Feeding tips for dieting a fat pony!!!!

Auslander

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Don't waste your money! Unless you're restricting his grazing in a big way, or he's in ridiculously hard work, he will be absolutely fine without hard feed.
 

hopscotch bandit

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Best advice is to double netting any hay nets after soaking the hay for a few hours. Double netting makes the holes smaller so it takes longer to empty the net, extending the time he is eating.
If he's out 24/7 you need to reduce the size of his turnout using electric fencing/put him in a grazing muzzle/look at partly stabling him during the day doing the above.

And increase his exercise by either hacking, starting with small hacks and building up length and speed (no sloppy hacking along on a long rein but make him walk out) and use a horse walker prior to exercise to warm him up or after exercise to cool down as even ten minutes a time means more calories burnt! I wouldn't be tempted to lunge him as his extra weight will put strain on his joints on a circle.

If you are really concerned about nutrients then a handful of Good Doer chaff or similar would be sufficient so you can add a supplement to it, but like Auslander says it's probably not necessary.
 

Leo Walker

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I feel the opposite. If you are restricting grazing and forage then you do need to replace vitamins and minerals and a small amount of protein. If mine is dieting she has restricted grazing when out, a small haynet when in a trug of chopped oat straw as well as a straw bed to pick at. She has a small feed of pink mash which is the lowest calorie food I can find, and in that she gets equimins advance complete. Things like "good doer" or happy hoof chaff tend to not be great for them. Its always worth looking at the ingredients and not just relying on what they are called.

Mine is a good weight although has put weight on in the last week or so when shes been out more and working less. usually she maintains her weight easily on average grazing and the token feed mentioned above. She does a mixture of longer slower work and shorter faster work. Shes a driving pony but I do lunge her and she jumps on the lunge and does raised poles etc. I aim to get her heart rate up and for her to be really working and sweating every day. Its probably even more important when they need to lose weight. It can be done without exercising, its just harder.
 

Auslander

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I feel the opposite.

OP hasn't defined "dieting", and something about the way the post is constructed gives me the feeling that her pony isn't being restricted in a way that would mean the diet needs to be supplemented. I do tend to err on the side of "ponies are designed to exist just fine on twigs and moss" though!
 

Goldenstar

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I always have my dieting horses ( I have two atm on strict rations ) on a high quality balancer and a small amount of linseed .
One of them Fatty has been one a diet most of his life he’s retired now I had him on a good but cheap supplement and changed him in April to a super dooper one I see a huge difference in him his coat is fab his feet are growing like weeds I think he just needed the better supplement because his diet is so restricted.
The horses here always do best on this balancer perhaps it suits here best .
By dieting I mean the two of them are on a bare strip overnight and inside during the day they get a small mash to get the supplement in after they have been in three to four hours they get a small amount of hay and three to four hours after that they get a little top chop zero it’s a really strict diet .
 

supsup

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I think the advice from the Blue Cross on its "Fat Horse Slim" campaign is pretty good regarding feeding for weight loss. The most important aspect is controlling forage intake. How/how much you do that then determines if/what type of bucket feed you should add. Here's a link to the Blue Cross brochure, if you want to have a look:
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/fat-horse-slim.pdf
 
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