Over welmed with choices please help

[crazyhorselover]

Hi All

I currently have 1 horse and am due on Wednesday to get a pony for the children. The horse is a 16hh tb mare and she is 20 years old, she suffers from laminitis and stiffness and is currently fed on hifi lite with devils claw suppliment and hay.

Our new pony is 13.1 hh cob type mare and is 18 years old, appears healthy but not much go in her, I would love to give her a little more energy but nothing major so that she becomes too forwards for the children.

Both will be in lite work although the tb is currently out of work and spends most of her time on box rest but is slowly being allowed out daily for longer periods after a recent laminitic attack.

Any feeding advice is welcome as we have been adviced with various feeds and it's all a bit much for a novice horse owner.

 

[be positive]

A cob type pony in light work would be best having no feed initially, let it settle in, try and get it fitter and doing more exercise, that alone may help with energy levels. If you start trying to give it more energy by feeding the chances are it will just get fatter and at risk of laminitis, let the children get to know the pony and then if required you can introduce some basic feed.
A low calorie balancer may be the best option to make sure it gets vits and mins or a general supplement in a tiny feed of something like fast fibre or speedibeet.

 

[crazyhorselover]

Thank you, I will keep her on just hay for now then and just get her working more and see where we go with that. What would you suggest for the mare?

 

[AngieandBen]

A cob type pony in light work would be best having no feed initially, let it settle in, try and get it fitter and doing more exercise, that alone may help with energy levels. If you start trying to give it more energy by feeding the chances are it will just get fatter and at risk of laminitis, let the children get to know the pony and then if required you can introduce some basic feed.
A low calorie balancer may be the best option to make sure it gets vits and mins or a general supplement in a tiny feed of something like fast fibre or speedibeet.

Exactly that, and treat the pony like your laminitic horse, ie less grass more soaked hay. You can feed Bailey's Low Cal on its own and they seem to love it

 

[AngieandBen]

Thank you, I will keep her on just hay for now then and just get her working more and see where we go with that. What would you suggest for the mare?

Keep in during the day with the pony, out at night on bare paddock with plenty of soaked hay. If her teeth are still ok then all she needs is a Balancer too. My 22 year and and 20 year olds don't have any special veteran feeds, just a fibre based diet Fast Fibre ) and magnesium