Running out of grass, what should I do?
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crystal drops
02 Sep 2009 01:47
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Hello i have a welsh mountain pony at a livery yard and the fields have barely any grass left in them...i have noticed he has lost a small amount of weight, i got told it would be a good idea to add a small amount of pony cubes a day (1.5kg). Just been flicking through a few sites and read that adding pony cubes could cause colic...has anyone ever heard of this? At the moment he is out all the time and only comes in to be ridden. The livery yard owner only gives him about 2 haynets weighing 6kg per week. He is ridden every day and im not sure if this is enough food for him...could anyone advise on what i should add, this is our 1st pony so just want to get it right. Thanks
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DressageSpain
02 Sep 2009 10:54
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How big is your pony? This is the first thing to determine how much feed he would need. I would not worry too much, native ponies are notoriously good doers. My old New forest pony survived on air and was still fat.
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pepper93
02 Sep 2009 17:00
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"Hello i have a welsh mountain pony at a livery yard and the feilds have barely any grass left in them...i have noticed he has lost a small amount of weight, i got told it would be a good idea to add a small amount of pony cubes a day (1.5kg). Just been flicking through a few sites and read that adding pony cubes could cause colic...has anyone ever heard of this? At the moment he is out all the time and only comes in to be ridden. The livery yard owner only gives him about 2 haynets weighing 6kg per week. He is ridden every day and im not sure if this is enough food for him...could anyone advise on what i should add, this is our 1st pony so just want to get it right
Thanks "
If he has lost a little weight this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what size of a pony he is (weight wise). If he is fat it wont do any harm to have a bit of weight off him.
You could talk to your yard owner to see if she could give him hay every day? I dont think pony cubes would cause colic, only if fed in large amounts and certainly not at the recommended amount or less.
I would start off with just feeding more hay - feeding some hard feed might make him a bit more lively so start off with some more hay if you are allowed and see how you get on.
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Horse Hero Guru
02 Sep 2009 19:36
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Hi Crystal Drops
Pepper is right, don’t feed your pony nuts unless you have to. I haven’t heard of sensible amounts of nuts causing colic, but if your pony needs extra feed it should be more forage not concentrates which could have a disastrous effect on his behaviour!
You say your pony is losing weight. First you need to determine whether he needs to lose weight. If he has been on grass all summer he probably does! Welsh and other native ponies have evolved to eat poor grass and not too much of it. Take a good hard look at him and decide whether he is a little portly. The best way to determine this is to condition score him by assessing the fat deposits on his quarters, back, ribs and neck. He should ideally be at about 2 on a 5 point scale. As a quick guide check his ribs – you should be able to feel them easily (the old saying is like stair banisters through a velvet curtain) and see them as he turns.
If he is overweight let him carry on as he is with no extra feed. An overweight pony is prone to laminitis and carrying all that weight is a strain on his heart and joints. If he genuinely needs to put on weight then feed extra hay.
A welsh pony of about 12 hands should weigh roughly 250kg. As a general guide a horse/pony should be fed 2% of their bodyweight each day (1.75% if on a diet). Your pony should therefore be eating about 5 kg of food (grass, hay and hard feed) a day and 1.5kg of nuts would be far too much.
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joallan
02 Sep 2009 20:18
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yes, when i had a 4 year old New Forest pony i gave him a well known mix of chaff and minerals designed for laminitics ( i consider all ponies to be potential laminitics btw), the only problem was he didn't like the little nuts which were designed to give him something to chew, so i had to pep it up with a little anti laminitis feed mix, the two bags 35 kg in total lasted for two months, so not expensive. He tended to gobble his grub so i always made sure it was almost wet , though not swimmingly. You can measure his heart girth every two weeks to see if he is gaining, maintaining or losing weight, i think this is so important i can't understand why so few peeps do it, also i always weigh out my feed every week to check that they are getting the correct amount every day. The amount of feed varies with grazing and work, ideally native ponies have to range wide to find clean grass and herbs, but nowadays most ponies are kept in lowland fields often overgrazed year after year by horses.
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pepper93
03 Sep 2009 21:02
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Here is a condition score chart. http://www.saracen-horse-feeds.co.uk/feedcheck/condition_scoring/
Your pony should be 5 to 6 on the scale.
Ponies really can survive on very little - a small pony could even survive on the grass along the roadside!
A weightape is a very good idea but i would recommend getting one that is made by a feed or worming company as they are clear and easy to read/use.
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