Yearling Nutrition?

What are the essential vitamins for a growing gelded Oldenburg yearling colt to receive?

Yearlings need about 12.5% protein and energy of 4.95 to 5.95 Mcal per 220 pounds a day, depending on the size you have guessed they will be as an adult. *From "The Horse Nutrition Handbook," credit goes to Melyni Worth. Yearlings should be lean, overweight yearlings often lead to health problems as adults. Don't feed a lot of sugary, starchy carbohydraty stuff like sweet feed, corn, molasses, etc.

Thank you!

An easy way to go about getting these nutrients is to find a proper grain. I found that purina foal growth works pretty well s I;ve said in other posts it's pretty standard, cheap, and safe. It's high in roughage so it can be fed as a supplement to grass but I don't know anyone in their right mind who would. I feed my filly ~2.5lbs of this stuff 1x/day in combination with a few pumps of bran oil and half scoop biotin... sometimes a little less never more than 2.5lbs which in combination with plain ol' grass has done her real well. She's the only horse at the barn I board who hasn't got cracked feet and her hair is always silky smooth and soft. She's also at a very good weight for her age which i've found can be difficult for the younger horses however it is by far better to have a slightly skinnier yearling than an overly plump one because of the risks involved with carrying excess weight on the overall development of the horse bone structure and future soundness especially...

Just what I do if you want to know maybe a practical and as I've said cheap (bag costs like 20$) way to maintain health of your horse...

I feed less than the bag says to for a horse of my size but your horse may be different

Essential nutrition for a yearling is pretty much the same as for an adult, except that they often benefit from slightly higher protein. I'd speak to a nutritionist if you want to get more specifics than you'd find in a book, and I'd be looking at the most current research, as a lot of nutritional info is recent & older books outdated.

FeedXL.com is a really good program for working out exactly what your horse needs & what feeds/supps available in your area will supply it. You might find some good articles on Dr Elanor Kellon's site too & you can be sure they're up to date.

Afraid I have to disagree with you Ashley, that grain & other starchy feed is generally not a great option for horses, and Purina feeds aren't the best quality. You don't say exactly which 'growth food' it is though. I've also found that you tend to get what you pay for, so a cheap feed is not usually that great. Eg. KER supps & feeds are generally quite expensive on outlay, but they're such low dose and are very well balanced, so you can feed very little, be assured you don't generally have to add anything & it comes out very economical per dose.

Also with regard to feeding tailor made feeds, *assuming* they do have well balanced nutrition anyway(also depends on what else is in their diet), you do need to feed the amount on the bag for them to get adequate levels, which is generally more than the horse needs in calories. It's also important, especially if you are going to feed grainy/starchy feeds that you feed it over a few small meals daily, rather than only once.