Altering diet for a slightly chubby pony

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After some time, my pony has finally started to put on weight, but in typical pony fashion, now that spring/summer grass is growing he is now starting to pack on a smidge too much. It's not anywhere near dangerous, but I'd like to make a change to keep him from turning into a chunk. He also has way more energy than normal, so I think overall he's just getting more than he needs!

My two easiest options are to either lower the amount of grain he gets or to cut alafalfa from his diet.

I'm torn on which of the two I should do to keep him in good weight.

Some basic info:
He's on pasture for 12 hrs of the day and has plenty of grass hay when he's in.
He's under 14.1 and fairly fine boned
His grain is nutrena proforce fuel (not my favorite, but it's that or safe choice at my barn). He gets 3/4ths of a scoop
He's been on this diet and done well on it since late fall. So it's really only the summer grass coming in that's causing me to make a change.

[Josette]

Honestly I would cut back on both the grain amount and remove the alfalfa. It's amazing how well some ponies and horses can still maintain good weight when we think it is too little food. Less is best. IMO 3/4 scoop is too much for a pony. Been there - done that.

[Srhorselady]

I’ve been considering cutting back my pony also. While not yet chubby there is a “layer” over her ribs and her hips are nicely rounded. She is a petite 13.2 half Welsh and 1/2 Arab mare. She is getting 1lb Safe Choice Senior (split in two meals) so that I can add salt, electrolytes etc. and 12 lbs Bermuda grass hay split in 4 meals. She is on 24/7 turnout but no pasture and is ridden/exercised 3 times per week. She is also what I would consider a self exerciser, unlike my warm blood and quarter horse geldings. Pony’s don’t need much feed!

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Agreed ponys don't need much, but this one is definitely more of a hard keeper type. It's taken 8 months to get weight on him, he came quite underweight. I think if I scale back both right now there's a good chance he'll start dropping.

If I can cut both, great, but I definitely want to start with one and assess how he does first. Just can't decide which one.

[heddylamar]

I’d start with a grazing muzzle every other day for 2 weeks.

[demi]

If it was me, I’d cut the alfalfa out completely. Rocky is 14.2 and an easy keeper. She has 24/7 access to pasture and she is worked 4-5 times a week. She gets 1 lb of Purina Eq sr. 2 X a day, and about 8-10 lbs of Bermuda grass hay a day. She is a tiny bit fat, and I should probably cut the Eq sr to 1/2 lb 2X a day but it’s hard to regulate because the pasture is lush sometimes and slim pickens other times. I just know that other little horses I’ve had in the past could not handle alfalfa without getting too fat.

[StraightForward]

Could you cut both and put him on Outlast ? That way you wouldn't be completely cutting the alfalfa, and would still have a "grain" to put any supplements in if needed. Plus it is good for buffering stomach acid. I have had good luck with adding Tri-Amino to keep muscle on without adding excess calories. Annabelle tends towards porkiness, and we removed most of her alfalfa while she's been laid-up, and she gets Outlast 2x a day in addition to about 80% grass hay.

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Could you cut both and put him on Outlast ? That way you wouldn't be completely cutting the alfalfa, and would still have a "grain" to put any supplements in if needed. Plus it is good for buffering stomach acid. I have had good luck with adding Tri-Amino to keep muscle on without adding excess calories. Annabelle tends towards porkiness, and we removed most of her alfalfa while she's been laid-up, and she gets Outlast 2x a day in addition to about 80% grass hay.

A definite plus of the alfalfa is that it's good for digestion and the vet recommended it for his ulcers. The barn won't feed a different grain, but I could feed outlast as a 'supplement' and have him go on 'no grain'. but it isn't complete, so I'd also probably need to add a ration balancer. And honestly I don't think that would keep him at weight, he really is not a very easy keeper.

It's tricky because he is a pony so I want to be careful. but he is also NOT at all an easy keeper type. He's built and functions much like a mini-tb, not like any other pony I've known. And no grain would definitely put him well underweight unless something else was added to make up for calories lost. He used to be on just grass hay and 1/2 a scoop of grain, but i couldn't get weight on him that way. That was in the fall. By mid-winter he was on the diet he's on now and was starting to do really well. it's just the new grass that's made a change.

I’d start with a grazing muzzle every other day for 2 weeks.

He has a big scar on his nose from when the previous owner tried to put a grazing muzzle on him and he did everything in his power to get it off. Needed several stitches/staples. I'd be especially worried about him getting his eye in the process.

[Josette]

Based on the pony's background as you described the changes SF suggested sound reasonable and then monitor him. Your vet recommended the alfalfa as good for his ulcers so I would not go against that advise. The recent change in the availability of extra grass justifies a modification what he is fed in his stall. I need to cut back on my pony's hay too.

[heddylamar]

He has a big scar on his nose from when the previous owner tried to put a grazing muzzle on him and he did everything in his power to get it off. Needed several stitches/staples. I'd be especially worried about him getting his eye in the process.

Oof. Yes. No grazing muzzle! I was going for a low-impact diet alteration, but it sounds like that's not in the cards for your guy.

Cut alfalfa and grain by 1/4? That's large enough to see some impact, but not so large you won't be able to recoup if it's too drastic too quickly.

[blob]

Thanks all, I've texted the barn manager to cut his grain starting tomorrow. I'll see how he does and then cut his alfalfa as well. Just spacing out the changes so it's not too much at once.

If he drops too much, I'll bring the alfalfa back and try to keep the grain low!

[Chisamba]

Alfalfa is good for them, grain is less advantageous. I would cut back on the grain component. Give enough to balance his ration of minerals and such.