Greedy New Forest Pony!!

[GrassChop]

I need some suggestions on what I can do next, please!

My nearly 4yo NF gelding is a complete pig. I've had to split him from my mare as he was eating all of the hay so she was losing weight and he was gaining it. They are both getting one slice of hay total per 24 hours from the huge 4 string bales. My mare who is not that much bigger than him usually gets through only half of this in that time period so never runs out.

If I put it in a normal 5cm hole net for him, it would be gone in probably an hour so it's in one of those trickle nets and it's totally empty every time I'm back up. Last night for example, I put out a haynet with 1 whole slice in for him at about 5:30pm as the weather was terrible and in hope that it would last until lunch time at least and it was gone sometime before 7am! So he's stood there for God knows how many hours without anything but what grass is there. It's great that he's lost some weight going into Spring but I don't want him stood without anything to eat.

He gets a bowl of fast fibre once a day too.

Is he hungry or is he just eating because there is food? Am I not giving him enough? Considering my other pony is similar size, she's content with what she gets and a whole slice would last her more than 24 hours whilst it's only lasting him half this time or less.

Any brilliant suggestions are welcome!

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

NF's, like any other native breed, are stomachs on legs. What's his body score condition wise? Can you feel his ribs? Is he out 24/7? Mine will eat whatever is infront of them. I would suggest that he is eating because he can. I like mine lean coming into spring and make a conscious effort for them to lose weight as nature intends.

 

[GrassChop]

NF's, like any other native breed, are stomachs on legs. What's his body score condition wise? Can you feel his ribs? Is he out 24/7? Mine will eat whatever is infront of them. I would suggest that he is eating because he can. I like mine lean coming into spring and make a conscious effort for them to lose weight as nature intends.

I haven't done a body score, he's currently got a coat like a grizzly bear and can confidently say he is fat, although he has dropped some and it is going in the right direction.
He had been eating his and majority of her hay since the start of winter up to a few weeks a go before I decided to split them so he's been eating a lot. I hadn't actually realised it wasn't her eating her fair share until seeing this now. She is now in an acre and a half and he's been sectioned off into half an acre.

I just worry that he's stood with an empty stomach for hours but it's important he also loses the fat before spring.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

If he's got access to pick at grass he isn't going hungry.

 

[sollimum]

If you are really worried you could mix some straw in to bulk his hay out?

 

[marmalade76]

If he's on grass he'll find something to Hoover up, he won't be standing for hours eating nothing.

 

[Jenko109]

I don't think the amount of hay you are feeding sounds excessive for a pony on half an acre, especially if this has been grazed all winter.

That said, if he needs to lose weight, then something has to give.

I would cut the hay in half and replace the other half with straw. Or soak the hay if you can stomach it this time of year.

 

[ycbm]

The conveyor belt eating is a sign of insulin resistance and EMS. The solution to IR can be to trickle feed for a while, so I would be looking to do everything I could to slow him down. Straw might help. Feeding small amounts every 2 hours would do it but is very labour intensive.
.

 

[Lucky788]

Can you soak the hay? I soak hay for my pony so he can have more but without the calories.

I soak for 10hrs, I also use a luggage weigher so I know exactly what he’s having
He gets 6kg of soaked hay a night at the moment. Seems to take longer to eat the soaked hay too

Eta 6kg dry weight

 

[MuddyMonster]

My NF would honestly eat until he popped.

As a result, he gets soaked hay in very small holed Trickle Nets or Marts Nets (the industrial heavy duty one's) and free access to straw and is ridden 6 days a week.

He's only just ribby.

 

[GrassChop]

Thank you all! I'm going to look at adding some straw to see if it helps. I do think he'll just polish the lot off though just as quickly and I'm not able to get there every couple of hours.

He's definitely losing weight now that he's not having my mare's hay as well but I think it's dropping quicker because he's eating it too quickly and then without bulk until I'm back up. I think what he is having is enough but it just needs to last longer.

The reason I think it's enough is because my mare gets the same and barely gets halfway through it. I know she's on more grass but there's really mostly mud out there at the moment.

Will he adjust and slow down?

 

[Lucky788]

Not if he’s anything like mine
He’d eat until he popped

 

[ycbm]

Thank you all! I'm going to look at adding some straw to see if it helps. I do think he'll just polish the lot off though just as quickly and I'm not able to get there every couple of hours.

He's definitely losing weight now that he's not having my mare's hay as well but I think it's dropping quicker because he's eating it too quickly and then without bulk until I'm back up. I think what he is having is enough but it just needs to last longer.

The reason I think it's enough is because my mare gets the same and barely gets halfway through it. I know she's on more grass but there's really mostly mud out there at the moment.

Will he adjust and slow down?

He might if you can slow down his eating. I took on an IR horse and after a week of trickle feeding he began to moderate himself. It was hard work for a week though!

The trick with yours is possibly to find something he'll only eat if he's starving. Plain straw often works but you might need to test wheat oat and rye to find one that works.
.

 

[honetpot]

Not if he’s anything like mine
He’d eat until he popped

My mare would eat dirty straw off the muck him. Its no food, no rugs, live out if possible and until they lose weight, we may have eight weeks tops before there is real grass growth, netted straw.

 

[Dave's Mam]

If you can soak hay, even for a few hours.

 

[GrassChop]

If you can soak hay, even for a few hours.

Thank you. The portion size he's getting I think is okay, it's just trying to get him to not eat all of it in one go!

 

[GrassChop]

He might if you can slow down his eating. I took on an IR horse and after a week of trickle feeding he began to moderate himself. It was hard work for a week though!

The trick with yours is possibly to find something he'll only eat if he's starving. Plain straw often works but you might need to test wheat oat and rye to find one that works.
.

Thank you. He's been in there for about two weeks now but only a week with the trickle nets. He's had a couple of occasions where he's managed to get the net off and empty it he's dropped weight fairly quickly though stomach-wise but not fat yet if that makes sense! I'm going to adjust his fence today to make it a bit bigger so he has more grass to pick at if he can find any.

 

[honetpot]

Most of the belly is gas from digestion, it isn't really an indicator of losing weight, just change in diet, ie a grass belly.
I have decided the only way to get them to lose weight is exercise, even if they are in the field they have to walk for their food and drink, and even better a bossy pony so they can not settle on to graze for too long. A long narrow strip is better than a rectangle.
My NF pony had never had laminitis until I loaned her out, I couldn't understand it, she had been loaned to a teenager who was doing PC and competitions at the weekend, but she was nearly 100kg over her normal weight. Their normal paddock was small but with too much grass, she was bedded on straw, and had hay on top, so she just ate has much as she could. There was also a misunderstanding with the kg/lbs conversion when the vet came out, and even in kg it was far too much.
I brought her home, she had to be stood in for a while, fed 50/50 hay straw soaked weighed to her target weight, she hated soaked straw, and really weight wise there was much of a dent. I turned her out in winter naked with just one small hay net a day with a companion so they had to squabble for, and it was only then she started to get back to her normal weight.

 

[GrassChop]

Most of the belly is gas from digestion, it isn't really an indicator of losing weight, just change in diet, ie a grass belly.
I have decided the only way to get them to lose weight is exercise, even if they are in the field they have to walk for their food and drink, and even better a bossy pony so they can not settle on to graze for too long. A long narrow strip is better than a rectangle.
My NF pony had never had laminitis until I loaned her out, I couldn't understand it, she had been loaned to a teenager who was doing PC and competitions at the weekend, but she was nearly 100kg over her normal weight. Their normal paddock was small but with too much grass, she was bedded on straw, and had hay on top, so she just ate has much as she could. There was also a misunderstanding with the kg/lbs conversion when the vet came out, and even in kg it was far too much.
I brought her home, she had to be stood in for a while, fed 50/50 hay straw soaked weighed to her target weight, she hated soaked straw, and really weight wise there was much of a dent. I turned her out in winter naked with just one small hay net a day with a companion so they had to squabble for, and it was only then she started to get back to her normal weight.

Thank you for your reply.

Mine is in his own paddock, he's now getting one trickle net with a big bale slice of hay a day and a trickle net of straw just in case. The belly has gone down which is good but there's a lot of fat to get off.
He's naked anyway as his coat is like a polar bear. I debated taking some off but wasn't sure if that would be a bit cruel

 

[Widgeon]

Thank you for your reply.

Mine is in his own paddock, he's now getting one trickle net with a big bale slice of hay a day and a trickle net of straw just in case. The belly has gone down which is good but there's a lot of fat to get off.
He's naked anyway as his coat is like a polar bear. I debated taking some off but wasn't sure if that would be a bit cruel

Does he have any kind of shelter? If no, I would Irish clip, if yes, blanket clip. My EMS cob has been out all winter naked and blanket clipped, but they have access to a barn so I know he'll never be cold AND wet (unless he chooses to be). He's still a bit on the plump side for February but clipping some of that insulating fuzz off definitely does help. You're not cruel!

 

[GrassChop]

Does he have any kind of shelter? If no, I would Irish clip, if yes, blanket clip. My EMS cob has been out all winter naked and blanket clipped, but they have access to a barn so I know he'll never be cold AND wet (unless he chooses to be). He's still a bit on the plump side for February but clipping some of that insulating fuzz off definitely does help. You're not cruel!

Ah thank you! Yes, he's got a shelter but only since this weekend as my other half converted my shelter for me which was being used as storage so now I have a storage section and a stable not that it mattered anyway as he's totally waterproof and probably has the equivalent of a 300g rug on! I'll look at getting him clipped as I'm worried that the grass is going to start coming through and he's still got fat on him.

 

[Widgeon]

Ah thank you! Yes, he's got a shelter but only since this weekend as my other half converted my shelter for me which was being used as storage so now I have a storage section and a stable not that it mattered anyway as he's totally waterproof and probably has the equivalent of a 300g rug on! I'll look at getting him clipped as I'm worried that the grass is going to start coming through and he's still got fat on him.

I had a saddle fitting at the weekend and the fitter said, "he's looking well for February isn't he....I don't envy you people with good doers"! She's not wrong.

That's exciting that you have a shelter now, I have found that knowing they have a shelter to access (even if they choose not to) makes me feel much less guilty and worried about erring on the "cruel to be kind" side of clipping and rugging decisions.

 

[Burnttoast]

Thank you for your reply.

Mine is in his own paddock, he's now getting one trickle net with a big bale slice of hay a day and a trickle net of straw just in case. The belly has gone down which is good but there's a lot of fat to get off.
He's naked anyway as his coat is like a polar bear. I debated taking some off but wasn't sure if that would be a bit cruel

I clip my NF every winter (a sort of chaser/Irish blend) and he's never seemed uncomfortable as a result. I sometimes wonder if I should take more off. In milder spells he'd often be a bit too hot with a full coat so it helps there too. If he's ever cold it seems to be in the summer, when there's a storm and his summer coat isn't up to the job.

 

[GrassChop]

I had a saddle fitting at the weekend and the fitter said, "he's looking well for February isn't he....I don't envy you people with good doers"! She's not wrong.

That's exciting that you have a shelter now, I have found that knowing they have a shelter to access (even if they choose not to) makes me feel much less guilty and worried about erring on the "cruel to be kind" side of clipping and rugging decisions.

Thank you for the reassurance! I think I'll look at doing a low-ish trace clip on him in that case. So much easier with my mare, I could feed her as much hay as she can eat and she doesn't get fat! She's a lovely weight for this time of year. Horses

 

[I'm Dun]

I've never found clipping makes one iota of difference.

Can you weigh the hay so you know what he's getting? You've gotten away with it until now as he's been growing, but unfortunately you are just about to learn how difficult good doers are to manage. I think its partly why I loved my TB so much!

Can you set up a track for him once its a bit drier? The mare in the middle and him on the track with minimal food should help. Put his hay in a hay ball so he's chasing it about and moving, and unless he's out in liquid mud I'd cut the hay right back. He needs to be moving, looking for grass, not standing stuffing his face, which is what they do given half the chance!

 

[GrassChop]

I've never found clipping makes one iota of difference.

Can you weigh the hay so you know what he's getting? You've gotten away with it until now as he's been growing, but unfortunately you are just about to learn how difficult good doers are to manage. I think its partly why I loved my TB so much!

Can you set up a track for him once its a bit drier? The mare in the middle and him on the track with minimal food should help. Put his hay in a hay ball so he's chasing it about and moving, and unless he's out in liquid mud I'd cut the hay right back. He needs to be moving, looking for grass, not standing stuffing his face, which is what they do given half the chance!

I'm taking a completely wild guess but I would say that a trickle net full would probably be around 5kg with one slice? And that's per 24 hours now. With the addition of a trickle net of straw but that's to last a few days with any luck. Definitely not out on liquid mud, it's actually quite green albeit very short. Maybe I should cut the hay down more...

He was on the muck heap over the weekend when I let him in with my mare to do the fencing eating weeks old mixed pooey pee hay!

Issue with a hay ball is that his field is fenced off with electric so nothing to stop it from rolling under! He's now on roughly 3/4 acre with two batteries and energisers powering each end as it's the only way to keep him contained, one isn't strong enough! If I run a track round both fields, I'd need about 10 energisers and batteries as soon as he finds a weak spot, he'll be through! The fixed fencing is barbed wire which he equally doesn't give a stuff about but can't get to it now with the electric. Honestly, he's such a destructive PITA

 

[I'm Dun]

I loved my highland and he was the most quality horse I have ever owned. I have never, not once ever regretted selling him for all the reasons you list there! He used to just walk through older post and rail, stand on the wire of post and wire fencing, and them climb OVER IT!

It will get easier once he's in work, you will just have to work the legs off him so he can have a little bit more freedom

 

[dottylottie]

i found soaking hay stopped mine eating it for the sake of it! if possible i’d split it up and dot the nets around the field, so he’s at least having to move about for it

 

[GrassChop]

What is the likelihood that giving him a clip will help?

 

[Burnttoast]

What is the likelihood that giving him a clip will help?

I don't think it's really possible to tell for sure as, once clipped, there's no way of knowing what their weight would have been in spring if you hadn't (no control pony/control year, etc), but in principle making them cooler should mean some calories are devoted to keeping them warm. Possibly most of us aren't clipping enough off though! There's always the option of a full clip with a rain sheet on wet days.