2 year old

[ILuvCowparsely]

! School holidays already?

<~~ Would love to be a kid again and go back in time so she could spend all the time with her father and mother again and re live my life.

 

[Casey76]

Right so your accusing Dr. Teresa Hollands, Internationally renowned Equine Nutritionist. To sell food huh?? Taring all nutrition's with the same brush? You have no proof about what your saying and when I spoke to her she did not force me to use or sell D&H food. That is just your unbiased opinion on this matter for what it's worth.

I would rather ask an Equine Nutrition who is more often than not qualified than just a random person on a public forum and would never ask anyone what to feed my horse, since they know nothing about it's breed, foibles, quirks, work load, work regime etc, and I would not disclose that here.. I have had very good advice in the past with my questions a diet for a particular horse and if they suggest nuts and chaff for example. They are not holding a gun to my head, so it is up to me if I buy their chaff or another brand or come up with my own diet.

Reread, then re-write in English. I don't think you meant to say what you said.

Nutritionists which are employed by feed companies are employed to give feed advice and to push their own brand. If you want an independent opinion, you need to go to an independent nutritionist.

 

[BeingKate]

Their job is to sell you as much feed as they possibly can, nothing else.

If the horse is overweight then I would be keeping it on a bare paddock and feeding it stemmy, soaked hay, perhaps with straw mixed in. Access to a mineralised salt block of course, but nothing else.

Overweight youngstock are prone to a myriad of developmental problems and later unsoundness and metabolic conditions. It is vital that you get the horse's weight under control as soon as possible.

Actually I completely disagree, as someone who worked as a careline nutritionist for a top feed company I only EVER recommended what was best.

For an overweight baby, a simple stud/youngstock balancer would do the trick. At 2 there is still a lot of development going on, I tend to feed the babies a youngstock feed until the age of 4 when most of the major changes have taken place and they need less support.

A balancer if you choose the right one won't cause weight gain but simply provide the vitamins and minerals in a concentrated form to ensure they have all their nutritional needs.

As yuo said, you'll get on top of the weight ASAP, as this can cause problems further down the line but it seems you're aware and on top of it. Good luck, the babies are such fun and so rewarding

 

[Leo Walker]

Reread, then re-write in English. I don't think you meant to say what you said.

Nutritionists which are employed by feed companies are employed to give feed advice and to push their own brand. If you want an independent opinion, you need to go to an independent nutritionist.

She did mean it, and when I proved her wrong she just ignored me, but she did at least have the good grace to go back and edit out the rant where she called me a liar and was extremely unpleasant

 

[MotherOfChickens]

the pony is an overweight native-evolved to get lots out of nothing. I'd be giving a mineral salt lick and some decent (but not mad hay-get it analysed) hay and restricting grass-end of.

 

[Cortez]

Oh Vet school - so you are a vet then?

Why is this thread taking such a nasty (and quite silly) tone? Not that it's likely to interest anyone, but just so that you can rest easy: actually I have 2 years of vet school, but not at Ft Collins. I dropped out due to a family bereavement and never returned to college. I didn't say I attended Ft Collins, I facilitated the practical trials of a study on mineral take up and ration formulation at my stud farm in co-operation with the faculty (the head of the department was taking lessons from me at the time...riding lessons just in case there is any ambiguity). Anything else you'd like to know?

 

[Ellietotz]

Why is this thread taking such a nasty (and quite silly) tone?

This

 

[Queenbee]

Personally, I would go for a good vit and min supplement added to a handful of feed such as fast fibre, a salt lick and nothing else other than grass and hay on a managed basis for slow and steady weight loss.

I agree with the sane and sensible on here - keep it simple and don't be pumping an already overweight horse full of additional and entirely unnecessary calories. As a two year old, his nutritional requirements are not much more than they would be as a mature horse, certainly feeding something like suregrow for another two years sounds a) bonkers b)a waste of money c) an invitation for more harm than good being done to the horse. Clearly it needs less not more going into it

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Reread, then re-write in English. I don't think you meant to say what you said.

Nutritionists which are employed by feed companies are employed to give feed advice and to push their own brand. If you want an independent opinion, you need to go to an independent nutritionist.

Well that is the buyer's choice isn't it, I call nutrition's who I trust and have given good advice before which worked for the individual horse, whether they try to push their product or not which I have to say D&H did say I could use (different make) which is similar so they gave me the choice.

I will call certain companies for advice and don't call others.

My choice where I livery at they mainly use D&H brand, they are helpful and give good advise and that is all that matters.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Our two year old is just eating grass.....he seems fine, currently 15:2 at the withers and 15:3/16 at the bum &#128584;&#128586;&#128583;

 

[laura_nash]

I would rather ask an Equine Nutrition who is more often than not qualified than just a random person on a public forum

Not much point having a forum then? Everyone should just go ask a qualified, insured expert their questions since they are the only ones who have opinions and knowledge worth having.

Personally I don't ever consult nutritionists employed by feed companies, just like I don't consult financial/mortgage advisors employed by banks. Obviously there will be some people out there who do genuinely want to do their best for the customer but I guess I am just a cynic.

Personally I wouldn't be feeding the OP's horse anything other than grass/hay at this point. I don't believe anything missing from the diet will become a problem that quickly, plenty of time to sort out the diet longer term once some of the weight has come off.

 

[tankgirl1]

Why is this thread taking such a nasty (and quite silly) tone? Not that it's likely to interest anyone, but just so that you can rest easy: actually I have 2 years of vet school, but not at Ft Collins. I dropped out due to a family bereavement and never returned to college. I didn't say I attended Ft Collins, I facilitated the practical trials of a study on mineral take up and ration formulation at my stud farm in co-operation with the faculty (the head of the department was taking lessons from me at the time...riding lessons just in case there is any ambiguity). Anything else you'd like to know?

Just asking that's all, I have veterinary training too as a qualified SA vet nurse, it was the way you brought it up. Sorry to hear of your bereavement, and I don't doubt that you know more about horsemanship than I ever will, but I do get peeved when people say they have studied veterinary medicine whilst ommiting the fact that they never qualified

 

[Cortez]

Just asking that's all, I have veterinary training too as a qualified SA vet nurse, it was the way you brought it up. Sorry to hear of your bereavement, and I don't doubt that you know more about horsemanship than I ever will, but I do get peeved when people say they have studied veterinary medicine whilst ommiting the fact that they never qualified

In the post that you quoted I did not in fact say that I had either studied, or was qualified in, veterinary medicine. I said that I had facilitated a trial in conjunction with Ft Collins. I get peeved when people do not read the posts they are taking issue with; I also get peeved when they respond like brats.

 

[windand rain]

I am sorry this has degenerated into a slanging match to be honest I only posted it as this is the first grossly fat youngster I have owned mostly I buy them as weanlings and they never get this fat.
I appreciate all the help posted I now have her on the track with the other two they are getting along ok but still pushing her to move away so she is moving about more now. I cant get her to eat anything yet so she is on grass with a few equibites thrown around which she is getting used to now. She offered a tiny feed of soaked grass/fibre nuts in preparation for providing specialised mineral supplements but until she eats them and not the bucket I will be leaving things as they are.
Thanks again for the advice I have listened and taken on board what everyone has said. I do agree with Cortez in that most feed lines plug their own stuff having contacted a few so will stick to common sense approach and keep her moving around looking for food

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Sounds like a sensible approach and I would add I don't always feed mine anything at all (no not even a balancer) aside from hay/grass and none have developed any deficiencies that I know of, all have excellent hoof and skin quality too. Movement and forage should be all she needs really, good luck with her .

 

[maggie62]

Windand rain...........you should be ashamed of yourself for creating such a storm !!........lol. Lets all be friends......or if not riding whips at dawn it is. Before anyone asks I am not qualified to say anything......although was a qualified nurse for 38yrs.....it doesn't count here. All forums horsey or not have the same problems.........different opinions etc. A forum is a platform to share......not to disrespect anyone's opinion or upset people.

Your very humble,daring to say anything servant

 

[catembi]

I am not a nutritionist, I have not been to vet school and I can barely feed myself properly, but just to respond anecdotally, my 2 year old Shetland is doing fine on poor grass with a tiny handful of Thunderbrooks chaff and about 6 to 8 hay cobs twice a day as a carrier for Thunderbrooks daily essentials. With grazing muzzle applied as appropriate.

Although if you asked her, she would tell you that she is not doing fine at all. She is in fact starving, and I'm a mean old bag for not feeding her the same as the ex-racer.