Grazing for mini Shetlands

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kat2290

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Our two mini shetland fillies arrived a week ago, they are both 6months and just weaned so I presume need more food/nutrients at this stage than a mature pony as they are growing. They are being kept in a field with very long grass (out of necessity not choice), stabled at night (no feed or hay), they are having 10hours of grazing a day on average...is this too much even for growing youngsters? I am wondering if I should be muzzling them? I'm terrified of them getting Lami so want to make sure I'm doing everything right!
 
I had been giving them hay at night but then stopped as I was worried I was giving them too much and they are both definitely looking slightly rounder than when we got them which was only a week ago!
I'm worried about giving too much and about giving too little, it's a fine balance I guess!
 
kat2290 said:
I had been giving them hay at night but then stopped as I was worried I was giving them too much and they are both definitely looking slightly rounder than when we got them which was only a week ago!
I'm worried about giving too much and about giving too little, it's a fine balance I guess!
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Try soaking the hay and double netting, it will slow them down and not be of much nutritional value to them.
 
I think your mini,s should still have some forage overnight it not fair to expect any horse/pony to go without forage all night, its not healthy for them. If your worried about them getting fat soak the hay, my mini has cushings and is lami prone and he still has some hay over night if he stays in. When they have finished growing you will know when to limit their grazing, as with all horses you have to manage their weight.
 
Ah right that's very interesting thanks I didn't realise it was unhealthy for them not to have anything overnight, I will definitely start giving them soaked hay. So grazing for the most part of the day unrestricted is ok whilst they are young?
 
It all depends on what the long grass is, is it rich grass { very green, and lush looking with clover in it} if it is then can you not section a small area off, if not i dont like the idea of muzzling a young foal, it could cause an accident, or cause behavour problems. Most youngsters dont get laminitis until at least 4 years old, as they are growing, but you also have to be sensable.
If the grazing is old dead grass, then they should be alright, if you are stabling them at night, they do need hay, i wouldnt bother soaking your hay, i have a trickle net { tiny holes in it} that i give my minis as it takes them hours to eat out off it.
 
No it's not lush, it's either dead or dying. About half the field is long and half is much shorter but still not sparse. They seem to prefer the long stuff - they spend 90% of their time in this area.

I did wonder how they would react to a muzzle, danger wise I think it would be ok as our house looks out onto the field and there is almost always somebody around to keep an eye on things. Obviously it is always a risk though. I wouldn't keep it on constantly, maybe just for half their grazing time. I'm not rushing out to buy them one I think I will just keep an eye on how things go. Strip grazing is a possibility but I thought it would be better to muzzle to allow them full range of the field exercise wise as they do a lot of wandering around throughout the day.
Thanks so much for the advice everbody!
 
Just be careful with mini's, as actually they can need much higher protein than you think as they can be prone to many problems. Keep an eye on their feet/bellies, keep them well wormed and I'd personally be giving them a small amount of the formulised mixes for mini's on top of forage. I've always found if they're kept on just forage, especially hay, then their digestive system can slow right down and they end up having a very 'beach ball' looking round belly, however, are in fact skinny as they're not getting enough protein/nutrients they actually need - you know this is happening if they have very small necks/hind quarters, but then a great big huge belly with that.

Obviously, might not be the same, but just a throwaway comment I thought I'd say, as we had so many problems with our mini.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
I'd personally be giving them a small amount of the formulised mixes for mini's on top of forage. I've always found if they're kept on just forage, especially hay, then their digestive system can slow right down and they end up having a very 'beach ball' looking round belly, .
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What type of mix would you recommend?
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Just be careful with mini's, as actually they can need much higher protein than you think as they can be prone to many problems. Keep an eye on their feet/bellies, keep them well wormed and I'd personally be giving them a small amount of the formulised mixes for mini's on top of forage. I've always found if they're kept on just forage, especially hay, then their digestive system can slow right down and they end up having a very 'beach ball' looking round belly, however, are in fact skinny as they're not getting enough protein/nutrients they actually need - you know this is happening if they have very small necks/hind quarters, but then a great big huge belly with that.

Obviously, might not be the same, but just a throwaway comment I thought I'd say, as we had so many problems with our mini.
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sorry to jump in here- but OH !! How very interesting!! I got my mini in Jan despite restricted grazing in summer we got her tested to see if she was in foal, so many experienced horsey people were convinced she was by the shape of her! (she wasnt). She has been out with a grazing muzzle on since although improved, she is as you described... beach ball belly but no fat elsewhere!! Ive just started feeding my other horse for winter and she is getting a handful of safe n sound with forage plus winter balancer. Hoping now having read your post that the ‘beachball’ might improve on this!

OP - as yours is still growing vits&mins are essential so make sure you get a broad spec vit&min supplement into a handful of something like safensound / happyhoof. I can recommend forageplus but its pricey, something like equimins vits&mins would be fine.
 
Please do not restrict their grazing at this age, they are only 6 months, they are NOT going to get laminitis. Especially if they are not on majorly rich cow pasture! We breed shetlands, and find that up until the spring of their third year, they are safe from laminitis. Definitely under one year, and probably two, you are virtually 100% safe - you'd have to have some other underlying problem or have them as fat as Norfolk turkeys for them to be at risk.

Also echo, please do NOT stable them at night with no food at all. They should never be left for more than an hour or two without some form of food - if you do, you run the risk of them developing ulcers. Horses & ponies are trickle feeders, and need almost constant access to fibre (hay or grass).

At this age, not only would I have them on either hay or grass all the time, I'd also be giving them either a feed balancer or a small chaff feed with a vit/min supplement in it. They are young, growing animals, and need to be sure they are getting all the nutrients.

If you would like further advice, please pm me, and I am happy to advise. Can give you our website/FB group for our shetland stud, so you will always be able to find us! We are always happy to offer advice to anyone new to the breed / ponies in general.
 
We've been recommended a mini mix with a higher protein count for one of our little ones, we're going to try him on it over this winter.
Last winter, it was the CoolStance team who originally said to us about him and his 'belly', as he was absolutely huge and looked pregnant, but he'd been wormed to an inch of his life and counted and all was fine. Granted, he had 'extra' problems in top of that, as he was an orphan who we bought on from a 4 week old foal. He was fine, up until around the 6 months mark, which was when he started going all a bit down hill. We actually had the feed people out for the cobs at work, however mentioned the little mini foal, so showed them him and they said about he was essentially starving himself from his gut completely slowing down on the forage and pony nuts. He said he needed higher protein feed in him and swap him onto some haylage, and should start seeing a difference over the months. We at the time then, swapped him onto Coolstance with extra PowerStance....seemed to certainly make him brighter after a couple of weeks, though the belly still remained quite big. We then got him a extra care/youngstock mix which we put him on early New year, which got rid of the belly more. Then in Spring he got swapped back onto hay, and the belly started coming back, so he was swapped back onto grass and haylage, but no hard feed over summer, which kept him back almost normal again.
Been recommended a special mix for mini's to try for him this winter...but I don't know for the life of me what it's called as have never used it. Soon as I find out, I'll let you know! Or just ask some mini breeders on here what they feed as I'm sure they'll know of the best mixes :)
Our mini is certainly not 'normal', so this may not be the case, but just something I'd thought I'd mention as both vets and ourselves and other people on the yard were stumped over what was his 'problem' causing him to go so bloated and skinny, when worms/etc weren't the case. Was the feed people who ended up enlightening us with the info.
 
Thanks Varkie that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for, very helpful! They have been getting a handful of D&H Foal mix each night but it hasn't been a lot, tonight they have been given a plentiful supply of hay as well - I'm mortified that I didn't realise it was so bad for them :( but on the plus side at least I've learnt sooner rather than later. Is the D&H stuff ok to carry on with or shall I get something else?
 
Varkie I've just taken on a shetland and have absolutely no experience of them. Could you do a sticky or start a post with some feeding advice for all of us that are new to minis - I'm sure it would be a great help, I know it would to me!
 
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