Re: Defending ponies

[Leigh331@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/21/99 10:34:12 AM EST, dokada@voyager.net writes:

<<  True,
 most take far less feed than a horse (they ARE smaller you know) so it
 would take less feed to founder one but that is no excuse for
 overfeeding one and foundering it!  It is a reason to rejoice in smaller
 feed bills!
  >>
I raise ponies, and yes, I've had a pony founder a time or two over the 25
years that I've had them.  To defend myself, there are many reasons that
ponies will founder OTHER than overfeeding.  I try to keep my ponies on grass,
that takes some pretty extensive knowledge and luck to manage the grass so it
will be healthy enough to sustain the ponies, but not lush enough to founder
them.  My most recent founder (first in about 12 years) was due to undiagnosed
hypothyroidism, so not my fault.  But, basically I agree with you, care should
be taken to avoid rich feed, too much feed, yet to give a balanced adequate
ration to ponies.
Leigh