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My Spotted Tennessee Walker critique

36K views 250 replies 63 participants last post by  tinyliny 
#1 ·



What do you think?She is the best horse I have ever owned!:D
 
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#5 ·
According to her barn it says the filly is 1yr 11 months

Have you had her since birth? It says you got her 2 yrs ago.


She definitely looks in need of a lot of groceries.

Other than that if you are looking for confo critique you need to post proper pictures for that.
 
#6 ·
At first glance I just wanted to say.. bleah.. but that is really her over all condition. Looking closer she seems to have substantial bone and nice big roomy hocks. Due to the angle the topline is deceiving.

She looks very young. I suggest she have access to more feed and grow up more before you get on her and ride. I think with weight and growth this mare might be a "sleeper." She might be quite nice.
 
#7 ·
I have been feeding her rice bran and triple C.She is young, she is almost two years old.I have been worming her regularly.She had worms when I got her, and she was 4 months old at the time and didn't know anything about it until the veterinarian confirmed it by doing a fecal examination.The worms must have occurred before she reached one year old.She is slightly large now.I took some pictures of her from behind to get a shot of her belly to prove I have been feeding her rice bran and triple C but I can't upload the pictures I tried.I will have to ask the moderator if I can upload them on this thread if I can't then I will add better pictures Monday.I have to get a pasture for her because I had to leave my hometown due to a personal situation with a man(He don't know what he is doing when it comes to horses). He offered to train my horse and I am not going to let him because he trained his own and he bucked me off and I landed in rocks and my elbow was tore all to pieces the bone almost showed. I am going to hire a professional trainer that trains Tennessee Walkers.Thanks for the feedback.I am glad I came to this forum because I learn about horses from professionals.I learn things that I didn't know about.
 
#9 ·
She very seldom eats hay.She loves rice bran more than anything.She is not grown up yet.She is more longer now and she is a good size filly right now.It is estimated that when she is full grown measuring from hoof to knee she will stand 16.1 hh or better she's going to be quite huge people say.She is gaining weight and that is a plus.
 
#11 ·
The muscle line going down her rump, her puny defined neck and shoulder, and pointed and stunted appearance tell me she is seriously underweight and malnourished. She is almost 2 and looks no older than a yearling. Id imagine you can probably see her ribs if she were shed out properly(lack of which is probably due to malnutrition). Horses happily eat hay constantly, even at young ages. So either there is something seriously wrong with her health wise or your hay is extremely poor quality.

If you dont know much about horses you need to find an experienced horseperson or vet to help you out with her nutrition.

Im not trying to be rude, but I am concerned for the animals wellbeing.
 
#12 ·
Yikes. This horse is very seriously underweight. Her body mass is nowhere near where it should be, to match the bone she obviously has. She looks way younger than she really is and this is not a good sign.

She needs hay and lots of it. Don't just give her food she likes. It is obviously not working. Good quality hay will keep her busy, put weight on her and get her in decent condition. At the moment, she is in less than desirable condition.

Give her hay for breakfast, lunch with the supplements you give her and then hay again in the evening. With her lunch, add a pound or two of Senior Feed. Make sure she is clear of worms and is up to date on her shots. Have her teeth checked also. She should begin looking much better in a couple of weeks. This is pretty much how we feed our (often starving), rescue horses.

Lizzie
 
#14 ·
I look at this photo and along with seeing a seriously underfed horse I see a bunch of other stuff. One is the red device that looks to be some sort of cattle oiler. It and the wire attached to it are a horse trap waiting to happen. Pick up that loose wire before horse or cow gets tangled up in it and hurt. down by the barn there is a piece of machinery or wagon that does not belong where livestock can get hung up in it. There is also an old window frame there.. another foot trap for a horse.

This horse is not bad but she needs more groceries and looks very much like she is kept the same as her environment. Needs a general pick up and clean up and some attention to things such as worming and feed. She will either have issues from being poorly fed or have issues getting caught up in the junk in her environment.

If you love this horse and she is the best horse you ever had, then feed her better, worm her regularly, pick up and clean up her living space so it is safe and treat her like the best horse you ever had. I notice her feet are not in the photo. The rest of this image has me wondering about the condition of her feet as well.
 
#15 ·
If I had a close up picture of her you would see that she is gaining weight.What I will do they sell alfalfa hay at Tractor Supply and I will do what Tryst told me to do.I am going to buy her some carrots when I go out to town.The barn I have her at is not mine it is my friend's what I plan to do is clean the barn up until I can put her in a stable that is safe.I do need a more experienced horseman because evidently he trained his own horse and he bucks people off and it hurts.My horse is not getting trained by him.My horse needs to be at least 650 pounds or more and I am working on getting her bigger.She had worms when I first got her and I didn't know she had them until the veterinarian confirmed it .They are cured now thank goodness and her worming is up to date.She is not underfed I am not going to let that happen.When I am around she will always be taken care of properly.I want to be a good horse lady that is my goal when it comes to my horse and any horse I come into contact with.I will clean the barn up as soon as possible.I am taking this advice very seriously.Thank you for your feedback
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#16 ·
Good for you, considering everyone's criticism with a level head, PrincessBarbie.

Since you have a Tractor Supply, what about buying some Standlee Alfalfa Pellets or Timothy/grass pellets? They are hay, just processed into pellets that are sometimes more palatable to horses, and I've found them to be very good quality. Pour water into the bucket of pellets 30 minutes or so before feeding it to her so that it is mushy. Start slow, but bring her up to eating 6-7 lbs per day. If you are feeding her alfalfa hay, give her grass hay pellets. If you feed her grass hay, give her alfalfa pellets.

You might look into finding a local hay supplier also, instead of TSC for your hay. I've found that while they are very reasonable about most things, their hay can be pricey because they only sell Tidy Wrap bales (at least where I live, anyways.) If you can find a supplier, you can get quite a few square bales at a time. Offer your filly 10-15 lb of hay (half a bale) daily if you are feeding pellets too, or anywhere from 20-25 lbs without pellets, as well as her rice bran. When looking for good hay, check to see if the hay smells good, is soft in texture (no huge stalks/brittle pieces), and still leafy. Hay that has all of those qualities is generally at least decent.

Having constant hay around will help her out a LOT and she'll probably be looking great in a few months!
 
#18 ·
Senior feed is recommend for horses 5 and up, not youngsters. Timothy hay is a good grass hay to feed. Even if she is on grass there is a risk of founder when it's in it's active growth stage. Always offer her hay even when on pasture. Unless the vet advised feeding rice bran you might want to reduce it to half. If you go with pelleted hay, rather than dampen it scatter it over a wide an area as you can so she nibbles the pellets rather than bolt them down. An old wooden kitchen table with sides added is excellent.
 
#20 ·
Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.. but 10 lbs of hard feed a day?? so that's 5lbs each meal... if fed twice a day. plus the hay.

I feel that's a lot of food for a young horse. Especially when she's only at 3lbs, 1.5lbs per meal at the moment....
 
#21 ·
I have to increase her food intake if other members think she is underweight.I've been doing what I am supposed to.She turned 2 years old by the way today so she is officially a filly and I fed her some carrots and she loves them but not a whole lot of them while most horse don't like carrots at all and that's a good thing.Only 25-50% of the horse population love carrots because I seen a video of a member of this forum try to feed his horse a carrot and he would not eat it.She has great bloodline.Three of her ancestors were WGC.I have $50,000 invested in her that's a lot of money.Thanks again for the advice.
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#27 · (Edited)
As I explained in your other thread
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-jobs/looking-hire-professional-trainer-virginia-187714/
most horses like carrots, and again it has really nothing to do with anything. Please get some help for this horse. I am concerned that you are in way over your head, judging from some of your other threads....... for example, you have had the horse over a year and are just now getting grooming supplies?
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-grooming/what-grooming-supplies-should-i-get-184738/

Could you post a picture of her feet? I would love to see them......thanks.
 
#25 ·
Over graining a horse can lead to problems though. Going from 3lbs to 10lbs is a huge increase. Since this is a younger horse, and I really don't have much experience with young horses, would it be wise to give a horse THAT much grain at such a young age?
 
#26 ·
I just wanted to point out that 4-5 lbs of rice bran really scares me!

Some rice bran has added calcium, but not all rice bran does. If your rice bran does not supply extra calcium, you are going to end up with a really screwed up calcium to phosphorous ratio. Meaning a horse with weak bones because her body is being robbed of calcium.

I personally would cut wayyyy back on the rice bran. Maybe a pound or two max, and only then if it has added calcium. She is growing and you sure don't want her to have weakened bones. (Although calcium/phosphorous ratio is important in a horse of any age).

I know everyone out there hates alfalfa, but here in Arizona we feed LOTS of it and the horses are all fat and shiny. I personally would add some alfalfa pellets or hay to her diet. I think a 50/50 mix of alfalfa to grass hay is ideal.
 
#28 · (Edited)
I have brought horses in this condition up to par on timothy hay, grass and oats. I start the oats at 1 coffee cup once daily then on the fourth day feed it twice daily, gradually building up to approx. 2 lbs twice daily. Once the weight is on, the oats are backed off to a pound 2x daily. By feeding hay along with available grass the horses get a variety of nutrients. They seem to know what they need and will graze so long then head for the hay. They also get a cup of loose salt in a pan that is replenished as needed, plus a lick that's out of the weather. This feeding program has worked on various breeds that were badly underweight. I've never had a problem getting weight on a horse. Luck? Maybe but so far my program has worked well.
 
#30 ·
I have successfully used alfalfa cubes soaked in water (make like a mash from it) to add mass to my 2 year old - I did add 1/2 lb. rice bran to the morning and the night meal. It worked great.. The water is very important to keep them hydrated, I never feed dry cubes due to hazard of choking.
 
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