like a hoof should. But he's worried he's taking too much off.


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