Feeding a pony that lives out?

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BrightOrbit

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Hi
I'm moving my pony to grass d.i.y in a week
Ive always had her stabled she is 14.2hh Welsh x Arab around 12 years old
She's always had 2 sections of hay twice a day and 2 hard feeds a day consisting of a scoop of apple chaff and a handful of cool/pasture mix or pony nuts with a few carrots
Anyway i was wondering seeing as she will be out 24/7 what changes should i make to her feeding regime
The grass is decent but not amazing or rich
She will be ridden 4/5 times a week just a bit of hacking, schooling and show jumping an hour at a time and hopefully this summer the odd competition
Also how should i change her food when it comes to winter and shes living out?
She doesn't really have weight issues shes a bit chubby at the moment but doesn't really drop or put on weight too easily.
Hope you can help sorry about the essay!
 
let her live off the grass - she's a pony and shouldn't need extra feed unless working really hard. For minerals give her a mineral block that she can freely access in the field.
 
Same as Evelyn says, ponies shouldn't need a feed if on grass 24/7 especially if the're a bit overweight and in light work.

I would cut out the apple chaff anyway, has a lot of sugar in it. In winter if she needs more then feed a high fibre/low sugar/low starch feed like Allen and Page Fast Fibre.

Cut out the hay as well if the grass is ok. They are designed to live off fresh air!
 
we have a highland fell and two connemara's living out in full work most of them are just on 1 feed a day mostly made up of chaff to help mix in the vit supplement (its great having them out all the time much happier ponies)
 
mine are out 24/7 and are just fed a lo-cal balancer for their vitamins/minerals, as the grass is not great quality (very light sandy soil), but there is plenty of it.
Same in the winter, but grass is replaced with ad-lib hay and they are rugged.
 
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My three are out 24/7 in all weathers.

They have access to a mineral lick and seaweed so they are free to choose which supplement to take and how often. They also have access to fruit and vegetables periodically.

In the winter they have hay and A & P Fast fibre when the grass is non-existance. They have plenty of energy for all activities and in the 10 years I have owned them they have never had any digestive issues.
 
Mine lives out 24/7 all year and is a 16.2hh Irish sports horse with a similar workload. All year I feed him Baileys lo-cal with some chaff, and he gets plenty hay in winter.
 
My first thought was, god, that's a lot of feed for a not-very-big-and-only-in-light-work pony! I'm not surprised she's tubby! Our 17hh hunter gets less than that!

She doesn't need all that hard feed and it doesn't contribute anything useful. Restricted grass and a token feed for her supplement (powder or pellets) is all she should need.
 
I've got a 14.2h Arab x welsh too :). U probably find that a lot of feeds hype her up? Mine lives out thro summer and she only gets 2 handfuls of good doer so she can have her joint supplements. I also give her NAF oliovite as a vit/min supplement.
 
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