# What to feed a Shetland?



## Horses24-7 (14 February 2011)

Hi

I've just purchased my daughters first pony, he's 36 inches.

He has a little pot belly and a hairy dull coat, shes had him on part loan since April and his summer coat wasn't very shiny etc. His previous owner practically kept him on fresh air, starvation paddock over summer with no additional feed, and starvation paddock over winter with a smAll feed of pony nuts and chaff and a sec of hay at night.  

When you feel under his winter coat you can feel his ribs and hip bones even though he has a rounded tummy? 

Any advice on what to feed? Was thinking of a low cal balancer? Never owned shetlands!! But obviously don't want him fizzy! Would love him to have a nice healthy coat etc. 

Thanks x


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## NeverSayNever (14 February 2011)

make sure he is well wormed and stick with what his previous owners fed him, they live on fresh air. just a vitamin supplement in a field lick would be all he needs.


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## Bennions Field (14 February 2011)

i have two 32" shetties, they live on around 1/2 acre v well grazed paddock 12 months of the year, and get around 6kg of hay twice a day between them, put it in a small holed haynet otherwise it will be gone in 2 minutes flat ! - they then get a v small feed of a double handfull of soaked sugar beet and teh same of unmollased chaff, i then add a vit and min powder.  the low cal balancers can still be too much for mini shetties, they are tough little ponies and although need vits and mins dont need many calories  

i would say also that they do tend to have pop bellies, but it might be advisable to have a worm sample done and worm appropriately.   best of luck with him.  they are real characters, and although mine do drive me round the bend sometimes, i wouldnt swop them )))


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## dingle12 (14 February 2011)

Feed then nothing !! they live on nothing ive never in my life seen a underweight shetland. Make sure you worm that could explain the big belly.


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## Barehooves (15 February 2011)

I have had my 37 inch Shetland for 8 years. I limit her grass in the spring/autumn, the paddocks are usually very well grazed. She lives in at night due to severe sweet itch so gets a section of hay at night (2 in the cold winter) and a little feed of what I'm feeding my barefoot mare (Shetland is bare too!) usually with a supplement which includes seaweed and magnesium in the spring especially. Id have a worming Egg count done instead of a chemical wormer first off to check if there are any worms. Good luck with your little one. X


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## Horses24-7 (15 February 2011)

Thanks everyone, Will get him a worm count done, I know he's been wormed regularly but best to do a count. Will grab him a vit and min supplement to add to his feed he's having. Thanks again x


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## millimoo (15 February 2011)

My Shetland is stabled at night 24/7/365. He's muzzled in the summer, but he does get a handful of Dodson & Horrell safe and Sound morning and night. He has a larger portion over the winter. It's specifically aimed at laminitics and is designed to support healthy hooves a gut. It's also a bit more interesting than standard chop.


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## Stinkbomb (15 February 2011)

dingle12 said:



			Feed then nothing !! they live on nothing ive never in my life seen a underweight shetland. Make sure you worm that could explain the big belly.
		
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True but the pot belly could also come from malnurishment too. Although they live off very little they still need forage. If he's still being kept on a starvation paddock all year he would need aditional hay and prehaps a vitamin supplement. I feed mine handful of hifi and baileys local with aditional speedibeet over the winter whilst they are out. You shouldnt be able to feel the ribs and hip bones of a shetland.


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## mymare (19 February 2011)

dingle12 said:



			Feed then nothing !! they live on nothing ive never in my life seen a underweight shetland. Make sure you worm that could explain the big belly.
		
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I have


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## friesian80 (19 February 2011)

dingle12 said:



			Feed then nothing !! they live on nothing ive never in my life seen a underweight shetland. Make sure you worm that could explain the big belly.
		
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????  If you want a visit from a welfare officer then this seems like a good plan



Stinkbomb said:



			True but the pot belly could also come from malnurishment too. Although they live off very little they still need forage. If he's still being kept on a starvation paddock all year he would need aditional hay and prehaps a vitamin supplement. I feed mine handful of hifi and baileys local with aditional speedibeet over the winter whilst they are out. You shouldnt be able to feel the ribs and hip bones of a shetland.
		
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Exactly!  Even though they can live from very little carbs they still need forage, my Shettie is out through the day on very short poor grass then gets 2 slices of hay overnight and has a min lick in his stable.  Many good doers metabolic rates are totally messed up with ppl who think they can live off of very little feed, when in fact it just makes their bodies go into starvation mode.  Keeping tabs on thier fibre intake and insuring their sugar levels are extremely low or zilch should help aid a healthy weight, and as much exercise as you can provide.


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## debsflo (20 February 2011)

my mini has 2 slices of hay at night and a token handful of hi fi lite with a carrot and a bit of pink powder.


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## L&M (20 February 2011)

I have 2 shets who share a shortly grazed 1 acre paddock. In the summer they have a vit and min lick, in winter they get a small daily feed of chaff and nuts, scraps of hay/haylage during the day, then turned out on some better pasture overnight.

I would wait until the spring then see if it picks up, if not I would be tempted to get a blood test via a vet. How old is the pony, as a pot belly can be a sympton of cushings....


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## herewego (20 February 2011)

My shetland has safe and sound with alfa beet, and hay in the evening, he is out 24/7. In the summer he is turned out with the other horses but has a muzzle on 24/7. We have had him 3 years now and have had no trouble


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## Indy (22 February 2011)

Through the winter months my 28" shetland gets a 2  mugfulls of speedibeet + pink powder then when the pink powder runs out she has brewers yeast supplement for 2 month and then the pink powder and so on, she also gets I would say a bucket full of hay (she shares a stables with  one of my other horses and she gets the hay what falls out of the hayrack - about a bucket full).  

In the summer he is turned out in muzzle  24-7 and she gets the speedibeet cut down but the pink powder/brewers yeast stays the same and she looks really well.


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## bellatrix (22 February 2011)

My shetlands live out 24/7 and get some hay throughout the day as well as breakfast and tea. They get a scoop of Hi-Fi Lite and a scoop of Speedi Beet


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## Kallibear (22 February 2011)

Double ditto the worm count.

If he's ribby and showing his hips he needs more feed: they are hard to make thin but you _can _starve them too much.





			starvation paddock over winter with a smAll feed of pony nuts and chaff and a sec of hay at night.
		
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That doesn't sounds like enough, even for a shetland pony. A starvation paddock over the winter will have nothing at all for him to eat, so one section of hay isn't going to be nearly enough 

A general supplement will make sure he has all he needs (a scoop of low cal or something like Pink Powder in a handful of chaff) in terms of vits an minerals, then he needs more hay.

I'd start off with two (small bale) sections in the morning and two at night and montior his weight carefully. That should put weigh on him then, once he's a nice slim weight, reduce it. By then the grass should start growing and you'll have the opposite problem


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## beeswax (23 February 2011)

I just hate it when i read posts where ppl say "feed it nothing" the OP might not know anything about horses/ponies and do exactly that "feed it nothing".  Even little pot bellied shetlands still need forage and thanks so much to those posters who know what you are talking about, poor wee things - feed it nothing - sadly how many cobs suffer this same thing and also go in to starvation mode hence the reason why they dont lose weight but suffer with insulin resistance because when they do get some feed the wolf it down and get an insulin rush.  Just had to get this off my chest.


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## potty_4_piebalds (23 February 2011)

I have got a 32" shettie that i have had around 18 months and when i got her i was like you didn't have a clue what to feed and ended up feeding her  half a small kiddies beaker of fast fibre once a day and ad lib soaked hay in the spring/summer and section a small area off in her paddock (my son calls it her garden because its small), the rest of the year she gets 1 small kiddies beaker of happy hoof and 1 small kiddies beaker fast fibre once a day and ad lab hay and i open her paddock up to get more grass (open it a bit at a time not in one go). she gets this if she is coming in during the day/night or out 24/7 she does well this. hope this helps x


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## Elsad (20 March 2021)

beeswax said:



			I just hate it when i read posts where ppl say "feed it nothing" the OP might not know anything about horses/ponies and do exactly that "feed it nothing".  Even little pot bellied shetlands still need forage and thanks so much to those posters who know what you are talking about, poor wee things - feed it nothing - sadly how many cobs suffer this same thing and also go in to starvation mode hence the reason why they dont lose weight but suffer with insulin resistance because when they do get some feed the wolf it down and get an insulin rush.  Just had to get this off my chest.
		
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## Elsad (20 March 2021)

I have a 35 inch rescue shetland. He was in very poor condition when I adopted him 8 years ago. He is turned out 10 to 12 hours a day on adequate grazing. Stables at night with 3 lb hay. He gets a mug of high fibre cubes am. Same pm with a measure of Bluechip native feed balancer and feedmark clarity as he gets a seasonal cough in summer. He gets more high fibre cubes and 6lb hay in winter. At the moment he is wasting most of his hay as grass is growing, it's there if he wants it. He gets carrots with his meals. Im giving him extra high fibre  cubes till there's sufficient grass. A lot of trial and error but he maintains good condition now at 29 years old.


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## windand rain (20 March 2021)

To make a shetland, pony shaped takes real skill they often look hippy and pot bellied, I am a fan of protein fibre like alfalfa mixed with oat straw and a good low calorie balancer fed initially at half rate. He should weigh close to 200kg so his total food intake should be about 4 kgs dry weight a bit less once he is the right shape. Exercise and hard work like being driven by adults will mean you can up his food after you up his work if needed. I will admit to having seen hundreds of malnurished shetlands both too fat and too thin


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## The Fuzzy Furry (20 March 2021)

Zombie 10 year old thread.....


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## windand rain (20 March 2021)

The Fuzzy Furry said:



			Zombie 10 year old thread.....
		
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didn't notice thank you


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## Pinkvboots (21 March 2021)

Why do people keep bringing these threads back just start a new one!


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## Lipglosspukka (21 March 2021)

Old thread or not, it makes me sad. 

To many Shetland and cobby types live their lives stuck in a starvation pen without enough to eat. What a sorry existence. 

You can feed without too many calories so easily too! There is just no need for it. 

My chubsters have top chop zero with a balancer and they get soaked hay and straw nets at different times through the day. 

There is no excuse to keep a horse in a condition where he is permanantly hungry. It's wicked.


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