what to do with this pony?

asbo

asbo

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little one is a nightmare to get to the right weight, she balloons at the sight of grass
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due to problems with restricting grazing at the yard we were on she put on a lot of weight which i can not get her to lose
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shes about to move onto hard standing with well soaked hay during the day & in at night with well soaked hay.

she is currently not in work due to her cough , she gets a handful of safe and sound twice a day to get her supplements in.

anyone else have this problem & how do you cope?
 
If I had this pony I woudl concider the following options.

1. Sell her to someone who has the correct facilities to keep her.

2. Muzzle her. She might not like it at first, but you have to bite the bullet. It is far kinder than allowing her to become obese and put her at risk of lami. That way she can still socialise with her friends and be turned out on a large acerage which will mean she moves about more and looses weight & gains fitness.

3. You might find that gentle exercise actualy helps the cough and shifts the gunk. If she builds up slowly there should be no problems. It is amazing how even gentle exercise helps shift weight.
 
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If I had this pony I woudl concider the following options.

1. Sell her to someone who has the correct facilities to keep her.

2. Muzzle her. She might not like it at first, but you have to bite the bullet. It is far kinder than allowing her to become obese and put her at risk of lami. That way she can still socialise with her friends and be turned out on a large acerage which will mean she moves about more and looses weight & gains fitness.

3. You might find that gentle exercise actualy helps the cough and shifts the gunk. If she builds up slowly there should be no problems. It is amazing how even gentle exercise helps shift weight.

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Ditto 1 and 2.
 
i think u should consider muzzling her it can do the world of good for them. is she off work forever or just till her cough goes away??
 
[ QUOTE ]
If I had this pony I woudl concider the following options.

1. Sell her to someone who has the correct facilities to keep her.

2. Muzzle her. She might not like it at first, but you have to bite the bullet. It is far kinder than allowing her to become obese and put her at risk of lami. That way she can still socialise with her friends and be turned out on a large acerage which will mean she moves about more and looses weight & gains fitness.

3. You might find that gentle exercise actually helps the cough and shifts the gunk. If she builds up slowly there should be no problems. It is amazing how even gentle exercise helps shift weight.

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i do have the correct facilities to keep her! the last yard would have too if the other liveries where not so difficult.
we do not have acres & acres of grazing, shes kept on a yard i rent, there is my horse & altia's mare so she will be out with her friends.

muzzles are not a option, last time she had one on she ran through a fence trying to get it off, much rather she was on hard standing with her friends & in at night.

shes not allowed to be exercised until the vet says so.
 
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grazing muzzle, or electric fence off a small paddock for her.

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we only have 1.5 acres + hard standing so she is better on the hard standing.
 
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i think u should consider muzzling her it can do the world of good for them. is she off work forever or just till her cough goes away??

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will be off work until her cough is better
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Then you have already decided what to do with this pony.

If it was mine I would be asking myself what quality of life it will have on hard standing with no exercise for the forseeable future.
 
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Then you have already decided what to do with this pony.

If it was mine I would be asking myself what quality of life it will have on hard standing with no exercise for the forseeable future.

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she will be walked out in hand & as shes the girls pony they will be spending all summer with her.

a lot better than in her stable with laminitis i imagine!

i asked what other people with this problem do with there ponies, not on what quality of life mine will have.

considering before i owned her she was kept in a sand paddock on her own & hardly handled, i think shes much better off with us tbh
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i personally would prefer her to be on grass (if she was my pony lol) just because i think they need to have room to strach there wee leggys lol!!!

could u try the muzzle again??? and see what happens?? poppy hated hers to start with but was fine with the greenguard grazing muzzle cause it was more just like a head collar if you kno what i mean not so restricting. what kind did u use before??
 
my hard standing is not a tiny little corner, it is actually quite large, its about 1 acre with a strip about 7 foot wide with grass on a passage way that she will be able to go into & the other 2 horses will be beside her or in with her.

we have tried most of the muzzles on the market that fit small muzzles, shes had burns from them, cut her legs open from fencing, put her back out from said fencing, tbh she is happier with her hay net picking the grass thats on the edges of the hard standing than out with a muzzle on.
 
awww right lol i was picturing a wee tiny hard standin, well i think the hard standin sounds fine espec if she has a wee bit grass to get her nutrients from and most importantly roll about on an get filthy like all ponies love to do ha ha!!!!

what a shame the muzzles cause her so much grief, cause they can be so useful. but then again i suppose i wouldn't like wearin a muzzle too much either. i would defo go for hard standin in ur situation i should of just brough poppy to ur yard when i had her, to help keep her weight down lol!!!

iis the pony ur talkin bout the wee grey in ur siggi??
 
yip thats her, shes also escape artist number one, cheeky little soul can jump a 5ft fence, shes only 11.1hh lol.

trust me, i would much rather her be out at grass all summer & munch away but its just not going to happen
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hard standing will have areas covered with wood chip so she can dig about in that and she should be able to go into the grazed down paddock at weekends.

she will have the 7ft strip to graze in most days, some it will get shut over & she will still get her feed with her supplements in it & have her respiratory lick & salt lick which she loves
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hoping she can start to come back into work soon and then she will hopefully drop weight & tone up
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ooop's Just realised i dito'd 1 & 2 above, mistake sorry was 2. 3 obviously when she is able after vet advice.
Shame pony will not tolerate muzzle. I have never tried one but know of two ponies happily living out with one. All ponies are diferent though.
Our laminitics are in a very large bare area with hay, they get laminitis by looking at grass. I have not tried muzzles as the public wander in and have heard bad comments regards other ponies with muzzles from public.
Our ponies are happy and glad to be alive and in work all but two that are retired and very happy.
At a larger rescue centre near us they keep their Lami's in a big barn and feed hay. They can wander out to a bare area also of course.
It is tough but better for the pony in the long run.
Hope its cough clears up soon.
 
We have a pony like your little grey. Moonlight. He was a wild Welsh Mountain pony. He is 18 years old now, got him as a foal. He gets lamanitis and is in the bare paddock. He was giving a riding lesson today and the child fell off. Don't know how she managed it. Moonlight is the safest pony on earth.
 
lol don't worry about it
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having so little grazing the hard standing is the equivalent to a bare paddock for us
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she really objects quite badly to a muzzle & i feel its better for her to be without one & on the hard standing by day with hay
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I'd say what you are doing is ideal....
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I have 4 ponies atm... all potential laminitics..

The 2 at home are on mud/dirt/the odd blade of grass and have soaked hay for most of the day but have a couple of hours out on the grass a day..

One shetland is out with my cob on 6 acres but I have my eye on her and soon she'll join my fat welshie in a small sectioned off area just off the main field for the summer...

I spend every summer shuffling my ponies around depending on their weight
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which has been made much harder since losing my other cob recently which means I have even more grass!!

I think as long as they have regular attention they're quite happy like that..as you say, better than laminitis..

In a perfect world I'd have all four at home in my fatties paddock but I won't leave my cob on his own and he can't come home cos he has sweet tich and we're stream bordered...
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I think you're doing the right thing. My older retired mare has a tendency to get a little porky. I'm hopeful that because she's reached 23yrs and not had lami she'll be less prone to it but you can only hope.
I keep her weight down by not rugging her. She is rugged in the middle of winter but the second the rain stops she's out naked, really works well with her. Might sound mean but I think she's better burning calories off that way as she doesn't like being in. Similarly she's on hard standing at night (same sort of size as yours) with friends.
 
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