New horse

[chandab]

It should be fine.

Not all seniors are the same, and if it doesn't work as well as you'd like, next bag you can always try switching to the other next bag (with several days of change over so you don't upset her system); but give it time and with the good hay, she'll probably come around.

 

[NewToMini's]

She loved her grain. It sounded like she was eating it too quickly, though (could have just been from the metal on her halter hitting the bucket, making it sound like she was eating faster - I wasn't watching her). Will she slow down when she realizes it's something she's getting every day, or will she have to gain more weight back before she slows down?

 

[chandab]

She may never slow down, unfortunately that sometimes happens after a horse has been rundown. Hopefully, she'll slowdown after getting regular meals for awhile. If you can feed her her hay before preparing her grain meal (pellets in her case), she might not scarf the grain quite so fast, as she will have already eaten something (she doesn't have to eat all her hay before her grain, just have it in front of her, so she is less likely to rush).

 

[Ryan Johnson]

^^^ like^^^^

I agree with Chanda in having the hay in front of her first for a bit. I have a big horse that eats the same way, he has his hay now whilst I go and make up his grain. She may also have been in with other horses/minis and when it was feed time. Some can be alot more overpowering and dominating than others, so at times she may have missed out and now thinks she needs to eat quickly so she will actually get some grain.

Have you tried a slow feeding hay bag/net?

 

[NewToMini's]

I put the hay outside on the ground because the horses are all out in the pasture together. She doesn't scarf her hay, so the only reason to get a slow feeder would be to avoid them wasting it, and I haven't had the extra money so far.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Now that she is getting regular meals , Im sure her feeding habits will change for the better, just give her time

 

[chandab]

Since most of the hay is fed outside, just give her a handful while you mix up her grain, it will hopefully reduce her likelihood of inhaling her grain.

 

[Mona]

To reduce the risk of choke, until she gets more used to having her pellets all the time, and until she slows down, I suggest putting some rood sized rocks in her pan or bucket so that she has got to nose around them to get the pellets.

 

[NewToMini's]

I've watched her eat her grain a few times now. She takes her time to chew it thoroughly.

I did increase her portion a bit, and today I had to feed an extra flake of hay, gave them some soaked hay cubes, and let Star (don't think I've mentioned her name yet, so that's her name, lol) in the yard for a few hours to graze. There was snow on the ground this morning, so they were hungry and grouchy, and that's why they got the extra flake of hay and the hay cubes.

I made the hay cubes by filling the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket with the cubes, then filled it just over half with warm water, let it soak, then I mixed in about 2 cups of safechoice into the whole thing right before feeding it to them (split between 2 small horses and 2 small minis). They liked it better than plain cubes (though they get pretty excited about the plain cubes, too) and it added a little bit of extra vitamins.

 

[NewToMini's]

She also got a new halter and lead a few days ago, and I bought her a bridle from the Equine Affaire yesterday (along with a really cute hoof pick)

 

[NewToMini's]

2 week progress. She's starting to look like she's gaining weight, and her back is starting to fill in slightly. Her bones are still easy to feel, though, and it's still kind of shocking how thin she is when I run my hands over her ribs, withers, and shoulders.

How much more weight should she gain before I start her on light exercise (just hand walking)?

 

[NewToMini's]

Here are the side by sides from today. Left and top is the day I got her.

 

[Mona]

WOW, you are doing a great job with her!!

 

[Jill]

You are making great progress!!! WTG

 

[Ryan Johnson]

She is looking wonderful and all thanks to you

 

[NewToMini's]

She's starting to get friendly now

She was a grump butt when she first got here, lol.

The other horse is still chasing her around and kicking her, though

 

[NewToMini's]

I can feel fat over her ribs now! I feel like that's a huge accomplishment, lol. She still has a ways to go before her weight will be good, but at least she's just 'regular skinny' instead of 'scary skinny' now

 

[paintponylvr]

She sounds like she'd doing good.

Personally, in regards to your exercise ?, you could hand walk her now, do ground work exercises and even do basic/light lounging. That way, as she's gaining weight, she is also getting stronger/fitter so that when she is at an ideal weight for riding, she'll be physically capable of being ridden (carrying the weight).

 

[NewToMini's]

I've increased her grain a little, since I've started her in work. Took her for a walk the other day, just went one lap around the crop field next to my property. It's a hill, so I did take her to the top of it instead of just walking around it, to work her back a little more. Today, I tried to lunge her, but I could only get her to go one direction. She seemed afraid to have me and the whip on her left side and I couldn't even get her turned away from me in that direction. So I guess I need to train her to lunge. I did do some work on yielding her shoulders away in both directions, and then did some turns on the haunches and forequarters, and some backing up, to work her muscles.

Will the work to train her to lunge properly help build her muscles? it will be yielding her shoulders away from me, yielding her hindquarters away, sidepassing, etc., but I normally train for short periods of time (10-20 minutes, until I'm bored and can end on an improvement), and I don't know if that would be enough work to build muscles.

I'm still not riding her, but I did get a saddle pad for her. It's a $150 pad that I got for $60 on amazon.com (with free shipping!). I had bought a 32x32 pad for $70 at tsc, but it was way too big. This one only has a 27.5" spine and after trying it on her, I don't think I would use anything bigger. The saddle doesn't fit her right now, I hope it's just because she's thin and doesn't have any muscles. It almost sits on her withers in the front, and the back of it doesn't touch her back.

I don't know if she's gained weight since the last update, but I haven't taken progress pictures.

 

[NewToMini's]

Here are some pictures.