Fat pony :D

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skully14

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Hi all, I'm trying to get some weight off my chubby 15hh native pony this winter so he can go into the spring lean. The others are looking great but he is determined to remain fat! Looking for some opinions from you lovely people :)

He weighs 520kg at the moment. He grazes a crap field from 8am-7pm and then is in his stable for the night. How much hay would you give him overnight? I've seen anywhere between 1.5% and 3% of bodyweight for the whole day but don't know how much he is eating during the day. There doesn't seem to be much grass on the field and he spends a lot of his time playing with his mates rather than actually grazing, then comes in hungry in the evening.

Also he finishes all of his hay quickly and I'm very conscious of the ulcer risk if he's stood for hours with no hay. This is a pony that can empty a double netted greedy feeder haynet in an hour! I've been looking at the hay play ball. Does anyone have any experiences of it? I can't figure out how the hay comes out when it gets towards empty and don't want him to get frustrated.
http://www.saddlery.biz/parallax-hay-play?s=108053

He won't be wearing a rug at all over the winter unless he has a lesson that day, and then only a rain sheet. Is is cruel to give him a bib clip as well?

Unfortunately there are no hills around here to hack up and down and he is only doing light work in the school at the moment. Hoping to up his exercise gradually over the winter.

Many thanks!
 
Standing in a stable will not help him to lose weight. I fed ad lib barley straw last winter with no hay only a vitamin and mineral supplement and mine lost an average of 50kg each on a yard system. Only one stayed too fat and she is back up to where she started from the rest maintaining their new weight over summer.
 
I've got a hayplay. I think it brilliant. If you search the forum theres posts with pictures and videos. In summer mine comes in in the day time. I can get about 4kgs of hay in and it lasts him all day. Hay is long and stalky so as they pull some out, it pulls the next lot to the surface. There is sometimes a handful left in the bottom, but he eats most of it. He seems to like playing with it as well.
 
You can use plain oat straw chaff to fill him up when in and to make sure he's getting plenty of fibre going through him.

Just introduce it gradually at first

I use Top Chop Zero
 
Thank you all for your replies!

palomino200 - BCS is about 4, or 7 on the 1-9 scale. He has fat behind his shoulders and on his neck but not massively cresty, and no gutter down his bum/back. He came to us at 580kg so he has lost a lot already but still needs to lose perhaps 30kg more to look good in the spring.

rabatsa - I would like for him to be out 24/7 but it's already muddy and wet in our fields so I'd rather they were in overnight all winter rather than poaching the fields now and then having to stand in for months in Jan/Feb with no turnout. Unfortunately we are at livery so can't do a yard system which is a shame as it sounds like it would definitely help.

Sparemare - Thanks, I will check with the vet today and start soaking. I wasn't sure how long you were supposed to do it for!

Leo Walker - Great to hear that the hayplay is worth buying. Pony is only a youngster and will play with just about anything so I think he will really enjoy it.

Supertrooper - Thanks for the advice, I will have a look at that. Some people on the yard feed and bed using straw but ours are stabled on shavings specifically to avoid the colic risk of eating their entire bed in a night! Do you wet the Top Chop Zero and feed in a bucket? Or could you put it in a haynet to further slow them down? Thank you!
 
skully14 said:
Supertrooper - Thanks for the advice, I will have a look at that. Some people on the yard feed and bed using straw but ours are stabled on shavings specifically to avoid the colic risk of eating their entire bed in a night! Do you wet the Top Chop Zero and feed in a bucket? Or could you put it in a haynet to further slow them down? Thank you!
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My current horse isnt an issue but the previous one was very difficult to manage. He got huge trugs full of chopped straw, very small amounts of high fibre haylage mixed with ordinary straw and he lived on a dry lot when he was dieting. He didnt like the chopped straw so only ate it when he was actually hungry which meant he would pick at it on and off
 
It's too fine for a Haynes, I feed it in a bucket, dry but mine is sensible.

He hated it initially, he kicked the bucket across field. However it's amazing how he come round to it. He will now eat it before going off to graze.
 
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