Feeding a weanling

I have a 7 month old aqha filly, the breeder fed her 12% sweet feed and we are currently feeding her straight pellet. I was wondering if I should switch her to a mare and foal feed? She is N/H so I was a little concerned about if a mare and foal feed would be a good idea for her, however she did fine on the sweet feed. Would she be fine on a pelleted grain? How important is feeding a weanling mare and foal?

I definitely would NOT be feeding her sweet feed. I know very little about HYPP horses but I would think that a forage based diet would be best, with little sugar and lots of protein. Alfalfa/grass hay mixes would be great as the biggest part of her diet, and a ration balancer or something like Enrich 32 if she needs it.

Yes she is no longer on a sweet feed, we feed our horses just a straight pellet grain and a grass/alfalfa mixture hay. I wasn't sure if a mare and foal feed was similar to a sweet feed or not, which is why I wasnt sure if it would be ok for her. I've heard several people feed there N/H horses rolled oats, then again her breeder fed her sire (whom is N/H) sweet feed his entire life without any complications :/.

Why on earth would a breeder intentionally breed a N/H stallion? :/

I would stay as far away from any sweet feeds as you possibly can - I would advise the same whether she's N/H or N/N. You have a foal, so you can begin her life now with a clean slate, per say. A horse's main diet is grass/hay, and it's we humans who have complicated their lives with all kinds of other feeds that often can cause more harm than good. Keep her "sweet free" for starters, and stick to the most natural diet possible -free-choice hay/grass/salt licks (definately!) and good fresh water. Soaked alfalfa/timothy cubes are a nice, natural supplement as well. She's lovely, by the way! Best of luck :)

You really need to educate yourself about the proper way to feed a HYPP positive horse. You must maintain a strict diet if she's to have any hope of a somewhat normal life. You need to have any hay you buy tested to make sure it's very low in Potassium. That means no alfalfa...ever. Also, no molasses of either sugar or beet base (which is what's in sweet feeds).

Horse HYPP

There is a link with some of the basics, but you need to start reading all the current information you can find. Unfortunately, you're in for a long, difficult, and expensive road with owning a N/H horse .

Im not looking for any negativity on the fact that this filly is N/H, I've done a lot of research on the disease. A lot of very nice show horses in the industry are N/H horses, many N/H horses live a long, healthy life. Im very aware of the negativity towards N/H horses, and im not interested in hearing about it. This is strictly about if a mare and foal feed is benefical for a weanling, whom happens to be a carrier of HYPP. Statisitcally speaking, a large majority of N/H horses live a life without any life threatening or dangerous attacks or muscle spasms. Thank you for the information.

I don't think anyone is being negative about your filly being N/H. What's done is done and all you can do is take care of her to the best of your abilities, as it seems you are trying to do. It isn't a wise choice in my book to knowingly breed N/H horses but no one said your filly would never amount to anything. Just that the stallion owner is a dunce.
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That doesn't make it okay to breed them and perpetuate the disease for another generation. But I suppose when the almighty dollar reigns supreme....



Anyway, since you're such an expert, I'll just leave you to it.

1) If you've done so much research, and as Smrobs points out, are such an expert, why are you asking questions on the forum?

2) No one was attacking you.

3) It's kind of ignorant to defend a practice that perpetuates genetic infirmity in a breed of animal, just because "a majority" of the horses live a long life without dangerous attack. What about the poor bastards who do suffer because that breeder decides to keep breeding Hypp?

Supply and Demand, people. As long as someone out there will buy those "nice" horses, Hypp continues, as breeders can still sniff out a profit.