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Feeding a skinny yearling and young working horses?

2K views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  Smilie 
#1 ·
I recently got a big thoroughbred baby who came from a questionable place. He is slowly putting weight on with just free fed hay right now but I'm wanting to start him on special feed to give him a bit more help. I also have a coming 3 year old (paint) who I will be starting this spring and a coming 5 year old (Arabian) who I will also be starting this spring (his line grows slow and he was very late to mature, that's why I'm starting him so late) but any suggestions on what I could be giving them going into a work schedule would be very much appreciated!

I've attached a photo from the day he arrived and then a photo from about a month ago. The pictures are probably about a month apart. Now, before anyone gives me hell for having a halter on him , he was UNHANDLED when I got him. Never seen a human, he was born in a field and never touched or even looked at for the first year of his life. Was run onto a trailer (Not my doing) and since then has had very minimal handling. I had a halter on him for the first month as we had lots of vet visits, farrier visits etc in the first bit after his arrival and I couldn't spend an hour trying to catch him every single time. He does not have a halter on him anymore.
 

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#2 ·
Now, before anyone gives me hell for having a halter on him...
Don't know why they would. I will just say though, that halter looks a bit tight maybe, like it would rub. Definitely use easily broken halters, esp on foals, if you're going to leave them on unsupervised.

Re feed, if they're putting weight on/looking fine on hay, no reason to give them extra calories. But nutritionally, if that's all they're getting, likely lacking/imbalanced, and would benefit from a good *appropriate for their diet* 'ration balancer' or such, to 'fill the gaps'. Esp important for young, growing bodies. If you're only starting your other horses, they won't be in any kind of heavy work for a while(esp the 3yo), so they shouldn't need any more than that either. If/when they start into heavy work &/or lose weight, then you can give them more. Low starch/sugar options are generally best, rather than grainy/sweetened food.
 
#3 ·
I'd have to agree with what loosie said. Pretty much covered the bases there ;) Only thing I might add, while on the subject of nutrition, would be that if they don't already have access to a mineral additive (free choice is best) maybe buy one made for your area. What I mean by "for your area": I'm in the USA in the pacific NW. My area, and to some degree the other places along the west coast, can be pretty high in iron and low in selenium (the soil, the food, everything), so my gelding gets a large mineral block I buy from my local supply store that is tailored to those levels. It's made in streaks up and down. The streaks are varying widths and colors. Each is a different type of mineral. He goes at certain ones more than others, particularly the darker ones. I've yet to look up the company and see their philosophy or anything, but I think he's tailoring his diet to get exactly the right kind of supplementation and put the ratios into balance... Amazing how smart they can be :D
 
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#5 ·
Babies need at least a ration balancer to balance the vitamin mineral balance of just a hay ration. Protein and Ca/ph balance is SO important in a growing baby and over or underfeeding can set you up for some nasty things.

But a skinny baby will not be able to do well on just hay, nor should he be expected to. I prefer triple growth growth as a growth grain. There are many ration balancers available, but it really depends on you area on availability.
 
#7 ·
I agree with @Dehda01 about adding a complete feed and vitamin/mineral supplement to make sure a baby gets enough protein and other nutrients while growing.

It is fine to leave a halter on a horse as long as it is not a plain nylon or rope halter. Those are very hard to break and horses have been killed when they get stuck on a post or got a hoof caught in the halter. It's also sad to see horses that have been in accidents with halters and have permanent scarring or deformed bones on their nose, which alters their appearance for life.

Good options are halters with a breakaway strap or leather halters, which break in case of emergency. Of course a halter on a growing animal needs to be checked regularly to make sure it is not too tight.
 
#8 ·
Young growing horses need a hay that is higher,nutritionally, then mature horses, so that is the place I would start. They do not have the digestive capacity to process a large volume of hay, in order to get the needed protein and energy
I always fed young horses a mixed alfalfa hay, that was around 14% protein
Forage should be free choice. Also, free choice minerals and salt. If the forage does not meet their needs alone, then you add a concentrated source
What hay are you feeding? Do you know the protein level ?
 
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