Reducing feed for summer

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frankieduck

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I feel I am questioning my own sanity a bit here, and having always had good doers, could do with some advice!

I have a pony in his 30's, always done well but dropped a bit of weight March time this year so I upped his feed. He's now put the weight back on and is looking great but I'm aware I don't want him to keep gaining weight as the grass is starting to come through (he has ample grazing but obviously not much goodness in the grass over winter which will change shortly).

Those in a similar position with poor doers over winter - what do you change in summer? Do I cut down his rations? Halve his feed? Take something out? I don't want him to drop off again but equally don't want him overweight and the health implications of that.

He is currently on 2 x a day:

3/4 scoop (soaked qty) Fibre Beet
1/2 scoop Baileys Topline Cubes
1 mug linseed

I don't want to dramatically change his feed ideally, I've had him on senior mashes etc. in the past and tbh he did cr*p on them, this formula seems to work well for him and he looks fantastic. His dentition is ok for his age but he struggles with chaff so I don't feed it.

Thank you!
 
Once the grass kicks in I reduce their feed gradually to make sure they maintain weight. If they start gaining I cut it more drastically. I reduce quantities and take stuff out, in summer mine goes down to pretty much just a token feed for supplements.

In the autumn I start building the feed back up as the grass drops so that they maintain their weight.
 
Retired coblet has had his feed cut down gradually over the past month as he came out of a largely stabled winter far too well and is in the process of being roughed off for a life living out 24/7 on a rural welsh hillside!
he will have to continue having a handful of feed daily to get a bute into him but it will only be the smallest of handful of grass pellets.
 
Kirstd33 said:
Retired coblet has had his feed cut down gradually over the past month as he came out of a largely stabled winter far too well and is in the process of being roughed off for a life living out 24/7 on a rural welsh hillside!
He will have to continue having a handful of feed daily to get a bute into him but it will only be the smallest of handful of grass pellets.
Click to expand...
 
I would slowly drop his feed and keep an eye on his waistline - that way you can slowly reduce how much he has but also be a few steps ahead if anything does go belly up.

I'd deffo keep him on what he is on as it is what works best for him, so there is no point in changing the feed, but adjusting the quantities will be your best friend in this :)

I'd start by perhaps doing 1/2 scoop soaked Fibre Beet, 1/2 scoop of the Bailey's cubes and maybe 3/4 mug of linseed and see where you go from there :)
 
Thank you! I started to reduce his winter rations in March as they moved onto a fresh field of grass but think I jumped the gun a bit and he suddenly dropped a lot of weight, so I've been a bit nervous to start reducing again yet. But he has a good coverage over his ribs now so I think I will start cutting down and keep a close eye on whether he is gaining/losing/staying the same.

It's such a balancing act - much easier with the fatties who get a cup of balancer once a day :rolleyes:
 
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