My new 16yo 8hh pony is quite fat, having a crease down her back and a big squishy pad of fat on her neck. I give her nighttime turn out with my full sized mare, she's commonly scurrying around and only occasionally sits still. Not enough to take the fat off, though; I began walking her on the road last week, she can do it with bursts of trot without straining. Surprisingly the booger can jump, and jump energetically at will with little instruction, usually dancing over the trotting poles I leave outside.
So I think her exercise regime of taking 20min walks on the road and the spare jump here and there is good, but what to do about food... Her last owner was giving her a cup a day of 12% protein pellets, a flake of coastal, and some turn out, while the pony didn't do much work. I leave coastal hay in her stall constantly to let her have an outlet for boredom or nervousness as she's still new here, and gradually stopped feeding her pellets. I think she goes through one flake every two days, usually doesn't finish it in one day or bother with it much. Should I be confining her to the dry lot with the coastal hay instead of letting her out on the pastures? Both 1-acre pastures have a good amount of fresh grass due to there having only been my one horse using them, the pony is coming from a place that had been grazed on by more than five other animals.
So I think her exercise regime of taking 20min walks on the road and the spare jump here and there is good, but what to do about food... Her last owner was giving her a cup a day of 12% protein pellets, a flake of coastal, and some turn out, while the pony didn't do much work. I leave coastal hay in her stall constantly to let her have an outlet for boredom or nervousness as she's still new here, and gradually stopped feeding her pellets. I think she goes through one flake every two days, usually doesn't finish it in one day or bother with it much. Should I be confining her to the dry lot with the coastal hay instead of letting her out on the pastures? Both 1-acre pastures have a good amount of fresh grass due to there having only been my one horse using them, the pony is coming from a place that had been grazed on by more than five other animals.