Diet Advice for Mini Mule

[Capriole]

Kazoo will be here tomorrow
He is quite overweight. The current owner (who has only had him a few months...and he was overweight when she got him) admitted to overfeeding...she's giving him Timothy pellets as well as grass hay (I believe Timothy and Bermuda), occasionally some alfalfa, and about 1/4 C wheat bran.
My pony and Arabian mare are free fed Bermuda in hay pillows, with a balancer. The mare also gets senior feed because she loses weight just on the Bermuda.
Would it be too much of a change to just give the mule Bermuda, or should I give him a small amount of Timothy pellets as well?
Thank you in advance

 

[Taz]

I'd feed him just like your little guy, I don't think that would be too much of a change.

 

[Capriole]

Thank you !

 

[Becky's girls]

Hi!
I have had two miniature jennies since December and they are both doing really well on careful dosage of grass hay 2x a day in slow feeder nets, some turnout on grass (minimal) and a handful of Equalizer or Enhancer each 1x a day (this is a mineral only feed that they think is candy!).
Unfortunately, I came home a few days ago from a 10 day vacation to find that they have had too much grass (lots of rain and growth which I didn't count on), and so both have crested. Knowing this can be a huge problem, they are now being monitored even more carefully re. their hay and grass. Gotta lose that weight!
Hope that helps
From what I know, keeping feed low on the richness scale is what helps them stay healthy (and my miniature horse is also doing well with this regime!)

 

[Abby P]

I hope it's going fine with your new guy, Capriole!

I have found that dropping the ration balancer and changing to a V/M supplement (I'm using the California Trace pellets but what works best will depend on your hay), even though the ration balancer didn't seem like much, has made a difference in my horse's weight. He's finally almost completely lost the saddlebags that formed last spring (from getting too much grass) that didn't budge all winter despite cold weather and no grass. Luckily my guy is not at ALL picky and will eat the V/M supplement, his salt, and Quiessence dry. I do put a handful (literally just a handful, like 1/4 cup) of timothy pellets in there just to keep the important stuff from sticking to the bottom of the next bucket in his weekly bucket stack. So far so good!

 

[Capriole]

Thank you!
I think he has lost a bit of weight...at first I thought maybe it was just my wishful thinking, but several others have commented on it as well...so...

All he is getting is Bermuda in the hay pillow and the balancer with a handful of Timothy pellets.
I'm afraid they might not like just a plain vitamin/mineral supplement...Farah and Prince didn't when I tried one before.

 

[Abby P]

Yeah, my guy is the absolute opposite of picky, he'll eat anything that looks like it might possibly be food and holds still long enough. California Trace will send you a sample though, which I found to be helpful, I didn't have to buy a big bag without knowing whether my horse would eat it or not.

If you're able to feed wetted food - then I have found mixing whatever supplement in with a bit of soaked hay pellets works well for most horses. Some of them are picky about the exact amount of water (one will like soup, another wants it just damp). Some might need a handful of senior feed or something that has yummy flavoring in it. You also, if you can wet your feed, would have the option of the powdered supplements, which could be easier to "hide" vs. big pellets. But if he's losing then you probably don't need to worry anyway!