Diet advice

M

Magpie

New User
Joined
16 July 2005
Messages
7
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Hi,

My pony puts on weight really easily, he his out 24/7 in a small paddock about 40x40metres! He has been there since April so is very eaten down.
He has two mugs of hifi for breakfast and 2 mugs hifi for tea with a balancer and is worked 6-7 days a week.

He needs to loose weight and but want to make sure he has enough fibre.
Do you think he has enough?
 
Give him ad-lib hay soaked for 12-24 hours. If he still puts on weight with this, cut the hay down but still soak it for 12-24 hours. I tried the same tactic as you and my horse put on weight... anything she ate she stored. She was also miserable! I put her on ad-lib well-soaked hay and upped her work and she lost approx 100kg in about nine months.
smile.gif
 
Thanks for your replies.

I tried giving him soaked hay a few weeks ago but he wouldnt really touch it so i tried moving him into the field behind his just at night which is very grazed down but has areas which have been left which are toilet areas and he was putting on weight eating some of that, so i moved him back completely into the small field 24/7.

There is grass in there just very short so i dont know if that enough with his two feeds a day as he doesnt really seem that hungery but i know they can hold onto their fat stores if dont get enough fibre.
 
If he's not hungry, don't feed him. The soaked hay is mostly for fatties with an appetite (mine would eat herself to death if she had the chance
smirk.gif
)
Is he getting enough exercise?
 
He would definatly let me know if he was hungry, he also has a bad habbit of escaping when he thinks should be getting more!!

I ride 45mins-1hour 6-7 days a week. A mixture of hacking out, schooling and fast work in the fields.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top