Hard food for new pony

[mrslaughan]

We pick up our new pony today, and want some recommendations for a hard feed. Pony is going to live at the same yard as my horse is at - which is a competition yard where they are fed morning and night. I want the pony to get a handful - or half a scoop of something, when the other horses are fed, so it doesn't turn itself inside out.

It has more than enough energy for my son - so non-heating, no sugar.......hopefully a small bag because it should last for ages!!..other than this the pony will be turned out during the day and get a hay net at night.

I will ask present owner if they feed anything, but pretty sure it will be turnout and hay only.

I would just get a bag of own brand chop and feed minimum possible. If it's been on grass and hay happily then it won't need anything at all so your risking lami or behaviour problems by feeding any extra.

I feed my mare molichaff Hoofkind which is suitable for ponies who suffer or may suffer with Laminutus. She only gets half a scoop a day to mix her supplements in (garlic, biotin and Placid) or you could give a mug of Bailys low cal balancer - but thats more expensive - I think around £30 a sack. Hoofkind is £6.50 a sack.

I second hoofkind!

I use Dodson & Horrell Safe & Sound - it was recommended to me by the vet to help pony with colic . He was on very restricted grazing and needed something to keep his tummy ticking over at all times (sadly he's no longer with us) but I still use it. New pony has half a scoop at night, plus hay whilst he's in and it works fine, it takes a while to eat which keeps him happy.

www.dodsonandhorrellpetfood.co.uk/safe-sound

Mine gets half a scoop alpha a, half a scoop of sugar beet and 200g of top spec lite. She is 14.1 and lives out. Daughter in pony club show jumping team so she is kept quite fit this seems to do the job without making her fizzy. Highly recommend the top spec it costs £20 for 15kg bag. Think they do a cool condition sack too.

Coolstance copra.

Google it, its amazing stuff!

Natural and non heating with no sugar!

Both my ex racer and shettie can have it

Mollichaff calmer plus baileys lo cal balancer. Keeps all three of mine including an eventer looking fab.

When I have a new child's pony I deliberately don't feed it anything much for the first few weeks apart from hay and a handful of chaff

I feed baileys high fibre plus cubes. Low in sugar and treat sized - I feed from one of those hexagonal balls rather than a bucket as it makes it last longer. Only £9 for a 20kg bag :)

They're handy to have a handful in your pocket as well as treats. They're thumb sized

Most of the above are full of crap, apart from the Copra. Most of the big commercial companies are shit (just like pedigree chum, bakers etc for dogs). They've just got big marketing budgets. The best on the market are Pure Easy, Thunderbrooks, speedibeet, fast fibre, micronised linseed (but that won't be right for this pony) and Agrobs. Avoid alfalfa too.

Mollichaff calmer isn't full of crap. Nor is baileys lo cal as it happens.

They're both molassed.

I dont think hoofkind is full of crap either, don't think its even mollassed because it says suitable for ponys suffering with or may suffer from laminitis? I hope its not full of crap anyway as I'm feeding it to my cob...

Mollichaff calmer has pellets in which are basically full of crap (hi fibre my arse) ...however it is one of the better chaffs out there as I'm sure there is no alfalfa in it.

Brands only have to have the sugar content under a certain % to be able to advertise as 'good for lami's' and they also pay for it! Doesn't mean there is no sugar!

I would not feed anything to any of mine apart from thunderbrooks/copra/another one I can't think of .

I have a tb (poor doer) , shettie (lami prone) and a young warmbloodx on copra and they all thrive on it! My tb in particular has never been in better condition all the way down to his feet!
Its nil sugar and full of fibre!

If you take a good look at the nutritional content in a lot of feed (not all!) then you will find you can get much much better on the market for not much more money (if not cheaper than the more well known brands with a big marketing budget).

www.friendshipestates.co.uk/mollichaff/mollichaff-hoofkind.html

www.friendshipestates.co.uk/mollichaff/mollichaff-calmer.html

www.stanceequine.co.uk/uk/index

Just curious but how come Copra isnt approved by the laminitis trust if its got no sugar in? I'm interested because I was feeding my pony happy hood but she hated the taste, feeding hoofkind now and she loves it. She's in medium work ide say (ridden 4 to 5 times a week) and she is only fed hard feed because she has supplements mixed it with it.

Bonkey has it spot on. Lami trust endorsement isn't worth the paper it's written on. Thunderbrooks / Easy feeds / some of Simple Systems / Agrobs / Fast Fibre / Speedibeet / micronised linseed is the only stuff on the market I'd recommend.

Probably because to have the stamp you need to pay...

All Copra is is coconut , my shettie has been eating it since last year and hasn't been footy at all! I don't honestly think he has looked better and I have had him 10years!

Thunderbrookes is raved about by the barefooters! I haven't tried it personally but I am more than happy with copra!

If you look more in depth to most commercial brands then its not good stuff espcially for sugar sensitive horses/ponies be it lami or hyperactivity!

Alfalfa is linked to many many allergic reactions in horses and yet its a common ingredient on most chaffs!
I can't feed it to my tb because he gets a reaction.

I only had my eyes opened last year , I wish I had looked more in depth years ago at nutrition and whats in what rather than go by what is marketed/thought of as best!

Mollichaff calmer has a pretty low sugar content iirc and no alfalfa. The pellets are not full of crap.

I tried copra and they wouldn't touch it.

Pure feeds are alarmingly expensive and in my mind are the Waitrose chia seeds of horse feed

All four of mine are in absolute rude health with shiny coats, great feet and very obliging and willing so I am not worried about a bit of sugar in the chaff.

Pure feeds? Meant simple systems

We each have our favourites and what works for one doesn't work for another - we have to get to the right place by trial and error. I've tried various foods over the years and it changes with each animal. I'm happy with what I currently use (S&S) and it works for my two at the moment. The problems arise I think when we become blinkered and don't review our arrangements.

Its not about being blinkered - it's about actually researching what's in feed and taking the time to learn about true horse nutrition.

I didn't mean you were being blinkered Trucking, what I was trying to say was occasionally we/I carry on doing things a certain way because that's what we've always done and don't do enough to look into changing it.

Korma I don't feed S&S because the horses have a laminitis issue, I use it because it keeps their tummies busy - if laminitis were a problem I would look elsewhere.

Understood Frosty. There's just so many people who think that what they feed is ok because it's made by the commercial mainstream companies but I honestly can't believe what shite they actually put in their feeds, peddling the view that its the best food for the horse. Same as the likes of Bakers for dogs. It's just big marketing budgets.