Feeding up an underweight pony? Help?

[Chick_a_dee]

As a note, she is already on a scoop and a bit of sweetfeed mixed with some organic oats once a day, I was thinking of bringing her down to one scoop and feeding at least 3 times a day, brekkie, lunch, and dinner (divide the scoop 3 ways) because she is going to be on pasture 24/7 365, we'd prefer her to have more energy than just hay will provide, especially since she isn't blanketed. We have good quality hay, an alfalfa/grass hay mix from our own front field.

She's doing good on her diet right now, but I think her grain intake should be lowered a bit.

As for the vet, we won't be able to get him out until spring because they're really busy right now and the closest we can find a large animal vet is Campbellford which is a 20 minute drive away. We looked out for signs of needing a floating and she seemed fine so she can't wait a few weeks, as for her feet i exaggerated a bit, they're still long but we'll train them back to pretty feet! haha. She'll be due for another trimming in about 6-7 weeks... Thank heavens because at least we should have clear ground and the farrier can do her out of the field.

We've fed sweetfeed to our guy his whole life and he's done great on it, but it's not for every horse and once she's gained that weight back she'll be taken off it and probably be put on just oats like we had pal on.

She's supposed to be delivered today but the weather was nasty yesterday, and Christine hasn't phoned yet so i'll post as soon as we have some pictures of her!

 

[patandchickens]

Well, it would be real good if you can get the vet out to do a soundness exam as soon as their schedule permits. As I mentioned on SS I am highly suspicious of her muscling (IME it usually reflects soundness issues, not just poor riding) and a pony with long curly feet should definitely be evaluated for past founder... preferably BEFORE feeding her any grain and definitely BEFORE the spring grass gets going (although obviously you've got a month or six weeks before *that's* a concern, LOL). If it should turn out that she has foundered in the past you will need to be prepared with a plan B that does not involve her coming into contact with grass until it has quit growing excessively, like in June or so.

Good luck, cute pony,

Pat

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Update..

Luna (my brother named her) made it through her first night in the big field, I had hoped to have the roundpen up so she could be taken to the roundpen at night as it's closer to the house and enjoys some shelter from the wind with the barn on one side, but i still need to get a gate on it and fill in the ground outside the field gate (we pulled rocks out of it and the ground froze before i could get some soil dug up and moved to that location.. though i can still do it, it's been so darn cold out for us! ... we're getting warmer weather this week sometime though!). We measured Luna for a blanket this morning, looks like she'll be wearing a 62" so we're going to see about getting her a minimally insulated blanket before this storm hits tomorrow with all the rain, as well as trying to get the stall up and ready for her to go in should the weather get too bad... though we're not sure if she's ever been in a stall so i'd rather have a blanket on her knowing she's at least protected somewhat.

As soon as the weather breaks and we get some real spring weather, we're throwing some poles in the ground and starting a run-in shed in the bottom field, but for now she seems content to eat the alfalfa bits that are sticking out of the snow. We've taken her grain intake down from a scoop and a bit to 3/4 of a scoop, 1/4 fed three times a day as well as lots of good hay and water. We checked her over this morning to look for founder lines (Pal had foundered when we got him, and the first thing our vet told us to look out for was founder lines on the feet...), but she will be taken off the field for spring growth and put in the roundpen which has minimal grass in it (mostly some trodden down alfalfa LOL) and given hay until the grass has slowed and the spring growth is done.

So far she is doing great, active, lively, and has even realized there are horses just down the street. As for her muscling, i'm not overly concerned considering the state she was in, and because she was not explicitly for riding.. we'd rather rescue a horse that has a chance at a good life... regardless of being ridden than get a horse just for riding. If it comes down to it, and she can't be ridden we're not disappointed because she's just a pet!... like our chickens are LOL, if they never laid I don't think I could give any of them up. Realio Trulio.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, and I'll post pictures of her as soon as she's put some more weight on. For now... toodles!

 

[patandchickens]

Mind you, I am a TOTAL advocate of horses living outdoors 24/7.

However, taking an underweight pony that is totally new to your property and leaving her outdoors in a half inch or more of rain at near-freezing temperatures, with no shelter, does NOT sound like a very good idea at ALL. Not even with a waterproof sheet.

Please, unless the weather forecast changes a lot, fix something up in the barn for her. Even if it's just letting her roam an aisle with the rest of the area blocked SECURELY off and the door open-but-closed-off-with-a-gate. Chances are near zero that she's never been in a stall; and even in the remote chance that she hasn't, as long as she can see out and the stall is safe and she has plenty o' food, she will be FINE.

Whereas you do NOT need a colic, an escaped pony, or a pony that has shivered off another 100 lbs.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Yup, she's going in the barn wednesday night hopefully. we found out today that she HAS had a blanket on before as we got her a great weatherbeata waterproof shell and she had no problem with us putting it on unlike the first time we put Pal's blanket on he nearly hit the ceiling.

I've got to pick up some clean fill tomorrow to fill the holes outside the paddock gate, clean up in front of the barn a bit and get the stall cozied up and fix the wall between the stall and the... rest of the stall (it's probably a 9x9 or 10x10 stall that is getting expanded in the summer and there is a "wall" ie. a series of boards nailed onto two 4x4 posts LOL very makeshift stallery between the two parts. I've also got to put a salt block holder in there, and get a heated bucket down there for her.

Aside from all that, Luna is doing great and we spoke with the experts at Wilton tack today who said that graining her since she's on pasture and a little underweight is okay.. but once she's fattened up put her just on oats in the winter and nothing in the spring/summer.. as well take her off pasture until the end of may and put her in our roundpen which will ward off founder/colic and save our pasture from getting too mucky.

Thanks again everyone

I'll put up photos of her in her spiffy new blanket tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Bec]

Quote:
You have a Pal too???

I have an 18 year old Thorough bred named Pal! His old racing name is I'm a Pal!

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
You have a Pal too???

I have an 18 year old Thorough bred named Pal! His old racing name is I'm a Pal!

Hahahaha... Yes we do! He's a Haflinger X Belgian, about 25-28 years old, he was shipped out west a couple years ago to stay with a family friend because the air quality was better there and he has severe heaves. We had an ex-racing thoroughbred mare named Too Smooth To Move LOL, we called her Smoothie. Clearly the name did nothing for her, as she was taken off the track a month after going on.

Pal is named Pal after being a Palomino

Real inventive eh?

 

[Akane]

remember to rotate wormers between ivomec/strongid

A couple years ago in horse health class the vet teaching it (and one of the most trusted vets in the country) said that latest reasearched showed it was best not to rotate wormers frequently. It actually worked best to deworm with one ingredient for a whole year and then switch to another. Aside from one deworming in the fall with equimax or zimectrin gold which contain both ivermectin and praziquantel. That last bit of advice may vary depending on your location and climate though. I forget all the reasons why but if you really want to know I can dig out my notes from back then.


Putting weight on through grain is not good weight gain. Personally if I have to feed over 1 scoop of any grain based feed or supplement in a day to a horse I know I'm doing something wrong. It's completely unhealthy. Replacing hay with beet pulp, grain with BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds), and adding fat through vegetable oils is a far better plan to add weight than using grains. Much less risk of health problems like colic and founder along with healthier weight gain and a healthier horse overall. Oils and BOSS will give an impressive coat. My next step would probably be alfalfa hay in place of grass hay but alfalfa is not a good long term hay for horses. Too much protein and too concentrated in other nutrients like calcium that can lead to health problems.

Calf manna is not a good supplement for horses.​

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
A couple years ago in horse health class the vet teaching it (and one of the most trusted vets in the country) said that latest reasearched showed it was best not to rotate wormers frequently. It actually worked best to deworm with one ingredient for a whole year and then switch to another. Aside from one deworming in the fall with equimax or zimectrin gold which contain both ivermectin and praziquantel. That last bit of advice may vary depending on your location and climate though. I forget all the reasons why but if you really want to know I can dig out my notes from back then.


Putting weight on through grain is not good weight gain. Personally if I have to feed over 1 scoop of any grain based feed or supplement in a day to a horse I know I'm doing something wrong. It's completely unhealthy. Replacing hay with beet pulp, grain with BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds), and adding fat through vegetable oils is a far better plan to add weight than using grains. Much less risk of health problems like colic and founder along with healthier weight gain and a healthier horse overall. Oils and BOSS will give an impressive coat. My next step would probably be alfalfa hay in place of grass hay but alfalfa is not a good long term hay for horses. Too much protein and too concentrated in other nutrients like calcium that can lead to health problems.

Calf manna is not a good supplement for horses.

Unfortunately you can't get BOSS locally in big enough bags and that are well... not like $20 for a small bag (i bought some for the chickens and it was outrageous... we're growing a bit of our own next year), we are adding oils to the feed but this is what she was on and i don't want to change her right away, otherwise i totally agree with you.

And our hay is a grass hay mix with alfalfa

So she's not on straight alfalfa but she is getting some of the protein from it. I cannot replace hay because she is on pasture and we don't have any grass available since its still a winter wonderland outside.

 

[Akane]

Try garden stores for boss since they sometimes also sell bird seed. Walmart lately has even been selling 30lb bags. It actually only takes a cup or less of BOSS to really add to a horse's diet. Not scoops like it does grains. The suggested starting amount just as a coat supplement is only 1/4cup a day. Then 2cups for weight gain. A bag goes a long way with only 2 cups per day. I feed 5 horses and I get more than a month out of a 50lb bag. They only get handfuls worth of any other grain. Just enough to make them interested in coming inside during bad weather. Otherwise they eat hay all winter and grass late spring to fall. I have fat horses.