New pony - advice?

[Countrygirl40]

Hi all - we have a new pony joining us in a few weeks, a little section A for my daughter.
Now i've had horses for 30 years but always that, horses! Never a pony so looking at any hints and tips on weight management, lifestyle etc?
My horses have always managed well on my land which is good grass but i appreciated a pony on it isnt ideal!
Have set up some paddocks on the land for him ready but didnt know if they should be a set size? They are currently around 3rd/half an acre each ish.
He will be exercised 2-3 times a week over summer - some with her and some as a lead and walk with my mare.
I have a muzzle at the ready but i have mixed feelings on them re: teeth and safety.
Any other small pony tips welcome! Please no unkind comments. Thanks!

 

[SEL]

Do you know if he's ever had laminitis? I think our spring grass is going to be rocket fuel this year so I'd be cautious with a small native. My bigger natives are tracked around a 1 acre field which I strip graze into for April / May when the grass is at it's most punchy - but I still muzzle one of them.

 

[Timelyattraction]

Our sec a is out on 4 acres of lush grass on her own atm due to my other one being on box rest and my 3rd one having to keep her company. Shes only out from 9.30-3.30 and she is muzzled. Soaked hay at night and normally ridden 4 times a week but thats down to 1-2 atm due to my sharer being off with a fractured wrist. She has an irish clip and has been unrugged all winter which helps with her weight. Shes never had lami tho and if i saw a crest starting to form she would be stabled until gone.

 

[Timelyattraction]

Eta our little bugger does not respect the electric if theres better grass the other side of the fence, i tried keeping her on a smaller area but she would be straight out within mins so i compromise with the muzzle

 

[Orangehorse]

Make sure she has something to eat before you ride her. Being hungry makes them grump and naughty.

 

[Patterdale]

Exercise is key. I am a mother with many small ponies, you need small paddocks in summer, lots of exercise, no feed and keep them lean in winter. Then more exercise.
If you do the above then you can keep them like any other horse and unless they’ve previously had laminitis, you shouldn’t need to worry about it.

What most pony owners do is put them in small paddocks, spend hours every day feeding them a constant supply of soaked hay in tiny nets to enable them to constantly stand still and eat, and feed them balancers and supplements that make them ‘lose weight.’ This takes around 20 hours a day, and they spend the remaining 4 hour wondering why their ponies are fat and laminitic, then get back to furiously filling more nets ‘so they don’t get ulcers.’

Don’t fall into that trap and you’ll be fine!

 

[Tarragon]

I agree with Patterdale - exercise is the answer. As soon as you have bored and hungry ponies you will have trouble. But given enough exercise, they can then eat enough of the right kind of food to keep them satisfied.

 

[Gloi]

Whenever you hack your horse out take the pony with you on a lead.

 

[Wishfilly]

My experience is that it helps a lot if you can get them to drop some weight over the winter. Obviously that doesn't mean unrestricted access in the summer, but you definitely don't want a pony coming out of winter looking in any way fat.

I'd be tempted to set up small paddocks on land your larger horses have already grazed, especially in spring/summer rather than giving any access to fresh grass- I'm not sure I'd give as much as half an acre- maybe a track around the edge of that if you can set that up? To be honest, if there's any land your horses have absolutely cut up and destroyed this winter, that might be ideal!

A lot does depend on the pony, but I agree that if you see any sort of crest forming, they probably need to be off the grass. Do you have any space where you could give grass free turnout?

More exercise is better- as you get more confident riding and leading, I'd try to incorporate a decent amount of trot if you can, and maybe some faster lunging work if you have a suitable space? I think fast work can help keep weight down in a way that long periods of walk don't always. If you don't have time for this, it may be worth finding a light older child as a sharer?

 

[maya2008]

Bucket muzzles, appropriately padded, can be worn 24/7 year round if needed, with no damage to teeth or problems ensuing. Done that x multiple ponies for years. We mostly control ours through lots and lots of exercise now, but when the children were younger and doing less it was muzzle, clip and under rug in winter. With the muzzle on, small pony could go out with the herd and get more exercise playing.

I have never exercised a small pony less than 5x a week. More exercise makes the weight control much easier!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

If you are able, consider putting in a Track system.

Mine is a 13.2 piggy essentially (Profile pic); our old vet (sadly now retired) actually was the one who suggested we put in a Track system, as strip-grazing just wasn't sufficient to manage her weight.

 

[Jenko109]

I would put your horses out on the half acre now.

Get them to eat it down to nothing and then it will be ready for the pony.

I say ready for the pony. You may still need to strip graze, but half an acre that has been well grazed down would be a good starting point.

 

[Countrygirl40]

Thanks all - what’s a bucket muzzle? I’ve used a muzzle prev but one that comes off after a few hours?

 

[Countrygirl40]

I forgot to say no history of lami or ems he’s on the lean side now so hoping to keep him this way!

 

[maya2008]

Thanks all - what’s a bucket muzzle? I’ve used a muzzle prev but one that comes off after a few hours?

The standard muzzles you can get - like Shires or Roma or similar. They come as one whole thing, no extra headcollar needed, and the bottom has one round hole in the middle (check the pony’s teeth align to the hole and cut to fit if needed). The material of the base isn’t hard enough to damage their teeth, but they do wear out and you have to replace once or twice a year. I pad all around the top with fur or the inside from an old coat, and buy a size up to allow for more comfort.

Mine used to wear them 24/7 all spring/summer/autumn, no issues. Far kinder than being obese or getting laminitis. Research was done around restricting grazing for only part of the day, and the ponies were found to eat double the amount when they did have access to it, so in the end it made no difference!

 

[Patterdale]

If he’s lean and no previous history then please don’t muzzle him, it’s unnecessary.

 

[sollimum]

I think you need to play it by ear but exercise as much as you can possibly do. Be careful of giving anytime off. We always used to bring ours off the grass during the day with a small holed haynet. Is the pony barefoot - watch carefully for any footiness and act swiftly. I have owned ponies and cobs for years and tbh the only way to control weight is exercise.

 

[Spirit7]

Hi all - we have a new pony joining us in a few weeks, a little section A for my daughter.
Now i've had horses for 30 years but always that, horses! Never a pony so looking at any hints and tips on weight management, lifestyle etc?
My horses have always managed well on my land which is good grass but i appreciated a pony on it isnt ideal!
Have set up some paddocks on the land for him ready but didnt know if they should be a set size? They are currently around 3rd/half an acre each ish.
He will be exercised 2-3 times a week over summer - some with her and some as a lead and walk with my mare.
I have a muzzle at the ready but i have mixed feelings on them re: teeth and safety.
Any other small pony tips welcome! Please no unkind comments. Thanks!

Hi I have a Welsh section A that I keep with 2 warmbloods. My grazing is generally good (except for now as I’m saving my best field until it’s dry for a while) I have them on about 10 acres but about half is woodland with poorer thicker grass types. I use a flexi muzzle and as soon as I put them onto hood grass the Welsh will have it on 2 days on and 1 day off depending on grass might reverse at time or alternate. They are in over night and I only feed 24 hour soaked hay (all year). I always check his crest daily for thickness as very good indicator and I trot him up every other day to check his soundness (as LGL shows by soundness - willing to move forward first IMO). He manages fine and if boss of the boys. They are all unshod and I turnout overnight in summer from around 7pm to 8am fo as long as weather allows. This has worked for me for a few years but I do see changes and the minute I notice anything he is muzzled daily and or kept in for a day to combat. I also lunge him if I don’t think they are moving enough but my rising 4 warmblood does keep them all moving and does wind up the Welsh when he has the muzzle on but the Welsh knows how to deal with him!! I would also make sure you feed a balancer directed at laminitis risk like progressive earth pro platinum or similar. Best luck it’s a fine balancing act.