I have a jumper! Yes!!!!!

Her name is Kahlua. She is a bay Quarter pony, 5 or 6 years now. She is no more than 15hh which is perfect for my height. And she is very very fat....

So. I have questions!

She has no withers and my saddle likes to slip on her a bit.

I'm going to buy this no-slip pad form Dover. 

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_X1%2D19059&ss=no%20slip 

I also heard cotton doesn't slip very much, so I have this pad in teal/black and pink...

I also have this half pad.

Is that okay padding wise if I use the no-slip, square pad and half pad together?? Thanks!

 

Also, any mass weight loss solutions? Just kidding, but Kahlua really does need to lose a lot of weight. So I am a bit serious...but she needs to lose it healthily

Thanks in advance! 

 

I'm not a fan of pad layering -- if you're going to do it, just be careful it doesn't cause your saddle to pinch.  I would skip the 1/2 pad and just use either the no-slip, or the cotton by themselves. 

 

My horsey weight loss program always involved lots and lots of trotting up hills and over poles.   

I too would try to avoid that much padding unless you have a saddle that is too wide for her...unlikely since she's overweight and a QH. You'll make any fit problems much worse by overpadding (put on 3 pairs of socks instead of one and then put on shoes that fit just right or are slightly too small and you'll see my point). If the saddle fits you should be fine with just the no slip or the cotton pad.

Another vote for not too much padding.  Go with just the no slip pad and pay close attention to the sweat pattern on her back and on the pad.  Any dry spots mean too much pressure and she's being pinched in that area.  You want one solid sweat mark.  Good luck with her she sounds cute and we would love to see some pictures! 

 Yeah I totally thought so too. I'll just use my half pad by itself for shows. There's a picture of Kahlua in my avatar. :)

Firstly, congrats on your new addition!! As far as the padding goes, as long as the saddle still fits her correctly, I have never had a problem with using two pads. You may also want to try a breast collar to help keep your saddle in place. As for the weight issues, I know what you're going through! My mini was about 250 lbs. over weight when I got her 7 years ago...and that's a lot for a mini! Granted, she was a rescue, but still. Anyways, when I got her, I weaned her off grain for a little while and she had limited access to grass. But she had free choice hay because hey, she's got to eat something! She also got daily work. I started longing her for 5 minutes a day (that was all she could do at the time) and we got up to a half hour in a few weeks. So to make a long story short, she lost weight and she got put back on grain. She still has limited grass intake, but she is at a good weight and she's very healthy. Hope everything goes great with her!

I think if I used any equipment for keeping my saddle in place, it would be a crupper.

She has no withers, so I think a breast collar might make it worse. Good idea though!

I think I'm going to get the Nunn Finer pad so I can cut it to fit.

Please keep advice coming, especially on WEIGHT LOSS ideas. Thanks!

Info to help: Kahlua is pastured 24/7...she gets two flakes a day but she might get extra from horses who didn't finish theirs. She's always been chubby, but now she is massive! Help? :) 

If she hasn't been in regular work, she'll need to be started slowly, just like we would; aside from muscle soreness, she would risk joint and soft tissue injury and exertion-related illnesses with a too fast start.  Maybe start with some 10-15 minute sessions of walk-trot, doing circles and serpentines to keep her interested, stopping to walk her out when she seems to be getting breathy; alternate days with some hacking out in the open if that's available, up and down hills is good, but again pay attention to her fitness level and any signs she's giving that she's reached her limit for the ride. Up her times of exercise in weekly increments.  Remember to warm her up (maybe a no-stress free longe) and cool her down, and stretching out her legs before working is a good idea.  250 lbs for her size is morbidly obese, which as the name suggests, increases her risk of the same serious problems a human would have, including heart attack, so go slow, but be relentless.  After work a good bracer and/or liniment on muscles and legs will help reduce soreness and stiffness.

If there is a paddock/dry lot you could keep her in, maybe with a friend, so you can monitor her food until she has lost some weight and is looking more fit - that would be best.  She'll look at you like you've betrayed her, but don't give in.  Be sure she's getting free access to a good mineral supplement - I like the crumbles, the blocks are really not meant for horses since their tongues are very different from livestock and the blocks are too hard; the makers just throw them out there saying they are for horses b/c they're easy to handle.  I use a small over the rail bucket at an appropriate height, sheltered if possible.She may start out gobbling them up, but as she gets what she needs, she'll slow down.  When I started, my three would go through a scoop a day; after a month, they now use a scoop every five days to a week.

I would stick with the no silp pad for fatty... :-D i'll take your 1/2 pad if your not gonna use it! lol jjjkkk