RE: [RC] Feeding "moderately overweight" pony - Susan Cushing
I have an Icelandic that I do distance work with and had another one before him that was an air fern. I fed the air fern a lite food from Triple Crown. I truly feel they do not get enough vitamins, etc from several flakes of hay. They also do not benefit from regular horse feed since it is made to be fed in pounds not handfuls. A lite type of feed offeres vitamins in correct type of doses for the famine resistant horse. It also helps them feel better getting to actually eat some grain along with the barn mates. You might check in your area what companies produce a lite feed and talk to them. Some companies will send out a rep to talk to you. I did a lot of research at the Equine Affair that they have in my area.
I have a horse at my barn who has equine motor neuron disease from lack of vitamin E. She was getting almost no grain since she was not being ridden. The hay in our area does not have Vit E and Selenium in it. Her blood tested ZERO. My guy who gets Ultium fared better, but was still pretty low.
I truly feel that vitamins are necessary for working air ferns, but I am no vet or expert.
