Swift00
Well-Known Member
Hi, this could be long so i apologise in advance,
I own a 13.2hh welsh sec c, last summer i moved to a new yard, pony was very overweight at this point weighing in at 390kg!
New yard routine is that the horses come in during the day and go out at night, so i used the winter and the fact that he was stabled (previously grass livery) to help him lose weight.
We had such good strip grazing over winter that i muzzled him overnight till it was gone, (he's also unrugged), and he came in during the day and had 3kg soaked hay and handful of feed for supplements, i had to stop soaking his hay as yo didn't like the water under the rubber mats and they has poor drainage in stables, so i contacted Dengie and they recommended replacing 50% of his hay ration with straw and feeding hi fi lite if he needed extra, so since mid Jan he's had 1.5kg hay 1.5kg straw and small bucket feed 300grams most during the day, and his weight has slowly come off.
I was so happy when he reached 345kg he looked perfect, feel his ribs easily etc, so i dropped the amount of straw and upped the hay so he wouldn't loose more and upped his bucket feed to 300grams am and pm.
However the last few weeks weather combined with the very poor grazing we now have (they're still on winter grazing) he has continued to drop weight, he's now 318kg and looks poor, i've been upping his feed, he's getting 3kg hay and 1/2kg straw for bulk and 5 scoops (1.5kg) of the hifi split into 2 feeds, and he as stopped loosing weight but obviously i'd like him to gain some.
I'm trying my hardest to do whats right, and make sure he has enough fibre, but problem is my yo now thinks because of his condition that i'm being neglectful and not feeding him enough!
I cannot put hay out in the field overnight (which i'd like to) as there is 5 of them and my pony is the only one that needs it, and due to work i cannot give him a lunch time feed either. I have only been slowly upping his hay as i don't want him to pile the pounds back on either.
I'm tired of being told that he could do with loosing some more and then being told i'm not feeding enough! so can anyone offer any ideas as to if i'm feeding him the correct amount or anything i could do to help him gain without having to feed high energy feeds, which he doesn't need as he's only in light work.
Thanks to anyone who got this far I hope it made sense
I own a 13.2hh welsh sec c, last summer i moved to a new yard, pony was very overweight at this point weighing in at 390kg!
New yard routine is that the horses come in during the day and go out at night, so i used the winter and the fact that he was stabled (previously grass livery) to help him lose weight.
We had such good strip grazing over winter that i muzzled him overnight till it was gone, (he's also unrugged), and he came in during the day and had 3kg soaked hay and handful of feed for supplements, i had to stop soaking his hay as yo didn't like the water under the rubber mats and they has poor drainage in stables, so i contacted Dengie and they recommended replacing 50% of his hay ration with straw and feeding hi fi lite if he needed extra, so since mid Jan he's had 1.5kg hay 1.5kg straw and small bucket feed 300grams most during the day, and his weight has slowly come off.
I was so happy when he reached 345kg he looked perfect, feel his ribs easily etc, so i dropped the amount of straw and upped the hay so he wouldn't loose more and upped his bucket feed to 300grams am and pm.
However the last few weeks weather combined with the very poor grazing we now have (they're still on winter grazing) he has continued to drop weight, he's now 318kg and looks poor, i've been upping his feed, he's getting 3kg hay and 1/2kg straw for bulk and 5 scoops (1.5kg) of the hifi split into 2 feeds, and he as stopped loosing weight but obviously i'd like him to gain some.
I'm trying my hardest to do whats right, and make sure he has enough fibre, but problem is my yo now thinks because of his condition that i'm being neglectful and not feeding him enough!
I cannot put hay out in the field overnight (which i'd like to) as there is 5 of them and my pony is the only one that needs it, and due to work i cannot give him a lunch time feed either. I have only been slowly upping his hay as i don't want him to pile the pounds back on either.
I'm tired of being told that he could do with loosing some more and then being told i'm not feeding enough! so can anyone offer any ideas as to if i'm feeding him the correct amount or anything i could do to help him gain without having to feed high energy feeds, which he doesn't need as he's only in light work.
Thanks to anyone who got this far I hope it made sense
