how to get weight off with no stable!

[Gilbertus]

Dpony has put on about 15kg since we've had him (beg june). He's in a small patch of the paddock. Probably about 30m square? Gets a handful of lo Fi chaff twice a day with a lo cal balancer. He's had a few weeks of only being ridden at the weekends but I am now getting dd3 to ride him twice a week until he gets very sweaty! Planning to clip him at the weekend which might help. Not sure how big a 'starvation paddock' should actually be? To make it more complicated other pony is a poor doer so from one extreme to another!

Clipping should help, lunging or taking him for a walk?
These ponies are strong are you sure you can't ride him.
And someone can answer this, for good doers. Barley straw is ok to eat and wheat straw they can't or is the other way round. I don't know

Tricky - my dpony is an extremely good doer - he doesn't even stop to wee sometimes! He's on a very bald but quite large patch which he was sharing with a mate over the summer, the mate has gone but there's very little grass and he gets a double handful of Safe & Sound to keep his tummy ticking over. He begs me to extend the area but I'm mean and ignore him when he follows me round the paddock.

I don't know what clip you are intending, but when I had dpony clipped ages ago he had a bib clip, and I left him unrugged in all but the most extreme weather (on the advise of the vet - I would have put a rug on for my conscience!) - his actual words were "let him shiver it off" - heartless man.... Are you able to lunge him at all, that's pretty energetic, also I walk dpony in hand when walking the dogs sometimes. Every little helps!

Good luck, I think keeping their weight down is one of the hardest things to manage.

I'm going to give him a hunter clip and leave him unrugged in the day. Probably too mean to leave it off at night too. If dd3 rides him twice in the week he'll be ridden 4x a week.

How about making him a long strip paddock instead of a square one? Feed and water at opposite ends of the paddock forcing him to move up and down. Let the paddock get bare and then extend it one post at a time onto the grass. Cut the hard feed out completely he doesn't need it. Just pop a salt and mineral block in the field for them.

Although what your vet said may seem heartless, the concept he was trying to bring across is not wrong. The conventional wisdom used to be 1 good rug = 1 good feed. So if you are trying to put weight on a horse, rug it, especially in the cold times. Conversely if you are trying to take weight off, do not rug. It may seem cruel, but obviously its better than laminitis .

Oh I know Zazzles I was only joking. I've had people tell me I'm cruel because I restrict dpony's grazing and only put a rug on him in the extreme weather.