Horse of the Quarter - Lily
This quarter we meet Lily the winner of the 2009 Blue Cross Fat Horse Slimmer of the Year competition who lost almost 130kg or 19 stone in weight thanks to her owner Kathryn’s determined efforts. Kathryn won a year’s supply of Dengie horse feed and had the opportunity to star with Lily in Horse & Rider Magazine.
In December 2008 Lily suffered a severe attack of laminitis. Kathryn knew that Lilly had been overweight, but the thought that Lily’s size could have contributed to her laminitis shocked Kathryn into action. At this point Lily weighed 577kg and was condition score 5!
Whilst Lily was on box rest to aid her recovery from laminitis, Kathryn started a strict dieting regime which combined restricted quantities of soaked hay together with a low calorie, high fibre feed and vitamins and minerals. By March 2009 Lily was starting to look trimmer already and the outlook was much more positive. In time Lily was reintroduced to controlled grazing with the use of a grazing muzzle and Kathryn began ridden work to help build Lily’s fitness.
Ten months on and Lilly weighed 448kg and was now condition score 3. Lily had lost so much weight that Kathryn had to treat her to a new saddle as the old one no longer fitted! As an extra bonus Kathryn also noticed that Lily’s personality had improved greatly as she was much more relaxed and content as well as being better to ride.
For advice on dieting horses and ponies please click here. To purchase a Blue Cross Fat Horse Slim pack that contains everything you need to help get your horse started on their weight loss journey please click here
