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

Tiarella

Tiarella

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Ive had a few pm's now telling me I feed my pony to little! Pahahhaa!
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I commented on my post yesterday stating how much he gets fed, a few people made comments there and then I had a few pms...

I know EXACTLY how much to feed him and whether it is enough!

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.

He looks like this...

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He has never felt better, lots of engery, he loves life and imo he looks very fit and well.

Compared to... fat, no energy etc
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Does that make everyone happier?!
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Sorry for the rant but seriously....

Thats why there is so many laminitic over weight ponies around because feeding a lot of hay/hard feed/grass is really nice for them, they will love you more for it
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I saw the post, i thought it was a bit rash commenting on what you feed your pony having not seen him.. you obviously love him to bits and take good care of him. Sorry i didnt pipe up and defend you on earlier thread though. He looks great!
 
Sorry didnt see your other post but well done you, he looks great. My friends pony who isnt in work gets about 4 to 5 hours turnout a day, 2 small feeds of Happy hoof and a very very small net of hay. She was borderline laminitic the other year ao she is ultra careful now.
 
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Ignore them
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Your doing a great job, the pictures prove it! And when I saw that XC picture on Fb I didnt think it was him :O!

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Thanks Nick!
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I thought I was aswell...but obviously some people just love to see fat ass ponies!
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ahaha that xc step is hugeeee, I had no idea what he would do but just leapt it bless him
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I saw the post, i thought it was a bit rash commenting on what you feed your pony having not seen him.. you obviously love him to bits and take good care of him. Sorry i didnt pipe up and defend you on earlier thread though. He looks great!

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Thanks
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People dont realise that natives live off fresh air! I do love him to bits, and spend a lot more time with him than I do anyone else, he is my little man and I love him A LOT!
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That xc picture doesn't even look like him because he's changed so much !
You are doing a great job Rach, keep up the good work
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He looks so fab so youre obvs doing something right !

I highly doubt you would under feed your pony who you love so much...
 
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well he looks great, one of mine is prone to lami and you gota do whats right for there health, good for you.x

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Thanks
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He has never actually had lami before, was just very very very fat and at high risk of it.
 
i recall that you posted some piccies when you went XC schooling a few weeks ago and i commented on how trim he's looking and i stand by what i said then- this pony looks SO much better, healthier and will be more of an athlete as a result. great job, ignore the idiots
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Ooh i like him! He looks a bit like my pony! What breed is he?
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new forest x welshie
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Ahh! I would love to post a pic of my pony for people to guess what her breed is (i have no idea- i call her a miniature Suffolk Punch
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) but i fear of being lynched by people who will know doubt tell me she is fat
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I have owned her 12years and she has always been the same size- which includes the biggest bottom in the world and a very big chest!
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Don't tell her i said that
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I didn't see the earlier post, but he looks absolutely great in your recent photos... really well and happy, and love the picture of you jumping him. What a smashing tail he's got too!
 
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Thanks
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People dont realise that natives live off fresh air!

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Nightmare arn't they ?
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My native is on a bare paddock (no choice in that ) she has 2 haynets over night, one in the field during the day, spends an hour a day on the walker,ridden 3 or 4 times a week,has lost 33kg and people still say she is fat! is she listless lacking energy ?? IS SHE HELL !
 
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the biggest bottom in the world and a very big chest!
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Don't tell her i said that
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She might like having a big bum and a big chest - you know, curves and all that
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But seriously, if it's causing her no harm, and she's healthy, no worries
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i recall that you posted some piccies when you went XC schooling a few weeks ago and i commented on how trim he's looking and i stand by what i said then- this pony looks SO much better, healthier and will be more of an athlete as a result. great job, ignore the idiots
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Ahh thankyou
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Really lovely comment
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He just feels so much better and fitter when on the ground and obviously ridden aswell. My instructor commented a couple of weeks ago after not teaching me for a while as to how much weight he has lost and how he carries himself a lot nicer, everything has improved since shedding the pounds. We always laugh as with b/boots and o/r boots he looks like a mini eventer pony as they make his legs look very long
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He is a mini athlete now
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I highly doubt you would under feed your pony who you love so much...

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Thanks Em! This is absolutely perfect. I love him more than anything in the world, why would I want to put him through any sort of illness from being overweight...
 
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Thanks
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People dont realise that natives live off fresh air!

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Nightmare arn't they ?
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My native is on a bare paddock (no choice in that ) she has 2 haynets over night, one in the field during the day, spends an hour a day on the walker,ridden 3 or 4 times a week,has lost 33kg and people still say she is fat! is she listless lacking energy ?? IS SHE HELL !

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haha they sure are, but I wouldnt want them any other way! I cant think of anything better than a nice native pony! Doug is practically on a bare paddock, just a few strands here and there
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the biggest bottom in the world and a very big chest!
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Don't tell her i said that
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She might like having a big bum and a big chest - you know, curves and all that
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But seriously, if it's causing her no harm, and she's healthy, no worries
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Ah thank you!
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Maybe one day i will be brave enough....
 
I ahve just read the post concerned and i think your letting it get to you too much,hardly anybody commented on it i dont think.

Pony looks lovely and happy and a nice size,dotn let 1 or 2 peoples BHS reg weights and measurements get you down.The rule book does not apply to every single horse and pony in alot of cases tweaks are required to fit in with the individual animal.

Honestly dont let it get to you x
 
Schpug (did I spell it right?!- I need more practice)

as a fellow fattie owner (have you seen franks before and after pics, will post if you haven't and want to)

He looks great and is hugely improved and I would much rather see him like that than before.

But, i have also seen the results of horses not getting enough fibre going through their gut. - impaction colics and gastric ulcers and I think these were the concerns posted on the other thread.

It is a careful balance, and I am not sure, now he is in lots of work that he would pile on the pounds if allowed more hay at night, particularly if you are still feeding last years. The min hay at night frank would have if in would be 6 lbs but we pretty much feed it adlib.

I prefer to have late cut hay too but we cut ours early this year.

I find with Frank that as long as I keep his exercise up (to I think the sort of level doug is prob doing) that I don't need to be hugely restrictive with his intake just careful. He is on short grass 24/7 atm but is hungry. Ie if we chuck hay out in the field they wil eat it and if they come in for farrier etc they attack hay nets! We are about to start moving them for short periods to their winter grazing which was cut for hay in june and now about a foot and a half high. They will do half and hour or so to start and once they have a square it will be strip grazed and then used for winter turnout once the grass stops growing.

I think that he (frank I mean) needs to having sufficient intake to a) keep his gut healthy, b) provide sufficient energy for the competing I do with him.
 
He looks great! Its nice to see a pony looking fit and well! He's obviously loving life!
Cob on my yard who is only 13.3hh and weighs 553kg is now laminitic and very poorly indeed! Vet said He need to loose a 100kg at least. Poor bugger
 
He looks great, but is he still losing weight??? Ie is he having enough to maintain this ideal weight??

Also, he may like to have more to eat.... and it may be healthier for his gut, to have more but lower calorific value.

Soaking the hay would enable him to have more and therefore keep him more amused for longer and his gut more active for longer. The process of digestion actually stimulates the metabolism.

None of these comments are destructive criticism though
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Just the ramblings of a insomniac
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He looks great by the way
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Seeing as I was one of the people who commented upon the thread, I think I should reply rather let the insinuation that a) I don't know what I'm talking about, b) I have no knowledge bar the BHS (thanks Bugaboo!) or c) I'm mean and think you don't love your pony carry on.

That pony was fat, you put him on a diet and you shifted the weight off him - that's good and you should be commended for it.

However, I stand by my view that 0.5kgs of hay for 12 hours is not enough for any horse or pony. When an animal is a severe laminitis risk or has been diagnosed with lammi, then this will be what some vets suggest, but when he has shifted the amount of weight he has then you have to reassess the diet.

It is so, so difficult to keep weight off a pony of his type, but the need to keep the weight off must be balanced with the need to keep his digestive system functioning properly. Inadequate forage causes as many problems as obesity - and that is why I stand by my suggestion to you that you feed more hay, soaked for 24 hours and then double netted. That way the hay has very little nutritional value so you needn't be concerned about any increased calorie intake, he won't wolf it down because the double net will make him eat slower, and he'll get a longer supply of forage.

There were no personal or unpleasant comments made by myself in the previous thread, so don't take offense at them.
 
Yep, I'm going to add to the - well done for removing all that weight, your pony looks much better for it posts AND the be careful because the pony needs some sort of fibre going through for as much of the day as possible or other gut problems and possibly gastric ulcers will occur.

I feed very clean barley straw and Laminitis Trust Approved feeds and use grazing muzzles - on top of as much exercise as necessary and possible.

We love our natives but the big compromise with them is the constant battle against the built in survival on zero calories. We need a 'moss and twigs feed', such as they would get on a mountain or moor and a treadmill for them to walk on while they are eating it!

I think he's an ideal weight and does look happy and well and I'm thinking he is probably getting the throughput - just do a double check on this and if not, soak his hay to death and feed more!

Other than that, well done.
 
Have not seen other post but if he looks that good on that i would stick to it the only think i would say is a vit/min supp so you know he is getting all he needs that is if he his not on one already!x
 
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