Pudgy Pony

Pudgy Pony

Written By: Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

Sigrid Waggener of Durham, California asks a question that many horse and pony owners would benefit from - How do I change my pudgy pony's feeding program to help him lose some weight? Here is some of Sigrid's letter:

"I own a wonderful, sweet, kind 13 yr. old Arabian/Quarter Horse gelding. When I purchased this horse two years ago, he weighed 910 lbs.!!! He was horribly overweight. Even worse, all this weight appeared to be on his barrel! My horse stands at about 15.1 hh, and I KNOW a horse of his size should never weigh that much.

I spent the next two years conditioning like crazy. In summer, I rode two times a day. I went up hills and down hills. I taught him self-carriage in hopes that it would suck up his sagging potbelly. After two years, he weighed 860 pounds. He was still too fat, but it was an accomplishment. I went to shows, got my C-1 Pony Club rating, and made great time on the cross-country course.

When the fall season arrived, we allowed my horse's ration to be raised slightly to accommodate the cold barn! In five weeks my horse has gained 40 pounds. He looks awful and I know that weight can't be good for him.

PLEASE HELP ME FIND A SOLUTION!

Feeding schedule: A.M.: Small flake grass hay. No lunch. P.M.: Small flake oat hay. He is in a pasture with very little grass."
Desperately Seeking Help

Sigrid Waggener and Sierra Redwing

Dear Sigrid

I would be happy to help you with your well-fed pony! First, I'll outline a few suggestions for you specifically and then I'm going to send you a copy of the "Debugging Your Feeding Program" out of my 33 chapter long book, "Debugging Your Horse." (for the sake of space, I am only including a portion of the chapter for the column) This book covers just about every riding and handling problem you will encounter with the average horse and provides safe and responsible solutions that work! Everything from bucking to rearing and crossing water to spooking, it is all in there, including a chapter on feeding!

There are four basic ways to solve the hay belly problem

1. Have the vet out every year to float his teeth. When teeth are not floated regularly, they can acquire sharp points that will make it harder for him to thoroughly chew his food. This will mean that the food goes into the stomach in bulk and because it will take longer to digest that food in this condition, it will be in the body for a longer period of time. While the vet is out, make sure your pony is current on his worming program and have the vet give him a checkup just to make sure there isn't anything wrong with him.

2. Avoid feeding low protein grass and oat hays and instead, switch slowly to a higher quality alfalfa or alfalfa blend hay, fed in much smaller quantities. Low protein grass and oat hays require larger quantities be fed each day to get the nutritional value that would have been achieved by feeding a much smaller amount of higher protein hay. In other words, feeding two flakes of grass and oat hay a day creates much more bulk in the body than would 1/2 flake of a good alfalfa hay, split into two feedings (1/4 flake at each feeding).

3. Avoid grazing your horse in a field that has any grass to nibble on. Grass is a great way to put a belly on a horse.

4. Finally, make sure your pony gets plenty of exercise so that he can work off all that great feed you are giving him. From your letter, it sounds like you are already doing this, but for other readers, a lack of exercise is often times the case of a hay belly on a pony and on people as well

Now that I have given you these suggestions, let me also warn you that higher protein feed will increase energy, so if you find your pony becoming perkier, be aware that you will need to either increase his exercise to work that off, or take other precautions when working around a fresher, perkier horse (lunging before riding, et.). In addition, the advantage of turning a horse out everyday is that it is healthier for the horse, allows him to work off excess energy and helps to keep your horse calm to work and ride. Although in most cases, I am suggesting to horse owners that they take full advantage of every minute of turnout time they can get, in your case, because of the weight problem, I am recommending you turn him out in places where the grass is gone or at most, very short.

I hope these suggestions will help you solve the problem with the pudgy pony! If, after reading this information, you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a note and I would be happy to clarify! Below is a portion of the chapter from "Debugging Your Horse" that focuses on "Debugging Your Feeding Program."

Debugging Your Feeding Program

Additional Debugging Tips For Your Feeding Program

I wouldn't feed the same diet to a marathon runner that I feed to a couch potato and I shouldn't feed the same diet to a horse that is getting eight hours of work a day that I would to a horse that gets ridden a couple of times a week.

An adjustment in your feeding program can often result in either calming down your horse or turning him into a horse with more energy than he knows what to do with. This is most prevalent in the spring of the year, especially if you keep your horse at home. Because most horse owners don't have an indoor riding arena in their backyards, it is difficult to ride through the hardest months of winter.

When you combine the fact that many horses are getting little or no exercise through the winter months, with the fact that most horse owners continue to feed their horses the same protein levels, and quantity even though the horse is "inactive", the result is a horse who is transformed from quiet Dr. Jekyl into Mr. Hyde. In fact, many horse owners increase the grain through the winter, believing that this will help to keep their horse warmer. Instead of warming up their horse, they end up with a horse that is as "hot" as a pistol and one that soon becomes hard to handle....

Today's horse does best when fed at least twice, and in some cases, three times a day. A diet of good quality hay, grain, an unlimited source of fresh water and free choice mineral block will maintain the average horse quite well

A mixed hay of alfalfa, timothy and clover grasses, is nutritious, and has enough roughage to make it a very safe feed. In addition to hay, your horse will require grain of some sort. Ask the previous owner, or your local vet, for suggestions on what type and how much of it to feed. If you should choose to change brands, be sure to ease you horse off the old and onto the new grain gradually....

If you should choose to change brands, ease your horse off the old and onto the new grain over the course of a week to avoid a possible colic episode. Below is a suggested schedule you can follow to safely switch your horse's feed program.

Day 1 - 3/4 normal feed + 1/4 new feed

Day 2 - 3/4 normal feed + 1/4 new feed

Day 3 - 1/2 normal feed + 1/2 new feed

Day 4 - 1/2 normal feed + 1/2 new feed

Day 5 - 1/4 normal feed + 3/4 new feed

Day 6 - 1/4 normal feed + 3/4 new feed

Day 7 - new feed