Should I be feeding Drummer?

[Drummers mum]

I really need advice on this as I haven't got a clue!!! :o

He is out 24/7, there is hardly any grass but he is still fat! (belly only not cresty)
I ride 5 times a week and long rein once, the rides can vary from 30 mins to 2 hours (this only started a week ago, before that it was only 30 min to an hour rides).
He isn't very energetic but is willing and will have a blast if hes wound up with a group.

At the moment he has a salt lick in the field and carrots as a treat. What do you think?

[Showjumper]

I give Dolly a token feed after riding, just to say thank you :) She gets a handful of Happy Hoof which doesn't have much in it, but gives her something to nibble on :)

[Just.Jump]

Even if he is an easy keeper, he'll need something to fill his belly and give hime some energy if there isn't alot of grazing. Horses should be able to feed all day long, and poor grass isn't good for that. You might want to feed him a few flakes of hay once a day, either throw it out in his feild or, if no-one else gets fed in his feild, take him in and feed him in the barn while grooming before you go for a ride. Since hay/alfalfa is nothing like grain for the horses digestive system, as long as you do take some time grooming and do a very thorough warming up, he will be fine eating this before the ride. (We either feed a fair portion of hay/alfala or a light feeding of grain/cubes)

If he doesn't seem interested then don't bother after a few days, and if he's wolfing it down, start feeding him extra hay in the mornings/evenings instead of before riding. Or both. Or you could go for grass cuttings or something, in a lesser amount depending on quality. Really, any good forage will do.

[Tangle]

Please please please don't feed grass cuttings - grass starts to ferment very quickly once it's cut. It's quite a well known cause of colic :eek:

Is he actually losing weight? That's my standard guide to whether Fifi needs more food (at the moment she's losing weight and her crest :o, but she was coming from a podgey starting point!) Is her getting more lethargic with time? If you think he might need something extra then I'd talk to some of the feed companies (lots of them have advice lines) and see what they suggest for Drummer's specific circumstance :)

[shirley]

Our pony is overweight and I feel that although she is on grass - not so lush this time of the year, we need to keep her in overnight to assist her to loose weight. I am now on holiday for six weeks so I can up her exercise regime gradually and slowly increase her weight loss.
Perhaps the most appropriate thing to do is to give her a very little token feed and put in vitamin / mineral supplement if concerned if not getting enough only and let her loose her excess weight naturally, and then once this is lost then look at her feed regime again. This is what we intend to do with our little mare. This may a number of months.
I was at a lecture from our vets a few weeks ago and they were talking about overweight native ponies / cushings disease / metabolic syndrome as well. One of the precursers was overweight ponies!!!!. Really made me sit up and listen - so the need to get the weight off this little mare is now one of our top priorities - as it should have been all along really.
Also my instructor is right it is much much more difficult keeping good doer type native breeds than TB's (no disrespect to anyone with TB), as getting weight off and keeping it off is much harder to do than feed up and put weight on!!!
But I feel a heel bringing her in at night as I know she would prefer to be out 24 / 7. I could put a muzzle on her, but in a large herd of 20 plus horses this would soon be off within several minutes of turning her out. I could put her in a paddock of her own, but then she would miss the socialisation with others. So since several are bought in at night anyway this seems the fairer answer.
Sorry for going on so, but I am sure you have as many dilemmas as these and struggle to find workable solutions. I have really come to the conclusion that if our little mare is healthy and alive with restricted turnout, better this than blown up, dead.

[Drummers mum]

Thanks everyone, I hadn't thought of the feed companies!

Drummer is always hungry, he is that type of pony, he tries to eat anything in his path when we hack out! :rolleyes:

I was more worried that he is getting the right minerals etc

[notpoodle]

i have been feeding angel since the winter. she is generally looking a lot better since i started doing so. she gets alfalfa and hi fibre nuts. and 2-3 slices of hay as well at the moment because there isnt really an grass to eat left in the field (grass to nibble and play with, but its not food!)

julia

[Moomin]

surely its not IF your feed but WHAT you feed - probably you don't want to be giving him two buckets of race horse mix and molasses!! If he loves his bucket then at least give him something in it - like his carrots chopped up or something. If not don't worry about it. If you really want to feed him then choose something really really low calorie. If you want something great for minerals non heating and non fattening that Blue Chip Lami Light is excellent and according to Moo EXTREMELY delicious although I haven't actually tried it myself...

[nirikina]

My share horse, Snoopy, is the only horse in a group of 4 that gets actual hard feed. He's ridden every day 1-3 hours and gets 1/2 scoop of cool mix, 1/2 scoop of chaff and a sprinkle of blue chip conditioner. The other ponies are ridden less and prone to laminitus so get the sprinkle of blue chip with 1/4 scoop of chaff to make it palatable and to keep them happy. They live out in large fields but the grass is very short now.

[Drummers mum]

Whats blue chip like? Last winter I fed happy hoof, which he seemed to like but this year I tried hi fi light and he only eats a mouthful then looked at me in disgust as if to say whats this c++p!!! lol! :D

[ElvisFan]

Just started Remi on Hi-Fi Lite and he hates it.This is the first bucket of food that I,ve ever put in that he will not eat.Looks like its back to the Happyhoof.

[eventerbabe]

if drummer is maintaining weight then i wouldn't bother. oh and please, please DO NOT feed grass clippings to them. they are TOXIC.

my lad possibly doesn't need feeding but i always give him something as a reward after i've ridden him. happy hoof is 5% sugar and i wouldn't feed it to my horses. i don't like spillers products in general anyway. have you tried something like dengie good-doer (think that has mint in it to make it very appealing), or even the maintenance fibre mix?? mine love the fibre mix, can't get enough of it!!