help with fat pony!

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deja224

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got given a horse on loan and shes very fat! saddle fitter came other day and said i think when u get her u need to look at her diet. so shes on ad lib hay used to have loads of grazing but im strip grazing her now her am feed was a level ice cream tub of hifi 2/3tsp fly free 1/2 tsp mint 25ml scratch stop surup,veg oil and pasture mix pm feed level ice cream tub of hifi 2/3tsp fly free 1/2tsp mint 25ml scratch stop surup veg oil and pasture mix also in each feed the owner gave her carrots cabbage apples ect :{ what the hell do i cut down on first info on the pony 13.3 cob
 
If pony needs feed to have suppliments in, then change the Hifi to Hifi Lite, cut everything else! Certainly pasture mix and oil
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soak hay to reduce sugar and nutrients, and I would imagine a good multivitamin suppliment would be beneficial as sustitute for what he would naturally get from foraging and unsoaked hay. I use seaweed, but I'm sure others can advise you on alternatives. Do make changes gradually of course, but you really need to start straight away. I have a pony recovering from lammi and its not something I would wish on anybody
 
Echo the others on feed - a large handful of very low calorie chaff (hifi Lite or Hifi Good Doer) and nothing else! Pasture mix is fairly low calorie stuff but still a cereal she doesn't need. If she's getting enough to get all her vits and mierals from it (usually a large round stubbs scoop worth daily) she's getting FAR too much! Which makes it rather pointless.

Oil is also really high calories - it's what you feed to horses who have trouble keeping weight on. There is not benifit in feed it otherwise, esp as horses have no gall bladder and find oil hard to digest (and need extra Vit E to do so). A shiney coat comes from good overall nutrition.

Like others suggested, I'd put her on a general supplement (there's loads out there, all pretty similar. I use Naff General Supplement as it's fairly cheap and seems to taste nice (they'll eat it on it's own if I let them!)) and just the handful of chaff.

Strip grazing sound perfect, but make sure you don't move it out too quickly - she should be on a pretty much bare patch and given soaked hay to make sure she keeps eating fibre.

Then it's just exercise and lots of it! If you could work her twice a day (maybe lunge for 20mins in morning then ride in the avo) that would make a huge difference.
 
does she actually *need* those supplements?? if so, I would put it in as little as you can get away with tbh

my fat pony ( and horse actually) are having grass and their quota of equibites every day.....
 
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Echo the others on feed - a large handful of very low calorie chaff (hifi Lite or Hifi Good Doer) and nothing else! Pasture mix is fairly low calorie stuff but still a cereal she doesn't need. If she's getting enough to get all her vits and mierals from it (usually a large round stubbs scoop worth daily) she's getting FAR too much! Which makes it rather pointless.

Oil is also really high calories - it's what you feed to horses who have trouble keeping weight on. There is not benifit in feed it otherwise, esp as horses have no gall bladder and find oil hard to digest (and need extra Vit E to do so). A shiney coat comes from good overall nutrition.

Like others suggested, I'd put her on a general supplement (there's loads out there, all pretty similar. I use Naff General Supplement as it's fairly cheap and seems to taste nice (they'll eat it on it's own if I let them!)) and just the handful of chaff.

Strip grazing sound perfect, but make sure you don't move it out too quickly - she should be on a pretty much bare patch and given soaked hay to make sure she keeps eating fibre.

Then it's just exercise and lots of it! If you could work her twice a day (maybe lunge for 20mins in morning then ride in the avo) that would make a huge difference.

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Ditto this!
 
If you think the Scratch Stop's working them there's no reason to stop it.

I feed a general supplement because my horses have restricted grazing. It's not enough to over-supplement them and makes sure they get everything they should. Sea weed is a reasonable 'general' supplement but there are better, specially formulated, cheaper ones avalible.

On a side note - if she's come from un-poo-picked grazing she'll def need to be wormed.
 
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Sea weed is a reasonable 'general' supplement but there are better, specially formulated, cheaper ones avalible.


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Not cheaper than mine theres not
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My horse is wearing a muzzle on a very small eaten down paddock, 24 hour soaked hay, 1xfeed - small handful hifi lite, recommended dose of formula feet from the laminitis clinic, 30ml aloe vera. He gets hacked for 1x30-60 minutes and 1x60-90 minutes 5 or 6 days a week (so he gets hacked twice a day - this is because we have just lost our mare so my husband doesn't currently have a ride), lunged every day (before his morning ride) and schooled about 4 times a week. He is losing the weight.

He has sweet itch and I use Carr and Days Killitch for that rather than supplements. He has a very very shiny coat. He is not laminitic but I lost my mare to it last week so I feed the formula feet for healthy hooves.
 
My daughters pony is a very 'good doer'!! He went slightly lamo a couple of months ago, since then he's been out over night and comes in fairly early.I also make sure that my daughter rides him at least 6 times a week,jumping,schooling and hacking. He has a little hay and codlavine licks just to break the boredom while he's in and carrots as treats but no feed as such.

He'slooking fab at the mo' very shiny, and not too fat now.
Kat.x
 
I have same, fat pony!! had saddle fitted today but sadly will need another when he slims down! - I feed only handful of nuts and hi fi late, restricted grazing and comes in every night with small net....

And loads of hacking and schooling, the pounds are coming off slowly!
 
My vet said that my overweight horse should be on more chaff, not less. He said that its lower calorie than grass and should fill her up so that she eats less when she is turned out. I know it sounds like it is better to feed only handful, and it was certainly cheaper when I did, but general advice is to fit fatties more chaff than you might think, not less. The best thing really is to ring a feed helpline
 
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