Equine Weighbridge East Of England

06/03/2025

𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬🐴🔥

Interval training can be an effective way to help horses lose weight and maintain a healthy body condition. By incorporating both high-intensity bursts of exercise and recovery periods, you can boost your horse's metabolism and help them to use up excessive energy (calories), while also building muscle.

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧: During high-intensity intervals, your horse's heart rate spikes, burning more calories in a short period. This can help them shed excess weight, especially when combined with a balanced diet.

𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: The bursts of energy in interval training push your horse into an anaerobic state, which can help burn stored fat more effectively, leading to weight loss over time.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦: Interval training ramps up your horse’s metabolism, allowing them to continue burning calories efficiently even after the workout is done. This post-exercise calorie burn (known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC) can help with fat loss.

𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Interval training helps build muscle, which can increase your horse's basal metabolic rate (BMR)—meaning they burn more calories even when resting. More muscle means a leaner, stronger horse!

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠: Interval training maximises the calorie burn in shorter periods, which is ideal for busy schedules. Short, intense workouts are often more effective than long, slow exercise sessions for weight loss. Its about the quality of work, not the duration!

Always keep your horse’s fitness level in mind and increase the intensity gradually to avoid overexertion or injury. Ensure that you incorporate rest periods and provide fresh water and a balanced diet.

02/03/2025

Clean feeding space and organisation. What’s not to like! 😍

27/02/2025

💡 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐠𝐞? 💡

Lately I've seen quite a few horses with diagnosed Cushing's or elderly horses who I suspect may have it (and have rightly pointed their owners in the direction of having a chat with their vets)

As our horses age, it’s easy to mistake the signs of Equine Cushing’s Disease (PPID) for simply the effects of getting older. But did you know that Cushing's Disease affects up to 20% of horses over 15 and is often overlooked?

⏳ Does your horse seem more lethargic than usual?
🦵 Have you noticed muscle wastage, especially along the topline?
💧 Are you refilling water buckets more often or seeing more wet bedding?
🌾 Has your horse developed a thick, wavy coat or been slow to shed their winter coat?
⚠️ Has your horse experienced laminitis, even in the colder months?

If you notice any of these signs, it could be more than just aging. These could be early indicators of Cushing's Disease (PPID).

Cushing’s Disease is the 5th most common syndrome in horses and ponies in the UK. It can severely impact your horse’s health, but with the right treatment, your horse can live a long, active life.

If your horse or pony is 10 years or older and showing any signs of Cushing's, contact your vet. You may be eligible for a free diagnostic ACTH test (lab fees only) provided by Care About Cushing’s.

Not sure what to look for? Check out the helpful guide from Care About Cushing's to learn more: https://www.careaboutcushings.co.uk/how-to-spot-it

Equine Cushing’s disease will cause varying combinations of signs from one horse or pony to another, so if your horse is over 10 years old, it is important to monitor for all of the clinical signs associated with this disease. Our simple checklist is designed to help you spot the signs in your hor...

26/02/2025

"𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆?"

The weighbridge has been designed to handle up to 2,000kg or 2 tonne. As of yet I've not had a horse on the weighbridge that exceeds 1,000kg so heavy horses are more than welcome.

We've had plenty of Shires, Clydesdales, Belgian Drafts and even Slezsky Norik horses stepping on board... no Suffolk Punches yet, could yours be the first...?

24/02/2025

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 “𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐭” 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 🐴❌

Unfortunately, over the last couple of weeks I’ve heard from a few clients that they were recommended to 'cut absolutely everything' for weight loss and now have miserable horses 😞

When it comes to losing the KGs, patience and gradual changes is key. A sudden, drastic change in your horse's diet can cause more harm than good.

𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Horses have sensitive digestive systems. Rapid diet changes can upset their gut, leading to colic or other digestive issues.

𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬: A crash diet can result in a loss of vitamins and minerals, its important to ensure your horse still receives their required nutrients regardless of diet to ensure their intake is balanced.

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬: Crash diets and poor nutrition can lead to fatigue, irritability, and hangry horses, often then resulting in owners ditching crash diets or falling into the trap of yo-yo dieting their horses as a result.

👉 Instead of drastic measures, focus on gradual changes while ensuring a balanced, low calorie/energy but nutrient-rich diet. Your horse’s health is an investment!

20/02/2025

𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬
𝐅𝐫𝐢 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐛
Weighbridge & Body Condition Assessment appointments available

Appointment includes:
⚖ Accurate weighing on the mobile weighbridge
💯 Body Condition Scoring
📏 Height Measurement (if required)
😀 Entirely independent, friendly advice - no sale pitches!

🔸1 horse - £25
🔸2 - 4 horses - £15 per horse
🔸5+ horses - £12ph
🔸15 + horses - Price on request

Discounts apply to those on the same yards.

Message to get booked in

17/02/2025

𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

When an owner of an overweight pony or horse tells me their horses lives on fresh air, hay and grass only, with absolutely no hard feed they always look at me like I’ve just grown two heads when I mention introducing a small feed.

𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑑!? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝐷𝐷 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒!?

Yes... and no
When we soak hay we are wanting to remove as much sugar and starch as possible, but when we do that we are also taking out vitamins and minerals too.
When we are restricting grass intake we are also restricting vits and mins. It is important to remember though even with unrestricted access to grass and unsoaked hay they both lack the required vitamin and minerals a horse needs.

So when I mention about adding in a feed, I’m not talking about a big ol' bowl of high calorie mix, I’m referring to providing your horse with a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement or balancer to ensure their body is getting the nourishment needed for overall health and well-being.

A simple handful of low calorie chaff or a little bit of soaked beet with a good quality vit and min supplement or balancer will go far to in meeting your horses nutritional requirements without adding the calories

14/02/2025

𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐍 / 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐃 / 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐄𝐘𝐍𝐄𝐒
𝐒𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡
Weighbridge & Body Condition Assessment appointments available

Appointment includes:
⚖ Accurate weighing on the mobile weighbridge
💯 Body Condition Scoring
📏 Height Measurement (if required)
😀 Entirely independent, friendly advice - no sale pitches!

🔸1 horse - £25
🔸2 - 4 horses - £15 per horse
🔸5+ horses - £12ph
🔸15 + horses - Price on request
Discounts apply to those on the same yards.

Message to get booked in

12/02/2025

⚠️FULLY BOOKED⚠️
𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍 and surrounding areas
𝐖𝐞𝐝 𝟏𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐛 - Weighbridge appointments available

Appointment includes:
⚖ Accurate weighing on the mobile weighbridge
💯 Body Condition Scoring
📏 Height Measurement (if required)
😀 Entirely independent, friendly advice - no sale pitches!

🔸1 horse - £25
🔸2 - 4 horses - £15 per horse
🔸5+ horses - £12ph
🔸15 + horses - Price on request

Discounts apply to those on the same yards.
Message to get booked in

10/02/2025

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐭?
… and I don’t mean when it’s got hay in it!!

The general rule of thumb is to feed 1.5% of your horse’s body weight in forage per day for weight loss.

So… you’ve gone and filled your haynet, weighed it out and it’s spot on at 1.5% ratio your horse requires, but WAIT⚠ what did your haynet weigh empty to start with 🤔
it might seem like a really trivial thing but haynets can weigh anything from 0.3kg to 1.6kg empty, the slow feeders with smaller holes are generally much heavier due to the amount and type of material used to make the haynet so you may inadvertently been feeding less than what was intended.

Next time you’re weighing your hay, give your net a quick weigh too, it may surprise you!

09/02/2025

First yard visit for Kings Forest Livery Ltd
A lovely bunch of horses and owners!

Their lovely yard offers a ‘park & ride’ service…no, not that park & ride 🚌 but a horsey park & ride.
You can park at theirs for a small fee and go hacking in Thetford Forest! What a fab idea and one to add to my goal list for this year I’m thinking 🤔

06/02/2025

"𝑫𝒐 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆/𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈?"

This is a question I get asked, ALOT! and the answer is NO.

As long as you have somewhere reasonably flat and not boggy I can weigh thanks to my very technical and rather fancy aids* that my weighbridge sits on which stops it from sinking on mud/gravel/sand or they are used to help level the weighbridge if its on slightly uneven ground

*blocks of wood 🤫

Photo of the lovely shire Demi and her smaller friend Molly being weighed in thier field

03/02/2025

𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞
When talking about feeding with owners I often hear ‘I feed a scoop of X, half a scoop of X, a cup of X and a handful of X’

But what exactly is a ‘𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑝’ or a ‘𝐶𝑢𝑝’ or even a ‘𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑢𝑙’!? 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s surprising how many different shapes and sizes of scoops, cups and even hands are out there 🤯

So how do you know if the amount you are feeding is right for your horse?
Many feed companies are thankfully now moving away from ‘Feed 1 scoop of X’ and displaying what you need to feed by weight on the back of their bags. by feeding by scoop (volume) you may find you are over, or even under, feeding your horses. By weighing your feed you are ensuring your horse is getting their required (and essential) vitamins and minerals

Grab yourself a set of scales off good ol’ Jeff Bezos and keep them handy in the feed room ⚖

31/01/2025

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 🎪
Well, kind of 🙃

Today I had the honour of weighing Circus Mondao circus ponies (and donkey!) And what a wonderful bunch of horses they were too!

They are currently enjoying their time off before they head off for their 9 month tour of the UK with their equally amazing showmen & showwomen

27/01/2025

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡?

The max. meal weight is approx. 500g per meal for each 100kg of body weight. As an example, a 500kg horse’s max. meal weight would be approx. 2 kg.

𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥. 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡!?!? 😱
err no, but they may balloon out, fly away and pop 🤔 (just kidding) but anything heavier than the recommended amount will result in their food being pushed through the digestive system without being digested properly, effectively making the feed useless and costing you extra!

If your horse requires more feed than the recommended max. weight then its recommended to feed multiple times a day. Most often horses will have two meals a day but those requiring conditioning will often have their feeds split into 3 or more feeds making them smaller, lighter and easier for the horse to digest the feed.

24/01/2025

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐞- two black beauties 😍

These are super star slimmers having 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟓𝟔𝐤𝐠 between them since August which is all down to their owners determination and taking on board advice regarding grass intake, hay intake and food ratios.

They both have a little bit more to go to their target weights but they are both in a great position ahead of spring’s arrival ☀️🌱

23/01/2025

Lovely to meet these new faces last week for their first weighing and body condition scoring. It was great to see the owners really getting involved by using a weight tape to see just how far out they can be! It was also great to chat through body condition scores (BCS) and explain what it is I was feeling for and how we score them.

These lovely owners also took advantage of my measuring stick to get them all height checked too while I was there