23/11/2020
Very talented lady and extremely helpful. Contact Erika for your nutrition questions and diet plans
🦄🌈❤️HOW TO FEED YOUR PONY🦄🌈❤️
The word ‘pony’ seems to be synonymous with ‘fat’ and I can see why. There aren’t many ponies I see that are at a healthy weight, let alone that are too thin!
We get so used to ponies being fat that we now consider fat to be ‘normal’. Just because we consider it to be normal, it doesn’t mean that *should* be normal.
There are so many good reasons for ponies to be fat though:
😱 While horses tend to self-regulate how much they eat to around 2% of their body weight per day, ponies can eat more than 5% of their body weight per day. So if your 500 kilo horse eats 10 kilos of roughage per day (grass and hay), your 200 kilo pony eating 5% of its body weight in one day will also be eating 10 kilos! No wonder it’s so fat!
😱 Ponies tend to be worked less often and less hard than horses. Of course there are exceptions to this, but kids just don’t ride as often, as long or as hard as adults. Yes, they may ride their pony every day every school holidays, but typically ponies just don’t get the amount of work they need to stay at a healthy weight.
😱 Ponies are over-represented when it comes to metabolic disorders and ponies are typically far better doers than many horse breeds.
😱😱😱 There are TWENTY-SEVEN premixed feeds out there aimed at ponies (I counted them) and I’m pretty sure there are approximately ZERO ponies out there that need any of these high calorie, mostly grain-based ‘pony’ feeds.
Excess weight is unhealthy for any and every pony (and horse) and should be avoided.
So how and what should you feed your (fat) pony?
Under NO circumstances should you starve your fat pony. By starve I mean the following:
😱 providing less than 1.25% of your pony’s body weight per day in roughage (hay/pasture)
😱 providing your hungry pony its roughage requirements all at once in a way that isn’t spread out throughout the day (i.e. feeding hay once daily unnetted so it can eat it all within a couple of hours and have nothing to eat for the following 20+ hours)
😱 providing your pony with hard feed only (I wouldn’t usually think I needed to write this, but saw this suggested by someone on a Facebook group the other day)
It's FAR kinder to keep a well-fitting grazing muzzle on your pony 24/7 than to undertake any of the above methods of weight loss/maintenance. Ponies are amazing at finding a way to eat so don't be concerned about leaving a muzzle on all day if this is what keeps your ponies weight in check. Often a longer-term muzzle can be a good solution as it means more movement, being able to hang out with friends and they still get to eat all the yummy things, just a lot less of them! I know ponies who can eat hay from slow-feeder nets with grazing muzzles on with no issues at all. Obviously it's better if you can take a muzzle on and off according to sugars in the grass, but for many people this just isn't possible.
So what *should* you feed your (fat) pony?
😊 low sugar hay or soaked hay at 1.5% of its body weight per day in slow feeder nets - if you do soak your hay you must DISCARD the water you soaked it in away from where the pony can lick/drink it (i.e. don’t soak it in the pony’s water trough). You must soak for 30 minutes in warm water or 60 minutes in cold water and then RINSE the hay. I note that soaking is a massive pain in the you-know-what and so if you can get your hands on the right hay your life will be a lot simpler.
😊 if you keep your pony on grass then it's really important to keep a close eye on your pony's weight. Your pony may need a grazing muzzle or track system, particularly during spring. If the grass is very mature and it's late into a dry summer then grass may be absolutely fine for your pony
😊 soaking hay leaches nutrients and low sugar hay/mature dry grasses are also typically low in nutrition so you probably need to supplement what you feed with macro and trace minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, selenium etc. The best way to do this is with Performance Plus mineral pellets or Essentials minerals with some DCP (dicalcium phosphate) added for extra calcium and phosphorus.
😊 these minerals should be fed to your pony in a scoop or two of lucerne chaff (not wheaten, not oaten). Lucerne is low in sugar, high in protein and essential aminos and high in calcium so great for your pony in moderation.
😊 your pony should be fed a small amount of salt - more salt if it has a longish coat (i.e. gets hot) or it’s in a lot of work. If it’s in a lot of work then you may consider a small amount of lucerne hay fed prior to each work session to settle its stomach to prevent ulcers and provide extra protein. If the pony in lots of work is especially fat then a amino acid supplement such as Muscle Amino fed at a ¼-⅓ dose rate would be perfect.
😊 if your pony is on a hay-based diet then proving omega 3 fatty acids would also be a great idea. Flax is a great way to provide these to your pony and give it a great coat at the same time!
Note that this advice is general.
Note that this advice also works a treat for your fat horse.
Note that if you own the one fat pony in Australia who really ‘needs’ several kilos of grain-based, premixed 'pony' feed every day then I’m not sure you’re on the right page 😉
Note that I Googled 'pony' and this was the first image that came up 😱
