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debsnboz
Bronze Member
202 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Apr 2010 : 9:58:03 PM
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Hi guys wondering if you can help? I have never had a pony/horse that had any laminitus probs!
We got the lovely Jack on loan last week for my daughter. he is 13.1, 10 years old, and using weigh tape his owner said he is 360 kg and should be 300. He went into paddock with rough weedy grass (proper old pasture!!) starting to come thro, on his own, and was joined by borris (15.1) and Fred (16.2 28yo retired fella)
He has never had laminitus but is obviously a candidate. He has a muzzle which he HATES and I hate putting on him so I bought an electric fencing kit and made him a little paddock yesterday.
The owner used to put him in a bare earth paddock in the day and out in the field at night for spring, but let him in with the others at his old yard, in summer and autumn.
But I kind of feel that the little paddock restricks his movement. When we put them all together Boz was pretty mean to him and kept him moving all day!!
So am I better off restricting him in a corner or finding a muzzle he'll wear. And are there any supplements he can have to help. Sorry this is a long post!
Here he is with Boz peeking over the wall. You can see the grass there too!
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moatside
Platinum Member
England
3224 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 06:06:29 AM
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He certainly looks to be a good weight!! MagOx is good for fat little native types, if you are really worried about lami - and I would be - then Global Herbs Lami Prone is good. I would be very wary of putting him out on good grass - restricted grazing and plenty of work!
Good luck  |
www.spanglefish.com/kasanarhythmbeads/ |
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Kazzy
Platinum Member
England
3335 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 11:16:27 AM
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If putting him out in the field at night make sure the grass isnt too ric, there are less sugars in the grass at night which is ideal for a laminetic or one that you think could develop it and by looking at him he looks the type.
Yes, Global Herbs Laminitis prone supplement is very good, but still restrcit him, it doesnt give you the green light to throw them out and leave them.
I hate grazing muzzles aswell, feel really sorry for them wearing them, I would rather have them out in a grassless paddock with a bit of hay to munch on that putting them out in a field with other horses and they cant eat grass, I think it must be torture for them.
Janet |
     
Sunny Cheshire |
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garnet
Platinum Member
2382 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 4:32:50 PM
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I could never keep a muzzle on Jim the Cob and Garnet simply sulked in hers and refused to attempt to eat, but I managed them very successfully for years by using a tight paddock (not totally bare, but restricted area) either by night or day depending how long they needed to be out of big field. Jim had had lami but also had summer cough so stabling wasn't an option; Garnet just needed her weight controlled but refused to be stabled. They were fed Lo-cal and Hi Fi Lite, with Alfa A for Garnet - proportions varied according to season - and they also had a haylage net every day to keep some fibre going through as well as the juicy grass. Some people on the yard could not understand why I fed haylage if I was trying to keep weight down but the results spoke for themselves. Our vet advised feeding salt and limestone after Jim had lami, but I would check with your vet before you do that. Also, don't forget the weightape - mine was in action most days! Jim was very overweight and unfit when we had him but on this regime he was fit and well - he is the black cob in sig pics at a show last May.
All sadly in past tense as we lost Jim last June after surgery for pedunculated lipoma and Garnet last Monday at almost 27, but I promise you it worked well for many years.
Re Boz keeping Jack moving - do you think this is just cos he is a new boy and they will sort themselves out when they know each other better? |
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Slave 2 Magic
Gold Member
England
1023 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 5:01:14 PM
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| Hi Debs. I put Magic on Naf Slimline last year and it certainly seemed to help. It gives them all the vits and mins and also speeds up the metabolic rate. Thats assuming he has a bucket feed but if not just feed it in a handful of chop. You would still have to restrict his grazing though. As far as Borris chasing him goes, I think it will settle down after a few days. You usually get abit of sorting out when a new horse is introduced. |
West Yorkshire
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debsnboz
Bronze Member
202 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 8:08:36 PM
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As always thanks guys. I have had the weigh tape out and he seemed to be around 330, and looks better than he did in the pic. His owner is about to have a baby and has not ridden all winter, and we have had him out quite a bit in the last 10 days so that must have made some difference. He has been on haylage before, and I thought lami prone horses usually didn't tolerate haylage too well????
The grass is very weedy - lots low lying perennial weeds in it so actually not that much grass in my opinion. I let him out with the big boys today in the day, than put him back in his little paddock for the night as the other 2 still have a bit of haylage in nets out, and I know for a fact that gut bucket would have demolished it all!!
Should I do this the other way around - paddock in day and with the hooligans at night??
ANd this is another thread really, but in my past horse keeping days I am sure we fed no bucket feeds in the summer at all. I can't remember when we stopped tho, but get the feeling that is not the done thing? |
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garnet
Platinum Member
2382 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 9:11:49 PM
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Our haylage is home-made on the farm and the owner says it is closer to hay than bought haylage might be.
Bucket feeds - given on the basis that Hi Fi Lite is less likely to cause problems than just grass and I wanted to get some fibre through them; I needed to give Jim his salt and limestone and Garnet her Cortaflex and Super Solvitax; and I wanted them to have Lo Cal for vits and mins.
Purely my own experience - it worked for us but may not suit everybody. |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2010 : 10:59:44 PM
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I've got my companion pony who has had dreadful lami in the past, in a little restricted paddock and although she doesn't like it I'm sure it is the best thing for her.
I regularly weigh tape her and your eye is obviously a good indicator as to how heavy he is, plus feeling for ribs and any sort of crest on the neck. He does look a bit podgy bless him!
I had the farrier out to her the other day and he said that she looked good and that we could let her into the main paddock for a couple of hours late afternoon for a nibble of the better grass which I duly did - two hours later I received a frantic call from my friend who owns the paddock to say that the pony was down with colic  . She had only had 2.5 hours out and the grass is not at all lush and yet she had obviously managed to consume enough to bring on the colic. She is ok now but it gave me an enormous fright, made even worse by the fact that she isn't mine and so I feel the extra responsibilty towards her.
So it's back in the starvation paddock, just moving the tape every day to give her an extra strip and in at night with pretty poor seed hay and a tiny bit of hi fi lite with a scoop of lamineze in. Bless her she's not impressed !
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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maryann
Gold Member
United Kingdom
767 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2010 : 10:38:24 AM
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| I have a TB/COB mare and at the age of 13 had laminitus for the first time last year..She was on box rest for a total of around 4 weeks..She hates a stable...I have to say she was not that fat well not what i thought you would expect form a horse to get laminitus...She winters out and always looks great after it (not fat)...I have bought her a muzzle this year but not sure (silly has it sounds) how long to leave it on her for...This mare would fined grass in a desert..Do i make a small paddock in our big field were she will have to be own her own with her friends around.....Any advise would be greatly received... |
Maryann
www.freewebs.com/amarabians
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Montikka
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2653 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2010 : 11:10:19 AM
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I think the easiest way to manage her maryann would be to do as you suggest; section off a small paddock in your large field so that she is still around her friends. The disadvantage is less exercise, but it has to be better than stabled. I've tried a muzzle but my mare just stood feeling sorry for herself. Others at our livery yard use muzzles - they put them on and turn out for the day, then bring horses in and remove overnight.
My two are very good-doers and are at present on about half an acre (sectioned off) and it looks quite sparce. I imagine all the thoroubred owners think I.m terrible, but you only have to look at them to see that they are doing perfectly well on very little. I give them a token feed with magnesium and nutrients. Watch out for a large crest and even slightly sore feet. |
   
Louise, Warwickshire |
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moatside
Platinum Member
England
3224 Posts |
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delly-b
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1107 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2010 : 7:45:06 PM
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Hi.... I have a pony with similar problems too. Can you fence a track round the edge of your field so pony can run right round it, be near to the others but have limited grazing?
Also if you rotate paddocks, you could put him in the leaner paddocks when other horses have left it without as much grass?
Again with feeding, I have started using top spec anti-lam which gives all vits and minerals. I give it with a little chop. I have been advised to give soaked hay too... But never leave him without food at all... They need to graze always xx |
       
Adele
Batley, West Yorkshire |
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debsnboz
Bronze Member
202 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2010 : 10:20:47 PM
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My gut feeling has been to give him some late cut hay at night when he is in the fat paddock to give him something to munch on so he is not so starving by the morning and less likely to try and stuff himself when he goes in with the boys.He has really eaten down the fat paddock to nothing now. My gut feelings are often right, but like to have other folks experience to confirm them!!!
I don't think there is a huge amount of grass in the boys field and they are eating little nets of haylage at night still, and we are still feeding them little feeds 2x day, but Borris is growing and Fred is an old geezer at 28 so has a right!!!!!!!!!!!
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Restricing grazing for new pony???
