Advice re fat pony

[claireross]

When I got my daughters pony she was very fat and I turned her out during the day and kept her in at night. She had a shires muzzle on and grazed with it.

She has started getting a bit fat this year, so I've put the muzzle on, but as the grass is so short she is just standing all day sulking.

I've decided to keep her in and let her have a couple of hours out only without the muzzle. I soak her hay overnight, but wonder how much it reduces its calories. She gets a full haynet over night and a smaller one if she's in.

Any advice from anyone else with small fat ponies would be great.

 

[mollymurphy]

We have a fatty, and have always been told to keep her in during the day and turnout at night - apparently the grass changes to be less rich over night. Not sure how much though.

Also, is there no way you can do more work with her? Lunge her daily on top of any riding?

Lou. x

 

[equibabe20]

Hi i have a laminitic pony who can no longer get fat but unfortunatly lives on fresh air. I have him out in the greenguard grazing muzzle at the moment, basically he either goes out with it on or stays in so I think he's realised its best for him.
As soon as we are allowed 24 hour turnout I tend to keep him in during the day and put him out at night instead as my vet suggested the sugar levels etc.. are lower at night and they tend to eat less. Seems to work well. When he's in I soak his hay for at least an hour normally longer if I can and put it in 2 small holed nets to slow him down. Also oat straw is very good and has minamal calories and takes longer to eat. Good luck with losing the weight X

 

[Christmas_Kate]

*sigh* the ongoing battle for us owners of fat ponies.

TBH i would turn out at night as the grass then is less fattening (or whatever lol), bring in in the day.
Soak the hell out of hay, (ie soak for hours rather than minutes), and then feed it ad lib. Feed something like Hi Fi lite or happy hoof, just a handful each evening with a daily multivitamin in. This will combat the fact the hay is soaked and he/she is on restriced grass. (Dodson and Horrel do a good one).
Get her working on the lunge, or walk her out in-hand. Our lad has a snackball filled with a handful of diced carrot (swede works well too) which he spends hours working at getting out. It keeps him busy in the stable, and prevents him just standing in the same spot (at his haynet).

I'm posting piccies this weekend, before and after and I think it'll be clear that this has worked for us.

 

[custard]

Can you juggle the time the muzzle is on? What i do with mine is sometimes put him out without it for a couple of hours then put it on at dinnertime for the rest of the day or vice versa.

I also have two different muzzles which I vary depending on the length of the grass, one lets in more the other less. What you could try is buying a second one and make the whole in the bottom a bit bigger.

What happens with grass at night is the fructan level drops due to the absence of sunlight. Fructan is the undigestible carbohydrate which they think triggers laminitis.

I dont think the grass gets any less 'fattening' at night but this is probabaly what the vets mean when they say its less rich. She is better turned out longer tho as moving about however slowly will keep her metabolism up to speed. It will drop if she stands in too long

 

[MagicMelon]

Can you electric tape off a small section of the field? This is by far the best option as obviously stabling most of the time isnt good as she wont move about much (plus she'll be bored as hell!).

I have 2 ponies who are lami's - I keep mine in a small paddock which Ive let them stay on all winter so there's barely any grass there at all. They gets loads of hay in the field so they're certainly not starving. Works perfectly.