My 'fluffy' mare & her diet

[Royal Crescent]

Anyone else working on their problem horses weight or have some before and after pics to show?

Looking good. Wishing you continued success!

This is what our stallion Saber looked like when we added him to our family in Aug 2007

(in the halter he came with)

and this is him as of spring of this year

Did you use the cinnamon as part of his diet? If so, how much?

That is really an impressive change in his look!

Barb

 

[Candice]

Laurie, I can see the difference. My question is, have you made any other changes to her diet other than the addition of the meds and the cinnamon? I have a mare here that gets fatter from just looking at food. She has rolls on her rolls. She's not lethargic though. She's very spry and playful, just very round. I think I may try the cinnamon with her.

And Rachel, that is an awesome transformation on Saber. WOW!! is all I can say.

 

[Sixstardanes]

No cinnamon used here.

But then again we feel his weight was due only to over indulgant previous owners....

especially because this boy knows how to beg.

He can out beg a dog

However, looking around I did locate this page on the use of cinammon

http://www.wholehorse.com/articles/cinnamon_article.htm

 

[HGFarm]

What a great article, thanks!

I have not changed anything with her diet except to minus a couple of handfuls of hay because I added some beet pulp, so the cinnamon, etc.. will 'stick' to something. Because she is so obese, I have not even started an excercise program with her, due to that and the heat here and wanting to try to get a few pounds off of her first.

We will probably start our walks this coming weekend, and just start out short and simple and slowly work from there.

Just edited to note: I think ALL Minis are BORN knowing the fine arts of begging!! And yes, they can be pathetic! hahahaha

 

[Shortpig]

After starting the thread on cinnamon I continued with their same diet and added the boys to the program. I don't have pics but everyone is losing the fat and looking much better. It is actually weird to see the fat on the bellies moving back. The definition of where it has moved from is just amazing. No more fatty shoulders and more defined hips. I didn't remove anything from their diets just added a tsp of cinnamon morning and night. I can't wait to see them in the summer after they have shed out for the season. I'm sure it will truly be amazing. Especially for Jasmine and Ariel who both suffered from the fat issue.

The most amazing part is that I now know for sure they are not jelly fish. They have ribs and backbones like all other horses. That alone is very exciting. Of course Jellyfish would fit in better this time of year in Oregon with all the rain we will be seeing in the next 6mos or so.

I'm glad to see that those who have tried it are seeing similar results to what I am seeing in my herd.

Good luck everyone with your weight loss programs.

Marie in rainy, rainy, rainy, Oregon

 

[HGFarm]

Jellyfish, LOL... Check for fins with all your water, and then send a bunch of rain this way!!

Mine is doing great and we will be starting an excercise program this weekend too..... Dont know how thrilled about that she will be, but I guess we will find out. She is showing more energy and it has really cooled off now, so maybe she will be more enthusiastic.

 

[Shortpig]

It is far too wet and sloshy here and I don't have an arena to use to exercise them. So we will have to work hard after the rain stops next year. They promise it will stop next year usually by July 5th. By then I hope to have beautiful sleek King salmon not jelly fish. My favorite thing is that they can stay on their diet and still lose the fat.

If we get a dry week I will try to clean them up and get some pics of them but they will be ultra furry.

 

[suz]

Any new results/pictures with using the cinnamon?

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

Thanks for the info and before and after pics!

My daughter bought a beautiful black pinto filly. And when we got her home at a year, she has a thick water balloon neck. Not hard, but big and would be prone to get hard. She is almost to the point that it wants to fall over. She is three now and the same. I have started her on the cinnamon about a week ago. I hope it helps with that problem area, so that she can show her next year!

 

[albahurst]

This is really something! I have a fluffy gelding I think I will try it on! Thanks!!!

Peggy

 

[HGFarm]

Thanks for the reminder... I guess it is time for another update... if I can get home from work before dark to get some pics....

She really gets excited about her dinner now- even with the cinnamon and scarfs it down. And she loves the BP now too.

 

[AppyLover2]

Resurrecting this thread because I started my chubby little mare on cinnamon yesterday. She's also on Thyro L and has improved tremendously since she was started on it. I had her on a diet for about 6 months before we started it so she has lost quite a bit of weight but I'd like to see a bit more off of her.

My question for those of you who have used it is.....are you doing anything special I should know about? How much are you giving them? Did you take "before" measurements? Is there something that, in hind-sight, you wish you had done but just didn't think of it at the time? I sure would appreciate information that you think I might find useful.

Another issue too that I'm quite pleased about. Last spring when the vet diagnosed her IR he said she had mild laminitis. I kept them in a dry lot (some of you may remember how guilty I felt about it at the time) all summer. Was having her feet trimmed evey 4 weeks until this last trim and she went 8 weeks this time with NO excessive growth. She's much, much more active (still not as much as the geldings, but about a 99% improvement for her).

Oh BTW - she licked her feed bucket clean even at the first cinnamon feeding. That little girl doesn't care what it is....as long as it's food.

 

[Hosscrazy]

My question for those of you who have used it is.....are you doing anything special I should know about? How much are you giving them? Did you take "before" measurements? Is there something that, in hind-sight, you wish you had done but just didn't think of it at the time? I sure would appreciate information that you think I might find useful.

I give my horses 1 teaspoon per day sprinkled in with their soaked timothy cubes. They have no problems gobbling it up!

In terms of IR, I wish I had known sooner what the warning signs were and the importance of diet and IR. That's why I think it's so important that we have public discussions like this, so that others can learn and perhaps identify the IR warning signs early on.

I had my mare on Purina Equine Sr. and barley oat hay --- basically pure carbs/sugar. I noticed she was "sweating inappropriately" - she was sweating on her flanks early in the morning when it was cold outside. Aside from that, there were no other warning signs. I started asking around (including on this forum) and within 48 hours she was in full-blown laminitis, resulting in founder.

I later learned that inappropriate sweating is one of the early warning signs of IR, and the horses' diet should be immediately changed (along of course with blood tests, etc). So I wish I had known that part sooner.

Liz R.

 

[AppyLover2]

Thanks Liz. Not only for the "one teaspoon per day" answer but for all the other help you gave me when I discovered Kitty's problem. I wouldn't have known what to do without you.

 

[HGFarm]

Liz has been an awesome help to me too!!!

I did not have my mare IR tested, but I tell you, she was so fat, I am surprized, IR or not, that she did not founder, but is quite healthy.

By the way, I just had her blood work done on Monday again, now that she has been on the Thyroid L and cinnamon for a couple of months. My vet noticed that not only has she lost some weight, but the mare did NOT try to kill her this time while trying to pull blood (and no I am not kidding). She was a good girl and did fine. Much better attitude!

I wish I HAD taken measurements when I started. My vet did tell me that it takes sometimes well over a YEAR to get the weight to a normal point. It is a slow process, so dont give up! I did not really change the amounts of feed or anything.... I just feed normally for what she should have at what would be a normal weight. So if, for example her normal weight would be 200, I feed for that, even though she might weigh 250. The only thing I have changed is to add a bit of beet pulp, so the cinnamon (and I also feed a teaspoon full) and meds stick to it. It's not much, but enough- and other than that she still just gets regular feed.

I am though, going to continue to keep photos as I go along. Will have to look at the calendar.... wanted to get pics this last weekend but was not able, so will this weekend.

And mine now can't WAIT to get her bucket of goodies with the cinnamon in it! She loves it now and eats it all and licks the bucket clean!

Maybe you can post before and after pics too, and keep record that way- it is educational for everyone- and has certainly been so far for myself, but I was thrilled that the vet noticed the differences in her!!

Oh and got the results of the blood test back already, and it was great!!! I was told keep up what I was doing, it is all working fine!!

 

[Hosscrazy]

You are very, very welcome ... there were some amazing people on the Yahoo Cushings/IR forum who helped me, and it's my pleasure to help others

I'm just glad that both of your horses are doing so well!!! Would LOVE to see before and after pictures, along with notes of dietary changes, meds, etc. It could help other IR horses, and that's what we're hoping for!

Just as a side note, I now keep all of my horses on an IR diet - I have the daughter of my Cushings mare and thankfully she is not IR to date. But I keep them on timothy hay and pellets. No sugar, no treats. Actually, for treats I give them celery sticks which they love!

Keep up the good work!

Liz R.

 

[HGFarm]

Yikes, I would love to, but last time I looked a few months ago, timothy hay here was $19.90 a bale!!! So no timothy for them unless I win the lottery or something....

We appreciate the help and the chance to help others too!

 

[AppyLover2]

I found some summer pictures that show the improvement we got from Thyro L and Kitty's "diet". The first one is from 07 and the second is 08 - after she'd been on both the diet and the meds for 6 or 7 months.

Holy Moley...what a difference when looking at these pictures side by side. In 07 she had no chest at all and her neck was SO thick....not to mention the size of that belly and butt. Gotta say it makes me feel good to see the difference in her body but the biggest satisfaction comes from seeing the change in her activity level. Before she would/could hardly even trot, and absolutely never played. Now she kicks up her heels and is enjoying life soooo much more. I'm really anxious to see what changes a winter of cinnamon will make.

I've got winter pictures on here somewhere to post too....when I find them.

 

[tinypony]

Just a note on the celery sticks: Not too big a deal, but celery has been known to cause health issues in many different animals due to the "strings" in the stalks. One giraffe at a local petting zoo choked and died on it. My vet says no for my horses but I am not aware of any specific horse related problems. I doubt it is harmful, but I may be considered over-cautious.

As for the Cinnamon, I can't seem to get my stallion to try it even in small doses. How else can I cover up the smell? Do you think it would work in his water?

 

[AppyLover2]

Cinnamon would float on the water. I'd think he would wear it rather than ingesting it.