Just a lil moan about people..

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em2010

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It might just be me being silly but I do take things to heart and the stable were my minis kept is telling me I'm feeding him wrong, he's going to be fat and risk laminitis ect. she probs means well but it's beginning to get me down a little as she questions everything I do.. although I have never owned my own horse i'v looked after many and know what I'm doing or I wouldn't have got him! :(

For all those Shetland owners what do you think..
a scoop of pasture mix and hifi lite morning and night with hay there if he wants it (although he doesn't seem to eat It just kick it around!). He's just come off his mum and this is the feed he was having at the stud I got him from.. I'm thinking about taking away his morning feed and just having apples or carrots?

sorry for the moan people!:) xx
 
No idea what shetlands eat, so can't comment.

But, there are always people who think they know better and just love to stick their ore in! There is one or two on every yard. We have two at our yard. They dont bother me as I am not a first time horse owner and from our conversations early when I arrived it was clear that I knew more than them, so they just dont speak to me at all now, which is fine.

The ladies with first time horses do get pounced upon and told all sorts of nonsense.

Just seek advice from people you trust. Take everything with a pinch of salt and do what you think is best from all the info you have received.
 
I take it its a total of 1 scoop of a combination of hi fi lite and pasture mix? once a day? while that seems a lot to me but if that is what the stud had him on then maybe its right - you can always ring a feedline to ask for advice as feeding a youngster is obviously different from feeding a full grown. My 16.2 gets 1 scoop comp mix + chaff twice a day but he is an exceptionally good doer so has to stay on a diet!
 
It does seem an awful lot! My 16h ISH and my 17h hunter only get a quarter of a scoop of combined pasture mix and dengie lite am and pm, and do very well from it. Your foal is getting loads more, which after having a section A that got laminitus last winter, is frightening. Perhaps the yard have a point, but aren't putting it across well. Do you know why the stud/ previous owner was feeding so much? Is he underweight? Our little ponies only get a carrot mixed in with a bit of dengie lite. Perhaps ask your vet what would be best for him?
 
Blimey, my 16.2 Irish Draught doesn't get that much hard feed. Is it a regular size scoop? I guess a lot depends on his grass intake. Is he on good grazing?
 
Not sure about the shetland side of things or feeding for his age.

But I do know that...
Hi-fi Light is a slow release feed designed to be fed to horses and ponies with/at risk of liminitus...It's deffo better for him than carrots and apples.
 
asterid said:
No idea what shetlands eat, so can't comment.

But, there are always people who think they know better and just love to stick their ore in! There is one or two on every yard. We have two at our yard. They dont bother me as I am not a first time horse owner and from our conversations early when I arrived it was clear that I knew more than them, so they just dont speak to me at all now, which is fine.

The ladies with first time horses do get pounced upon and told all sorts of nonsense.

Just seek advice from people you trust. Take everything with a pinch of salt and do what you think is best from all the info you have received.
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I think I will just have to nod and agree and speak to my friend later on. oh I envy you being ignored by them! :p I was just getting a little annoyed and overwhelmed by all there little comments so vented it on here lol!
Thanks :) x
 
It does sound like an awful lot for any youngster let alone a shetland!!! I'd just have him on hay/haylage addlib and a vitamin lick, that's what we have our friesian and friesian x TB youngsters on - no hard feed at all as they are good doers!! So unless there is something very wrong with him and he's seriously under weight or can't keep the weight on then he doesn't need hard feed at all just fibre and vitamins.
 
To be honest I am suprised he needs any hard food at all. My 16.2 & 15.2 don't get hard food and they are out 24/7. Unless there's an underlying reason for it, all he should need is poor grazing, hay and vitamins.
Maybe a picture of his condition would help people understand whether you should be worried or not.
 
starsnrunes - the hifi lite is the thing that's getting me most greif. :confused:

alexedwards- no the grass is really poor at the moment..

honey08 - Although she probs knows more than me it is the way she bluntly talks to me sf if I'm a idiot that's put me off asking more what she thinks will help. I was told at the stud that if he was just fed on hay that he would soon turn skinny because he's just off his mum? I think I'm going to have to give in and get a vets opinion :(

luci07 - yes it's 1 scoop of them combined.. I think I'm going to ask a vets opinion and by pass the calling the feedline.

Thanks for all the replys guys x
 
thanks for all the replys. I'm going to see what a vet says because I'm on the verge of giving up :(.

I'm on my iPhone atm but I will post a pic when I'm back..
 
Dengie lite was reccommended to us by our vet when out pony had laminitus - just a tiny bit of that, no pasture mix.

I would definately speak to your vet. There is a lady on here (she was on the thread about bay roans yesterday) who has a shetland stud. You could try and find her and message her to see what she feeds her weanlings. One way or another, you need to find out what is correct. You could be doing permanant damage if you're over feeding.. Good luck.
 
DON'T give up.

Good idea to call your vet but my shetland is on this at the moment, and purely to get his itchy stuff in him!

Handful of Hi-Fi light, and handful of grass nuts. That's it! It will increase slightly in winter, but his main intake then will be hay and there will be vitamins added to his feed....

When I got him he was as wide as he was long, his ex-owner was feeding him a whole scoop of build-up a day! He's looking good now, and of course he is muzzled in spring and summer to regulate his grass intake.

I know how you feel, you will look at the amount I feed and think 'Gosh, thats nothing, he will STARVE!'...not so! The little blighters live on fresh air!

Chin up!

:D
 
ab8887d5.jpg
this is in after the nasty rain we had..

07b41617.jpg


hope these are any help??
 
em2010 said:
starsnrunes - the hifi lite is the thing that's getting me most greif. :confused:

alexedwards- no the grass is really poor at the moment..

honey08 - Although she probs knows more than me it is the way she bluntly talks to me sf if I'm a idiot that's put me off asking more what she thinks will help. I was told at the stud that if he was just fed on hay that he would soon turn skinny because he's just off his mum? I think I'm going to have to give in and get a vets opinion :(

luci07 - yes it's 1 scoop of them combined.. I think I'm going to ask a vets opinion and by pass the calling the feedline.

Thanks for all the replys guys x
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But your vet is NOT a nutritionist - he is a vet!

He may be a weanling, but he is a shetland and IS a prime candidate for laminitis, HiFi is a perfect feed for him, I would just add vits and mins. Feeding just apples/carrots is not the way to feed a horse - far too much sugar. You YO is right, if you carry on feeding him the way you are, he will become overweight. I suspect the stud advised the pasture mix for short term use only.

However, rather than call a vet to ask a nutrition question (vets study 6 HOURS on nutrition) I would call a feedline - they are manned by nutritionists (studying 6 YEARS).
 
Is it one scoop this size?
http://uk.ebid.net/for-sale/round-b...-all-animal-feed-18487546.htm?from=googlebase

Think about it in relation to the size of the pony - its about the size of his head! in comparison, that is the same amount as 5 out of 8 of the horses on our yard are on - and they are all 15.2hh and over :)

I would also recommend ringing a feedline for advice. Weigh the amount of mix and chaff seperately before you give them a ring, and have the bag labels handy so you can read out the numbers over the phone. I've no experience with a shetland, but the most sensible idea I ever heard was of somebody feeding minis from a dog food bowl, so that they didn't feel tempted to over feed just because it looked like a small amount in a large feed tub.
 
My shetland has just hifi lite a handfull just because my other 3 get fed. Also hay out in field when need to as at moment still have grass. Wouldnt feed her anymore than that.
 
My shettie just has his mineral lick and grass. I think if you have no grass then feed them but shetties do get overweight very easily and its so hard to get it over, also if he is exercised regulary a little feed won't hurt.

My shettie is ridden once or twice a week now by my neice so I don't feed him as its not enough. When he was showing, jumping, gymkhana,cross country and doing dressage and ridden every day to keep him fit I only fed him a handful of chaff and a feed balancer (baileys lo cal) in winter, plus hay as I always feed hay in the field in winter to all my horses and ponies.

S5000285.jpg
 
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My three mini's all get soaked hay (one is prone to laminitis) very limited grass in bare paddock for part of the day, rest of the time in a huge yard with buildings, salt, calmag and minerals in a handful of speedibeet and that's it. I'm hoping to source some micronized linseed for over winter, not easy to get stuff over here.
Carrots especially are a no no imo...
 
so after considering everything said..

what would you say to gettin rid of the pasture mix and giving him a handful of the hifi lite still when he goes in at night? what would you give for the vits&mins?
this is what a friend said I should maybe try??
thanks alot guy :) xx
 
As he is a baby I would be giving him something like a balancer, I think baileys do a stud balancer and you probably would only need to give him a cup of it a day, this will give him all the vitamins and minerals, then if you wanted to give him a little chaff hifi lite would be good. Good luck as he looks a complete poppet x
 
em2010 said:
so after considering everything said..

what would you say to gettin rid of the pasture mix and giving him a handful of the hifi lite still when he goes in at night? what would you give for the vits&mins?
this is what a friend said I should maybe try??
thanks alot guy :) xx
Click to expand...

Def get rid of the pasture mix, HiFi and a broad spectrum vit/min will be fine for him, there are several on the market which would do (Equivet Super Min, Pink Powder etc) or you could feed a balancer, however a bag will last him for around 4 months as the feeding rate will be so low. Spillers Original is a very good spec and is very cost effective at the moment at £24.99 a 20kg bag.
 
re feeding a foal and feeding a mature full grown horse, i was interested to read yesterday when researching a feed balancer that my adult mares would both be on 500g of aa product, and my weanling would be on 1050 g of the same feed. A shedload more! But since he is growing and the mares are not i can see the point.

(eta: Ive just had a look at the chart for Topspec stud balancer and according to that a weanling shetland would be on exactly the same amount as an adult shetland mare (barren or early/mid gestation) at 200g)


Def take the advice of a proper trained nutritionist and your vet over some sself professed yard expert type
 
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