what is wrong with my pony?!!

[welshstar]

I've had my cob for just over a year- last year he was quite underweight for his breed and due to being clipped in may, his coat wasn't brilliant. However, he slowly put on weight and filled out over the winter and came out looking well.

However, I'm not convinced he's looking his best. He looks quite well but not as well as he should be- just a bit lacking through his hind quarters mainly. The main problem is his coat. He is a buckskin (fairly light one) and should have a nice shine but he doesn't really. He is quite smooth over his neck and shoulder but his barrel has a lot of fuzzy (almost singed?) hair. I can get a shine by brushing him but he doesn't seem to have a good natural shine. He is only 6. A few weeks ago he also dropped off a bit and went quieter in his ridden work- he went tucked up at this time too. We had a change in food to a more oil based, conditioning feed and he has picked up since then.

I was just wondering if there would be any reason for such poor quality coat growth and a bit 'off' in his general appearance? He seems back to normal now in his character, he is ridden about 5-6 times a week, fed on his conditioning mix and a vitamin supplement twice daily. We don't have loads of grass at the moment but he does get hay twice daily. He was also worm counted recently.

Hopefully someone can help! I know he *should* look better but it's just pin pointing how to do this! Thank you

 

[PonyFeet10]

Do you have any pictures of his condition? I would say most of it will be because he was clipped very late. In May time their summer coat should almost be through, if not through completely. So with him being clipped at that time would have taken off his summer coat. I generally don't clip any later than March time as it gives the summer coat a chance to come through without being clipped off! For a good coat shine, this is the first year I have given mine a splodge of vegetable oil in with their feeds and they all shine really well! With feeds if you're not happy you should contact a feed nutritional expert and they will advise you

 

[meesha]

I would def phone one of the feed help lines - topspec and baileys were both v helpful - if in doubt you could get a blood test from the vet to see if he is deficient in anything.

make sure he has ad lib roughage (grass, hay etc) to keep his gut ticking over.

I have just started to use topspec low cal balancer - has really helped with stamina out hacking.

 

[welshstar]

Sorry I should have specified- last year he was clipped in may just before we bought him so I kind of expected a less than brilliant coat. I'm a bit demoralised that his coat is rubbish again this year. I don't think a picture will show it that well- the hair isn't too bad but it's just over his barrel area and fuzzy, not lovely and smooth like it should be. We put him on another food a few months ago (for stamina etc) but it made him lack energy and lose any sparkle in appearance and personality.

Do people think it would be anything specific he could be lacking? or is that just something that will vary from horse to horse.

Thanks forr the replies