Feeding a good doing native

[Cop-Pop]

Help!

Pony is a Sec A 11.2hh 11yr old mare. She was fat when I bought her and remained fat until I figured out how to feed her

(she was my first native, other horse is a TB

) She lost the weight but now she's in work I can't keep weight on her

She's worked very lightly - if she gets too fit her little brain doesn't cope with it and as my neices like to come and play with her I like her as calm as possible. She's regularly wormed and I had her blood tested a couple of months ago as she wasn't well. It came back clear and the vet decided it must have been a chill.

She's fed 1 handful of Spillers pony nuts, half a scoop Alfa A Oil and a sack of haylage a day (thats a shavings sack btw). I'm really worried about feeding her too much - she's never had lami and I don't want it to start and she has to stay sane for the kids

If it makes a difference she's an ex-broodmare who wasnt worked until I bought her when she was 10.

 

[Puppy]

Is there a reason that she in on haylage rather than hay?

If I were you, I would use Bailey's lo cal to make sure she gets her nutrients, and then feed a reasonable amount of hay/soaked hay

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

Ad lib quality hay, and a handful of chaff and nuts when worked. (assuming its well, wormed and teeth done) sec a's usually get too fat on fresh air! a bit of balancer (blue chip or similar) or benevit 2 to 3 times a week.

 

[Cop-Pop]

We have to feed haylage - no option. It's in the livery contract - it's good quality though. She was on lo-cal over the showing season and tbh it didn't make much of a difference.

I forgot to add her teeth were done in October and she has Feedmark benevit added to her feed.

This is her in June - she has dropped weight since then. She's not super skinny or anything but she is skinnier than the natives at the yard and much skinnier than the other ponies in the show ring (not that its hard lol). Will try and upload more recent pic.

 

[treena]

i have a similar problem with a pony....check the website for coolstance...i use there coprameal feed..it is made from the white flesh of the coconut... you soak it like you would sugar beet, but it is totally natural fibre and oil.....it adds condition, and gives a lovely shine on the coat.....and does not blow there brains....i use this all year round for the show ponies. it keeps them safe, sane, and sensible, and looking stunning. i feed it with some chaff and some pink powder for all the vits and mins......absolutely fanatastic and i will never go back to using anything else x

 

[Theresa_F]

May I suggest using Spillars conditioning nuts - never heated any of my TBs or my mental WB up and giving her equimins pro-bio. The latter made a huge difference to my TB - I could actually feed less hard feed and swapped back to hay when she had this. It basically makes the gut very healthy and working correctly and it is not expensive.

You could also try feeding some instant linseed - which is great for joints and digestion, gives a glossy coat and can add condition but not fizz.

 

[bex1984]

OMG that looks like a sec A that's the correct weight IMO! You don't see many of those! She probably will look skinny compared with other natives but that's because they're the wrong weight

I have found that when you get the weight off a native and start working them, their metabolisms change a lot - whatever I put in Murphy now he's not putting on weight!

Maybe give one of the feed companies a ring? I feed happy hoof, and staypower competition cubes (slow release energy!) but my pony is dopey, it's impossible to fizz him up!

 

[ester]

I would give her a little sugar beet, I find it great for keeping weight on but not fizzing and both mine get it with hifi and pony nuts. The anglo is more of a problem to keep weight on so gets a small scoop twice a day, the welshie just gets a little bit.

 

[Guinness]

[ QUOTE ]
We have to feed haylage - no option. It's in the livery contract - it's good quality though. She was on lo-cal over the showing season and tbh it didn't make much of a difference.

I forgot to add her teeth were done in October and she has Feedmark benevit added to her feed.

This is her in June - she has dropped weight since then. She's not super skinny or anything but she is skinnier than the natives at the yard and much skinnier than the other ponies in the show ring (not that its hard lol). Will try and upload more recent pic.

[/ QUOTE ]

She looks amazing!!

 

[TGM]

I'm not sure how much a sack of haylage equates to! Is that as much as she will eat or will she eat more than that? In the photo she looks about right over the ribs, neck and quarters but perhaps a little tucked up in the abdomen. I would opt for upping the haylage first if she is losing weight, as this is cheaper than giving additional bucket feed and will stop her looking tucked up. If she won't eat any more haylage than she gets already then unmollassed beet (such as Speedibeet) is a good source of fibre-based calories.

 

[Cop-Pop]

She's lost weight since that photo. Not much but a little.

TGM - she won't really eat more than a sackful per day. To put the amount in perspective - my TB mare eats 1 1/2 - 2 sacks per day and she's bigger and does more work (and is also a poor doer).

I've just realised I should have called this post Poor Doer rather than good doer

That will teach me to post when Im tired

 

[Kallibear]

Ditto her weight - it looks fab in the picture. Loosing a little more won't do her any harm but you don't really want her to keep loosing.

And also ditto bex1984 about the change in their metabolise once they're slim and in work - I too have found that they can eat way more than expected without adverse effects.


Is she well rugged? That may be all she needs to keep her condition.

If she's got as much haylage as she can eat I'd start her on speedibeet with a little Dengie Alfa-Oil mixed in. It's very low molasses (so laminitic safe) but high in fibre (keeps her warm) and oil, so for weight gain. That's what we've always fed our lamintic needs more condition. I'd steer clear of grain/concentrate feeds unless absolutly nessesary.