horses weight-getting fit

Hey guys.

Right well iv recently 'rescued' my yard owners daughters pony because he's in the field doing nothing,getting fat and just generally being neglected. He's had laminitis before and atm he is huge!! He's in quite a big field but the grass isnt great and he seems to be fine.

Thing is im starting to ride him again so im just wondering what you all would do to start him loosing the weight... would you walk inhand/ride/lunge/a mixture? I also worry about a lack of miberals so.im putting him.on some low cal food suitable for laminitics so he gets vitamins.

The main issue is how do I get his weight off safely?
Sorry for the ramble!!

Sarah :)
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I've leased a number of horses, and always seem to get the ones that haven't been in regular work for a while, so I've been in similar situations.

I find that frequent short workouts are best for out-of-shape horses. I like longeing or light riding at walk/trot for 20-30 minutes every day (if you can) to get horses back in shape and used to "having a job" again. Switching it up is a good idea, as different exercises will work the horse differently and keep him (and you!) from getting bored.

I also like the book "Equine Fitness" by Jec Ballou, which has a ton of exercise ideas for horses at a variety of fitness levels.

The nice thing about starting a horse back into work is that you see dramatic improvements. There's nothing quite like getting a horse into shape when they couldn't even keep up a canter circle when you started!

Thankyou :) that's what im doing with him atm!!
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