How much hay to feed...

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maisie

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Little ponies (mini shetland - laminitic 17yo underweight & 12hh sec A 5yo not in work ) are in a paddock with pretty much no grass - they both have a small chaff feed in the morning (handful each hi-fi lite mixed with speedibeet water) and a slice of hay each in the field (of which I suspect Sec A eats more than shetland!!). They both have a neck and belly clip as they sweat in the stable and both have a rainsheet on when really wet and windy/cold. They are out from 7am until 4.30pm when they come in and have a handful - literally - of hay each, small chaff feed again at 7pm and 1 1/2 slices of hay each at 9pm. Shetland has dropped a bit too much weight during this cold snap so have been rugging her all the time but Sec A is fat as anything - all belly fat - no crest or apple-bum. And she tells me she is starving all the time. I think they are getting plenty of hay but OH says I should up the sec A's hay at night and that she will burn it off keeping herself warm. I say not as she has such a fat tum and really needs to lose it. I know I can't get her into any sort of work programme until after Xmas as my mum is having an op and I will be struggling to ride my other horse as well as looking after Mum. Have tried soaking hay but she won't eat it and I can't afford to keep throwing hay on the muck heap! Please help!!!
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Why don't you try adding some straw to the section A's hay at night, it will bulk him up and fill his belly with very little goodness so no extra weight gain.
 
If the shetland has lost weight, can you give her more at night in the stable? My shetland x is much bigger (11.2) so hard to compare, but he gets around 6kilos of haylage a day and my section B gets slightly more. They also get about half a scoop of economy mix (I'm tight!) and some chaff spread over 3 feeds. They are both partially clipped and wear rugs and although they could probably do with loosing weight I am far too soft so when they whinny at me over the door when I go down at night I always lob them a bit more.

I go on the advice to feed 2 - 2.5% of bodyweight, and my 11.2 weighs 250 k and my fat section b is nearer 300 kilos on a weigh tape which means they should be getting around 6ks and 7.5ks respectively, which with the short feed is about right. I suspect I should cut down the welshie's feed but I might instead remove his rug in the day, once his blanket clip has grown a bit, so he will hopefully run about and lose weight that way, without being (in his opinion) half starved.
 
I would up the hay if necessary to give them fibre but soak it to take the calories out.

I'm still soaking mine because D really struggles with her weight. I know that its not an ideal time of year to be lugging wet haynets around but its definitely working in the weight loss programme
 
sorry, just read your post more carefully and seen that you have tried soaking it. D doesn't like her soaked hay but she will eat most of it grudgingly. I'm inclined to think that if they're really hungry they'll eat it
 
[ QUOTE ]
I say not as she has such a fat tum and really needs to lose it.

[/ QUOTE ]It is not her fat tum you should be worrying about - ponies that eat mainly fibre will often have a big tum without actually being overweight. You need to check her neck, ribs and bum instead for a more accurate idea of whether she is overweight. Ideally, you should be able to feel her ribs and she should not have a cresty neck or a gutter down her bottom.
 
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