Missy the Pony


Lisa Gaughran
 

Last year I was writing about Missy the Mini, today it's about Missy the Pony (I had two Missies).  She's a Welsh Pony 24 years old.  She foundered a couple of months ago.  She's now on Prascend (1 mg, half twice a day).  She was on taped pads, but now I'm putting pads made out of workout mats in boots on her fronts.  


She eats LMF Low Carb Complete, and I soak a couple handfuls of orchard grass hay that she gets twice a day.  I'm not able to get my hay tested.  Some non-molasses beet pulp and a vitamin and mineral mix and sunflower seeds.  I have one of those RV filters on her water hose since we have well water. 


She appeared to be recovering until my neighbor mowed without my knowing and threw a bunch of grass in her paddock.  She got sore again.  She's now still sore in her fronts, especially her right front.  It seems to be taking quite awhile for her to recover.  She gets trimmed every 5 weeks.  


 As I said before, I can't have the hay tested.  I need to feed some type of pelleted feed.  I can soak the orchard grass hay and she'll eat it.  She doesn't really like the LMF Complete, but she'll eat it if we mix her beet pulp with it.   I've heard Seminole Equi-Safe is good?  What about Purina Wellsove L/S?


Lisa and Missy the Pony
Auburn, May 2014



Lisa Gaughran
 

I really need some advice as to her diet.  I have the vet coming out next week to do blood work.  

I bought some Purina Wellsolve L/S and wish I didn't, because one feeding of it gave her some pretty bad diarrhea.  So $30 wasted there.

Is it better for her to have more of the soaked/rinsed hay, and less of the LMF Low Carb Complete?  Or more of the Low Carb Complete and less of the soaked hay?  

Thanks for any help,

Lisa and Missy the Pony


janieclougher@...
 

Hi, Lisa -  For any IR or PPID equine, the safest diet is soaked hay,, plus flax for the omega 3's, vitamin E, and salt.  Beet pulp is a good carrier for the minerals, flax, E and salt. A good mineral supplement when you can't test your hay is California Trace Plus, or Arizona Copper Complete. This won't be perfect, but if you can't test, you can't test.

Another option is Ontario Dehy Timothy Balance cubes, distributed by Triple Crown.  If you can get Triple Crown products at your feed store, you should be able to order in the ODTB cubes.  They are a complete feed with regard to minerals, so you only need to add flax, vitamin E and salt. They can be moistened or soaked for those with tooth issues. Because you are feeding a mini and a pony, these can be an economical feed, very little fuss or muss, and very safe.  Then just give soaked hay for play time.

Nuzu Stabul 1 is a pelleted feed that is also a complete feed, but the starch is a tad higher than the hay cubes -  4.5%.  This may be too much for sensitive horses, but certainly can be used as a taste tempter.  Triple Crown Lite can also be used as a taste tempter in small amounts.

So - the only safe bagged foods for IR and PPID horses is a short, short list: ODTB cubes; Nuzu Stabul 1 pellets; Triple Crown Safe Starch Forage (NOT TC Safe Starch pelleted).  And that's it.  You can also use rinsed/soaked/rinsed beet pulp, and soy hull pellets.  There is no point in buying any kind of other bagged feeds, no matter what the label says, if there isn't a guarantee of ESC and starch levels.

Wait!  I told a lie (but not on purpose).  I just looked at the LMF website, and if you want to use the Low NSC Complete, that is also a safe feed, and actually looks pretty good:  http://lmffeeds.com/products/low-nsc-complete/
 
It is also a complete food, and so like the hay cubes and Stabul 1 you would only need to add vitamin E, salt and flax.  You can then feed the soaked hay as something for chew time, especially if you have it in a small mesh hay net.

Just a reminder for the blood work: non-fasting; spun, separated and frozen asap.  More info here:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Blood%20Testing%20for%20IR%20%26%20Cushings%20Disease/

And if you ever need to look up feed values, there are some in the files here:


https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Analyses%20of%20Various%20Feeds/

Tough to give a short answer to your original question about whether to give more hay or more Low NSC Complete without more information.  Age, tooth condition, weight etc.  Do you have a case history on the Missies?




 





Is it better for her to have more of the soaked/rinsed hay, and less of the LMF Low Carb Complete?  Or more of the Low Carb Complete and less of the soaked hay?  

Thanks for any help,

Lisa and Missy the Pony