Feeding the yearling???

[domane]

Right... I have my new little lad and according to his previous owner he is "just about one"... I asked what they feed him and they replied "hay".

Is that all? Is that OK? I wondered if he should have something else, being young, but I have read about the dangers of over-feeding foals and youngstock so I don't want to bombard his little system with too many vitamins, minerals and supplements.... he's just a little cobby-type...

Help!!!! :confused: :)

ETA: It sounds like he was weaned around 6m.

[Libbyo]

at rising 3 questys still on hay with a handfull of chaff and veg to keep him quiet when the others are fed. hes filling out nicely too.

[Skye94]

Hi.. ill let u in on a secret - well its not but its no very well known. Winergy
Equilibrium (not equilibrA) has a feed called Winergy Equilibrium Growth (WEG),
its an oil and fibre based feed, its like chaff and lil pellets all in one.. its absoloutly amazin and u can feed it till there like 4! It has all the right vitamins and mineral and plenty o calcium to help the youngster grow.
I trust it 100% completely.. i love it!
Leah :D

[Lgd]

Another vote for the Equilibrium Growth. My 10mth old filly is on that and developing nicely. Give Winergy a ring and they will be able to advise you on what he should be getting.

[puzzles]

hay is not nearly enough for a yearling - not even a native.

for Thoroughbred-types a high-energy balanced stud feed is needed to provide all.
however as your little one is a cob-type i suspect he has spme natiev in him, and considering that these types are designed to live on sparse marshland and a relatively poor food supply, start feeding your little one a feed like the above and you'll have a severe problem on your hands; growing too fast, obesity, permenantly damaged limds from the strain of it, and the threat of laminitis and a higher risk of other dietry-related ilnesses.

therefore your little one needs a stud feed that will provide him with the protein and calcium (in particular) he needs, as well as essential vitamins and minerals, without the calories and added richness.

a stud balancer will provide all of this, fed alongside good quality, ad-lib forage (preferably hay for your youngster as it ismore fibrous yet lower in energy).

some of the best examples of these stud balancers include Dodson and Horrel Suregrow, Baileys Stud Balancer and Blue Chip Original.

the Winergy feed may well be superb, but i doubt it suits your horse considering its too-high energy content.

good luck!

Emily

[Skye94]

the Winergy feed may well be superb, but i doubt it suits your horse considering its too-high energy content.



Emily in response to this, being a product advisor for spillers and winergy, i think your comment about the energy is wrong. also the comment earlier about the risks of feeding him the winergy. it is specially formulated to ensure that the young horse does not grow grow quickly causeing DOD and what not. it has very little to cause laminitis and has got the perfect balance of fibre, protein and calcium! This feed has been thoroughly tested and many many people would swear by it unlike the suregrow which has been known to cause spurts of growth, you would not use blue chip orig to a youngster, if you wanted to go down buyin a balancer and a chaff then bluechip youngstock and alfa-a is the best way to go. but for young horses i prefer a complete feed as its less likely to mess up there digestive tract.
Leah

[Jessey]

To really throw a cat amongst the pigoens ;) I personally prefer to feed even youngsters on a high fibre diet avoiding compound feeds where possible, I much prefer to feed either HiFi or Alfa with some grass nuts/speedybeet and add an all round vitamin and mineral supplement.

Though this isn't suited to all horses, my anglo arab was a prime example but I found Equillibra to produce excellant feeds which supplemented his diet enough that he would hold weight without any added fizz :D

Jess was on the fibre only option as she was a well developed girl anyway (quarter horses do develop quickly) this is her at 18 months
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y291/Jessey129/40725b38.jpg
and her rising 4 years old (a few weeks ago)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y291/Jessey129/Jess.jpg
She has done fantastically on this approach, when she was with a trainer for 3 months and was changed onto their specially formulated mix (they are breeders and trainer to high levels and had the mix specially made up) Jess acctually lost alot of weight and even began loosing muscle, when put back ont he fibre feeds even the trainer was impressed at how well she looked :p

[puzzles]

Emily in response to this, being a product advisor for spillers and winergy, i think your comment about the energy is wrong. also the comment earlier about the risks of feeding him the winergy. it is specially formulated to ensure that the young horse does not grow grow quickly causeing DOD and what not. it has very little to cause laminitis and has got the perfect balance of fibre, protein and calcium! This feed has been thoroughly tested and many many people would swear by it unlike the suregrow which has been known to cause spurts of growth, you would not use blue chip orig to a youngster, if you wanted to go down buyin a balancer and a chaff then bluechip youngstock and alfa-a is the best way to go. but for young horses i prefer a complete feed as its less likely to mess up there digestive tract.
Leah

thanks for correcting me :)

personally - though this might sound hippocritical - i would be reluctant to use Blue Chip for a very young youngster as it is not specifically formulated for youngsters, however it has been openly recommended by others advisors for those as young as 3 weeks.
as for the Suregrow - each for their own, i suppose. every feed has its benefits and, unless rigourously clinically proven, i'm unwilling to condem a feed though it;'s interesting what you say about the DOD growth spurts, particuarly as the Suregrow is designed with good doers and native-types in mind, making this all the more unlikely.

also ditto jessey.

Emily
x

[emlybob]

Interesting thread as this is something i have been discussing with people a lot recently. Most folk i have spoken to have advised sure grow as it has all the micronutrients in it to ensure a young horse gets everything it needs without the calories.

[eventerbabe]

kestral came to me on spillers youngstock cubes, barley, conditioning cubes, happy hoof and sugar beet. almost had a heart attack as he's a good doing native :eek: i absolutely agree with jessey about fibre based diets. I took advice from dengie and cut him back to hi-fi lite and speedi-beet with a good allround vitamin supplement, and limestone flour for his developing bones. If you don't want a separate supplement, try dengie compliment. It's an all in one type feed suitable for youngsters and can easily be mixed in with something like hi-fi :)

[puzzles]

ditto, natives really thrive on good quality minerals and vitamins with forage, alone.

[Esther.D]

My youngsters have always been raised on good varied grazing and ad-lib hay over the winter, nothing else. These have all been native ponies.

[Skye94]

My fat highland is on HI-Fi Lite and Lo-Cal and a genral supplement, garlic and D-Itch. She is not a healthy Highland as her insides are all messed up so i have to be careful what to feed her. But she gets ad-lib hay which is nessessety(sp) :D I guess its each to their own really..
Please look at my pics of skye in my new post on Training of the horse "strong and moody highland"

[puzzles]

Skye - is the vitamin and mineral supplements plus the balancer really necessary?
too much is unhealthy.

- not to sound accusing! :-)

x

[**jet**]

All of my youngsters are fed on ad lib haylage and Frickers formula all doing well growing nicley

[Skye94]

She is on the balancer as a feed because im weaning her off o it, all the vits-
*general supplement - just a general one
*Pure Garlic cause she has COPD
*d-itch so she dont rub out all her mane and tail again :D
but i need to keep her tip top as she could probably fall down and pop her clogs any time is her system dont work :S

[Shadowlark]

Mixed forage grazing and Hay.. Fiber raises healthy fit babies :)

[puzzles]

:-)
x

[colettybetty]

My gets what vet advised, Grass and hay and a general vit supplement in a handful of chaff.Far more worried by encouraging fast growth than by underfeeding.Feed companies will always make these complicated products, but I think, grass,hay and fresh air is the most complicated it needs to be.

[horse_lady43]

hi ihave a 11month old welsh sec d colt who was a bit under weight when i got him at 9months,so i feed him stud mix,speedybeet and chaff,garlic and seaweed,on my vets advice,and he has ad lib hay,he is doin ok on it and putting on weight slowly,i will only leave him on stud mix till the end of the year,then will just have hi fibre cubes the same as my other two with chaff,youngsters need the protein and calcium to help them grow,just watch how much you give them,they only need small amounts,little and often,

[Jessey]

youngsters need the protein and calcium to help them grow
Totally agree :p I give alfalfa for just this reason :D pleanty of both but still not allt he starch etc thats in mixes :D

[clarejones]

I breed connemaras and all my youngsters are fed on good quality hay and sometimes i put a dengie mineral lick in the field and give them some alfa a all native ponies need is fibre they are bred to live off fresh air and it really annoys me when i hear of people feeding these ponies up later on in life they will suffer from all sorts of problems. Ours live out 24hrs a day in acres of pasture where they can grow and mature into strong healthy ponies, we even show them off the field! The only time i feed mine is when my broodmares are in the last 3 months of pregnancy and my stallion when it's the covering season.

[Skyhuntress]

hay is not nearly enough for a yearling - not even a native.



actually puzzles ,that's not true. It really depends on the quality of your hay. It's easy enough to get an analysis of your hay done to find out what nutrients are included. I know that for the first couple of years, Arion and Costa were both only on hay...it wasn't even ad lib, they'd get about 6 flakes a day, but the hay was so rich in nutrients, they didn't need anything else and maintained a beautiful weight and coat.

That hay supplier went out of business about a year ago, and I got some more hay, but lesser quality, so I included Nutrena Safe Choice in their diet.

I would recommend putting out a mineral block that includes salt. Normally that's all they need

[puzzles]

v. true, what i said (or meant rather) was that hay alone does not provide a balanced diet with all the essential vitamins and minerals the horses need: in the form of a block, vitamin and mineral supplement or feed balancer.
:-)