Laminitis paranoia

[Melandmary]

Just buy a bucket muzzle for now - cob size- sew padding round the top, job done. I think the shires ones even come with fur round the top now! No need for all this time wasted with muzzles when you could be spending it doing things with the pony, even if that’s just playing in-hand in the school.

Less than £25 for an easy life. We use the Hy ones - add fur, check teeth line up with hole, last all summer with no adjustment needed, no worry about headcollars etc. If he rubs it off, wind twine round the Velcro to stop him peeling it off quite so easily.

I tried the flexible filly but my ponies just ate out of the sides so I use the shires delux ones now which have the fleece already sewn on. I buy the next size up for each pony and also cut away the unnecessary webbing round the nostrils and chin so they are actually quite comfy and don’t rub at all. As maya says £25 and a whole lot of worry saved. I absolutely understand your worry as both mine got lami from my grazing being too lush and not enough work. My companion pony lost over 100kg just by in hand walking and using a muzzle last year. You will get there

 

[Boulty]

If you’re having issues with eating out of the sides try duct taping them like this. If you haven’t already perhaps make the hole slightly bigger (not by a lot) as making it slightly easier may stop him trying to look for other options.

Alternatively a dinky muzzle may work for you. Worked well for my Welsh D who had a narrow nose / muzzle. They’re fairly cheap compared to other muzzles at least. You’d probably need some fleece or sheepskin over some of the clips but their design makes that fairly easy to do.

 

[Spirit7]

Just to add you can use a flexi frilly muzzle with any headcollar. I use a leather one that fits my Welsh really well and attach flexi to that. Not been an issue at all in his own fitted head colllar.

 

[SO1]

YO just told me that top spec came and weighed Bert today and he has lost 20 kilos since he was last weighed therefore he must be now 379 kilos and he is the ideal weight. The thing is he looks fatter now than he did when he was last weighed. I think he is really overweight.

I do not know how Top Spec can say he is ideal weight when his ribs cannot be felt and he has a bit of a cresty neck. I have been using the BHS guide to conditon score as a guide.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I personally don't like what alot of these people from feed companies tell you I think they are just trying to get you to buy a load of unnecessary feed.

Topspec sent my Arab's crazy I won't feed anything from them now.

 

[maya2008]

Condition score is always the best guide. A cresty neck in winter would worry me. Different ponies of the same height have different builds, so you can’t just go on weight vs height. Our old 13.2hh NF was about 350kg usually, and was never underweight. She was on the finer side for a NF though.

 

[SO1]

I personally don't like what alot of these people from feed companies tell you I think they are just trying to get you to buy a load of unnecessary feed.

Topspec sent my Arab's crazy I won't feed anything from them now.

I don't feed Top Spec but the horses get weighed every three months. I suppose the issue with Top Spec is that they are a "showing brand" so maybe they are looking at show conditon as what they deem to be ideal weight.

 

[SO1]

Condition score is always the best guide. A cresty neck in winter would worry me. Different ponies of the same height have different builds, so you can’t just go on weight vs height. Our old 13.2hh NF was about 350kg usually, and was never underweight. She was on the finer side for a NF though.

I am using the BHS guide to conditon score. But is difficult as I think people don't always agree on it. It is hard to feel Bert's ribs and his neck looks chunky to me. His back end is fine, no gutter on his back and no fat behind his shoulders. It is his middle section and his neck I would like slimmer.

 

[SO1]

YO has now shown Top Spec the BHS condition score guide I am working to and Top Spec have now agreed he is 3.5 not 3. They have still put on his form he is ideal condition and have suggested I call them which I cannot do as I am in the office today and can't do calls.

 

[ester]

I just wouldn’t pay much attention to it other than the weight, condition score is always going to be subjective

 

[gallopingby]

YO has now shown Top Spec the BHS condition score guide I am working to and Top Spec have now agreed he is 3.5 not 3. They have still put on his form he is ideal condition and have suggested I call them which I cannot do as I am in the office today and can't do calls.

I’m sure you can call the Top Spec guys when it’s convenient for you to do so. They are a long established company with an award winning helpline. There are of course other similar companies who carry slightly different feed mixes eg Baileys, Spillers, Saracen etc etc Most of them have feeds which are suitable for natives and they offer advice on different needs depending on the work load, weight etc. A standardised weight bridge is the most accurate way of discovering weight, condition scoring which is subjective is a useful tool alongside other means. I would be very surprised if the Top Spec rep was not aware of the BHS guide. In my experience feed reps will only recommend a diet that they consider suitable and for many M&m ponies that would be good quality forage and a balancer to ensure vets & minerals are available.

 

[criso]

I don't trust the portable weighbridges.

Top spec weighed my tb at 545kg. I was shocked as I thought he was nearer 520kg. He was visibly underweight at the time and 545kg is his good condition fully muscled weight. . I use a weighttape but compared it the proper weighbridge so I can adjust for it being out.

A week or so later he'd put on some weight and we were up at the RVC for something. Onto the weighbridge and he was 525kg.

I suppose it is difficult to calibrate a portable bridge perfectly each time but actually my weight tape is closer and at least I know how much that is out by.

I also found them a little pushy with aggressive sales techniques. This was at a camp and they not only tried to push their products but I foolishly gave my email address on the form and got not just automated marketing emails that you can unsubscribe from but personal emails. I told them at the time horse was so fussy so I was loathe to change anything as I'd found things he liked. He'd lost weight because he didn't like a batch of hay but that had changed and he was eating again.

These days I use my weight tape to track changes as he can lose weight really easily. I don't even look at the kg just the cm.

 

[criso]

His back end is fine, no gutter on his back and no fat behind his shoulders. It is his middle section and his neck I would like slimmer.

A friend had her cob on serious diet, he had a mild laminitic attack and she was strip grazing in a small paddock and weighing hay with great success.

She realised how much she had achieved when she saw his martingale neck strap hanging loose and needed to tighten it several holes.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

If he was weighed by the same method last time and has lost 20kg since then, I guess he looks flabby because he hasn't been ridden much lately while he has been lame

 

[SEL]

One of mine is broad and never looks thin due to her rib cage shape - even when you can feel ribs. He may also have lost muscle which drops the kg but can make them look like they've got a saggy belly.

I think just keep ticking along. The grass is coming through strongly in my rested paddocks so I'm trying to work out what muzzle I need for the fat Appy to replace her green guard. She's got a crest a stallion would be proud of.

 

[SO1]

So he is looking slimer. Got to the yard today and he started eating his bed whilst he was waiting for his hay which was strange. YO said he was probably picking for bits of hay in his bed but he looked he was tucking in. I looked it and it looked like bits of straw was in it.

I was worried so I went and looked at the bedding bales to see what it was made of and it looks like yard has changed from micanthus to chopped straw which explains why he was eating it. I was going to suggest to YO getting some top chop zero and Bert could have that to nibble on but if we are on now chopped straw that doesn't seem a lot of point.

YO has managed to arrange with a saddler to come on Thursday when my instructor is there. I will be on zoom calls so wont be able to talk to saddler but hopefully if saddle can be altered then he can be ridden again. In the meantime just doing ground work. I could ride him bareback possibly but YO doesn't want me to risk doing that supervision as he has not been ridden for a while and never bareback. I think he would be ok in walk bareback.