Miracle's starting to get a little porky...

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NewToMini's

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So, spring has just started, and one of my minis (Miracle) has come out of winter just as big as she was going in. She was sightly overweight going into winter, which I liked, so she would have an easier time staying warm, but now it's spring, the grass is growing, and she's still a bit overweight. I have her on Purina Miniature horse and pony feed (just switched over from Safe Choice Original). I believe the feeding instructions say to give her a pound a day, so that's what I'm doing now (still need to weigh it to make sure a pound of it is the same volume as a pound of safechoice).

I think I'm going to have to limit her grass, and I have 2 options of how to go about it...

Option#1 - buy her a grazing muzzle and make her wear it for part of the day. It would allow her to still behave like a normal horse and get enough exercise and socialization, while limiting her grass intake. But, I have another (larger) pony in the field that bullies her (though I haven't noticed any bite marks recently), and a grazing muzzle would take away some of her ability to defend herself.

Option#2 - Close her in the barn for part of the day. This would allow me to wean her now 1.5 year old filly (close mare up during day, and filly at night), and would restrict both of the minis access to grass (though I don't think the filly is overweight). However, the larger pony would have no access to shelter (except for trees).

I don't know which option is best for them :/
 
What does the mare weigh that should get 1# daily of the mini/pony feed?

There are feeding directions on the website that also include an absolute minimum to feed of .3#/100# BW, so with that minimum a 300# mini would get about a pound. Just checking. It's so easy to over do with many of these minis. [And, by the same token, some can surprise you with just how much they need to eat.]
 
I'm wondering if you really need to feed her grain at all. If you are concerned that she can't get enough nutrition from hay and grass, you could consider a complete supplement designed for those on grass/hay only diets.
 
She weighs 250 pounds. I give her grain because she's on a hoof supplement, and I figure she may as well get a full serving so she gets all the vitamins to stay shiny and dark (she's smokey black, so she fades really bad, and the mini feed is high in copper). The mini feed is the closest thing I could find to a ration balancer except for ones that said they were for cows or goats :/

Plus, last summer, she had a crease in the top of her rump from just grass, so I figure with the grain, she definitely needs her grass limited.

When I got her and the filly, she was underweight on 4 pounds(!) of sweet feed per day with hay (no clue how much they were feeding for her to stay skinny on that much grain) but she gained quickly and I was able to take her completely off grain for the summer. But now she's getting grain again because of the hoof supplements, and I want her to be as shiny and black as possible, lol

Would it be better to get her a grazing muzzle (even though she wouldn't be able to use her teeth to defend herself from the other horses) or put her in the barn to wean the filly (even though the horses that would be stuck outside would only have trees for shelter from the elements (just wind, rain, and sun since winter is over))
 
Chandab, thanks for the feeding guidelines refresher. I was thinking that a 250 pound horse needed 1 pound according to the minimum guideline. I guess I can reduce it to 3/4 pound now
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I agree with Maxs Mom, If your mini is already overweight and the spring grass is arriving, I would seriously consider keeping her in a dry lot if she has to have the grain because of the hoof supplement. An overweight mini vs Spring grass is a recipe for laminitis, i know this from personal experience.

One of my minis wears a grazing muzzle when the first spring grass arrives here and also when the first rains arrive after summer. Also if your feeding grain to keep her shiny and black, id consider keeping a cotton sheet on her to eliminate the sunburn and consider feeding something more along the line of "Pumpkin" which is great for a horses coat. Does she get much exercise ?
 
She gets a decent amount of exercise during the spring and summer.

I'm leaning towards keeping her in the barn during the day... Would the trees be enough shelter for the other 2 (the larger pony doesn't like the barn, anyway, she's claustrophobic, and the minis can get in the little shed in the field, but the larger pony won't fit)? We shouldn't be getting any more snow this year, and our highs are staying between 50 and 70 degrees with lows of 30-50. This would be so much easier if I could have afforded to separate the barn into two stalls over the winter like I wanted to XD
 
What kind of cotton sheet would I get? What are they called? Do fly sheets work for that?
 
With most of our minis, they get less feed than the bag says or they'd be way too fat. Maybe scale back on the amount of feed and limit graze time. Dry lots are great for minis who can get really heavy and even founder from too much good grass.

With a grazing muzzle, I worry that the horse will not drink enough with it on. I know they "can" drink while wearing one, but depending on the horse, it doesn't mean she "will" drink. Also, just as with leaving a halter on,it's important the muzzle be one that will break away if caught on something.

Good luck!
 
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I was thinking about the safety of a grazing muzzle, since they are essentially halters with a basket over the nose..... There's also a chance the filly could get a hoof stuck in the straps (she jumps on her mom and tries to rough house).

I didn't even consider that it might stop her from drinking.

I don't have a frumpy (*dry lot*, sometimes I don't understand autocorrect, lol) or a small paddock, so shutting her in the barn is the closest option to that (it's 14x28, so very roomy).

I will just have to keep an eye on the ones that are out, to make sure they're fine with just the trees for shelter.
 
Took 8 wheelbarrows full of dusty dirt and manure out of the barn this morning (just got a new wheelbarrow after not having one for over 6 months) , I was exhausted afterwards, so I sat down with the minis for several minutes while they napped.

Wondering if I should just shut Miracle in during the day and leave it open at night so everyone can get in at night, or go ahead and shut the filly in at night to wean her?
 
You've asked about the adequacy of the shelter outside while she's in the barn. In warmer weather, I expect that the horses wouldn't worry much about being outside unless it gets hot and there isn't adequate shade provided by the trees. It sounds like you could bring them in if you had truly terrible weather during the day.

I don't know about Miracle's personality, but I would expect that she'd be happier being with her herd than being shut in the barn by herself all day. My horse used to use a grazing muzzle with the breakaway buckles, and he quickly figured out how to drink and eat through the hole. He also began to find ways to get the muzzle off! But overall, it might be a thing to consider so that she could be with the herd at least part of the time.

I would be careful about letting her have free access to spring grass for even a few hours a day, depending upon how lush your field is. It isn't just the calories. It is also the high sugar content. A determined horse can consume huge amounts of grass in a very short time.

In my situation, I ultimately decided that a dry lot was the safest solution. I wish you and Miracle the best!
 
If you have portable fence panels put up a small paddock just for her, even if it's on grass it'll be small so she can only eat so much grass.
 
Locking her in the barn just makes the issue worse as she will not be getting near as much exercise. I have several minis that came to me with weight issues that we are still working on. I am setting up a track with electric fence on the inside perimeter of my paddock. This restricts their grass access but gives them maximum exercise space. I have moved the water and slow feeders of hay to opposite ends to encourage walking. Trying googling paradise track systems
 
I would also consider cutting the grain. I don't feed any grain to my minis. Too much concentrated sugar that doesn't outweigh the vitamins, etc.
 

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