My yearling Mini, Koda

Just want to share a current picture of my lil guy, Koda, since the last time I did was when he was a 6 month old last November. When his super fluffy all-white winter coat shed out this year, I was pleased to see for the first time his pretty little pintaloosa coat (only about 10 spots total really). Not sure what's up with the huge belly, I have him on a regular deworming schedule, so I thought his belly would be less huge by now - perhaps he has a "hay belly"? I just toss a bale in there and let him have all he wants since the grazing is minimal in his paddock.

He is adorable. But a little tubby. I love his markings. : ) Maybe cut the hay back a little.

Adorable lil boy!

The tubby thing made me laugh :) I like to give him free choice hay but maybe I should limit it a little more... I'm moving him to a boarding stable in 2-3 weeks and it's full care so I guess he won't get as much as he wants anymore there (only had horses at home before, this will be my first experience with boarding).

OMG if I gave my boys (2 minis) that much hay they would blow up like balloons mine get a 1/2 cup of grain and they share 1 flake twice daily and they are looking awesome this year! I gave up on the wooly bear coats and clipped! That was fun!

Your guy is sooo cute. I always want to get more minis, they are so little that surely one more wouldn't hurt

Hehe, I have a yearling mini colt too. I usually let him loose in the yard to eat grass, but he apperently likes the dry boring grass hay better and I always find him in the hay shed, "bloating" his belly on hay...hahaha. So he doesn't get loose anymore :b

Big bloated bellies are usually a clue that your mini is not getting enough protein. He's filling up on hay but its not meeting his nutritional needs. Young minis need a good pelleted jr feed. We are really happy with the new Purina Mini & Pony Feed.

Aww he is so adorable but yes a little tubby but...a very cute tubby little boy

When I first got Koda, I fed him 12% sweet feed. After reading on here about how bad sweet feed really is, I switched him over to Nutrena SafeChoice pelleted feed, which has a 14% protein content. Now that he'll be boarded in 2-3 weeks, I bought 10% sweet feed to switch him over to because that is what the boarding stable's website states that they use, so I wanted him transitioned to that feed ahead of time off his pellets. I didn't want to switch back to sweet feed, and I think 10% is too low for a yearling. I've never boarded before or even really been around other horse owners, so could I talk to the owner about him getting something other than the sweet feed (like the Purina Mini and Pony Feed)? It's a full board facility so I'm not sure how flexible those types of things usually are. Guess I'll give it a shot anyway. Thanks everyone. :)

Oh and I forgot to add, so the general consensus seems to be: more protein, less hay? Correct?