# feeding a cob through winter



## imyourstalker (24 October 2008)

hello 
	
	
		
		
	


	




my friend has a connie who was very over weight and got border line lami. he is ok now, still needs to lose a few pounds but is doing alright. my friend asked her vet what she should be feeding him through the winter and the vet said hay and just put carrots and apple into his play ball so he has to chase his food around. he doesn't need hard food as he is a mountain and mooreland. 
Now she told me to do this with my welsh section d. I dont know what to do as this is the first i have heard about them not needing hard food. 
what do you do with yours? im stuck in a rut and need help getting advise really.

thankies x


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## Benjamin (24 October 2008)

Most natives don't need feeding.

Is he overweight?

All Benj gets is his hay and a handful of Happy hoof, the HH is only used to give him him Cortaflex.
You might want to feed a vit and min supplement if you are worried about his intake, but other than that, I wouldn't give him a feed!


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## TGM (24 October 2008)

What condition is your pony in now?  Skinny, fat or just right?  Your friend's vet is right that a lot of native type ponies are very good doers and often don't need much more than hay if they are not working hard (and by hard I would mean regular hunting, eventing etc).  A lot of owners of such types just like to give them a balancer (like Lo Cal for example) or a vit/min supplement in a handful of chaff to make sure the ponies get all their micronutrients.

However, there are some cobs and natives who are not good doers and then they might need extra bucket feed to supplement the hay.

What do you normally feed your pony in the winter?


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## bex1984 (24 October 2008)

IMO the best thing over winter is 24hr soaked hay, and lots of it. All the calories have gone when it has been soaked for that long, so they can eat plenty and feel full and their guts have plenty to keep them busy and healthy. It worked wonders for my ponio last winter (he has lost 100kg in a year). 

In winter my pony has a handful of happy hoof for his tea, with carrots. He also has dodson and horrell equibites (8 a day) which give him all his vits and mins with no calories, and I was told to give him a tablespoon of cod liver oil a day because it is "good fat" and helps speed up his metabolism. 

He was fantastic on soaked hay and the above food all winter last year - full of energy and had a shiny coat (he is ridden at least 5 days a week), he didn't know he was on a diet


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## imyourstalker (24 October 2008)

hi-fi light, a herbal calmer suppliment, a tiny amount of cod liver oil and used to give him clarity but he is on eucalyptus bedding now. he only gets one small meal a day and has carrots in his ball and 2 secs of hay on the floor. 
he gets ridden 4 times a week. he is a good size at the moment, perhaps a little round. he looses quite a bit of weight through the winter. he is 13.

hope that helps? 

thank you for your help x


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## Donkeymad (24 October 2008)

Natives in general, unless doing lots of hard work, usuallydfo not need anything other than hay/haylage over winter. A little something to provide vits/mins though eg, handful hifi with a  broad spectrum vit/min supplement.


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## imyourstalker (24 October 2008)

thnks x x


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## pottamus (25 October 2008)

I agree with the vet! My Welsh D lives off hay and limited grass all year round. I feed him an all round supplement in a couple of handfuls of chaff and that is it. Even on this diet I struggle to keep his weight down!
I have in the summer months done up to 25 miles of trot work hacking plus pleasure rides of up to 20 miles in trot and canter on this diet and he has been fine.


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## Chunkie (25 October 2008)

My Sec D has had laminitis, and is on restricted grazing from whenever the grass comes through to whenever we have a few frosts.  She has a feed of Happy Hoof every day and a flake of hay when she's being restricted.

In the winter she still has Happy Hoof every day, but no hay as not restricted, and she lives out all year round.

I am on my third native, and none of them have ever had hard food, even when in work through the winter.

Obviously there are no hard and fast rules, and it depends on the individual horse and the type of work the horse is doing, but in my own experience, a native in light (hacking) work living out over the winter would not warrant hard food.


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## parsley (25 October 2008)

I tend to look at the condition and weight of my cob through the winter - he gets as much hayledge as he needs, vitamin and mineral supplements all year round.  If he drops weight or becomes tired and listless when ridden he starts getting some hard feed, the hard feed is reduced on days he doesn't do any work.  I weigh tape him on a weekly basis as well as feel his ribs, shoulders and neck.


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## miss_c (25 October 2008)

My little cobby is on two handfuls of happy hoof a day, and through the winter I may be adding half a handful of pony nuts... Will be checking her weight throughout the winter.


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## rara007 (26 October 2008)

Natives, even when in hard work often don't need feeding. We only feed 2 of ours who really drop weight without the feed. In the summer they were pretty fit, doing 20Km marathons every couple of weeks and we always had too much energy and fat 
	
	
		
		
	


	




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## lachlanandmarcus (26 October 2008)

Dengie Healthy Hooves (moist and minty and lami approved) is much nicer than Happy hoof (sawdust!) well thats what my Haffie told me!


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## auntyfred (27 October 2008)

How nice to read others who are as cruel as I am. The number of people at the yard who think I am cruella de villes sister as I don't feed my mare is unreal.
She has 8 hrs grazing and plenty of hay in the winter. If she is still a bit porky then the hay gets soaked overnight and she gets a big pinch of chaff with a scoop of vits. She gets ridden 6-8 times a week!!
In summer she gets nothing other than grass......unless I need to get her weight down then she comes in to soaked hay and vit routine for about 8 hours a day. We ride up to 20hrs a week in summer. 
Soaked hay is my favourite tool in the fight against obesity in my native mare.


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## jules34 (28 October 2008)

Interesting to read all the above.  My 15hh welsh d mare is very round.  I have my mare on full livery, and the YO provides all feed/hay/haylage.  She's currently on haylage bales, and is pretty much out on them 24/7.  She does have to fight to get on the bale sometimes, but I am worried that she's putting too much weight on...  The girth is def getting harder to do up!

She's a very good doer, and I do sometimes give her a very small feed if we've been for a ride and she's worked hard, but it'a mainly chaff, apples and carrots.

I am thinking about moving her to diy where she will live out 24/7 (can't really afford full livery - credit crunch and all that!) but am a bit worried about what I should feed her as she's got used to this adlib haylage, but I'm worried if I keep her at current yard, she will be the size of an elephant by xmas!  Any advice gratefully received!


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