A tricky situation - feeding advice

alexomahony

alexomahony

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My pony is a very good doer - Welsh cob, not fat but always has a good covering and super muscular.

He's always had a really nice coat, grown out clips well and has great skin and lovely, shiny mane and tail.

This year, nothing has changed with his feed - he gets a scoop of happy hoof on an evening with some carrots, a treat ball In the day if he's in (basic fibre based pony nuts) and (pretty much) adlib hay if in/OK grass if out.

He is ridden 5 times a week usually, and often twice a day on a weekend (early morning hack, then afternoon schooling sesh) - mixture of schooling (elementary level incorporating pole work (raised), jumping (mainly fun things like barrels, bounces and tricky lines rather than height), hacking (2/3 hours per hack on a weekend - lots of cantering and trotting) and hunts as often as I can afford. He's pretty fit and very full of energy!

My issue this year, which I've never had in all the years I've had horses is that, his clip is just not showing signs of growing out. I've had nightmares of him looking like a Chinese Crested Horse for the rest of his life haha

I used different blades and not the best light for his final clip this year (about mid November) and it took him pretty short... he looks like a pig in some patches :o .. but I thought the usual - ah well, it'll be grown out and look lovely in a week... well no - We're almost in March and it's pretty much still looks the same. He's not too warm - he only has a cotton sheet and LW stable sheet on when in, and a combo T/O, which will soon be just a normal M/W once the rain holds off a bit!

I am grooming him lots and using rubber curry combs to try 'massage' the hair follicles (god knows it this would do anything, but Wynny is enjoying it!) and adding coat shine to make sure the hair won't be damaged. When warm enough, he'll be left unrugged to try help new coat becoming damaged by rugs.

I'm looking into things like Biotin and oils to try give his coat a bit of a chance, but does anyone have any suggestions? Looking through the feed merchants sites, anything to help coat also encourages more condition which is what I don't want at this time of year!

Has anyone else experienced this, and do you have any advice? Am I just playing a waiting game? I hope i'll go down one morning and he'll have a lovely dapply chestnut coat back that he normally has!!

Thank you in advance for your help xxx

I'd attached a photo if I knew how, but if you want to be nosey he is 'Maldwyn the Magnificent' on instagram <3
 
I have 2 here same owner, same routine, same feed, one was clipped around Jan1st the other in Nov, the late clipped one looks fab in his coat and the other was looking rubbish, last winter he looked super and nothing has really changed, an increase in micronised linseed, from a token amount to nearly a mug each day, a few weeks ago has really helped, his coat is beginning to show it's normal shine and I hope by the time it changes it will be fine.
 
I'm a bit confused, what are you concerned about exactly? My clipped one hasn't grown her new coat yet and the unclipped one isn't shedding yet... :rolleyes:
 
The only time this has happened here (and admittedly it was a grey so no shine or dapples) was when our ID mare had a virus one winter about 5 years ago.

Three months after she had been clipped, you could still see the clipper marks in her coat, whereas this year in comparison she has pretty much grown her lines out already.

Is your horse in his usual form??

Fiona
 
be positive said:
I have 2 here same owner, same routine, same feed, one was clipped around Jan1st the other in Nov, the late clipped one looks fab in his coat and the other was looking rubbish, last winter he looked super and nothing has really changed, an increase in micronised linseed, from a token amount to nearly a mug each day, a few weeks ago has really helped, his coat is beginning to show it's normal shine and I hope by the time it changes it will be fine.
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Ah fantastic thank you so much- the micronised linseed sounds like a plan :) I'm glad I'm not the only one though. My skin is terrible this year - dry and flaky so I'm think his is kind of the same!
 
milliepops said:
I'm a bit confused, what are you concerned about exactly? My clipped one hasn't grown her new coat yet and the unclipped one isn't shedding yet... :rolleyes:
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I thought it was that the nearly bare patches, very close clip, still look rough and bare, I have seen this in ones with a dry skin lacking oils so it feels rough to the touch, normally it grows through fairly quickly feeling sleek and shiny even mid winter.
 
Hi I'm sorry - there's only one horse I'm talking about - clipped quite close in November and doesn't seem to be growing back at all. x
 
Fiona said:
The only time this has happened here (and admittedly it was a grey so no shine or dapples) was when our ID mare had a virus one winter about 5 years ago.

Three months after she had been clipped, you could still see the clipper marks in her coat, whereas this year in comparison she has pretty much grown her lines out already.

Is your horse in his usual form??

Fiona
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Hi Fiona, Thanks for this - yes totally normal form wise, full of energy, really keen and not showing any other signs of potential poor health apart from lack of growth on his coat.

I almost feel like he's maybe fighting something else which is stopping his body putting as much energy into growing his coat.
 
be positive said:
I thought it was that the nearly bare patches, very close clip, still look rough and bare, I have seen this in ones with a dry skin lacking oils so it feels rough to the touch, normally it grows through fairly quickly feeling sleek and shiny even mid winter.
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Yes this is correct - I 'm even thinking about starting to massage some E45 into him!
 
I have one that's done this too! She almost looks worse now than straight after the clip... :o

I'm just going with waiting it out for the summer coat to grow through, though she has also struggled this season with being itchy and her coat not looking it's best anyway, so I wonder if the virus comment has any weight?
 
milliepops said:
I'm a bit confused, what are you concerned about exactly? My clipped one hasn't grown her new coat yet and the unclipped one isn't shedding yet... :rolleyes:
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Ah apologies Milliepops - I've just re read your comment. I'm a little concerned as he still looks very freshly clipped - not three months into it and the bits that went super short - are still the same. For Maldwyn, that isn't too normal as by this time you can usually start to see a nice shiny, healthy dapply coat, rather than still looking like a bald pig!

I think the weather won't be helping - I'm East Yorkshire and we've been very up and down with the temperature so I don't think that's helped much but I'm hoping for some advice to maybe help him a bit from the inside out and if people have had experiences wit anything in the past and found anything to help a little.

Thanks xx
 
if he was under the weather I'd expect him to be lacking in performance though?

I last clipped my welsh before xmas and she's as close cropped now as she was then (I whipped the cat hairs off this morning but the actual coat is still very very short). The pics of Millie in my sig were taken in April at the winter champs and she was still not showing her new coat then so perhaps I just have horses that don't grow their new coats early! Salty is hanging onto her winter woollies tightly too, no sign of coat change there either.
 
milliepops said:
if he was under the weather I'd expect him to be lacking in performance though?

I last clipped my welsh before xmas and she's as close cropped now as she was then (I whipped the cat hairs off this morning but the actual coat is still very very short). The pics of Millie in my sig were taken in April at the winter champs and she was still not showing her new coat then so perhaps I just have horses that don't grow their new coats early! Salty is hanging onto her winter woollies tightly too, no sign of coat change there either.
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It comforts me to know others are staying short too when clipped before xmas! Thanks for this - yes same with the performance comment, if there was a virus involved I'd expect him to not be acting quite as bonkers as normal!
 
Have you changed hay supply or anything? I wonder if he is lacking something nutritionally?
I&#8217;d be tempted to add in some linseed and a decent vit/min supplement.
If you are worried about weight you could reduce the hay/cubes a bit
 
ihatework said:
Have you changed hay supply or anything? I wonder if he is lacking something nutritionally?
I&#8217;d be tempted to add in some linseed and a decent vit/min supplement.
If you are worried about weight you could reduce the hay/cubes a bit
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I think so too. I'm going to go with a balancer or supplement with added linseed/biotin and see if that helps.

Our hay is made on site and this hasn't changed yet (soon too to hay of lesser quality sadly!).
 
To add to my previous comment, mine has been fed a small amount of linseed/ plus a balancer both of which made zero difference, so I've taken her off as she is a massively good do'er.

Her performance is excellent (competing medium, working advanced) and is just as bonkers and happy as normal apart from the coat...
 
Thank you everyone for your responses - I feel less worried knowing I'm the only one with a Chinese Crested Pony!

I think that although it seems almost quite normal this year, I'm going to play a little on the safe side and add a balancer or supplement with linseed and biotin to see if that gives it a bit of a boost.

If still no change after a month or so I'll give the vet a bell and see what they think. I do think its something he's lacking nutritionally so will give this a go first.

Thanks all! xx
 
AlexHyde said:
To add to my previous comment, mine has been fed a small amount of linseed/ plus a balancer both of which made zero difference, so I've taken her off as she is a massively good do'er.

Her performance is excellent (competing medium, working advanced) and is just as bonkers and happy as normal apart from the coat...
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I think your horse might be mine's sister from another mister by the sounds of it :) I'm gunna give it a bit of a go and see where we go. I won't cause any harm I guess :) x
 
Mine looks like he was clipped yesterday despite being clipped just before xmas which is unfortunate as I made a botched job if it due to clippers dying towards the end so he's got lines everywhere! He's had a funny few months as was on box rest after surgery for 6 weeks and has just started going back out. I was looking at him yesterday and contemplating reclipping but it would be purely for vanity reasons :D I'm hoping as soon as we get some consistent weather it will start to look better - he has started moulting on his face though. His fieldmate is exactly the same, the heart that I clipped into his bum looks as prominent as it did in November so you are not alone!

FWIW I also upped the linseed as he was getting a bit scurfy, he never gets a shine on his coat as he goes grey when clipped but it's stopped the scurfiness but not helped with the hair regrowth!
 
Mine got a very rough irish clip late november that hadnt really grown out at all until this week. The weather has been so up and down this year - some horses seem to be growing out a clip every two weeks and others aren't growing theirs out at all.

In the last week mine has started moulting heavily on his unclipped areas and the clipped area is now starting to grow through and even looked faintly shiny this morning (he's a bright conker colour so the difference between winter and summer colour is quite pronounced). My little tb x (unclipped) has started shedding her coat this week too. My super hairy fluffy native however is showing no sign of shaking off her winter woollies just yet.

It's a strange time of year - give it a few weeks and you'll probably be wondering what you were worrying about
 
alexomahony said:
I think your horse might be mine's sister from another mister by the sounds of it :) I'm gunna give it a bit of a go and see where we go. I won't cause any harm I guess :) x
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They definitely seem similar :D, definitely wont do any harm I couldn't justify increasing the linseed with her weight as it is :o, just hoping her summer coat grows through nicely!
 
AlexHyde said:
They definitely seem similar :D, definitely wont do any harm I couldn't justify increasing the linseed with her weight as it is :o, just hoping her summer coat grows through nicely!
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With the lighter mornings, I can start getting him out for a quick canter around the fields before work so I'm hoping this will counteract the extra linseed :p
 
alexomahony said:
With the lighter mornings, I can start getting him out for a quick canter around the fields before work so I'm hoping this will counteract the extra linseed :p
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:D you are way more dedicated than me, cannot quite get myself to ride before work ;)! But she is on interval training and flying change bootcamp so I'm hoping that looses us some pounds!! Let us know how you get on with his coat as it's interesting that there seems to be a few of us in the same boat :).
 
AlexHyde said:
:D you are way more dedicated than me, cannot quite get myself to ride before work ;)! But she is on interval training and flying change bootcamp so I'm hoping that looses us some pounds!! Let us know how you get on with his coat as it's interesting that there seems to be a few of us in the same boat :).
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I'm planning ahead - the planning is much easier than the doing... I usually don't actually manage my first pre-work ride till about Mid July when it's super sunny and nice! Bed is much more important till then :)

Yep will keep you all informed on any progress xx
 
Mines not showing any sign of coat change yet, I clipped in December and ran them over the wirey hairs that come through his coat at the end of Jan and no actual coat came off then so he's still close clipped. I'm not worried given the weather we're having.
 
i can normally get a summer coat through by end of Feb with rugging, lights and strapping but this year everything is hanging on to clips.

the fully clipped one(done end of Jan) is literally just yesterday showing a smidge of summer coat on his eyebrows and the unclipped one (but no real winter coat) started shedding a bit on tues...................so we may be on the turn now!

hang in there folks!

im finding oats and astrids oil good for shine and dapples on coats.
 
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