At Calm Healthy
Below is a FB post from early spring 2018
Looking for advice! I bought an 12.2 lead- rein pony last autumn. She was brilliant for the first few months, just a little jumpy in the wind. But now she’s become really spooky, to the point I daren’t put the little ones on her! Could it be the
Could be she is just trying to see what she can get away with or how far she can push you?
Ponies don’t start reacting badly to hassle and push their owners. There is a real problem according to the poster which is most likely diet-related.
Could be the grass but one of mine is super sensitive to alfalfa it makes him spooky and unmanageable to even lead from the field!
Alfa causes issues in the UK due to our cool season grasses bringing inappropriate levels of potassium and nitrates into the diet. Feeding Alfa further increases potassium, adding fuel to the fire. However, the ‘fire’ started with the GRASS. Reduce access to grass and remove unsuitable feeds from the bucket. The poster confirmed that the pony wasn’t getting any alfa or other inappropriate feedstuffs.
I would think it’s probably that she’s coming into
In our experience coming into
Ulcers?
In our experience, ulcers are a product of diet and management rather than a thing on
Mine is being
Although tongue-in-cheek, this comment isn’t very helpful. Lunging a grass-affected pony does nothing to improve the situation. Just waiting for the Spring flush to end could easily result in setting this pony up for laminitis.
Reading the
Only one of about 50 suggestions gave a useful indication of what was wrong and what needed to be done:
This time of year the grass is short on magnesium. Despite what a lot of people think, its not a calmer but an essential mineral
This is helpful. But we would develop and add to the response. Here are our thoughts.
The amount of magnesium in the grass doesn’t vary that much depending on the time of year. So while it is true that magnesium levels increase over Summer, the level of increase is not that significant and is nothing in comparison to the varying levels of potassium. We know from forage analysis that magnesium in hay is usually just about meeting basic magnesium
The commentator is absolutely right in pointing out that providing magnesium is not about ‘calming’ but about providing essential
So to clarify, the level of potassium and nitrates in the grass when it’s in growth stage is the root cause of the issues. The resulting imbalance puts stress on the nervous and other systems, further elevating the need for magnesium, calcium and other important
Having no regular vitamin and mineral supplement in the bucket puts the pony in a weaker position towards coping with the Spring grass,
One of the reasons I feel strongly about this is that I also had to use a jigsaw of
Right at the
Step one is to Download and print off the HEALTH CHECKLIST and the CURRENT DIET REVIEW. Step Two is to go to SOLUTIONS and read Dietary Principles for a Calm, Healthy Horse To avoid injury, also read WHEN NOT TO RIDE! You will be amazed at how many issues are actually diet related. While diet encompasses everything your horse consumes, the problems usually originate from his pasture grass. Hence, the term Grass-Affected . Meaning there is one or multiple aspects of your horse s forage and feed that is adversely affecting his health and behaviour.