Feeding a sluggish pony out 24/7

[cheekywelshie]

Hi all

Our ponies are on Full livery and go out 24/7 in summer- it is the policy of the yard. However mine seems to have less energy than ever and is always tired. He wasn’t very energetic to begin with ? which makes riding hard work.

Any thoughts on how to perk him up a bit?

Don’t have the option to bring in for a few hours unless I do it ( as YO won’t due to policy) but am at work during the day and would also need to buy extra hay as hay not included in FL in summer. So it is possible but he would also be in on his own.

 

[Widgeon]

First thing I would ask is, is he fat? That won't help.

I give my cob oats for a bit of extra whizz - he's also out 24/7 and the amount of grass doesn't seem to affect his energy levels. He's either fat and sluggish (unrestricted grazing) or slim and sluggish (in winter, or on restricted grazing). Getting him fit for longer fun rides, full day hacks etc when he's so backward was really hard and the oats gave him the extra bit of energy we needed to start getting him fit. Then he seemed to be doing well on them so I just kept feeding them. They don't have any perceptible impact on his wasitline either.

One other thing I would wonder about - if your pony isn't like this in winter, could he currently be deficient in something? Ie maybe the grass isn't giving him everything he needs? There are plenty of people on here who know much more about that than I do. Or if he's teenage or older, perhaps have a word with your vet and rule out Cushings to start with.

 

[sbloom]

I shared this on my FB recently, it might help

https://www.facebook.com/DressageNaturally.KarenRohlf/posts/10159726744518397

 

[billylula]

I'd bring him in for a few hours and give haylage, unless he's a fatty (in which case more work needed). I presume he has vitamins and mins or a balancer - if not I would feed him this and see if that helps. Low grade pain can also make horses very sluggish so get him checked by vet/physio/farrier.

 

[SEL]

Might be the grass. I've had either ridiculous (micro cob) or dopey (rest of them) since the grass came through and mine are heavily restricted.

 

[Hackback]

Flies? If they really hate them some horses tire themselves out constantly moving to get away from them.

 

[billylula]

Flies? If they really hate them some horses tire themselves out constantly moving to get away from them.

yes one of mine does which is why i bring him for part of the day - he sleeps laying down when he comes in!

 

[ihatework]

What breed / weight / workload and how much grass is there?

Going by user name, if you have a native type that piles on the pounds they can at best get fat & stuffy, at worst mildly laminitic that presents as lethargy before it deteriorates.

 

[Burnttoast]

Does he sleep in the field?

 

[k1994]

My usually forwards Welsh can get real lazy in summer if I ride during the day she gets really snoozy in the heat defo built for the cold, fixed by riding in mornings/evenings in summer. Am in the Uk though so not sure how much the temperature changes there!

 

[Chianti]

Hi all

Our ponies are on Full livery and go out 24/7 in summer- it is the policy of the yard. However mine seems to have less energy than ever and is always tired. He wasn’t very energetic to begin with ? which makes riding hard work.

Any thoughts on how to perk him up a bit?

Don’t have the option to bring in for a few hours unless I do it ( as YO won’t due to policy) but am at work during the day and would also need to buy extra hay as hay not included in FL in summer. So it is possible but he would also be in on his own.

My pony can be less than forward going in the summer. Once he was down to a good weight I started giving him some Pure Feeds Easy and found that gave him a bit more spark without putting weight on.

 

[cheekywelshie]

I'd bring him in for a few hours and give haylage, unless he's a fatty (in which case more work needed). I presume he has vitamins and mins or a balancer - if not I would feed him this and see if that helps. Low grade pain can also make horses very sluggish so get him checked by vet/physio/farrier.

I'd been bringing him in and giving him some haylage where I could - but he's on FL because of work so it hasn't always been possible. They are now out in their summer paddocks. He's on spillers veteran balancer. He was OK til they went out 24/7

 

[cheekywelshie]

My usually forwards Welsh can get real lazy in summer if I ride during the day she gets really snoozy in the heat defo built for the cold, fixed by riding in mornings/evenings in summer. Am in the Uk though so not sure how much the temperature changes there!

Mine is exactly the same - much better in winter!

 

[cheekywelshie]

Does he sleep in the field?

I've no idea but i've never seen him lie down in the field, in the stable yes. He seemed a bit bloated tonight - i got him in when I went up groomed for ages then rode for a bit.

 

[cheekywelshie]

What breed / weight / workload and how much grass is there?

Going by user name, if you have a native type that piles on the pounds they can at best get fat & stuffy, at worst mildly laminitic that presents as lethargy before it deteriorates.

Cobby type, weight about 500Kg (although he's been on winter paddocks with hardly any grazing for past two weeks now moved to a small summer paddock sectioned in half but...well if I could manage it myself I'd probably not have him out 24/7 but I don't have that choice.

 

[cheekywelshie]

yes one of mine does which is why i bring him for part of the day - he sleeps laying down when he comes in!

Yes that's what mine did when he was out but it is yard policy that they have to go out 24/7 in summer

 

[spotty_pony]

He might not be sleeping well in the field - ours are much happier coming in for a few hours per day, sometimes they spend most of the day in in fact in the summer and out overnight. My boy can often be found fast asleep laying down and you rarely see them looking out all day as they are sleeping.

 

[spotty_pony]

And if this isn’t allowed I’d been looking at different yard options to accommodate his needs.

 

[Annagain]

Ours have switched to being out 24/7 in the last month and while the oldies have been fine, the younger horses have been really sluggish. I wonder if the old boys are so used to it now that they've just fallen into their normal routine but the young ones take longer to adjust as it's still new to them and they're not sleeping as well. They're in the same field so the grass hasn't changed, they're just on it for longer.

 

[Winters100]

It sounds to me as if the yard does not suit him, so I would look for somewhere that can accommodate him coming inside for some time.

 

[J&S]

In the old days we all had grass kept ponies, they were a bit spritely perhaps in the spring but once full of grass were definitely a bit slower. We used to bring them in a good hour before being ridden to let their tummies go down. A few oats might help or some competition mix.