My daughter's pony is overweight.?

Question

My daughter' s pony is very overweight due to her not treating her properly. She is not riding her enough and she is giving her too much treats. I called my local vet and she gave me the proper foods to feed her. She told me that I should start riding the pony because i am heavier and it will help the pony to loose weight. She also told me to take her on long rides so the pony starts to sweat a lot. I have started to do so but the problem is that my 10 year old daughter is not happy at all. She says I am to rough on the pony. I keep telling her that the pony has to loose weight because it is very unhealthy. On Tuesday she came back from a holiday with school and she saw me riding back to the stable on her pony. When she came up to me she burst out crying cos she could see the sweat all over the horse and also on my levis jeans. She said that I am way too rough on the pony. I am now starting to think that I could be too rough on the pony. Do you think so? or should I keep it up?

Answer 1

DEFINITELY keep it up. If you don' she/he will get laminitis and will have to be put down. Tell that to your daughter and tell her to grow up! it is her fault it has happened anyway.

Answer 2

It depends on the size of you and of the pony - if your vet suggested it then he must feel that you are not too heavy.
Try talking to your daughter - tell her the problems from her pony being overweight eg laminitis which is an excruciatingly painful foot disease that once they have it cannot be cured. Also you could maybe raise the possibility that if she doesn't start looking after it prooperly then she will have to sell the pony. You don't have to mean this as she obviously loves her pony and so the threat alone should be enough to make her look after it properly.
Also you should have a good look at the pasture you have the pony on - a small area of very very short grass - especially as for overweight ponies lots of rich grass is one of the main triggers of laminitis.

Also remeber that the pony is sweating because you are making it work properly and it is unfit. As long as you are not using whips or anything to drive the pony once it is exhausted then the best thing for this pony is to lose weight until you can feel it's ribs.
Good luck

Answer 3

First, I would like to see your daughter's veterinary credentials. Very few 10-year-olds have had the time to complete the full course plus specialty internships - as your qualified vet has.

Secondly, you're much to lenient on your child. She sounds spoiled. Make it firm that a pony is a living being and needs the respect that she is denying him - proper exercise, diet, care, attention etc. and that either she work this pony back into shape or she goes to some other little girl who will. Period.

Indeed, have the vet come out - not talk on the phone - and evaluate the pony with your daughter present. Let the vet be stern and not patronizing just because daughter is "still little." At 10, she is old enough to understand an adult who gives orders on how to keep her precious pet healthy. Ask the vet to prescribe a 12-week diet/exercise regimine designed to get the pony in shape - one that must be strictly adhered to - like it or not.

Fortunately this is now summer and many children are out of school for the season. There should be no excuse for her not taking care of her pony properly. And make the conditions stick - either she works with her pony to get her back into proper health - according to the veterinarian - not child's ideas - or the pony goes to a little girl who will take care of him properly.

That may be a hard lesson to learn - for the entire family - but there is simply no excuse in ruining a perfectly lovely pony's life because of a spoiled child.

Answer 4

Your daughter sounds quite spoilt and bossy but at 10 years old she should be able to understand her responsibilities. Tell her about what the vet said and the health implications for the pony and the urgency of rectifying the situation.

Give her the opportunity to take charge and get her riding the pony intensively and getting it sweating and cutting back on the treats, but let her do more mollycoddling things too - grooming and fussing about plaiting the mane/tail, reading to the pony and giving her healthy treats; even just feeding the proper feed by hand can be seen as giving a treat!

If she refuses to go along with it, perhaps get the vet out again with your daughter present, she might be more inclined to believe the vet - see if you can get the vet to tell some 'horror stories' about what happens to overweight ponies. It might also be worth getting your daughter interested in shows/gymkhanas and active riding like jumping or long distance riding which she and the pony will enjoy and will require the pony to be in better condition.

If all this fails, then ride the pony yourself as much as necessary - your daughter must learn that while ponies are fun, and it is nice to pamper them it is not good for them to be fat - but a fun, pampered pony and a helathy one are not mutually exclusive and your duaghter should be able to get the balance right - with some help from you. It could be worth getting her involved in a pony club as they will teach her more about proper care and management and be disproving of pudgy ponies.

As a last resort, threaten to take away the pony - but be prepared to go through with this (even if you havent the heart to actually sell the pony, find somewhere you could take it where it will be looked after but away from your daughter - such as putting it on loan). This might shock her into action - and is certainly possible that if the pony got so fat that it became unwell the RSPCA might get called in.

It is possible that your daughter is genuinely concerned about overworking the pony or the pony not liking her if it is worked hard and not fed bucketfuls of treats or she might be labouring under the misinformation that all ponies really should be barrels with a leg at each corner - just as Thelwell drew them - so talk to your daughter and try to get to the root of the problem like this.

If the only problem is with riding the pony, look into doing ground work such as lunging or long lining and many ponies are harness broken or can be easily and take well to driving, these activities will also shift the weight. get a weigh tape to keep an eye on progress and perhaps work out a system of rewards for daughter and steed for each amount lost through her efforts at treating her pony properly!

Good luck with both your pony and your daughter.

Answer 5

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.

Answer 6

Making the pony sweat a lot is overworking her. I agree that the pony should not be overweight - you risk her getting laminitis - a horrible a most painful disease od the feet. Of course, if your daughter stopped overfeeding her you wouldn't need to do this! The pony must eat less, and must not have access to free sugar of any sort - this includes sweets, mints, anything more than the odd carrot, apples, sugar beet in excess. Grass in moderation, and hay, are plenty, with a handful of pony cubes when she needs to be brought in, just to keep her good to catch.

The pony will benefit from regular exercise at slow to moderate paces. Working her too hard risks laming her, so build up her fitness a bit at the time. If you can, hack out every day - aim to bring her back damp under the girth, not sweating freely. While she is working, she isn't eating.

Talk to your daughter and make her realise that it is just as cruel to overfeed her pony as to underfeed it. Without putting too fine a point on it, the risk of making the pony permamently lame is high; even having to put her to sleep is a possibility.

Good luck, and you are absolutely right to be concerned.

Answer 7

It IS unhealthy. Keep riding the pony. It could be harmful later. Tell your daughter that it is your pony. Tell her that you decided you should have it since she didn't ride it. Tell her that you may get her another pony IF she can prove that she will take care of it. Then, let her ride the pony more often and take care of it. If she does a good job, tell her she can have her pony back, if not, say "you didn't prove that you can keep the pony in good condition, sorry, but no pony for you." Then keep the pony until she rides it more.

Answer 8

no i dont think you are being too rough you are looking out for the welfare of this animal you consulted a vet which is good as they have more experience in these matters than your daughter if you are enjoying the riding and the pony is too i dont see a problem alternatively give your daughter a ultimatum either she starts looking after the pony properly or you will sell it tough love they call it i think you have got the best interest of the pony at heart

Answer 9

Keep it up. the pony will be better for it. If you are concerned about your daughter find a website that shows the results of obesity in animals, and help her to understand the consequences of inaction. Split and bleeding hooves slouhging off the foot are a really nasty sight.

You might also try longuing the pony on a long rein - that will give it the exercise without your daughter worrying about you being too heavy for the pony.

Answer 10

I understand that it is difficult for any parent to see his/her child in tears. However, are you going to start taking veterinary advice from a 10-year-old child? If the vet has prescribed a diet and exercise regiment for the pony, I'd say you're not doing the pony any favors in ignoring it. If you think the program is too harsh, get a second opinion from a vet. Also what type of example are you setting for your daughter if you cave into her every tear? She needs to learn responsibility and how to treat the pony not that you will do whatever she wants.

Answer 11

I think it is good for the pony in the long run for health reasons. Of course if the pony seems fatigued, then stop, but Im sure you can tell if its really hurting or just sweating from not being used to it. Maybe you should start off slow though, just like anyone would if they are not used to exercise.