Fat Ponies HELP!

S

skewbaldpony

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 May 2007
Messages
1,493
Location
West Country
Visit site
I can't be the only one. I keep them in because they get fat on the grass. Any grass. They get fizzy and/or stiff cos they're in too much, then tear round when they do go out and cut their legs. The children exercise as much as children physically can, but there are laws about child slave labour. They get hay by the handful, they get turned out in muzzles, the muzzles rub, then they can't wear the muzzles for days, and in any case, they still get fat on the blades of grass they can get through the muzzles .... HELP! We don't have a total starvation paddock, nor can we arrange one on our rented farmland, we don't have anywhere to corral, and in any case they'd kill each other, they need the space to escape! In years and years of looking after horses, never have I had as many problems as I have with three fat ponies! By the way, I only have 24 hours in each day LOL. Anyone discovered the answer?
confused.gif
 
We have the same problem, when one got realy bad we kept he in 24/7, with limited hay, she didn't get fizzy as she was too fat to!
 
Strip grazing...
I have 4 fatties ranging from a shettie to a shire x cob. I use electric fencing and move it a few feet evry other day atm. I never stable them..that would be like me (also prone to a bit of blubber) sitting on the sofa all day. They need to be moving..
 
Strip Grazing - won't work I'm afraid, lovely idea, but a) grass round here (or lets be honest any grass) will make them fat on a strip 2' wide - and on that they'd kick each other sensless!

Exercise - yes I know! But it's the 24 hour thing that's doing for me LOL. Must get up even earlier I suppose ......
 
I have the same problem
frown.gif


short of keeping him in on his own year round and feeding him handfuls of hay (which we had do do for a short period over the summer) I'm at a loss.

I've had to adapt grazing muzzles so he gets even less than the muzzle would normally allow.
 
Yes, lungeing could work for two out of three I suppose. The third has psychotic incidents around lungeing due to a dodgy past! I think the only answer is to ride them more, lunge them more, and pray for a hard winter where the grass actually stops growing for once.
 
umm, a very small pen, electric'ed off from the rest of the field, about the size of 3 or 4 stables.
and about a flap a day between the 3 of them, until they've lost the weight.
or, 3 small pens, about 12' x 24' each, next to each other, electric'd off, if they'll kill each other!
fwiw i think the plastic skeleton-type muzzles that just fit across the very bottom of the nose might not rub. i bought a bucket-type one and it rubs.
frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
muzzles, IMHO are cruel.......



[/ QUOTE ]

LMFAO!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]


what is so fcuking funny???
 
I've had this problem with a fat pony and a fat horse......
Horse isn't too bad, she'll wear a muzzle, though just stands by the gate waiting for someone to come and rescue her all day
crazy.gif

Pony removes muzzles and will hop over electric fencing, so he's a real problem.
I'm just waiting for the grass to go, then I'll starve the buggers!!!!
(They share the field with a skinny TB type, and a skinny youngster, both of whom need extra feed - you can't win)
 
Our two elderlies are in a 3 acre fiels with oodles of grass and the laminitic is electricly fenced off on a strimmed area of semi baldness. works fine.
can you not electris fence them off individually next to eachother on very strimmed areas ???
 
my pony used to be very fat but he is practically in a starvation paddock and has been for a while now it soon gets it down but i do have to put hay out for him so he dont starve but try it it does work
grin.gif
 
OK no to starvation paddock - we rent grass on a dairy farm, and although we can top/graze/ wear it down pretty low, totally bald would prob get us evicted LOL.
Electric fences could work, if only we could get the grass dead enough without being evicted (see above)
Actually, it is getting better as we are shamelessly wearing down, topping, riding on, you name it we've done it, the same small patch to make it less fattening! I am still praying for frost though.
They are in big boxes when they're in, tbh the two little ones have plenty of room to move around, my cobbemara just needs more work, but he'd prob still be chubby on no food and 3 hours a day!
Still lots of good suggestions, thanks, off to shuffle and process them.
And muzzles are not nice, but they are nicer than laminitis, trust me.
 
My children's pony is living on farmland to, so i know the thing re not being able to make bald patches in the field. Ponio literally ploughed a patch of foeld when it rained one night (i'd put him on strip grazing the day before). my OH saw it and went "omfg ***** (farmer) is going to flip!" we spent days getting it flat and re seeding it!

But seriously, lungeing before riding will help loads. The psycho one might prefer being loose schooled (chase her with a whip round the field...
wink.gif
)

Dairy grass TBH is too rich for fatties Get them in in the day, and out with muzzles at night (sugar content is lower then). If you want I'll pm you piccies of how i adapt kid's ponios muzzles so he only gets 1/2 the amount of grass. Funnily enough, early morning grass after a frost is likely to give fatties Laminitis. If we've had a frost I turn ponio out when it's thawed or not at all (he gets a walk instead). I just won't risk it.
 
you're right about dairy, tho at least it's organic. they have been out at nights, and yes, I did know about the frost, but I'd still like enough to stop the wretched stuff growing!!! do pm pics - do you find they rub? i seem to have solved the problem with the littlies, but the cobbemara is a sensitive little soul (as well as a total bloater) and gets a sore face. Bless.
 
Don't really understand what the big drama is here, sorry to sound hard. 1 - go to shop buy electric fencing 2 - fence off small area, strim if necessary 3 -fence off other small areas if you can't put them in together 4 - put ponies in pens 5 - gradually increase size if necessary 6 - use grazing muzzles, if the straps rub, pad them with fleece, if it rubs elsewhere, sorry to sound harsh but the skin will have to toughen up, better than having ponies in agony with laminitis. 7 - exercise as much as you can
 
So sorry didn't realise conversations had to be dramatic.
Thanks to those with polite information and converstaional skills. Especial thanks to Katy for the brilliantly adapted muzzles. Shall be doing that promptly!
 
There is no drama
crazy.gif
. OP is only asking for any other ideas APART from fencing off and trashing parts of the field she rents from a dairy farmer. Some find it hard to understand that when you're on farm land you cannot go trashing valuable grazing, especially if you don't have facilities for rotation. The argument then turns to how you shouldnt have ponies if you havent the facilities to give them starvation paddocks... and it escalates.

I did want to put that ponies skin does toughen but 'tis the sort of thing the HHOLPH would freak at
smirk.gif
. My children's ponio had a little sudocrem put on any raw sores, but they soon healed (if kept clean) and his skin has just thickened where the muzzles used to rub. I also have 3 or 4 muzzles so they can be changed regularly to prevent constant pressure on any one point.
For those of us who don't have access to certain facilities, keeping weight off of ponies is a year long battle.

I will also add that my children's pony is clipped the theory being he will move round more in order to keep warm and burn off extra calories.
 
Sorry I must be stupid so just to reiterate. 1.pony removes muzzle and risks hurting himself. 2. pony hops over electric fencingf, in fact over anything less than about 3,6" 3. I would be in major trouble if my grass were long enough to strim!!!
 
My Welshie lives out 24/7 with access to his field stable at all times. He too gets fat on thin air and I have really struggled this year as have not been able to ride him for nearly four months due to a major back problem on my part. I strip graze him and move the fence a bit each day and then he has year old ad lib hay too. He has maintained his weight well but will need to loose some now I can ride again.
To be honest I keep his weight down normally through exercise and the above routine. I do pleasure rides of up to 20 miles all summer most weeks and in between we hack anywhere up to 20 miles per week! Not everyone could do this and I struggle as I get through shoes every 3/4 weeks!
Strip grazing is great though and either soaked hay or year old hay for fatties!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry I must be stupid so just to reiterate. 1.pony removes muzzle and risks hurting himself. 2. pony hops over electric fencingf, in fact over anything less than about 3,6" 3. I would be in major trouble if my grass were long enough to strim!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

also, strimming encourages the grass to grow quicker!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Strip grazing is great though and either soaked hay or year old hay for fatties!


[/ QUOTE ]
Yes we make our hay off other land we have access to (though it's not suitable for ponies to be turned out) and it really is very low nutrition value hay! In fact we've just cut it LOL. wondering if I could market it as diet hay ...cunning plan ...
wink.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top