How do I slim my good-doer down without surgery??!!!

I have the same problem! To slim down my 18 year old fatty (she lost about 85 kilo) I gave her a handful of Dengie Good Doer twice a day to put her supplements in (she doesn't love it as much as pony nuts but will eat it and it has mint to flavour it and vitamins/minerals added so a bit more interesting than HiFi Lite), and was horribly strict with her haylage. To start with she had 5lb of haylage a night which was the minimum she could have according to the vet. Boy was she cross! I'd definitely recommend weighing your haylage if you don't already - 5lb looked like nothing in the net. At the moment she is maintaining a nice weight on a round scoop of Good doer twice a day, and a 9lb net of haylage at night (although she's currently on box rest so getting haylage in the day too.) I'd switch to hay in a flash if i could but we have nowhere to keep it dry (tried tarps but still ended up throwing away a lot of mouldy hay), and she coughs on it if it isn't soaked and leaves most of it if it is! I'm lucky in that she doesn't seem to lose any energy on this regime. Good luck with yours.
 
Thank you. I think mine would cough with hay..even soaked. She's up on the hill, bathed in sunshine. Hoping to catch her in a min and go for a long hack. I left them out last night...boy, was it wild!
 
I can understand why you want to continue feeding the fibre nuggets, but can you not cut down the amount? I presume by a bowl scoop you mean a round Stubbs scoop which holds an awful lot - 2 scoops of nuggets a day will add up to a lot of extra calories even if it is only fibre!
 
Don't know about the feeding side of things but to keep the weight off my Shetland he used to do a lot of fast work.

I used to take him on the lead rein for long slow hacks and short fast ones. He had to jog to keep up with Rosie's walk, and fast trot to her slow one.

It really kept the belly off.

He was in summer 'diet' paddocks so 3 blades of grass a day and a lick!!

He didn't need energy for competition like yours does as he was unridden, just a field companion.

I'd speak to a nutritionist if I were you about the fibre intake and up the exercise if you can.
 
i would also swap to soaked hay or soak the haylage for 12hours
just give her hifi lite with a powdered suppliment
sectioning off a part of the field would be good with stallion electric fencing or using a muzzle.try to persist with the muzzle they are really good.obviously the grass isnt good grass but its just the sheer volume shes putting away when turned out.also with the muzzle on you may find shes much easier to catch as she will be feeling a bit more hungry!lol.
 
My pony is a good doer and he is rising 4 so need to give every thing he needs to develop and grow properly. So he is just fed Baileys Lo cal (which is fantastic stuff) and a bit of hi fi lite to make the feed a bit more. He is on hay and restricted grazing and he is excersised lighty. Also I dont over rug him. I really struggled to manage his weight but now I can and he looks great. If you try baileys lo cal make sure you feed the right amount, just speak to baileys they gave me really good advise.
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