Managing a fat pony?

H

HayleyUK

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My mare is a bit of a fatty at the moment, had a few problems catching her & with the new fields being full of grass and her being a typical native she's ballooned!

She's living out at the min, which she prefers but I'm getting worried she's carrying too much weight. Initially, I was trying to bring her in daily to stand in for a few hours & be worked, but I can't catch the little witch unless the field is empty so it slipped to every 2 or 3 days when I could catch her! She does look a lot slimmer after a night/few hours in.. so its possibly just too much good grass making her blow up!

My plan is now; to restrict her grazing by putting her in a starvation paddock either all day, or over night & bringing her in to be fed soaked hay for the remainder of the time.
No hard feed & some fittening/weight loss work.

Is there anything else you would do that I may have missed?

Thanks
H x
 
I trickle feed our welsh cob so she has about a foot extra every 3 days and she has kept a lovely weight .I also get my tb to eat off all the good stuff before she goes on to a new patch.
 
I am in the same situation with our pony due to the fact that we are now also laminitic for the first year,i do the following:
*Comes in at 7-8 Am and then back out late afternoon
*gets hay plus a little bit of Hi-Fi with the lami supplements
*If my daughter cant ride i will lunge
Is not starved during the day just kept of the grass and is now looking fab and a size 0 for horses.....but stressing again that is not starved just no hard feed less grass but hay during the day and hi-fi
At the moment they are in a skinny paddock so there is no need for a muzzle but when they move I will keep in for a few days and then turned out at night with a muzzle(oh how hated I will be )
 
My boy is connemara so I have the same problem.
I am managing him him with restricted grazing (4/5 hours per day), keeping him in at night and increasing his work load.
He is looking great on this and seems perfectly content.
I am totally paranoid about him getting laminitus!
 
as above, grazing 4-5 hours a day -spread out if poss so 2 turnouts of 2-3 hours each. increase work load, try lunging 25-30mins at trot and canter then ride as well if poss.
 
Just a warning though - do not cut back on feed too much too quickly, as in a starvation diet, this can cause serious problems. Make sure he gets plenty of high fibre low carbo/protein feeds such as saoked hay, straw etc. You must keep the gut working.
 
I managed my fat native with a grass muzzle, they can be a pain to get fitting right and you have to watch out for rubbing (I ended up covering mine with silk ribbon to stop it rubbing his sensitive nose!) but they work like a dream! Expect strops for the first few days
smile.gif
they look at you like you're trying to torure them, however, when the belly starts to empty they realise they actually can get a little grass to eat.
 
Thanks for the replies..

I was debating a muzzle but clever pony learned how to wriggle out of her headcollar I left on (leather) so it would be easier to catch her, so I didnt think that'd work!

I cant fence off any of her field as its livery & they provide a small paddock for ponies that need rations.

Have started to do some more work with her, she is rideable I've just not had much chance to get on lately. Hoping after my lesson on Saturday I'll have more to work on & will be back to riding 3-4 times a week min.

Currently, I've got her out at night & in during the day being fed soaked hay. She's looking slimmer after only 2 nights in, so I think a lot of it was the grass bloating her up, shes by no means obese just carrying too much condition for me at the min.

Planning to reintroduce her to the proper fields in a week or two when shes fitter & slimmer!

Thanks for the advice1
x
 
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