Feeding advice for a Connie..please help!

Fiona

Fiona

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I got my 13.2 5yo Connie in April, but as he had a cough, he was only stabled for a few weeks then out 24/7 all summer.

He came in at night at the end of Sept and we pretty quickly put him onto horsehage rather than soaked hay to help his wind. He now gives only the very occasional cough so I don't want to change back to hay (for this winter anyway).

In terms of hard feed he gets 2lbs spillers high fibre nuts, 1lb just grass chaff, and 0.5lb fast fibre (split into two feeds) in addition to his 8-12lb of horsehage at night (in from 4pm to 9am at this time of year).

He's normally a laid back pony but I've noticed him being a bit spookier recently (could be either the horsehage or being stables I suppose).

He certainly isn't losing condition on this regime.

Is 15lbs of feed plus grass too much for a native breed pony? He is 164cm on weight tape equating to 323lb. He has put on about 5cm round his girth since we got him, maybe 1cm since they came in at night.

His horsehage is always finished by morning...

Would anyone like to advise?

I've never used haylage before... Always fed ad lib hay plus fibre based feeds, but if I fed him ad lib haylage he'd go pop and explode lol...

Any suggestions for tweaks gratefully received...

Fiona
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I would cut out the bucket feed (he is getting quite a lot currently) and feed ad-lib haylage. Then monitor his weight/condition so that he doesn't get too fat.
Click to expand...

Should I double net it do you think? He is voracious :(

Could definitely cut out the fast fibre and most of hard feed with a token handful (to prevent him kicking the door).....

Fiona
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I would cut out the bucket feed (he is getting quite a lot currently) and feed ad-lib haylage. Then monitor his weight/condition so that he doesn't get too fat.
Click to expand...
It depends on how much work he's doing too. When my Connie was in very light work he only had a handful of HiFi Lite with his mins/vits in, no other short feed, plus a very small holed net of about the same size as you are feeding. How much grass is he getting during the day, is he on straw which he eats, mine was? I was on a yard where only haylage was fed and I had it analysed and surprisingly there wasn't much difference between hay and haylage - on the next yard I fed well soaked hay as he was a very good doer and getting chunky! If in doubt phone one of the feed companies - I used Dengie.
 
Slight amendment... 164cm on weightape is 730lb so feed at 2% of bodyweight should be 15lb.

There is plenty of grass in his field but it's not particularly lush, more stalky.

On an average week he has two hacks, one schooling session and a lesson. Ridden 4-5 times per week. About 8hrs turnout max, less if ridden or out at a lesson.

Bedded on shavings..

Fiona
 
i never fed my connie much, even when he was hunting . They are good doers. Balancers and stuff didn't exist at the time, so he lived on grass, adlinb hay and maybe half a scoop of feed, just to keep him happy while everyone was fed.

Haylage used to make my connie a bit spooky at times, usually in winter when his turnout was more restricted.


I bought special small holed haynets off the internet for my greedy ponies.
 
Summer pudding said:
It depends on how much work he's doing too. When my Connie was in very light work he only had a handful of HiFi Lite with his mins/vits in, no other short feed, plus a very small holed net of about the same size as you are feeding. How much grass is he getting during the day, is he on straw which he eats, mine was? I was on a yard where only haylage was fed and I had it analysed and surprisingly there wasn't much difference between hay and haylage - on the next yard I fed well soaked hay as he was a very good doer and getting chunky! If in doubt phone one of the feed companies - I used Dengie.
Click to expand...

I've added more details in my latest post :)

Thanks

Fiona
 
paddi22 said:
i never fed my connie much, even when he was hunting . They are good doers. Balancers and stuff didn't exist at the time, so he lived on grass, adlinb hay and maybe half a scoop of feed, just to keep him happy while everyone was fed.

Haylage used to make my connie a bit spooky at times, usually in winter when his turnout was more restricted.


I bought special small holed haynets off the internet for my greedy ponies.
Click to expand...

I wish I could give him hay, would be so much simpler....

Will investigate smaller holed nets :) as the last this g I want is him standing half the night with no food, our late check is 10pm...

Thanks....

Fiona
 
Have you thought of steaming hay before you give it to him. My Connie only gets a treat ball with fibre nuggets and lo cal balancer in at night and a really small holed net of hay, used to steam my welshies hay because he coughed in the stable, now have to soak it to remove sugars (I have a fatty). made my own steamer with wall paper strimmer & a wheelie bin
 
I'd cut the hard feed right back to just a tiny bit of Fast Fibre, and perhaps a low cal balancer or vit/min supplement if you are so inclined. Our 14hh pony has hunted and pony raced on such a feeding regime (she is on haylage too).
 
mums the groom said:
Have you thought of steaming hay before you give it to him. My Connie only gets a treat ball with fibre nuggets and lo cal balancer in at night and a really small holed net of hay, used to steam my welshies hay because he coughed in the stable, now have to soak it to remove sugars (I have a fatty). made my own steamer with wall paper strimmer & a wheelie bin
Click to expand...

I haven't tbh as I've just bought a winter's supply of horsehage for him... spoilt pony lol..

Fiona
 
I think perhaps my Connie didn't get the memo about living on fresh air, or at least not at this time of the year. I shudder to think how much more feed he'll need once he's in work - he already gets through 10kg of hay per day, plus his bucket ration, and there isn't a spare ounce on him! On the bright side, just over four years post injury, he's finally got the all clear vet wise, so shan't have to be a field ornament for all of his life after all :)
 
TGM said:
I'd cut the hard feed right back to just a tiny bit of Fast Fibre, and perhaps a low cal balancer or vit/min supplement if you are so inclined. Our 14hh pony has hunted and pony raced on such a feeding regime (she is on haylage too).
Click to expand...

So more haylage and less bucket feed?

Can get a vit supplement at the tack shop on Thursday...

Fiona
 
KittenInTheTree said:
I think perhaps my Connie didn't get the memo about living on fresh air, or at least not at this time of the year. I shudder to think how much more feed he'll need once he's in work - he already gets through 10kg of hay per day, plus his bucket ration, and there isn't a spare ounce on him! On the bright side, just over four years post injury, he's finally got the all clear vet wise, so shan't have to be a field ornament for all of his life after all :)
Click to expand...

There's always an exception isn't there ;)

I'm glad he's ready to ride again though x

Fiona
 
Fiona said:
So more haylage and less bucket feed?

Can get a vit supplement at the tack shop on Thursday...

Fiona
Click to expand...

Is he in correct condition at the moment or is he a bit tubby? If he is a bit tubby I would keep the haylage the same but doublenet it. If he is not tubby then increase the haylage to compensate for the reduction in bucket feed but I would probably still doublenet it to make it last longer.
 
Fiona said:
So more haylage and less bucket feed?

Can get a vit supplement at the tack shop on Thursday...

Fiona
Click to expand...

For sure. That’s quite a bit of hard feed for a native not in heavy work.
I’d virtually cut it out bar a token feed, then give more haylage - maybe split into 2 nets, a tea time net and a 10pm net given it sound like you do a late night check.
And feed either the blue or purple horsehage rather than the green rye stuff - but I’d imagine you are anyway
 
TGM said:
Is he in correct condition at the moment or is he a bit tubby? If he is a bit tubby I would keep the haylage the same but doublenet it. If he is not tubby then increase the haylage to compensate for the reduction in bucket feed but I would probably still doublenet it to make it last longer.
Click to expand...

I'll put a pic up, but possibly a bit round. Nothing major..

Fiona
 
ihatework said:
For sure. That’s quite a bit of hard feed for a native not in heavy work.
I’d virtually cut it out bar a token feed, then give more haylage - maybe split into 2 nets, a tea time net and a 10pm net given it sound like you do a late night check.
And feed either the blue or purple horsehage rather than the green rye stuff - but I’d imagine you are anyway
Click to expand...

I suppose I was thinking as it was all fibre based, it wasn't like I was feeding buckets of sugary mix... Point taken though:)

Fiona
 
22728837_1670998666286385_1523946974454153941_n.jpg


This was taken about 3 weeks ago...

Fiona
 
Fiona said:
I suppose I was thinking as it was all fibre based, it wasn't like I was feeding buckets of sugary mix... Point taken though:)

Fiona
Click to expand...

Well it is better than mix, but even so the High Fibre Cubes are 14% sugar/starch combined and the Just Grass is likely to have a fairly high natural sugar content - D&H don't give a percentage but say it is not suitable for laminitics. So for a pony that is getting a bit spooky worth cutting them out, plus it will work out cheaper for you anyway.
 
So I think my thoughts are that you are probably paying quite a lot to feed the pony lots of not really a lot if that makes sense?
There is very little in fast fibre that would make me feed it other than as a palatable, lowest calorie carrier for supplements. I like and have fed the just grass but again mostly as a chop carrier for supplements and oats (he's fussy ;) ).

I would increase the haylage and drop the hard feed.
My go to for vits and mins is equimins advanced complete, it even comes in a pellet so can be fed by hand if required (much less volume required to most 'balancers'.
 
I have a connie with breathing issues too. He is on soaked hay rather than haylage as he tends to get a bit sharper on haylage, and I also use Naf respirator, which really helps him. At the moment he gets alfa a, handful of nuts and his supplements including a vit and min supplement. I would try your pony on a molasses free chaff like hi-fi-but make sure its the molasses free one! then add supplements including something for his breathing, a vits and mins supplement and anything else-I like using a bit of linseed oil. Both my ponies are on this sort of diet, both are a reasonable weight given they are natives. The only difference is that one is retired so he gets just the chaff, whereas my connie is working at elementary dressage level so needs a bit more. For your boy, the simpler diet would probably be fine.
 
TGM said:
Well it is better than mix, but even so the High Fibre Cubes are 14% sugar/starch combined and the Just Grass is likely to have a fairly high natural sugar content - D&H don't give a percentage but say it is not suitable for laminitics. So for a pony that is getting a bit spooky worth cutting them out, plus it will work out cheaper for you anyway.
Click to expand...

Token feed of just grass and fast fibre with vit supplement then...

And more horsehage...

What do you think of his condition?

Fiona
 
ester said:
So I think my thoughts are that you are probably paying quite a lot to feed the pony lots of not really a lot if that makes sense?
There is very little in fast fibre that would make me feed it other than as a palatable, lowest calorie carrier for supplements. I like and have fed the just grass but again mostly as a chop carrier for supplements and oats (he's fussy ;) ).

I would increase the haylage and drop the hard feed.
My go to for vits and mins is equimins advanced complete, it even comes in a pellet so can be fed by hand if required (much less volume required to most 'balancers'.
Click to expand...

I'll look into that one ester.. thanks..

Also maybe I should get veteran vitality rather than fast fibre for the other two (21 And 19yos) if ff doesn't have much goodness in it...

Fiona
 
NinjaPony said:
I have a connie with breathing issues too. He is on soaked hay rather than haylage as he tends to get a bit sharper on haylage, and I also use Naf respirator, which really helps him. At the moment he gets alfa a, handful of nuts and his supplements including a vit and min supplement. I would try your pony on a molasses free chaff like hi-fi-but make sure its the molasses free one! then add supplements including something for his breathing, a vits and mins supplement and anything else-I like using a bit of linseed oil. Both my ponies are on this sort of diet, both are a reasonable weight given they are natives. The only difference is that one is retired so he gets just the chaff, whereas my connie is working at elementary dressage level so needs a bit more. For your boy, the simpler diet would probably be fine.
Click to expand...

He gets global herbs dust x which really helps...

I think token feed is the way to go :)

Thanks


Fiona
 
Condition wise he wouldn’t want any more. I’d not be concerned this side of Christmas but would want him slimmer coming into spring
 
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