Appropriate feeding advice.

H

HayleyUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 July 2005
Messages
1,542
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Need some advice on feeding my soon to be loan pony (getting my old pony we sold back with VTB)

The pony in question is a 14.2 native, carrying a little more weight than I'd like personally. She looks really well, just a little fatter that I'd like, but winter will drop some of that I expect. Currently a large scoop of hi fi lite and 2 bigish handfuls of calm & condition supplemented by 4 flakes of hay (2 morning 2 night). Feeds IMO are huge for a pony that does as well as I remember her doing.

It seems to me that feeding lite and C&C is a bit counter productive, but I'm open to opinions.

I'm thinking, a small amount of a chaff, a lo cal mix and a little more hay at night will be sufficient?
She'll be being worked most days I'd expect.

The grazing is VERY rich on the yard we're hoping to move her to, so will monitor her VERY carefully as there is a history of lami/cushings on the yard as a result of the grazing.

Also, shes coming up to being 14/15 and is starting to look a tiny tiny bit stiffer behind than I remember, Can anyone recommend a supplement for her joints?

Thanks.
 
i have a fatty cob too and he is only out at night (in during the day with a slice of hay) and gets literally a handful of hi fi lite (just because his friend gets a feed and dont want him to have a paddy) he also has a mineral lick (rather than a feed balancer)
if your grazing is very rich then i would def say restrict it but i wouldnt of thought she would need anything else apart from grass and hay if shes in and a handful of hi fi lite to mix in supplement (not sure about joints as there are lots and lots around, apparently glucosamine is very good?)
 
Dont feed her full stop, except for a bit of Happy Hoof to add some joint suppliment in.

Give her her hay as late as possible in the night before you go home, that way you can also feed less of that.

I have a full up 16.2 gelding, turned out on fab grazing, working every day - and he gets two mug fulls of H&P cubes!
 
So shes massively overfed! Thanks guys!

Previously we had her on conditioning cubes because she lacked condition, a bit of a mix and hi fi and she did great on it. But the grazing wasn't so good.

Looks like I'm going to be in bad books!
 
Thanks TGM.

The people we are taking her on loan from mentioned she won't eat the hi fi on its own and they HAVE to give her C&C before she'll eat the feed.
I may try a handful of h&p nuts or something instead of the hi fi..
 
condition.jpg


I'd say that was pretty close to her current condition ^^^

duchess.jpg


More like how I tried to keep her ^^^
She still looks lacking a bit over her back end here though :/
 
[ QUOTE ]
if she wont eat the hi fi then wet it and maybe try a little garlic (if she likes it) or marmite?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks
smile.gif

I think she's just being fussy. Readi Grass might be another option?
 
Ah she's a sweetie pie isn't she.

She's not too overweight - It'll drop off her once you start riding her and she's getting regular work.
 
Don't be fooled by her innocent face
wink.gif
Shes as sweet as pie for as long as the mints hold out..

I think shes mainly been hacked, and not really 'worked' in the schooling sense so hopefully it'll drop off her. I'm just getting a bit stressed as the yard I want doesn't have space so I'm going to a different one on a temp basis and they've just had two PTS with lami & cushings, YO dumps tons of fertilizer on the fields & its a bit of a nightmare.
 
In that case I would follow the suggestion above to give her a small handful of Happy Hoof, which is a low calorie chaff type feed similar to Hi Fi Lite, but most ponies find it much tastier than Hi Fi Lite. Alternatively a tiny handful of High Fibre cubes soaked to make it easier to mix in the supplement.
 
Thanks TGM.

I think happy hoof will be a good idea.
I've spoken to the YO tonight and she says that the grazing is in smaller paddocks now & i can have space in a paddock with poorer grazing.

18 months of hacking hasn't really kept her weight down, ATM, I think its a case of too much conditioning feed for her work level. So hopefully a diet better suited to work load will work out great
smile.gif

I've never had a problem managing her weight before so all should go well once we've got the excess off.
 
I use the Alfa-A lite, it is about the same energy as hi-fi lite but so much nicer and it's all alfalfa (no straw), George loves it (but to be honest he will eat anything!)
 
Thanks GG, I think I'm going to go to the local feed store and see what they stock.

Its been a while since I've bought feed!

She's similar in that she will eat anything (or at least would) so I shouldn't have many problems!
 
My once fatty 14hh pony is fed 8lbs hay (soaked), 2lbs Hi-Fi lite and Anti-lam (to ensure she gets all the nutrients she needs) split into two feeds a day. She went from an obese 430kg to a healthy 350kg in 5 months. I've kept her on this amount along with 12 hrs turn out on a starvation paddock and she's maintained the same weight now for 4 months.

Just a word of warning about joint supplements - if your pony has a tendency to Laminitis, avoid anything with glucosomine as it is believed it can mess up insulin balance and can trigger an attack. MSM is fine, along with Cider Vinegar and herbal supplements.
 
Thanks for that advice, I'll be careful if I feed her a joint supplement.

As far as I'm aware, she has never had lami, or been prone, but want to err on the side of caution since she does pretty well on food!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top