What's a normal feeding routine for a Dartmoor pony?? Possibly overfed.

[hereward]

Hi all, first time poster so please be gentle! I really need some advice because this is a bit of a doozy and a first for me --

I loaned my 2yo Dartmoor filly to my mum for most of last year. I’ve had her since she was 7 months when she came to me wild; and whilst she was with me she lived on grass and air and lived out in most weathers. On the advice of a yard owner she got a handful of Mollichaff Applechaff and a half scoop of nonspecific cheap hard mix (possibly Pegasus) twice a day through the colder months and once a day otherwise, alongside hay. The pasture at our livery can be poor but I always thought what the hell, she’s native, and never increased her food intake because she seemed super happy to eat the hedgerow and never lost weight or condition. She chunked out and grew nicely and her coat always had a beautiful shine when she was clean.

My mum has had her on a Spiller’s senior mash, the same as she feeds her mare (7yo, 15hh cob) and the same quantity. She generally gives her a full scoop of the mash and then a full scoop of Dengie Alfa-A. She feeds them twice a day like this & then stables them by night, and goes through bags of this stuff a month. I’ve noticed since I’ve come back that she’s put on a ton of weight and can sometimes be quite bloated and hard / tight, she’s less energetic and is grouchy. My Farrier keeps & shows Dartmoors and says she’s ‘tubby’ but still sound - laminitis is a huge concern for me at the moment. She’s not been exercised in any capacity during her time with mum. I could be overreacting but I'm convinced she's been overfed and has suffered because of it (for context she's my first ever and I don't have anything to compare it to; mum has kept horses on and off for years so I trusted her judgement).

Now she is coming back to me and I would like some advice on how people who own similar native ponies feed theirs through winter and then the rest of the year. She will most likely be going back on 24/7 turnout and will be returning to exercising once she’s settled. She’s just over 12hh.

I feel like I have to roll back to basics completely, but I’ve not had any experience with this kind of thing before. I don’t know how much to feed her or what it would be ‘normal’ to feed her compared to others. Any advice would be very much appreciated!!

 

[Ownedby4horses]

I would strip her of all hard feed and just keep her on hay, keeping an eye on her weight and increasing her hay ration if needed.

 

[JackFrost]

First thing to have in mind is that she is a Dartmoor, and they evolved as you say to live on chewing a bit of hedge, out in all weather. It is not good for her to be fat, and at this time of year she should be using up her fat reserves.

Keeping her fat is asking for laminitis and/or metabolic disorders down the line. What you say about 'bloated....grouchy' would make me feel that the issue needs to be addressed now and her present feed program isn't doing her good.

My native ponies have always lived out through winter on a few acres of grazing (even though there isn't much food value it gives them something to chew), and from about January to March they get a small bucket of fastfibre mash each day (about 3 dry scoops per day, but I'd give less for a 12h pony), and randomly a bit of top spec/supplement of vits and mins. They always have access to salt. They get about a quarter of a small bale of hay per day which is the main staple of their diet, but I feed more if the weather turns nasty.

It is easy with natives to mean well and overfeed them. I have had them come out of winter fatter than they went in, which is not what Nature intended! Aim to have her looking almost a bit skinny by the time the spring grass comes, about May depending on where you are. Cut back her feed portions and make grass and hay the core of her winter diet.

I'm sure others will have useful advice on their feed regimes. You sound like you do know what you are doing and have spotted that there is a bit of an issue. Winter is sometimes the only time of year you can easily get weight off the natives, so make it work for you.

 

[twiggy2]

Turn her out on poor grazing and stop feeding her,

 

[scats]

This your chance now to get her weight off before spring, or you might end up in trouble. I’d chuck her out on poor grazing, preferably in a large area where she will move around. No hard feed or hay.

 

[sbloom]

Picking from a hedge is the best thing she can do, cut out the bucket feed. I might consider an iron free good doer vit and min supplement with just enough sugar free chaff for her to eat it, and soaked hay to pick at if she ever needs to be off (poor as possible) grazing for any length of time. And yes, use the cold weather to get the weight off.

 

[ihatework]

Woah!! That is way to much for a native. If you are going to feed at all just a vit/min powder in the smallest amount of low cal fibre carrier you can get away with!

These ponies are designed to live on fresh air

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

The only reason I can think of for giving this pony even a tiny amount of bucket feed, is to keep her coming to you in a routine. Otherwise I would stop the feed. If she needs extra forage because the amount (not quality) of grazing is limited, I would offer plain at straw chaff. At least now is a good time of year to be getting weight off.

 

[Goldenstar]

You where giving that native more hard food than my 16.3 in work ID is getting .
Get her in a field and stop feeding or you are sitting her up for a miserable life .

 

[conniegirl]

When you say you talk about exercising her what do you mean?

I wouldn’t be feeding a young native pony much at all, maybe a handful of chaff with a multivitamin supplement in it.
My old native pony needs feeding when in work but now he is out of work he is becoming rather rotund on not very much at all

 

[Littlewills]

Rough grazing, ideally on a large acreage with a herd so shes active, and a handful, probably only half the recommended rates of balancer like equimins or similar.

 

[hereward]

Woah!! That is way to much for a native. If you are going to feed at all just a vit/min powder in the smallest amount of low cal fibre carrier you can get away with!

I wouldn’t be feeding a young native pony much at all, maybe a handful of chaff with a multivitamin supplement in it.

Rough grazing, ideally on a large acreage with a herd so shes active, and a handful, probably only half the recommended rates of balancer like equimins or similar.

Thank you all very much for your quick responses. I have one field available to me at the moment that is basically no grass & decent hedgerow, so I'll follow your advice and cut all the mash out. I've also picked up another native youngster to bring on alongside her, so hopes are they go mental with each other and she starts to lose a bit of the weight!

When you say you talk about exercising her what do you mean?

I'm not sure you can call it 'exercise' tbh haha, she was getting walked and trotted out (in hand) for several hours & miles every other day. My hiking / jogging routine + her. During her loan period she's been sitting in a field + hasn't been out at all.

 

[twiggy2]

A 7 month old colt cannot go out with a 2 yr old filly. He will also have different needs to her and a 7 month old needs more than a bare field!