Horse of the Quarter - Major
Major before
Major after
To tie in with our Q&A with Lisa Miller Yard Manager for Essex Mounted Police we meet Major, one of the newer recruits who is fed a Dengie diet.
Purchased in November 2009, Major is a 17.1hh Grey Percheron x Irish Gelding and is 10 years-old. Major is currently in training with Intermediate riders and has started normal patrol work. Major is working towards attending football matches, V-festival and working in the dark. The aim is to allocate Major to a Police officer when he is fully trained in October 2010. He is progressing well and enjoys going out on the lorry and working.
When Major arrived at the Mounted Police Yard he was extremely overweight and unfit. Initially Lisa put Major on to a diet of ad-lib hay with restricted grazing whilst a gradual fittening programme was planned. Major was fed Dengie Hi-Fi Good Do-er for 3 months before being changed on to Dengie Hi-Fi Lite, Alfa-Beet and Natural Vitality Performance Vits & Mins to provide a balanced ration as his workload increased.
To help encourage further weight loss whilst Major was on his fittening regime his grazing and forage intake were restricted. Lisa started to soak Major’s hay and was putting it inside two haynets to encourage him to eat slower. Lisa also provided Major with hay on a little and often bases feeding him one section at 7.30am, 10.30am, 2pm and then 3 sections in the evening. Double netting and feeding little and often means that Major was not standing for long periods without anything to eat.
It took Lisa 6 months to get the majority of weight off of Major and now they only have a little way to go. Lisa is going to maintain Major’s current feeding regime as she is aware that even when he has reached his ideal weight they will have to be careful that he doesn’t pile on the pounds again. Since losing the excess weight and by having forage and feed little and often Lisa says that Major’s temperament has improved from being a grumpy to a friendly, if a little cheeky at times, character!
