what would you feed 14.1 pony?

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AHorseLover

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just woundering what would you feed a 14.1hh new forest x pony thats 9 years old

at the moment hes on 1/2 chaff and 1/4 course mix
to help him lose some weight now hes perfect weight

last year and winter he was on 1/2 chaff 1/4 course mix 1/4 barley and 1/4 surgerbeet

do you think i should give him some more feed now or not o he also had 10 pounds hay in morning and evening

x
 
i would feed ad lib hay then if he needs hard feed to keep his weight then chaff and unmollassed sugar beet with a vit/min supplement. I wouldnt feed cereals to a native pony.
 
Frank (welsh 16) is currently hunter trialling on grass and hay only. (out 24/7)
When they come in at night end of oct ish he will get 18lb hay a day and a small scoop of hi fi and small scoop of low cal pony nuts.

If the weather is cold/I am competing every week/hunting he will have sugar beet added (up to 1 small scoop)

He has no chance of ever getting coarse mix or barley
 
sugar beet is all fibre, and gets the hindgut working well I think so hence the work.

It is excellent in winter, I find it very good if frank starts to get a bit tucked up and he doesn't need anything else.

He does also get vit/mi sup
 
Unmolassed sugarbeet pulp/pellets don't contain any significant sugar - that's for sure!!

It is a slow release energy food with a higher calorie count than forage feeds but nowhere near as high as grain feeds. It does not contain the starch that the grains do, which is what makes horses 'hot' and it is low enough in calories to not pile the weight on.
It contains a lot of fibre and is really almost a forage feed rather than a hard feed.
 
unmollassed sb is mainly fibre, which when digested releases alot of heat. It is a safer feed for lots of horses because it has 0 starch, low sugar and high fibre.
 
Unless a native is a very poor doer or has to live out with not much shelter, I'd feed nothing but forage (hay or haylage, depending on quality) and a feed balancer for vits and mins. I'd keep a close eye on their weight - in winter natives swap to a different metabolism and become more efficient at converting fat to energy - and only feed 'bucket feed' (low cal cubes, chaff and an unmolassed beet pulp) if pony got underweight.

Keep teeth checked by a qualified and registered EDT to maximise digestion and comfort whilst eating
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Don't be tempted to overfeed.
 
I've got a 14.1 random native cross, and he lives out 24/7, no rug, on forage only (ad-lib hay in the winter). At the moment, he's still in a starvation paddock with two large haynets/day. He also gets a mineral lick, and 1 or 2 carrots/day. He is ridden daily, and I still have trouble keeping the weight off him if he's on grass.
 
this is a really bad pic coz you can't really see hes body but most of the pictures are on my phone do you think hes fat?? , i think he looks ok but not sure ?

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my new forest 14.3 is on strict grazing soaked hay and a handfull of forage and fibre very low in sugar oil and starch! they can live of fresh air!
 
my 14.1 NF aged 9 gets

3kg haylage

a handful of alfalfa
3 heaped wooden spoonfuls of Fibrebeet
cider vinegar
1 cup baileys lo-cal balancer
glug of linseed oil.

Also in every night on non-edible bedding throughout the year, and restricted grazing and plenty of exercise. It's an uphill struggle keeping the weight off him.
 
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