Your
description of your puff pony sounds just like my BLM mare. At 13.3H and well
sprung ribs, Gypsy also had a thick, leaning towards cresty
neck, but she didn’t have “fat pockets” anywhere. She looked
like somewhere back in her ancestry there might have been some draft. Her feet
weren’t big, but they were tough. She was also an air and I never gave
her anything but hay (except when she was pregnant) and she would get very fat
in the spring on the 3 acres of native pasture. After she was well behaved
under saddle, she was also very lazy on familiar trails. She would move out on
a new trail though. Oh, she carried 175 pounds quite easily.
Good
luck!
Kathy
Thanks.
To
clarify, I took her *off* the beet pulp once I got her.Former
owner
had been giving it as a way to make sure she got enough fluid.
She
drinks fine, though.
The
LMF Super Supplement is billed as being "for easy keepers" just
to
get
the trace minerals in.She didn't
like the trace-mineral salt
block.She has a white salt block now, which
she uses.
I
just got on my scale with my clothes/boots on and holding my tack,
and
she carries a grand total of 136 pounds.I've been told I don't
look
too big on her.
She
was last wormed in July and I'm going to give her a worming today.
I
talked to the vet about doing blood work, and he didn't seem to
think it
was necessary.I'm starting to
wonder about the vet,
though.For now, i'm
going to go with what he said and assume she's
just
suffering a little from too much food and not enough work.
The
Barn Ladies I talked to said not to decrease her feed until the
winter
was over, as she might lose weight on her own.But I wanted to
run
her diet past you folks.I did just
get a weight tape and if her
weight
stays the same over the next few months, or increases, I'll cut
down
her hay.The barn-meal-plan hay is
pretty awful and sometimes
she
doesn't even eat all of it.The
lunchtime hay is my own, and I
was
raised to feed horses three times a day so I feel weird skipping
"lunch."If
she doesn't lose weight I'll probably have them cut down
her
breakfast or dinner to half a flake.But the lack of energy,
sheesh.I am really hoping it's
just lack of fitness.I imagine
that
will
become more clear over the next few months as well.
