Tips needed...

[Purple Hugs]

Hi everyone, first post on this section..
As some will know I've taken on a 2 year old Welsh Section A pony, who has been rescued. And is underweight to say the least.

He is gaining weight and we are getting his hooves trimmed on Thursday.

So far we have stabled him, and are walking him daily, but as a new horse owner I am a bit shy of getting him to trot.

Ok.. I managed a half trot once but that's it so far.

We walk him in the sand indoor menage and also in a field that is empty but insecure.

We have a great YM/RI but as you can imagine he's busy a lot of the time and as we can't back Peanuts till next year I wondered if you could advise how I am best to exercise him initially? Without overworking due to age and weight - don't want to burn off all his intake of food. He needs fattening up poor lad.

Thanks for any tips you can give me!

[kunama]

make a little space for him some where and turn him out in it, that way he can trot if he feels up to it, if not he wont, and it will help to chill him out to have a wally about .

[Purple Hugs]

Thanks, i'll have a chat with teh YM and see if there is a small paddock he could have. We haven't put him out as he's still little and very bony so if kicked wouldn't have normal level of protection.

Spoke with YM earlier and he said to keep feeding him up and then we'll look at building up his activity. :)

All in good time, i just wanted to make sure we weren't stopping him being active for no reason.

he's a lot brighter these days I must admit. :cool:

[Pink's lady]

Could you turn him out in the school at night? that will give him plenty of room to run about if he wishes. Or electric fence off a section of a field.

At that age he doesn't need 'worked' as such, but DOES need to move about constantly to build up muscle and bone density.

[Purple Hugs]

i'll have a chat today and see what I can do. :) School might be an option but it's sand, so not sure if that'd be good for him.

Muscle mass is the thing that worried me, as I'm sure his amount of muscle will be low anyhow due to his past diet.

I'm looking into getting him a supplement to go with his food too, so that will help from the inside. :)

It'll be a very slow process anyhow and we are in no rush. Just want to make sure I'm doing the right things. :)

[Pink's lady]

The sand sufrace shouldn't be a problem. Many horses are tunrned out in an arena.

Young horses NEED to be able to constantly move and walk around. Their bones and joints and hooves don't develop properly otherwise.

Try to get any turn out you can. I'd say it was MUCH more important at this stage than worrying about what to feed him.

[Purple Hugs]

Thanks Pinks :)
I had a chat with James, and we took him to the gelding turnout this morning! He was happily grazing when I left him.

James did say he's been out in that field and with horses the same size before so will be ok.
I was very nervous as he looked tiny next to them, but they accpeted him well and had a good crowd sniffing adn saying hello. :D

Peanuts needs to get used to having the freedom to run around, and grazing will help him in the long run too.

I feel a bit better. James is going to bring him in tonight and text me to let me know he's in safe - We go up once a day and james helps by seeing to him while we are away. He's the RI/YM. So knows a lot about horses thankfully.

Thanks again for the advice. :) just gotta get used to our baby being out and about now!

[Pink's lady]

Awww, bet he'll be having the time of his life, running about and playing with the others :D

I doubt they'll hurt him - most horses seem to understand they're only a baby.

[Purple Hugs]

Ahh thanks, still feel funny about him being out there. But he's our first pony so i'll get used to it in time.

There was one big strapping lad that took a shine to him straight away and followed him a bit, so i'm hoping he's going to look after peanuts! :D maybe he's got a big brother already! :p

I'll post a picture tomorrow.. but it's only on my phone, so won't be great quality.

[vimto92]

Oh Jane how sweet!:D

[Purple Hugs]

Thanks Vic :) He made it safe and sound to 'bed' this evening. :)

[BNaturally]

Hi Purple Hugs:
One thing you can do is to hand walk your pony on small hills up and down.
this will help his hind end and teach the pony how to balance and shift it weight to the rear going up and down the hills.
Start slow and be fair, patient, clear, consistant with everything you do with your pony.
I hope this helps.

[Purple Hugs]

yes it does thanks!
We don't have any hills though! but we have a ramp down on the way to the menage.. I have walked him down this and up a few times whilst we were having our daily walks.. he's turned out every other day now. :) if it's gone well today anyhow. :D

Will definately seek this sort of walk for him though! and use the ramp if all else fails.