Underweight small pony feed???

Fiona

Fiona

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We may be having on loan a small pony whose a bit underweight. And who is not supposed to have hay because of previous choke surgery..

I am planning to speak to my vet, and to get ponys teeth done...

What should I think of feeding? In a v sloppy form obviously. .

Grass nuts soaked

Fibrebeet

Readigrass or just grass

Combination of all three?

Don't have access to some of the smaller feed companys products, can get spillers, pegus, baileys etc...

Also should I feed something like pink powder?

Sorry for all the questions. All the horses ive had over the years have all been good doers..

Fiona
 
I think it depends on why it is underweight, if it has not had the teeth done for a while and is not on much grass then I would be wary about feeding it too much as they can quickly go the other way and become too fat, ponies can usually live on fresh air so I would just start with the lowest calorie feed you can get, fast fibre would be ideal but if that is not available fibrebeet is probably lower than grassnuts so go with that or high fibre nuts from one of the companies named in your post, plus some chop if stabled to give him something to pick on.
Winter will be more of an issue when the grass goes so will need thinking about if he is in at night he will require plenty to keep him going that is not so tasty he eats it all in one go, good luck with that it could be interesting managing him without being able to give hay.
 
Fast fibre BP? Is that a d&h feed? I should be able to get that if it would be better.. I'm not going to feed huge quantities at the start honestly, but she could do with a wee bit extra when compared with pics from a year ago before the choke..

I'm hoping that by the time winter comes I've perfected her rations so that she can spend bit more time in..

She can't be the only elderly pony who can't have hay.

The most perfect pony to ride BTW, can't wait til we have her...

Fiona
 
Fast fibre is Allen and Page so may not be available but there are similar high fibre feeds that can be used as a total hay replacement if required.
It is not easy to find the perfect 1st ridden so if this is the only compromise it is manageable and you have time to find out what suits before the winter.
 
Thanks BP :) We can get Allen and page too, so hopefully I should be able to get fast fibre..

Total hay replacement. . That's what I need :) and I'll know a lot more about wee miss 's teeth after vet sees them next week..

Fiona
 
Success :)

The localish main feed distributor lists allen and page fast fibre and they sell readigrass so I'll get some of that too..

Fiona
 
Update is that I've spoken to my vet and he's booked for end of next week to do her teeth :)

No point feeding her until she can chew it properly

Fiona
 
I can't believe it. Actually sold in the same main feed merchants as the fast fibre. Fantastic :)

Is it really really good?

Fiona
 
Fiona said:
I can't believe it. Actually sold in the same main feed merchants as the fast fibre. Fantastic :)

Is it really really good?

Fiona
Click to expand...

it is I have fed copra when they need to gain a bit of weight it doesn't take long for it to work, both mine have fast fibre all year round and it has added vitamins and minerals and a prebiotic so no need for extra supplements.
 
Fiona said:
Thank you pinky..

Can I ask, do you use fast fibre as a hay replacer or solely as a concetrate feed.

Fiona
Click to expand...

I just use it as a feed I have Arabs and a lot of bagged feeds make them hot so I avoid molasses and high starch feeds, they just don't need it but they enjoy a bucket feed so it's a good way of letting them think they are having something other than hay as they hold weight as well, I just feed it with graze on green chopped grass and micronised linseed.
 
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