Feeding a pony prone to Laminitis

S

spotty_pony

...
Joined
29 July 2005
Messages
12,552
Visit site
My pony is prone to Laminitis (he got a very mild case of it in May for the first time as he was overweight due to the Spring grass.) He was put in a starvation paddock and his feed was reduced to a handful of Good Doer chaff and 1 1/2 mugfuls of Baileys Lo-Cal Balancer per day. He was also allowed to eat from a small haynet of hay whilst he was in.

He has now lost enough weight and is looking well atm. However, I do not want him to loose anymore weight as he is about right now but I also do not want him to put anymore on.

There is too much grass in the other paddocks at my yard so I am keeping him in the Starvation paddock but allowing him to come in and eat hay. I have also increased his feed to a small scoop of Good Doer chaff and 2 mugfuls of Pony Cubes as well as the usual 1 1/2 mugfuls of Baileys Lo-Cal Balancer.

Will this diet help him maintain his weight? He is getting all of the right vitamins everyday but I was wondering if there was anything else I should/could be feeding him or does this sound about right?

Any advice much appreciated
smile.gif
x
 
We feed our pony, hifi lite, soya oil, Founder guard and supplements. He has second cut haylage when he is in an and turn out in a starvation paddock. He is a little on the lean side but very fit and happy.
 
i feed mine happy hoof. He is out 24 hrs in a sparse paddock but i can move the fence to strip graze when necessary. Since we have had some wet weather i haven't been moving the fence as the grass is growing a bit now. There is new evidence to say that it serves little purpose to restrict their time out as they tend to gorge themselves when they are out and eat as much as one who is out all the time. It seems to be working for us this year (touch wood). He got it last year for the first time since i got him 5 years ago and i was gutted.
If you are bringing him in perhaps you could soak his hay to take out the goodness and then he can have more hay so that he doesn't run out. I think you stick with what works for you. There are so many contributary factors to laminitis, mine wasn't overweight at all, it was just purely the spring grass and the wet weather and fluctuating temperatures. Perhaps you could call one of the feed companies and ask their advice.

Good luck
 
i use hi fi lite coz it is low in every thing but it is a mantainace chaff so once they loose it you just had a bit more until at ideal weight!
 
[ QUOTE ]
i feed mine happy hoof. He is out 24 hrs in a sparse paddock but i can move the fence to strip graze when necessary. Since we have had some wet weather i haven't been moving the fence as the grass is growing a bit now. There is new evidence to say that it serves little purpose to restrict their time out as they tend to gorge themselves when they are out and eat as much as one who is out all the time. It seems to be working for us this year (touch wood). He got it last year for the first time since i got him 5 years ago and i was gutted.
If you are bringing him in perhaps you could soak his hay to take out the goodness and then he can have more hay so that he doesn't run out. I think you stick with what works for you. There are so many contributary factors to laminitis, mine wasn't overweight at all, it was just purely the spring grass and the wet weather and fluctuating temperatures. Perhaps you could call one of the feed companies and ask their advice.

Good luck

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the advice. I am not leaving him in for more than a couple of hours a day so he will not be eating a huge amount of hay, just enough to fill him up for a bit as there is hardly any grass in the Starvation paddock.
 
My pony was diagnosed with laminitis five weeks ago, despite being a healthy weight and turned out in a muzzle.
She is feed hay soaked for 18 to 24 hours in a small holed net, has a handful of happy hoof when the others are fed and access to a vitamin and mineral lick. She is currently being walked in hand and allowed very little grazing.
I'm planning to keep her feed the same and she will live out for 18 hours a day from November until April then she will come in at night and be muzzled during the day through, spring/summer and autumn. This regime has been agreed with my vet.
 
Ive got 2 prone to it, one is so prone that the slightest thing sets her off. Even chaff meant for lami's gave her laminitis!

She's on speedibeet and a high-spec vit & min powder. Otherwise, she's purely on hay. She doesnt get any grass at all anymore. She's been totally sound for the past few months now on this diet and amazingly is holding weight fine.
 
I have two elderly cobs which have both suffered from Laminitis.

If your pony is susceptible to Laminitis then if you want to do the best for them it is important to keep your pony well under weight. i.e so that it's ribs and haunches show - no you are not being cruel - in fact you are being kind to your pony.

You should also gently excercise your pony as much as possible. (2 - 4 hours gentle hacking per day).

Laminitis can be caused by a number of different things such as an infection, a worm bourden such as emerging encysted red worms (not detected in a worm count), Cushings Disease etc.

As a suppliment try Formulae for Feet as this was formulated for horses that suffer from Laminitis by Dr Robert Eustace who has a specialist Laminits practice.

All hay should be soaked for at least one hour to remove the nutrients.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do you really need to feed him at all?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I want to make sure he is getting all of the required vitamins and minerals each day and also he is not getting hardly anything when turned out and I don't want him to loose anymore weight. Also, he could do with having a bit more energy as he is quite lazy at times, even though he is now very fit.
 
You could feed him those biscuit things... cant remember what theyre called now! But they're made for horses, you give them one and it supplies them with all their daily vits & mins. Id just make sure to give him loads of hay, personally I wouldnt soak it since he probably needs some degree of the nutrients to maintain weight / stop loosing it. Id make sure you're giving him a supplement high in B vitamins as a lot of normal ones dont have these and I believe these can help with horses lacking in energy etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top