New pony needs some weight on - advice please !

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JLD

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Hi, I have taken on a pony for some TLC, he has been out with little hay all winter and has come out of winter pretty poor. He will continue to live out on 1.5 acres shared with some sheep, he needs worming and I will get his teeth done, and will supplement the grazing with hay and feed as needed. However he is a 12.2 native cross and I suspect at risk of laminitis if we up things too fast especially as finally the grass is coming through, I was planning on giving 2 very small feeds of something like safe and sound and a section of hay daily to start with but wondered if this was too much too soon and what what anyone else would do ? He wont be in ridden work but I will do some in hand work with him/long reining etc.
thanks for any advice - I am used to big stabled horses so this is all a bit different !
 
JLD said:
Hi, I have taken on a pony for some TLC, he has been out with little hay all winter and has come out of winter pretty poor. He will continue to live out on 1.5 acres shared with some sheep, he needs worming and I will get his teeth done, and will supplement the grazing with hay and feed as needed. However he is a 12.2 native cross and I suspect at risk of laminitis if we up things too fast especially as finally the grass is coming through, I was planning on giving 2 very small feeds of something like safe and sound and a section of hay daily to start with but wondered if this was too much too soon and what what anyone else would do ? He wont be in ridden work but I will do some in hand work with him/long reining etc.
thanks for any advice - I am used to big stabled horses so this is all a bit different !
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How poor is poor? What condition score would you say he is?
 
I wouldn't be giving him anything extra if you have half-decent grass to be honest. Most of the behavioural problems that we see nowadays are due to our obsession with chucking hard feed into our horses. He's a native cross, as long as he's wormed & has grass, he should put weight on pretty quickly.
 
You might want to speak to one of the feed company's nutritionists. I would certainly reccommend both Allen & Paige and Pure Feeds both of which have very good nutritionist advice.

I suspect you need to avoid starch and sugar to reduce the risk of Lami - A&P are great at that.
 
I would condition score him about 2. he looks ribby with a belly hence my feeling he needs worming but his muscle bulk is less than I would expect as well - I suspect he has been underweight for some time. I think I agree about the hard feed - I would like to get some equivite or equivalent into him do maybe just a handfull of chaff to mix it ? He can be quite a pushy little chap so I dont want to over feed him for this reason either !
 
Given the time of year, I'd let Dr Green do his good work by himself. If after a few months he isn't improved enough you can always add a little something come mid summer when the grass stops growing a bit.
It's be a shame to have to muzzle him in a months time because he's gone too quickly the other way!

1.5 acres to himself / bar sheep (who will mean it's well fertilised grass!) plus worming/ teeth and not too much exercise he'll spring back in no time.
 
If you're worried that he's got some sort of worm damage or ulcer problem and want to give him something, the Alltech Lifeforce is a brilliant supplement, and will give him all the minerals he needs, you could mix it with a handful of chaff.
 
I'd second the recommendation for the lifeforce, it helps them to absorb as much goodness in the hind gut from the fibre we feed, have seen a few horses where it has worked wonders, and has been great for my ulcer prone gelding, that combined with dr green could be all he needs...
 
JLD said:
I would condition score him about 2. he looks ribby with a belly hence my feeling he needs worming but his muscle bulk is less than I would expect as well - I suspect he has been underweight for some time. I think I agree about the hard feed - I would like to get some equivite or equivalent into him do maybe just a handfull of chaff to mix it ? He can be quite a pushy little chap so I dont want to over feed him for this reason either !
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In that case I would just worm him, get teeth done too... If feeding anything I would start with a handful (literally) of hi fi light and add a broad spec vitamin and mineral supplement and a decent blood tonic (I use haemavite b plus) and let the grass do the job for you. When he pics up you can drop the tonic and just keep the hi fi and supplement.
 
Another one for Alltech LifeForce. Worked wonders on a pony I couldn't get weight on for a year - Vets drew blanks.

Since then I have used it on my other horses - with other various issues, skin, immune system challenges, including one I have recently taken on who also needs to put weight on etc. All of them have / are starting to show improvements. It generally takes about a month to start to see improvement.
 
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