feeding a section A,

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sue12345

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What do you feed your section A's. My little fella is 20 months old and we rescued him off a building site last week end. He looks pretty uncared for and a litttle thin although vet says he has no health problems and the farrier says his hoof quality is good. I have acess to haylege which he is having a small amount well soaked. When he has recovered from his op ( away being de-balled) he will be turned out with the others and brought in at night. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
to get him back up on condition I would feed a condition cube and a balancer like Suregrow, also haylage, gradually introduce his feed so his tum can cope if he isnt used to feeds. I try to avoid molasses and too much starch with my welshes, once you get him where you want cut back on the feed and keep the suregrow.
Good luck :)
 
Hi,
I'd be wary of getting into the mindset of feeding him up. If he isn't used to hard feed he will put on weight as soon as he starts getting any feed at all from you. Section A's are notoriously good doers, so it really won't take long to get weight or condition on him. I would start off on small amounts, the size you expect you will probably feed him when he is up to weight, then if you find he isn't putting on, perhaps increase the feed ever so slightly until you feel he is putting on sufficiently.
What I'm trying to say is that once he is up and running he will put on weight like nobody's business and you are likley to find you are living with a constant battle to keep his weight down.
Don't use "scoops" of feed, measuring in handfulls is plenty for these ponies. Mine gets just one handful of low cal chaff and a vit/min supplement twice a day, with plenty of soaked hay overnight and daytime turnout with not much grass, and he's remained more chubby than I would like all winter on this amount!
Well done for taking him on, I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun with him. Good luck!
 
I have a 23 month old section A. She lives out 24/7 (rugged) and gets fed absolutly nothing. She gets hay only if it has snowed.

I'd really not be worrying too much about feeding him up, as we are now in mid feb. I guarantee in a couple of months time you will be posting that he is too fat! If you really want to give him something then I'd just give a tiny bit of balancer.

Good luck with him!
 
Thank you all. He came home today after his op and is looking very doleful. In about a weeks time i can turn him out with the others, in the mean time it's inhand. He will be out with my section D and gypsy cob amongst others including another section A. I will leave him for 18months or so to grow up. He had been riden and driven but he's only 20 months old !!!!
 
Ditto the above. Ours didn't get any hard feed, other than a few flakes to lick out of the bucket while the others were fed. She also got laminitus from haylage despite not being very fat, so soaking is a good idea, and hay is even better. Ours never had a rug, never got cold and never sweated up while working with her lovely fluffy coat. I suspect yours won't have had any fuss, so I'd leave things as natural as possible - the weight will come on anyway if he's now being fed after not having had much.

Let us know how you go on. They're tough little things - very sweet, but make you want to kill them now and again! We call them welsh mountain dragons!
 
I have a section A gelding who turns 3 in May. He is out for approx 12 hours a day. No breakfast, handful of D & H safe and sound and a cup of Blue Chip Lamilight for tea, 1 slice of hay. He was very very fat in the AUtumn but thankfully lost some when the snow was on the ground because I did not hay them but they still stayed out for 12 hours a day!

When I say a handful I literally mean a handful - the balancer is because I feel being a youngster he needs his supplements and also I will be showing him this summer.

I would certainly not worry about "feeding him up" just give a cup of balancer and a handful of chaff - NO FEEDS WITH SUGAR!!! once a day.

Good luck.
 
just give him adlib hay and a vitamin supp. honestly its coming into spring soon, id be very careful. youl prob be glad in a couple of months that he is a bit under now, lol

mine gets a couple of slices of hay, dodson and horrel vit supplement in a teeny bit of fastfibre & safe&sound, and i mean teeny, not even a handful
 
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