Gropony
Well-Known Member
Short version - would you put a pony with uveitis and who puts on weight easily on 24/7 turnout?
My pony (9 years old) has had one episode of uveitis with no known cause since I bought him, and nothing in the last yaer. I don't know if he had episodes before, the seller never said, and when asked just murmured about a swollen eye at some point (so possibly yes). He is on full turnout in the summer with his Guardian mask and from December to March on stable/arena turnout in his field group. This spring he put on 5 girth holes in three weeks, despite there being hardly any grass and being in a small field with three others. I had to work him 6 days a week just to slow down the rate of weight gain. He is still 5, 6 or so girth holes bigger than this time last year, when he had always been on stable/arena turnout with no grass in his riding stables, maybe even more. He has a body condition score or around 4. He is fed far too much hard feed, including barley, and I have no control over it so I need to move him or next year will be a disaster.
I don't have the budget for him to be at a yard where they are stabled overnight and turned out on the day. There are no tracks available.
I can put him in a nice yard near me where they are out 24/7, the grass is not rich and they have ad lib hay in the field of not too high quality. But the fields are small, so the winter is very muddy. They have stabilised around the hay. They also have a stable for medical purposes if needed.
Would it be a risk? He would need to wear a mask 24/7 all year and possibly a grazing muzzle in spring. Is this too much? I can't go twice a day to take his mask off overnight. The vet said he can't live out because of his eye but the vet is a showjumper and has his very well bred horses in stables and individual turnout, and sometimes I think doesn't adapt his advice for other circumstances (he also said this about the summer but we have passed the summer no problem). His mask rubbed him raw in the wet weather this Spring. I think I have solved this issue but I don't know for sure. Also, I need him to lose weight this winter. I feel really stuck and I don't know what to do for the best.
My pony (9 years old) has had one episode of uveitis with no known cause since I bought him, and nothing in the last yaer. I don't know if he had episodes before, the seller never said, and when asked just murmured about a swollen eye at some point (so possibly yes). He is on full turnout in the summer with his Guardian mask and from December to March on stable/arena turnout in his field group. This spring he put on 5 girth holes in three weeks, despite there being hardly any grass and being in a small field with three others. I had to work him 6 days a week just to slow down the rate of weight gain. He is still 5, 6 or so girth holes bigger than this time last year, when he had always been on stable/arena turnout with no grass in his riding stables, maybe even more. He has a body condition score or around 4. He is fed far too much hard feed, including barley, and I have no control over it so I need to move him or next year will be a disaster.
I don't have the budget for him to be at a yard where they are stabled overnight and turned out on the day. There are no tracks available.
I can put him in a nice yard near me where they are out 24/7, the grass is not rich and they have ad lib hay in the field of not too high quality. But the fields are small, so the winter is very muddy. They have stabilised around the hay. They also have a stable for medical purposes if needed.
Would it be a risk? He would need to wear a mask 24/7 all year and possibly a grazing muzzle in spring. Is this too much? I can't go twice a day to take his mask off overnight. The vet said he can't live out because of his eye but the vet is a showjumper and has his very well bred horses in stables and individual turnout, and sometimes I think doesn't adapt his advice for other circumstances (he also said this about the summer but we have passed the summer no problem). His mask rubbed him raw in the wet weather this Spring. I think I have solved this issue but I don't know for sure. Also, I need him to lose weight this winter. I feel really stuck and I don't know what to do for the best.
