Rising 5 connie pony needing a bit more condition

[TotalMadgeness]

I have a 14.3hh connie gelding he will be 5 in May. He was backed last March when he was 3 and I bought him end of May 2017. He has just had the winter off due to a splint.

He is fed good quality timothy haylage (as much as he can eat). Feed wise he is currently on (twice a day) half a scoop mollichalf, half a scoop speedibeet, pro hoof, micronised linseed (3rd of a cup) and equinutrive gold.

He is, I think, naturally quite fine - not the chunky type of connie - but he is a little thin overall, especially neck & shoulders (quarters are good). I started bringing him back into work a few weeks ago - short sessions of lungeing (just headcollar or bridle no side reins) or long reining, with physio exercises over raised poles. He gets tired very quickly and I can see he is not using his shoulders/neck properly (this might be a result of him being broken in using drawreins - he just doesn't seem to stretch over his back). Physio and vet seem to think he will start to improve with time, work and correct feeding.

He is not a greedy horse and will take time eating his haylage and feeds, whereas my other horse scoffs everything in sight. He has quite a calm easy going character for his age which I'd like to maintain.

He has been wormed, had physio sessions, been checked by vet and teeth done (all good). He has very nice feet and the splint is no longer bothering him.

However I am reluctant to put a saddle / rider on him with his current condition - as I'd really like to see some meat on his bones and a bit more stamina before restarting him.

so I am thinking of starting him on a conditioning feed like Calm & Condition at least until the grass starts to come through (there is zero grass - he has haylage in the field). If I use C&C feed do I take out the micronised linseed / pro hoof / equinutrive gold?

Thank you

 

[quaver]

Have you thought about increasing the linseed? Everything I've read/everyone I've spoken to says to use more than 1 mug if you want to add condition.

I don't use feeds like calm and condition so can't help on that front I'm afraid.

 

[be positive]

I would cut out the mollichop, full of molasses which has no benefits and is designed to slow eating, mine all get soaked grassnuts to carry supplements which would replace the grass he is not getting and you could leave some overnight for him to pick on, he is likely to pick up quickly once the grass does come through so I would not panic too much at this time of year, I would increase the linseed to a mug or two before trying a compound feed.

 

[AFB]

Another vote for increasing the linseed. You don't need a lot of volume but get a lot out of it which is great for those that aren't greedy.