I would like to clear something up...about how much I feed my pony!

Bugaboo - its more the pm's I am on about.

MQ - I think I now want to start maintaining his weight rather than losing anymore.

To anyone else (
tongue.gif
) - His gut is moving all the time, he comes in from 12 - 13hr grazing, has a nibble on his haynet then sleeps, usually flat out on his bed
tongue.gif
. When he comes in he isnt hungry. Around lunch time he usually eats the majority of it, in a couple of hours I then ride him and he then gets turned out again.

At the moment imo he doesnt actually need any more, he seems happy with that
smile.gif
In the winter I will obviously give him more hay as he is out for less time grazing usually 8 hours.
 
He gets all the vits, mins and whatever else from the grass and hay. We are on an organic farm where the grass is very very rich, so therefore the hay that is cut is also rich. He also does have a lick with added vits and mins in
smile.gif
I think he would tell me if he is missing anything from his diet, he is always very alert, has a nice shiny coat and lacks no energy at all.
 
I mentioned Gastric Ulcers on your thread too.

Having just had to treat a horse who has them, I had it impressed upon my in no uncertain terms how important it is to keep something in the gut at all times.

I have owned a laminitic so I know what a nightmare it is, but so are ulcers! (£3,000 bill)

I would be inclined to feed him enough to keep him going while he is in, but soak it to death! You can even triple net it if you want!
 
I think its just when you say things like this

'Doug is practically on a bare paddock, just a few strands here and there'

that to some of us doesn't constitute 12-13 hours grazing as such and I hope you can understand why some people were concerned, obviously I can't comment on the PMs. In fact if my paddock were as you described they would definitely be fed hay out there in order to help stop them pulling up any of the existing grass and hence eating too much soil.

I think it is a good sign that he isn't hungry when he comes in. I worked out 6lbs is just over 2kg, I do think for maintenance rather than weight loss he could probably have that without putting on any weight.
 
I will get a pic of it today
smile.gif
Its very hard to explain how much grass he gets. Its a small cornered off paddock he shares with another horse, the grass is all eaten down yet they both still have enough. I will get a pic though.
 
Just ignore them! *hugs* You know what's right for him.... Genie only gets a handful of happy hoof plus a tiny TINY bit of mix (half a handful if that) and she's looking well. I would rather see your gorgeous boy as he is than as he was!
 
he looks lovely
grin.gif

as others have said native's only need to look at food and they get fat. My Welsh B is on a starvation paddock at night with small amount of hay in 2 nets at day like yours BUT he's still podgy
mad.gif
 
Maybe if the hay is so rich it would be an idea to get some less nutritios last years hay.... again that way he could have more
smile.gif


I think we all understand that a horse likes nothing better than to be able to eat.... not withstanding their weight requirements.

I, as a person who doesnt want to put any more weight on, would love to be able to eat twice or three times as much but for the same calorific value
smile.gif
smile.gif


But with all that said, you seem to know your pony well, he looks good and seems bright and happy.... We only give our opinions on the information that we are given
smile.gif
smile.gif
 
thanks MQ totally understand where you are coming from
smile.gif
We HAVE to have hay from where I keep Doug, they supply everything for us. I would get my own hay if I could as it would be a lot cheaper aswell!
 
[ QUOTE ]


He currently goes out at night in a SMALL paddock which he shares with another laminitic pony. He is out for around 12 hours. He then comes in and usually has 0.5kg - 1kg of hay in two hay nets. That is it.



[/ QUOTE ]

IMO, and according to the advice I've received from experts, that amount of hay is just not enough - horses are designed to 'graze' for most of the day, that's how their digestive systems work. You've done a fab job of getting and keeping the weight off, but I'm sure the same could be achieved by at least tripling the amount of hay and soaking it for 24 hours.
 
It's just ad-lib hay really - he eats it all most nights, but there's no calories in it because it's been soaked and his metabolism has changed completely since being fed that - so much so that he now has competition feed!! The weight of hay that Murphy has was calculated by his nutritionist. Obviously each to their own and what suits one horse won't necessarily suit another but IMO it's important to keep their digestion going - especially as if they can't eat as nature intended theit bodies tend to hang on to more fat.
 
I've been trying to get a fair amount of weight off my mini, who lives on fresh air, all summer.
We've succeeded and I'm happy with her weight now but we just need to tone up the belly - hard on a 2yr old!
Anyway, to give you an idea of how much she's been getting - (I spoke to nutritionists from 3 different feed companies)
she's 37ins/9.1hh -
she's out and muzzled for 8 or 9 hours, she has 3lbs of hay which is soaked for 24hrs, of which she gets a couple of handfuls when she comes in late afternoon, and then the rest later on at 6/7pm, and she gets the recommended amount of a balancer divided into 2 feeds, because she doesn't get a whole lot of grass and her hay is soaked, and because she needs protein for growing.
She has just started to lose topline so I am now adding some alfa a into her balancer, although now she's lame and not exercising I've cut it back out.

I REALLY would recommend ringing a few feed companies, just to see what they say. Out of the three I spoke to, all were helpful but the lady I spoke to at D+H was particularly so. All three recommended bare paddock (which yard won't let me do), adlib hay, soaked for 12/24hrs, in paddock and stable, and a balancer.

Not trying to pick holes, honestly! He looks great, but you might need to reconsider his diet now the weight's off.
 
6kg of hay is really not that much

if we are using big round bales (so fluffy hay not in nice compact slices). we get about 4.5kg of hay in a net. (8lb) and they will have 2 nets a night and prob eat 7kg in total (this is in winter.

As I say the min I would give him would be 3 kg ish overnight at the mo as they are out on short grass all day. 0.5kg of hay must be equivalent to less than a slice of a small bale.

Would like to see paddock pics I think they might help. To me a bare starvation paddocks are just that, trashed in winter so pretty much bare earth in summer and then hay fed on them instead.

edited to add, am pretty sure 2 slices of small bale come in at about 2.5kilos. so half a kilo is roughly half a slice of hay. (for those of us that still work in slices!!) was just trying to imagine that quantity in my head.
 
IMO if your horse has run out of hay by the time you go down again then he isnt getting enough. Trickle feeders and all that
smile.gif
 
LOL my mare eats a whole bale a night!!!

She is 16.2hh though, and I figure its better for her to eat that, and not need hard feed, than to have less hay and need feeding. She's holding her weight fine ATM.

With regard to Doug - he looks fab IMO and you've obviously done a brilliant job with him. I'd say the amount you feed him is fine - IF and only IF he's still got some hay left by the time he goes back out in the field. If its a small holed haynet and it lasts him all day then fine; if he's standing in for several hours with nothing it won't be doing him any good. Well done for getting the weight off though - all of the horses on the yard I've just left look like your 'before' pics and it used to do my head in.
 
Jeez that's a lot of hay! Mine is 16.3 , but she does have large holed haynets and has never finished by the morning.

I always end up throwing out a wheelbarrow full of shaken out hay in the morning.

She had gastric ulcers so I am not allowed to leave her with no hay on pain of death!
 
I think he looks much better Rach(why do I think that's your name? I wrote it and now I'm not sure it is lol.)

My pony is a 14.2 cob and when she is turned out (for only around 5 hours a day in a bare field that the yard puts some hay in- no grass) She gets around 4 wedges of soaked hay daily, is lame at the moment but is usually in light-medium work(schooled around 5 times a week for around 45 mins, sometimes hacks instead.) She also get about half a scoop of hifi good doer with a GP mineral supplement, garlic, carrots and apples.

I have to disagree with you bex1984 some horses just can't have ad lib hay - mine would look like an elephant on that much hay even with it soaked.
 
He looks so much better!
smile.gif
You've done a grand job with him.

Have you had your grass and hay tested? I think that would be a fantastic starting point so you know exactly what you're feeding him. Just because your grass is very rich doesn't mean that it's providing him with all the nutrition he needs.

If that nutrition isn't there, you'll be fighting a loosing battle trying to keep his weight stable.

If he were mine, I would start him on some Lami-Light, which is designed for air ferns like him.
smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top