roly poly pony revisited
This message is from: Moira Sambey moirasam...@hotmail.com Hi Robyn I agree with Marsha Jo, hay needs to be weighed as flakes vary tremendously in weight. You can get a Newton scale in the fishing section of Walmart etc. I put my hay in a heavy duty black plastic garbage bag, spin it to twist the top and hang it on the scale. Also like Marsha Jo, I feed 1% of body weight split into 2 feeds. This works out to 6lbs of hay each feed. He also gets 3-4 hours of pasture a day. If for some reason I can't turn him out, he gets another 6lbs hay instead of the pasture. I wouldn't put your mare in with the round bale where the geldings are, sad to say, the risks of overeating are not worth it. From wet west coast Canada. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
roly poly pony revisited
This message is from: Robyn Kevlin rckev...@comcast.net Okay. I have the 16' x 48' Jenny Craig paddock half-assembled. Will finish up tmo. One third is under a shed roof. First question is: How does 2 flakes in the a.m. and 2 more in the p.m. sound, out of a NibbleNet? A good plan to start with? Also, how would it be if I let her into the big pasture (where the round bale is) on weekends, so she can walk around with her geldings? The plan was to keep her up 24/7, but I wondered about that. Thanks to everyone who responds to these. Everybody else I could ask is QH-savvy, and as we all know, Fjords are horse of a different color... and stuff. Robyn Kevlin Be who you are, because the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
RE: roly poly pony revisited
This message is from: Gail Russell g...@zeliga.com Get a fishing scale from Amazon. There is one that has a tare weight function ($8, I think..digital) that allows you to subtract the bag. Load a bag with two flakes and weigh it. I think the Cushings/Insulin Resistant group says to feed 2% of body weight a day. Does someone know the amount off hand. I do not have time to look up right now. Gail -Original Message- From: owner-fjordho...@angus.mystery.com [mailto:owner-fjordho...@angus.mystery.com] On Behalf Of Robyn Kevlin Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 2:55 PM To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com Subject: roly poly pony revisited This message is from: Robyn Kevlin rckev...@comcast.net Okay. I have the 16' x 48' Jenny Craig paddock half-assembled. Will finish up tmo. One third is under a shed roof. First question is: How does 2 flakes in the a.m. and 2 more in the p.m. sound, out of a NibbleNet? A good plan to start with? Also, how would it be if I let her into the big pasture (where the round bale is) on weekends, so she can walk around with her geldings? The plan was to keep her up 24/7, but I wondered about that. Thanks to everyone who responds to these. Everybody else I could ask is QH-savvy, and as we all know, Fjords are horse of a different color... and stuff. Robyn Kevlin Be who you are, because the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
RE: roly-poly pony
This message is from: Curtis cepi...@yahoo.com Robyn Kevlin rckev...@comcast.net wrote: I'd say she's seriously overweight, from standing with her head in the round bale the last 30 days, but I don't know if it's bad condition for a Fjord. She doesn't have a rain gutter down her spine, but she's got a culvert down her croup. : ) Is this a usual Fjord thing? Different Fjords put fat in different places, but often it is on top of the hindquarters like you describe. Rather than trying to find a different type of round bale hay, you can use a muzzle for most of the day, if not full time. She can still eat, but not as much. Some Fjords are real good about getting the muzzle off. They are also good at destroying muzzles, so don't get an expensive one. If the muzzle is not possible, you may want to find another way of limiting the mares access to the round bale. Take care! Curt Pierce Mathias, WV Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
roly-poly pony
This message is from: Robyn Kevlin rckev...@comcast.net Thanks to all those who responded. Everybody agrees (and I knew) that limiting intake is the way to go, but I didn't have a way to do that... until today. I had a long talk with the barn owner, and she's going to fence off a 20'x20' dry lot for Gaven. She'll be fed grass hay twice a day, plus all the water she can drink. She'll be by herself, but there are horses on either side. I have a propane-powered Coleman Hot Water on Demand unit that I use to warm the trough water a little, after the ice is broken out. There's no electricity at the barn yet. I've seen a solar water trough on the market - it holds 25 gallons and will supposedly keep the water from freezing, to 20 below. Anybody have experience with those? I live in Tennessee, so we rarely get down to 10 below, but the troughs stay frozen most of the time from December to February. Now I have to figure out how to keep Gaven from getting bored. She was in a good-sized pasture with two geldings, and was able to move around. The barn is 40 min away from home, and I try to get out there every day, but it takes 2 hours to warm the water (and you have to stand over the heating unit the whole time), and it gets dark early. With the rest of my life, there's not much time to ride. Ideas about how to keep her entertained when I'm not there? Robyn Kevlin Be who you are, because the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
Re: roly-poly pony
This message is from: Lauren Sellars sn...@nethop.net My opinion on good round bales is. Fjords and round bales should not mingle for longer then and hour in the morning and an hour at night maybe a little at noon The only big bales my herd sees is straw. This year we even got some timothy straw the herd enjoys. Straw seems to keep them happy and chewing without the weight gain. I feed quality feed along with the roughage. I think if all they get is premium quality they need so little. We need to give them something to keep their digestive juices flowing. Plus a little roughage keeps them happier. As for the water intake it probably is reflecting the amount of dry hay your pony is eating. I wouldn't worry about the water. Founder is a painful ,sad sight. Cresty necks take alot of work to cure and a fat fjord isn't pretty or healthy. Fjords have evolved into very efficient eaters, small amounts of hay go along way. especially on a mature horse. Youngsters are different they need much better feeding then a mature fjord. I like to suppliment with seaweed or a mineral mix to ensure even the dieters are still getting the more obscure minerals they need Good luck Lauren On 12/3/2010 5:07 PM, Robyn Kevlin wrote: This message is from: Robyn Kevlinrckev...@comcast.net I've only had Gaven (13-yr-old mare) since August, so we haven't been through a winter together. If she were a Quarter Horse, I'd say she's seriously overweight, from standing with her head in the round bale the last 30 days, but I don't know if it's bad condition for a Fjord. She doesn't have a rain gutter down her spine, but she's got a culvert down her croup. : ) Is this a usual Fjord thing? If she is very overweight, I'm at a loss as to how to handle it. She'll only be ridden for a couple of hours 2-3 times a week through the winter, mostly at a walk, and there's no way to fence her off from the hay without causing the other two horses to lose access to the water. The other thing is - she drinks a LOT of water. I watched her one day this week, drinking for a solid 5 minutes, without once lifting her head. Then she picked it up, looked around, got another big gulp and walked off. Watched her do the same thing this afternoon. Is that a Fjord thing? I know each horse is an individual, but breeds have tendencies, too, right? I don't want to be an over-protective horse mom... Robyn Kevlin - Nashville Be who you are, because the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
roly-poly pony
This message is from: Robyn Kevlin rckev...@comcast.net I've only had Gaven (13-yr-old mare) since August, so we haven't been through a winter together. If she were a Quarter Horse, I'd say she's seriously overweight, from standing with her head in the round bale the last 30 days, but I don't know if it's bad condition for a Fjord. She doesn't have a rain gutter down her spine, but she's got a culvert down her croup. : ) Is this a usual Fjord thing? If she is very overweight, I'm at a loss as to how to handle it. She'll only be ridden for a couple of hours 2-3 times a week through the winter, mostly at a walk, and there's no way to fence her off from the hay without causing the other two horses to lose access to the water. The other thing is - she drinks a LOT of water. I watched her one day this week, drinking for a solid 5 minutes, without once lifting her head. Then she picked it up, looked around, got another big gulp and walked off. Watched her do the same thing this afternoon. Is that a Fjord thing? I know each horse is an individual, but breeds have tendencies, too, right? I don't want to be an over-protective horse mom... Robyn Kevlin - Nashville Be who you are, because the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
