Leaving ponies out all night?

[Barefoot Pony]

Our two shetland ponies are in a 3/4 acre pasture with a run in shed. We moved them here a couple months ago because our littler pony was escaping from our bigger pasture to get the better grass. The grass in this smaller pasture was untouched, so they were thrilled! No escape attempts, even from our little Houdini.

But the run-in shed is not great -- sort of muddy and they hate going in there at night. I'd like to leave them out in the pature all night, but I'm worried about them getting sick from suddenly getting an extra 10 hours of feeding time.

By now the grass is pretty well eaten down-- we give them a little hay at night to get them in the run in shed, and now I've just started giving them an extra flake because I don't think they have enough quite enough good grass out there. It's almost late August, so the grass isn't at its peak....

Any suggestions for how to accomplish this? Could I put them in a bare paddock for the day, and then turn them out at night? Is there a point in the season where the grass is depleted enough that it would be okay?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[goodhors]

First thing to remember is they are PONIES. Ponies are developed to get along on SMALL amounts of feed in their
native location. In the Shetland Islands, they have to travel far and wide, to get their daily grazing, which keeps them
fit and prevents overeating.

Overfeeding is the Number One problem of keeping ponies. Equally bad for Minis. People just can't believe how LITTLE
ponies need to stay healthy and nice looking. Take a good look at your ponies, or have a horse knowledgable friend look
for a more unbiased opinion. Are their ribs covered with flesh? Can you even FEEL a rib with finger? Does the belly line
extend below the girth? How thick is their neck under the mane? Can you even wiggle it without moving the whole neck?
Do they have dimples of fat around the top of tail on rump? Is hair shiny under any sunburned tips?

Minus the shiny hair, if you answer Yes to the other questions, ponies are OVERFED. Yes to those questions means you
probably need to reduce grazing time a bit more, even if grass LOOKS unproductive. Ponies get 200% from EVERY CALORIE
they can find. Dry lot with measly handful of hay in the middle of lockup time, is BETTER for their health.

Fat ponies get founder/laminitus, where the bones in hooves shift. Very painful, may lead to pony being unusable, needing to
be put down because hoof problems are severe. Fat ponies have a hard time being used with all that extra weight to move along
with the load they carry or pull. Very stressful on heart, body cooling on warm days.

Ponies and horses are supposed to be athletes, need to be kept trim to work. If your ponies are slim, you can feel a rib without
DIGGING for it, but ribs are not sticking out either, then they are in good condition. If in good conditon, then I don't believe they
NEED more grazing time at the moment. Time off the pasture gives grass a bit of grow-time in those hours ponies are locked away.
You are wise to think ahead about what the extra time grazing can cause in problems. Lots of folks ignore that part.

Do you mow the small pasture at all? It will keep noxious weeds from reseeding, trim off the "potty" area.

And last, for the shed you might add some more dirt and rubber mats over it. The mats will cover the muddy parts if they stay inside
a lot, give better footing. You do need to clean the poop off mats, but it is a LOT easier than cleaning dirt. Sprinkle some powdered lime
around for helping any smell problems. I have seen dark sheds preferred over pasture, when the sun is hot and flies are biting.
Lastly, with one being a fence tester, no way would I want him loose at night to play his tricks! In daylight I can visually check
on him outside. I would be up and down all night, wondering if he had gotten out.

Try not to give pony thoughts about "benefits" you can give him. For some reason those cute pony faces make us doubt our choices for
them, turning them into children-type pets. As the pony-keeper, you need to do what is best for them, ignoring the seemingly sad eyes,
whuffly noises they give you, restrict the feed and grazing times to keep them healthy. It is HARD so I sympathize with you. When you
get close to breaking, giving in, remember they are a PONY!! That is a four letter word for tricky, sneaky, over-cute, and harden your heart!

 

[Barefoot Pony]

Hi there, thanks so much for your reply, Goodhors.

I do know that our ponies are not fat. They came to us pretty chubby, and we followed the old owners' directions to the T -- in a paddock with no grass, a flake for each one, every morning and every night. They must have sneaking food at their last home, because on that diet, they lost weight quickly. Last winter, they got pretty skinny, what with the cold. We could see lots of ribs! So we started giving them 1-1/2 flakes every morning and every night, and they got back to a good weight. When it warmed up we went back to 1 flake each... until we started putting them out on the grass.

But your point is well taken, that ponies are designed for surviving on small amounts. I think mats in the run-in are probably our best bet.

Also that those cute pony faces can melt the coldest heart. I must be strong and resist!

Thank you for your thoughtful response!

 

[rmh0508]

If the grass has been eaten down and you are supplementing with hay already then I think they would be fine if left out with access to the run-in. My mini mare gets to go out on my small pasture once I have let the "bigs" mow it down. There is not much grass here to begin with and I keep my mini and whatever big horse needs to be on a diet in this pasture 24/7 with no issues. In the winter and spring she is on a dry lot with access to the run-in. I find she is happier being out and able to nibble here and there. On the plus side I don't have to clean the stalls