Fat Child's Pony - How Do I

measles

measles

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get the weight off him without lunging/long reining him so much he becomes fit and sharp?

We've had a new section a for about 3 weeks now and already 6yo child is off the lead rein and confidently riding in the school on own. The pony is a wonderful schoolmaster who we hope to show next spring but he is hugely fat.

He's 11.3hh on one feed a day of a small pinch of Alfa A Lite with vitamins in and a tiny pinch of Speedi-Beet. He goes out at 7am in the dark and comes in at 5pm in a field with grass to keep him busy but not very good quality. He gets a third of a slice of hay when he comes in and then one and a half slices over night, and there's still a little left in the morning.

My son is not riding him for long enough to make him lose weight through exercise and I'm reluctant to lunge him too much and make him fit incase he becomes sharp and son gets a fright - I'd rather they progressed to doing more together.

So, how on earth do I get the weight off him? If I don't make some progress now he'll not be able to be anywhere near grass from the spring as I cannot risk his health and laminitus.
 
I'd cut out the Alfa A and Speedi-beet, and replace them with something like Happy Hoof or even Reddigrass, just for his vitamins. Soak his hay to get as much of the goodness out as possible, and put it in small-holed haynets to make him really work for it.

I can understand why you don't want him to get sharp, but sharp is preferable to laminitic. Its not a great choice from your POV, though.
 
It's a long slow process - we're only just seeing a difference with our Shetland and we've had her for about 3 months now - I'd definitely cut out the beet - no need for it - if you want to damp down the feed use water - but nothing else - make sure the amount of chaff really is minimal too - Cut back on the hay - double/triple net what he does get so he has to work that bit harder to keep him entertained for longer - long reining him would be ideal - if you could do that it would keep him walking (working in a slow pace won't fitten him up as much as repeatedly lunging in trot/canter for instance) and take all rugs off him so that he shivers a bit of weight off - I'm finding no turnout rug or stable rugs is the way to go for our fatty!
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Kate x
 
i would cut out all feed and just give a vit lick and also swap hay for straw but other thn that exercise is going to be key. limiting grazing.
 
Cut the beet out and swap Alfa A Lite for Hi Fi Lite. Soak hay to try and remove excess carbs and/or get hay analysed to check calorie level and swap for lower quality forage if necessary. Feed hay in small hole net to slow consumption. Use muzzle and/or strip grazing to reduce grass intake.
 
Get him off the grass and feed him soaked hay...or muzzle him.
If you are able, I would highly recommend a track for fatties. It enables them to get the exercise of turnout but not the amount of grass.
These little native's generally live of very, very little and that amount of hours on grass of any type is just too much.
 
Our little section a lives on fresh air. It has taken a long time to get her to what we consider to be the right shape.

We soak her hay for 8-12 hrs, and actually triple haylage net it! She is a pony who would eat constantly given the chance, so by doing this we can give her less but it now lasts for hrs.

She is ridden regulary by our 6 yr old son, but she is also loose schooled or lunged for 10 mins at least 5 times a week. Fortunatly she hasnt become sharp, but is quite fit, she finds it easy to do a 5-6 mile hack every now and again with my OH's 17h TB
 
[ QUOTE ]
Get him off the grass and feed him soaked hay...or muzzle him.
If you are able, I would highly recommend a track for fatties. It enables them to get the exercise of turnout but not the amount of grass.
These little native's generally live of very, very little and that amount of hours on grass of any type is just too much.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto about the track
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. Keeps them moving
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. Soak the hay and put into haylage net (I do this already with my three year old welshie
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, really helps
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, put it in two if youy want
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) and cut out the speedi beet and alpha.
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.

Good Luck
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.
 
Brisk walking in hand is good exercise, agree about soaking the hay too.

Can you do something with electric fencing in his paddock - create a racetrack type layout so that he is restricted in what he can eat and he has to move more, exercising himself - ie, so that he has to go the pretty way to get to the water trough.

ETA - oops, someone already said about racetracking and I didn't see
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Its a good idea!
 
A handful of low cal chaff and min/vits supplement and soaked hay.

Do not feed speedi-beet or redigrass. Redigrass is grass and that puts weight on so does speedibeet.

It has taken me 18 months to get my pony's weight down.
 
Just popped out to put them to bed and am so grateful to you all for your posts whilst I was gone.

I should have added that his hay is well soaked and in a small net - he just doesn't seem to be a greedy pony which is pretty unusual for a welshie! Good idea to drop out the feed completely for a vitamin lick, I'll def do that. The way our fields are laid out I can't do the racetrack idea but I can see the benefits of having that. I'm also going to clip him out so that he's not got a humungus coat to keep him warm.
 
To be honest it is better to have a fit pony and have to supervise carefully what your son does with him than one unfit enough to be a danger. Riding *is* dangerous. You could however try lunging/long reining/walking in hand before your son rides... that way pony can be fit & healthy but too tired to be as dangerous when your son rides. :-)

Continuous access to grass/soaked hay with muzzle/small net to slow him down + the lick and anything track-like you can do sounds like a good idea.
 
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