Improving Pony Feeding

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USpony

Active Member
Jan 7, 2015
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I think I need to make some changes in the way I'm feeding my 12.1 hand pony. Currently I'm feeding 2 lbs of beet pulp and 2 lbs alfalfa cubes soaked with water with 2 tablespoons Red Cell as a supplement. I also give him 2 flakes of grass hay double netted in slow feed nets. All this is divided into twice a day feedings. He lives out with a run-in shed. I never blanket him. He is pretty plump and I can barely almost feel his ribs. He needs to lose some weight, but it is very cold so don't want him to loose too much.

My plan for improving his feeding is:
2 lbs beet pulp
2 lbs timothy/grass hay cubes
2 flakes grass hay (I'll start weighing it)
ration balancer like Blue Seal's Min-a-Vite Lite

I like to feed Rusty the beet pulp because he doesn't drink enough water in the winter and it is a way to get more water in him. The hay cubes are because I'm trying to stretch my hay supply and give him better quality hay. My area is very deficient in minerals and he became anemic on local hay alone. It has made me very paranoid about what I'm feeding him and if I am doing it right.

What do you think? I think switching from alfalfa cubes to grass hay cubes will help with his weight (founder prevention) and balance the calcium ration better.
 
My pony is about 11 hh and he weighs about 180kg on the weigh tape..he is old and has cushings and arthritis. I like to try and keep some weight on him over the winter but i tread a thin line with him because if i allow him to get too heavy he can get laminitis! with him having cushings he is at a higher risk but also because of the cushings he can sometimes go off his feed and loose weight but not always when i want it:rolleyes::confused:. Anyway he is out during the day from about 8.30am to late afternoon usually between 3 til 4pm. He has about 4 acres with grass although not much at this time of the year and he shares this with my 15hh horse and 6 sheep. When he comes in he gets 2 handfuls of fast fibre which is soaked , 2 handfuls of hifi mollasses free chaff, a spoonful of salt, some magic liquid , Flax oil and pink powder..he also gets a carrot chopped up too hide his cushings tablets in. He also has 2 small nets of hay to last him through the night but he never finishes them, he always has plenty of hay left in the morning.This seems to be working well for him at the moment.

The alfalfa cubes are probably higher in protein than the hay cubes, I gave my pony Alfalfa pellets when i first got him as he was thin and it did help to put weight on him. You could consider getting a mollasses free chaff to mix with the beet pulp instead of the hay cubes, I find it goes a long way and bulks up the feed.

Sorry i am editing this to add, that this is his winter feed the summer is completely different as i have to be very strict with his grass intake etc...
 
I may be to get chaff, though its not something you hear about here in the States. Is it the same as chopped hay?
 
Alfalfa is about equivalent in energy to a weight gaining/veteran horse mix, so switching to hay cubes will definitely reduce the calories he is getting whilst hopefully maintaining some of his ration that isn't imbalanced after the issue you had with hay.

Keep an eye out for the next time this course runs, its a great foundation in nutrition and free to do :D https://www.coursera.org/course/equinenutrition
 
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It is amazing they offer something like that for free. I have signed in and they are going to email me when the class starts. I'm really looking forward to it:). Thanx!
 
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