Winter native pony feed advice

golddustsara

golddustsara

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 June 2007
Messages
2,746
Location
Hampshire
Visit site
With the rubbish weather my connie has dropped a little weight. He's looking just that little bit slimmer than I'd prefer. In the spring/summer he is a very good do-er!

He started choking on his chaff (scoped, teeth done etc - all fine) so I avoid it now. He's currently fed per day:

1/2 scoop of fast fibre
1/4 scoop of ride and relax
pink powder
3 wedges of hay and lives out 24/7

I thought about adding linseed oil or outshine or perhaps increasing the fast fibre and substituting the R&R with a low starch conditioning cube such as Top Spec cool condition.

He's not over keen on the fast fibre, but I think he'd eat more if I added mint!
 
Id increase the fast fibre or add calm and condition instead of the RR and add linseed. :)

My oldie native is looking plump on veteran vitality and a double handful of plain alfalfa :) If he started to drop I have a bag of linseed in a mouse broof box that I can add to his feed to add calories :)

He is cereal intolerant so I actively avoid anything with too much starch. I am wary ot topscpec cool condition due to the fact that nobody knows whats in them and they are loathe to tell you which makes me wary. I did give them to my mare when she was on box rest but she ended up high as a kite although they did put weight on her.
 
Add micronised linseed and speedibeet or change the fast fibre to calm and condition
My natives are fed fast fibre, grass nuts, ready grass and sugarbeet now
the working connie is on
750 grms of calm and condition
500 grms grass nuts soaked together
sugarbeet about 500 grms soaked weight
alfa a oil about 500 grms
100grms micronised linseed
and a handful of ready grass
makes a big fibre and oil feed which she loves it takes ages to eat so last her a long time and she looks fabulous on it
 
posie_honey said:
ditto above
Click to expand...

Ditto

Ad lib hay will ensure that his hindgut keeps producing internal heat to keep him warm as it digests the hay.

Also, assuming that you are rugging him appropriately, he can then use less of his own energy keeping warm and more of it keeping his weight on/increasing weight.

So rugs and plenty of forage :)

Just a note re: conditioning cubes, they tend to be a little lower fibre than the higher fibre cubes.

My pony increased weight when I swapped her from Dodson's conditioning cubes to cheap £5.50 a bag Pegasus high fibre cubes. It's the bulkiness in high fibre feeds that will go a long way into increasing weight, then you use the oils and linseed as a supplement if you wish.

Just my opinion though!
 
Last edited:
My connie also dropped a few pounds this winter (but lack of grass turn out does that), I just upped his feed to twice daily (1 scoop mollichaff) plus 1/2scoop speedybeat whilst no grazing and ad lib haylage.
He's pleased as punch, he is in a good hard working schedule though (hunting at weekends and 4-5 days schooling in between), so the sugar gets burnt off pretty good. Otherwise he'd probably be wired :)
 
Ad lib hay or haylage with a red rocky salt block.

I have all ages on ad lib 2011 haylage, out 24/7, and they are all looking good. But these ponies are not in work.
 
My two natives are simply on grass nuts, dried grass, hi fi lite and 365 supplement mixed with hot water when it's chilly, which they seem to really enjoy, and at the moment 12lbs hay. When they drop condition I shall add speedibeet.
 
I have a DalesX, and she's on Top spec, a level scoop of Molasses free Alfa A twice daily, and 100g of micronised linseed shared between the two meals, plus aprox 4 slices of hay a day.
Any more and she just wastes it.
 
Agree with feeding more haylage, or if that really doesn't work, then try feeding grass nuts. They work well to keep condition on our elderly cob, who is not the good doer she once was.
 
Unless you can clearly see his ribs I wouldn't worry.

We are so used to seeing far horses we've forgotten what a healthy horse is! I'd carry on as you were and leave it to the spring grass to put it back on as nature intended :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top