A safe feeding plan for a underweight but lami prone stress head welsh a please!

Montyforever

Montyforever

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My mare really is not your normal welshie! She's like a kid on blue smarties most of the time :o so keeping weight on her has always been a challenge. If she's left out 24/7 she gains loads and unfortunately last year had acute laminitis because I was too ill to keep exercising her. But I've discovered since then if she's not getting grass no matter how much soaked hay/Hifi/pony nuts she gets to replace the grass she's just not putting on weight and is still ribby :(

So at the moment she's getting -

2 big soaked sections of hay (has to be soaked otherwise she gets pulses)
2 handfuls of Hifi with her lami prone supplement
3 handfuls of nuts in her treatball
3-4 hours out a day on grass

She was doing okay with that and I could just slightly feel her ribs but since it's got a bit colder and i got some hay that the fussy monster didnt like, shes dropped weight again :(

Ive started to put a rug on her overnight so she's not getting cold but going to need to change her feed I think. Everytime I think I've got it right she proves me wrong :p

So any ideas for a safe balanced feeding plan for a lami prone underweight mental welsh a?!
 
Your pony is similar to mine except that mine hasn't had lami but is on steroids so more prone to it

I keeping out 24/7 on a bare paddock, he has HiFi light, high fibre nuts and various supplements all in all amounting to no more than 1lb
 
Rowen barberry solution mash? I'm in same boat with my cushings mare, and they're sending me out a sample :) it has really low sugar starch combination
 
Sorry finger slipped and submitted reply!

... I plan to add some fast fibre and micronised linseed to see if this puts just a little weight and condition on him
 
How old is she and when were her teeth last checked? Winter weight loss is common in horses with poor dentition because it is much harder work for them to chew hay than eat succulent grass, so they end up eating too little forage.

Even if her teeth seem OK, I would consider feeding her some sort of soaked hay replacer to supplement her hay during the winter months, and therefore up her forage intake. Fast Fibre is probably the best option as a hay replacer for a laminitic as it is low in sugar and starch. I would ring Allen & Page for ideas of how much to feed her.
 
I am currently feeding FF to my mare but it's not enough at the moment to put any condition on her, she also gets micronised linseed. The solution mash has a lower starch/sugar % than FF but a higher digestible energy so should be better to put weight on etc
 
Tgm - hadn't thought about her teeth, she was checked about 2 years ago last time so it's probably about time I get them checked again :o
Going to go worm her again just incase too, really need to get this sorted once and for all!
 
Large Handful of Hi-fi lite, mug of Baileys lo-cal & good dollop of speedibeet. Plus 3- 4 slices of soaked hay.
Does well for my lami-prone 15hh NF, he also has -5 hrs grazing with muzzle. Almost 12 months since last lami attack & kept him sound all year.
 
Hi
I would suggest you don't change anything for the moment, teeth need to be checked by a qualified registered equine dentist; not someone who has been doing it for years; same for everything else that is not vet specific, there are so many untrained, unqualified and in general dangerous, unregistered and uninsured quacks out there it is very easy to get sucked in by their very confident manner. Dentists, back 'specialists', alternative therapists to name but a few. Google is a wonderful tool to find out a local qualified technician, please use it to find one.

Welsh ponies are of their nature very good dooers, you have not mentioned your ponies age, worming is also a very important part of horse care, have a worm count, it is well worth the £10 or so and you will be advised what, if anything, to worm for.

Vets are there to offer advice as well as treat as necessary, any vet worth his/her salt will gladly give telephone advice, but get your routine stuff done first, if your pony has not been seen for while they will want to come out, no point in incurring vet fees before you have checked all the other things first.

Hope your pony is soon looking better.:)
 
Thanks everyone :)
Popped to the couple of local feedshops and none of them stock the Rowan barbary mash so got some fast fibre and multi vitamins with magnesium in and she's eaten it so hopefully that will help :)
Got some equitab wormer so she can't spit out the dose this time ;) and going to book the dentist out to see her ASAP.
 
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