My daughters pony is over weight so I am getting her in shape again. I am taking her on long rides up and down hills and bringing her swimming. The weight is slowly coming off her but now my daughter does not want me to take her anymore, she says im too rough with her and that im riding her too hard. I think this has to be done to get her back in shape. Although my Levis are getting soaked from her sweat, I think thats just because she is overweight and she is sweating more. When I get back from a long ride my daughter always checks my jeans to see if I was rough on the horse and when she sees them she starts to sulk. I now have the pony on a good diet but my daughter tends to give her treats when I get back from riding because she feels sorry for the pony. Am I doing wrong with the pony or should I keep it up with the long rides?
2006-12-04 03:56:47 · 14 answers · asked by Marco V 1 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Tell your daughter to get off her bum and exercise the pony herself. If in doubt check with a vet about the weight I'm sure their must be an ideal hands to weight ratio table somewhere?
Just make sure she isn't pregnant as well!
Hope this helps
2006-12-04 04:06:03 · answer #1 · answered by Raych C 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The real problem here is twofold;
1 - your daughter loves her pony, and shows that love by stuffing her full of treats and not working her hard.
2 - you and your daughter are at odds and not working on the same team.
If you had talked to your daughter and taught her about good stable management in the first place, she would know that feeding any pet treats and letting it get fat and out of shape is not a good way of showing love.
You need to figure out some way to get both you and your daughter on the same side and work on this together.
Taking over wasn't tactful! Lecturing her won't work, its too late, she now sees you as the persecutor of her pony.
How about sending the two of them off for a weeks holiday somewhere at a livery stables, and explain to the instructor what the problem is. See if a third party can talk to your daughter about her poor stable management.
And when she gets home. help her and teach her.
2006-12-04 09:47:16 · answer #2 · answered by sarah c 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
are you sure that she is overweight? get a weigh tape and measure her properly, as long as you can feel her ribs, then you dont have too much to worry about. If she has a big belly it could be a sign of worm damage. you dont say how big she is or what breed, some breeds are naturaly 'good doers' and will easily gain ytoo much weight, which can lead to health and behavioural problems.
If she is genuinely over weight then she should not be having any hard feed, and only veggie treats and hay. Try to make sure that she is not rugged unnecessarily and is not being spoilt!
I like the working livery idea, as it sounds like your daughter is not riding enough to keep her in good condition.
2006-12-04 05:55:30 · answer #3 · answered by neogriff 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You have the pony on a good program and if the weight is comming off the pony will be healthier for the loss.
If they are heavy it is hard o ntheir feet and they tend to be more prone to lamanitis and founder also as they get older Cushings disease becomes a big concern.
For the sake of the pony keep the weight off her.
Riding one and making it sweat is not harmful at all. You should see the sweat run off our mare when we ride her. And she loves the work. You saddle her up and hse is ready and willing to go and run. It is hard to keep her at a walk.
2006-12-04 04:07:33 · answer #4 · answered by tlctreecare 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you are working the pony too hard. you should gradually get her back in shape by building into longer and longer rides so no harm to the horse is done. you also need to make an ultimatum with your daughter...say that if she stops giving the pony treats, you will not work it as hard...otherwise, it will continue to gain/keep the wait. good luck!
2006-12-04 04:01:04 · answer #5 · answered by water_admiral 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
contact a vet 2 get its ideal weight. have you considered workin livery for your pony then it will be exercised more often for small periods of time. dont over do it you will damage the pony. seek expert help such as a trained horse person. good luck and switch to suger free polo mints and apple and carrots.
2006-12-04 05:38:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hello (: when we bought our first pony she weighed 875lbs and was 150lbs overweight, she is a welsh/arab and is 13hh. Don't panick, if you slowly buld up how much exercise your pony can tolorate you will both be happy in the long run. There are a few ways you can tell if you are working your pony too hard. First of all there is nothing wrong with some sweat while working, but if your pony is sweating almost all over her body than thats too much! another way to tell is, how willing is she to keep going for you? does she break gate often? one thing to be carefull of is a person can easily mistake a willing horse to go between a hyperactive horse who is very stressed out. Its in a horses instinct for survival to want to move its feet if It is feeling stressed out. A horse with a high head and hollow back triggers an amount of adrenaline to be released into the blood, the adrenaline tells the horse to keep moving its feet and to move them fast! A friend of mine had a horse he would become hyperactive (did not want to walk, high head hollow back, prancing) The horse ran itself to death, it dropped dead while being ridden and was only 16 years old! when horses feel adrenaline/hyperactive some will literaly run to death because of the adrenaline. If your horse is truly willing to go for you, it will be calm, will have a decently low head, will move in all its gates with calmness and relaxation, will slow down and walk easy. So ask yourself what kind of pony is mine? is it stressed out hyperactive? or calm cool and willing to go? if your pony is calm she will tell you when she needs a break much easyer, if your pony is hyperactive she will work her little body too hard and might not tell you she needs to slow dow. With our pony to help her lose weight we fed her good quality grass hay (no grain, no alfalfa, that would only add weight) grass pasture is fine. We began to exercise her 30min a day doing walking and trotting, after a week buld it up to 45min 30min of walking as a warm up and 15min of trotting if she can. after anoth week try a 20min walking warm up and 30min of trotting if she can.. If you slowly buld it up your pony will not resent being ridden and may even enjoy it (= all I am saying its not worth tradeing your horse's weight for a horse he gets too hyped up and hates being ridden. If you have any more questions feel free to e-mail me at rembates@hotmail.com I am happy to shar information, I have owed horses for 8 years. I do some young horse starting, I fix problom horses, trail ride, team pen, and learning to show in western pleasure I also am learning to become a natural horseperson under Pat Parreli natural horsemanship I also highly recomend anything under Pat Parreli! amazing horseman! hope this is not too long but when it comes to horsepeople I like to offer anything I can! (=
2006-12-04 04:52:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
ask a vet the pony may be too little for you and you may cause her problems not sure if your joking r not if your not get your daughter to exercise the pony
2006-12-04 03:59:25 · answer #8 · answered by julie t 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
don't know anything about pony's but sounds like you're doing the right thing. just tell your daughter in the long run it will benefit the pony.
2006-12-04 04:00:10 · answer #9 · answered by zanoshi 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
How about lunging the pony, then you are exercising it, training it and not putting any added weight on it.
2006-12-04 04:05:06 · answer #10 · answered by Scottish Girl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋