3 weeks of having our pony

[Parfitt21]

We are on the third week of having our pony, we were on the search for a lovely pony for my 9 year old daughter who has been on and off riding since she was 5. We found a lovely pony and he has been so good she has rode him out on his own with other ponies and he’s been so good. When we got him he was a little under weight so owner said what they feed him etc we got the same although I have added sugarbeat non molasses, he has hay and is now in a field with grass which he’s field before was very much mud so they had to field hay also. So we came to ride him yesterday and my daughter said he felt very different horses that normally come over to the gate as we rode past made her very nervous so she got off, he then reared up twice so we carried on walking didn’t put her back on him went to the end of the track turned around to come back and on the same place reared again and bucked out twice I had to the trot him back to the yard as he was going side ways ears pricked the whole time, got back out him in the stable and he stood there and ate his hay. When he came in from the field his belly looked very full and he had a poo which was very green. My daughter is now so upset and saying she doesn’t want to ride him again. We feed him non molasses chaff, sugar beat and a carrot x2 a day, hay and grass.
Any ideas sorry for long post.

 

[emilylou]

Cut the food out apart from grass and hay and get someone more experienced to help you next time you ride. Could be any number of things

 

[Kizzy2004]

Cut out the sugar beet, better to have a pony on the leaner side through winter otherwise you could be setting yourself up for problems with lami in spring.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Stop feeding him, most ponies exist on fresh air and he has grass and you are supplementing with hay which is probably unnecessary. If you aren’t careful you run the risk of ending up with a laminitic pony.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

It sounds as if he is getting too much food now. As there is grass in the field, I would cut out the bucket feed and just give him hay if he needs that in addition to the grass. Apart from the pony's behaviour, it is not a good idea to feed any animal up quickly, it can damage the digestive system, so for future reference indrease feed very slowly.

I had a mare that I bought as a rising 4 yr old, who had been neglected and then bought back by the breeder before being sold on to me. The breeder had thrown everything she could think of at her to feed her up and she developed extreme reactions to all cereals and sugar, which caused enormous problems for years to come.

 

[HeyMich]

Yep, cut out all hard feed and the carrots too. Most ponies don't need it and some can react badly. To increase his weight, make sure he has plenty of grass and hay, that'll do the job nicely come spring.

 

[Gloi]

The extra feed will have made him feel a lot more lively. Just go back to hay only, he should put weight on with just hay if he gets it ad lib. You need to be quite careful when changing the diet as it can change behaviour as you can see and frosted grass is very high in sugar.
Try going out for some walks with the pony without your daughter on him so you can monitor his manners and see if he settles again. If your daughter sees him settle back down she may want to ride again . You could get an instructor out to help. Do be sensitive to his manner when dealing with him and only put you daughter on if he is chilled out so she doesn't get a bad experience.

 

[HeyMich]

Actually, if I understand your OP correctly, the pony reacted when you went past a field of other horses. How are you keeping your pony? Is he turned out with company? Make sure you aren't starving him of suitable company in the field, and he shouldn't react when he sees them out hacking. Just another thought.

 

[Parfitt21]

Actually, if I understand your OP correctly, the pony reacted when you went past a field of other horses. How are you keeping your pony? Is he turned out with company? Make sure you aren't starving him of suitable company in the field, and he shouldn't react when he sees them out hacking. Just another thought.

hi, yes pony is kept on a yard with all other horses and ponies

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Agree with others re cutting all feed (slowly). My 14.1 gets a handful of pony nuts and a handful of very low sugar oat straw chaff literally so I can get her vitamins in. I used to have a 14.3 new forest x cob on loan that got no hard feed at all and he coped absolutely fine on grass and hay alone, looking back he was probably still a bit chubby. My current one gets one feed a day and gets a carrot maybe once a week and a polo after a good lesson and I get plenty of comments saying it's mean but she's pretty much the only pony/horse on the yard that isn't horrifically fat and/or fizzy.

 

[Parfitt21]

I have slowly cut out his feed and he just getting hay and grass, his behaviour has changed and touch wood we Havnt seen the behaviour again. My daughter is back on him moving forward nicely. Just feel so mean as he’s always had the hard feed but did lot have great grass in last home but we do where we are! Thank you for your comment.

 

[HeyMich]

I have slowly cut out his feed and he just getting hay and grass, his behaviour has changed and touch wood we Havnt seen the behaviour again. My daughter is back on him moving forward nicely. Just feel so mean as he’s always had the hard feed but did lot have great grass in last home but we do where we are! Thank you for your comment.

That's great news, well done for listening to him and changing things for the better. Hopefully his behaviour will continue to improve and he'll put on muscle/weight in the spring.

 

[Bradsmum]

As others have said re feed but also you've only had him 3 weeks so he's had a big adjustment to make. He needs time to settle and get used to new surroundings, field mates and routines. Give him a bit of time and get your daughter doing some in hand/on ground handling so that they can form a bond and get used to one another.