Washout

Yesterday we got the tack on Charlie and Rosey twice, then took it off again, then C decided to brave the weather and came back 10 minutes later totally soaked and unable to see.  Today we didn't even bother trying.

Three of them came in quite shivery but were ok once they had started eating their tea, whole weekend a bit of a washout really.

We have been struggling with laminitis with two of the ponies for several weeks now, even though we had restricted them to the school/yard and they were having no grass at all.  This proved it had to be something in their feed so I removed all alfalfa to see if it would make a difference.  On paper the alfalfa they were having should cause no problems at all, it is low in sugar and I have been balancing with magnesium, I have always been a bit sceptical when people report issues with it as mine have all been fine in the past.  It is very, very hard to get a non molassed, no alfalfa, low sugar chaff, eventually the only thing I was left with was fast fibre which is not actually a chaff but a pellet with rubbish in it basically, along with unmollased sugar beet, some linseed and a basic vitamin and mineral blend.  You soak it for 60 seconds and it forms a big bucket of mush.

I didn't have high hopes for the ponies eating it but actually they really like it, to the point of licking the bucket clean.  For the last week they have been having this, along with buckets of beet only and for the last two days (actually the only days I have checked) they have been pulse free, they are also moving a lot better.  It really seems to be helping them, I am a little concerned however that there is no substance to their droppings so I am worried that there is no long fibre going through their system.  They don't really want to eat our hay and the only stuff I can buy around me looks very potent.  I may try and get some low sugar haylage, the purple horsehage stuff that people use with laminitics has no supplies left in the UK at all, and new stock will only arrive in the shops in July.  They must have been really hit by the bad hay making season last year.

Friend of a friend said that she had been trying to source this years hay and was already being quoted prices of £7.50 per bale, think if mine like the haylage I may be feeding that this winter as at least it doesn't need soaking and will be quicker for N to feed every day.