‘I still feel guilty — she was hungry’

Chaos was recovering from a serious bout of laminitis when she arrived at Judy Moss’s* yard, writes Aimi Clark. The Welsh section C mare was to be ridden by Judy’s young cousin and keep a retired eventer company.

“Chaos belonged to a friend who had gone to university, leaving the pony in the care of her aunt who lived on a dairy farm and was not particularly horsey. She turned her out on luscious grazing and Chaos became seriously unwell with laminitis — she was lucky to survive,” says Judy.

“I thought we’d be the ideal home for Chaos, because I’ve had horses for years. But in hindsight, I’d never had to look after a laminitis-prone pony and I went too far the other way — not feeding her enough, often enough, because I was worried about her piling on the weight.”

Chaos was turned out in a small paddock overnight and not given any hay or hard feed when stabled during the day.

“She lost weight fast and became quite lethargic. I called the vet worried something else was wrong. When they came out, their advice was simple: ‘Feed her’.”

Judy started giving Chaos a feed balancer every day, and made sure she always had access to some hay — soaking it well beforehand to lower its calorie content.

“It was a steep learning curve: there is much more to a pony losing weight than stopping its food,” says Judy. “I still feel guilty, because the poor pony was just hungry and needed to chew to keep her gut healthy. Thankfully she picked up straight away and has maintained a healthy weight, despite the fact that she always seems to be eating! She’s still with us now, 15 years later.”