Hungry Pony :-( feed help please!

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pipstar

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Hi

I have a little native pony who is constantly hungry, lives on fresh air and is what I would consider a good doer but only has to look at the grass to put weight on.

My daughter has lost some confidence so pony isn't getting as much excercise she is also trying it on with me when I'm lungeing which is being worked on.

She is taking her grazing muzzle off every day, and escaping from her starvation paddock which is electrified and taking herself off to the long grass!

When we bought her she lived on straw in the winter, but she doesn't touch it when I leave it for her on the yard.

She has no hard feed at all at the moment, no treats and just a few carrots once a week.

So now I have a little tubby pony who is being left on the yard all day with washed hay and is grumpy, kicking down fences to escape to grass. And me who is worried about her getting Lami.

So I guess I need advice on feed for her, what can I give her while she is on the yard that will fill her up and not make her fizzy as she is quite forward going.

Help I feel like its groundhog day at the moment with her, I spend half my time mending fences.

As it's after 8pm after eights for all who got this far!

x
 
Have you looked at Dengie Good Doer? It's a very low calorie chaff type feed designed for horses/ponies who put on weight easily. I think it can be fed as a forage replacement and it's quite palatable despite looking very much like chopped straw. I used to feed it to my big ID who was prone to being a bit of a fatty and he loved it.
 
Hi Kit Kat

Thanks for your reply. I did look at the Dengie web site The good doer sounds right, but I got a bit confused by the web site (perhaps the glass of wine wasn't a good idea!)

Good to know other people recommend it.

I might try and phone them tomorrow.

Thanks for your help

x
 
pipstar said:
Hi

I have a little native pony who is constantly hungry, lives on fresh air and is what I would consider a good doer but only has to look at the grass to put weight on.

My daughter has lost some confidence so pony isn't getting as much excercise she is also trying it on with me when I'm lungeing which is being worked on.

She is taking her grazing muzzle off every day, and escaping from her starvation paddock which is electrified and taking herself off to the long grass!

When we bought her she lived on straw in the winter, but she doesn't touch it when I leave it for her on the yard.

She has no hard feed at all at the moment, no treats and just a few carrots once a week.

So now I have a little tubby pony who is being left on the yard all day with washed hay and is grumpy, kicking down fences to escape to grass. And me who is worried about her getting Lami.

So I guess I need advice on feed for her, what can I give her while she is on the yard that will fill her up and not make her fizzy as she is quite forward going.

Help I feel like its groundhog day at the moment with her, I spend half my time mending fences.

As it's after 8pm after eights for all who got this far!

x
Click to expand...

Hi

I am in the mounted police and although our horses are a little bigger they are stabled 24/7 so we cant feed anything that will fizz them up but because they get very little grass they do need food that will fill them up!!! So we give them fast fibre by Allen and Page it comes in nut form but you must add water to it and it swells up to form a porridge looks like weetabix soaked in milk!!! and the horses go absolutely mad for it!! there is nothing in it apart from vits, mins and fibre you can also add warm water in winter to make a lovely mash
 
Most Hay replacers will do your pony good For example Spillers Happy Hoof is full of vits and mins, biotin which is good for the hooves and is almost sugar free. It's recommended by the Laminitis Trust and you can feed quite allot of it. There is also Dengie Healthy Hooves and as mentioned above Good Dooer.

Try making smaller haynets and put out a few in different places so she has to move around to them. Double net them to make the holes smaller and if you soak for at least 12hrs you can feed more so will last her longer.

When feeding her carrots chuck them across the paddock so she has to mooch around for them.

Try putting some fibre nuts in a ball that she can roll round to keep her entertained.

Good Luck.
 
You lot are great!!!

Sedgemor C -I already do the double haynet and I hide carrots, she has a lick but demolished it in about half an hour.

PC Steele - I shall phone Allen and page tomorrow too.

I know i'm doing the right thing for her, I just feel like I am keeping her like a prisoner and knowing she hates it makes me feel worse!

x
 
Do you know any older more experienced children who could take the pony out for a blast for you? This really helped when my kids were lacking confidence, as the loaner still took her out each weekend before my kids rode. She got rid of the initial fizz, the pony had a great time and was then much better behaved for my kids. (If she was not available I rode her on a Friday as she was quite sturdy!). They will then hopefully gain more confidence and ride her more and you won't need to worry about her weight quite so much.....
 
pipstar said:
You lot are great!!!

Sedgemor C -I already do the double haynet and I hide carrots, she has a lick but demolished it in about half an hour.

PC Steele - I shall phone Allen and page tomorrow too.

I know i'm doing the right thing for her, I just feel like I am keeping her like a prisoner and knowing she hates it makes me feel worse!

x
Click to expand...

If you look on page 1 someone has asked about fast fibre and there is alot of info on their page
 
What sort of lick did you give her? That could be a source of your problem as most are either glucose based (high energy) or mollasses based (sugar - think high energy again).

I used to give my fat pony a huge bucket of dry hi fi light. It is a bit like eating cream crackers, one is ok dry but after that you slow down cos they are just too dry. He tended to wander over , have a mooch round, eat a bit, then wander round again.
 
We used to use the badminton herbal nuts, that you buy in a big bucket, and throw them around the paddock so the ponies had to forage for them, I suppose you could do this with any low calorie nut. Gives them something to do plus they get something in return that won't put weight on them.
 
juliette said:
Do you know any older more experienced children who could take the pony out for a blast for you? This really helped when my kids were lacking confidence, as the loaner still took her out each weekend before my kids rode. She got rid of the initial fizz, the pony had a great time and was then much better behaved for my kids. (If she was not available I rode her on a Friday as she was quite sturdy!). They will then hopefully gain more confidence and ride her more and you won't need to worry about her weight quite so much.....
Click to expand...

Hi Juliette

My eldest daugher hops on her occasionally, but she has her own pony to excersise too, and lots of homework! If I could sort the lungeing out it would be better, I am having lessons with her weekly but she totally takes advantage of me.

x
 
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