2 year old

windand rain

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Does a two year old who is overweight and going on a track system when she arrives need any additional vitamins and minerals or will she be ok just on the short grass of the track. Never allowed one of mine to get this fat but It wont stay that big long
 

KittenInTheTree

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I would feed salt, and a handful of plain, unmolassed oat straw chaff to carry it. I would use water to dampen the chaff a little if need be - mine both preferred their food to be sloppy at that age. Apparently Honeychop Original has just salt and limestone flour added, but I've never fed it so can't be sure about whether it would suit.
 

Nudibranch

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Suregrow is quite concentrated so you don't feed large amounts. Its not fed for weight gain, just for vitamins and minerals.*From memory it's less than a scoop you feed. This is pure speculation but I'd add a bit of mag ox too just to cover any future metabolic issues.
 

sport horse

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I would ring the nutrionist at a top feed firm and ask their advice - that is their job and it is a free service.
 

Cortez

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I would ring the nutrionist at a top feed firm and ask their advice - that is their job and it is a free service.

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.
 
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ILuvCowparsely

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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.

Rubbish! In my experience of calling they have been most helpful and do not shove horse feed down my throat (If you pardon the pun)

It isn't and to say that without concrete evidence is silly IMO.

Also it is circumstantial and untrue.
 

Wagtail

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I always feed a chaff based feed such as pure feeds easy which contains a balancer. You can get Pure feeds fibre balance which is even lower calorie. Even the fattest horse needs vitamins and minerals. UK grass is not diverse enough a feedstuff IMO. I got 150kg off my old mare whilst still feeding her Pure Feeds Easy once a day and soaked hay.
 

sport horse

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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.

I wonder what qualifications you have to give advice and even more importantly what insurance you have to cover you should that advice be incorrect.
 

JJS

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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.

This.
 

Cortez

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I wonder what qualifications you have to give advice and even more importantly what insurance you have to cover you should that advice be incorrect.

50+ years of running a stud farm, feeding 100's of horses, practical trials in partnership with nutritional studies programme at the University of Colorado (Ft Collins) veterinary school, and success in many areas of horse husbandry and competition, will that do? Wasn't aware that people needed insurance to comment on an internet forum; does everybody need that?
 

sport horse

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50+ years of running a stud farm, feeding 100's of horses, practical trials in partnership with nutritional studies programme at the University of Colorado (Ft Collins) veterinary school, and success in many areas of horse husbandry and competition, will that do? Wasn't aware that people needed insurance to comment on an internet forum; does everybody need that?

If you give technical advice that turns out to be incorrect you run the risk of being sued. Not wise.
I too have much the same qualifications as yourself, and although a little sceptical about some of the advice from feed company nutritionists I can honestly say that never has one tried to force large quantities of their own brands at me. I even have had one, not only employed by a large commercial company, but also used by World Class programme, admit publicly that they could not do any better job than I was already doing by just feeding straights.
 

be positive

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I wonder what qualifications you have to give advice and even more importantly what insurance you have to cover you should that advice be incorrect.

What qualifies anyone one here to give advice on any subject, this is a forum full of varying opinions based on experience no one has to take the advice given freely and comments such as this will put even more people off posting.

Cortez is very experienced and her advice is often spot on, in this case and having seen the photo I would not be feeding this pony anything other than a minimal amount, it is obese at risk of laminitis, being a native that has probably just about finished growing it should need no more than what it can get from grazing and soaked hay once the grass has gone down and the weight has started to come off, my natives get no feed or supplements unless they really need it, they are best on poor grazing and nothing else unless they are working hard.
 

DabDab

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I wonder what qualifications you have to give advice and even more importantly what insurance you have to cover you should that advice be incorrect.

Goodness gracious. I have never asked a feed company for advice on what to feed, but I can tell just from the advice some posters have been given on here that at least a proportion of the time they give advice to feed one of their own foodstuffs and it's not in the best interests of the horse. I don't believe they are required to have any qualifications or insurance to offer this 'service' either.

Cortez is quite clearly a very experienced and competent horsewoman, and while I have absolutely no experience of feeding natives or overweight horses, I can't see anything remotely off the mark that she's suggested on this thread
 

KittenInTheTree

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Well in my personal and entirely unqualified opinion that no one should base their decisions on ever, I personally feel (again, still only in my personal and unqualified opinion) that the tone of certain posts might possibly seem a tad unacceptable to some potential audiences at some point somewhere out there, maybe, and I am therefore personally upset by having possibly read them. Or at least I think that I feel that I might be. I mean I'm not qualified or insured to have opinions. It's possible that I might be doing it all incorrectly! Is anyone on here qualified and insured to perhaps advise me on what I possibly should do?
 

Cecile

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I would just go slow and gradual with your new one (who is lovely by the way)

I always tread lightly with weight loss in new ones, as long as they loose some weight weekly I am happy as I have seen people trying to get a quick fix and Hyperlipidemia is not to be taken lightly

Looking forward to seeing some before and after photo's, she will be stunning
 

canteron

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For what it's worth I feed my 1yo chaff with Thunderbrook Daily Essentials (an almost no calorie balancer).

A few years ago I had my grass analysed and know that it is a bit lacking.

Talk to a nutritionalist at one of the feed companies - sometimes they give you brilliant knowledge and you really gain lots from a conversation. But use your common sense as well to see what you think.Also check what protein/oil levels anything you feed them has.

Just remember it's one of those things, if you ask 10 people for advice, you will get at least 12 opinions, so in the end, just be picky where you go for advice!!!!
 

ILuvCowparsely

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Its not. They are there to sell horse feed. Spillers helpline is, or certainly was 2 yrs ago, staffed by unqualified and sometimes not even horsey office staff.

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.
 
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ILuvCowparsely

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I would ring the nutrionist at a top feed firm and ask their advice - that is their job and it is a free service.

Yes ask a qualified Nutrition, there are some out there who are not linked to a feed company, or ask a feed company especially if you use their brands anyway. Try phoning a few of them and then make your decision, you will get a better result on a helpline like D&H.
 

Leo Walker

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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 clearly specified Spillers and I will repeat it again as you clearly didnt read what I wrote:

"They are there to sell horse feed. Spillers helpline is, or certainly was 2 yrs ago, staffed by unqualified and sometimes not even horsey office staff."

What proof would you like? A sworn statement? A copy of the job description?

Edited to add a copy of the job description clearly specifying that administrative staff are expected to man the feed helpline:

https://www.equine-careers.co.uk/vacancy/sales-and-marketing-administrator-392/
 
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windand rain

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At the moment she has no idea what feed is so is having a tiny amount of soaked fibre nuts with equibites, She is on the track system with the other two now so should keep moving to find any available grass. I will add soaked hay if they dont poo enough but in the mean time she weighs in at 285kgs down about 5 kgs on her arrival weight on the weight tape would like her down to 250 and her neck down a lot she has a bigger neck than the laminitic dartmoor and I keep a check on his neck as as soon as it goes above 90 cm he is at risk. It is down to 81 cm from 95 after starting him on the track system this spring. That is the measurement at the center of his neck.
 

tankgirl1

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50+ years of running a stud farm, feeding 100's of horses, practical trials in partnership with nutritional studies programme at the University of Colorado (Ft Collins) veterinary school, and success in many areas of horse husbandry and competition, will that do? Wasn't aware that people needed insurance to comment on an internet forum; does everybody need that?

Oh Vet school - so you are a vet then?
 

FinnishLapphund

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Well in my personal and entirely unqualified opinion that no one should base their decisions on ever, I personally feel (again, still only in my personal and unqualified opinion) that the tone of certain posts might possibly seem a tad unacceptable to some potential audiences at some point somewhere out there, maybe, and I am therefore personally upset by having possibly read them. Or at least I think that I feel that I might be. I mean I'm not qualified or insured to have opinions. It's possible that I might be doing it all incorrectly! Is anyone on here qualified and insured to perhaps advise me on what I possibly should do?

My judges says that this reply gets the following score:


89644cc4-07c3-48e2-a09b-0961f224270c.jpg




Oops, sorry, wrong judges, here is the score:


your-first-step-blog-4.jpg
 

Dry Rot

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Thanks, people, for reminding me why I hardly ever post on this forum these days! School holidays already?

I am guessing the 2yo is a Highland. So, starting from scratch, I'd get a soil analysis done to identify any trace element deficiencies. Knowing the OP is a regular, she has already done that!

If it was one of mine, a track system would be ideal. Apart from that, it would get grass and maybe poor quality (nutritionally, not musty or dusty) hay, plus a cattle mineral block. (Mine get Red Rockies as my soil is deficient in copper and cobalt). I like my young Highlands to be a bit ribby.

Highland ponies should never be fed anything out of a bag with writing on the side, let alone pretty pictures. I agree totally with Cortez. So far, so good. Haven't had a single case of sickness or illness here with my (12) Highlands all kept on hay/grass with that mineral block for the last 10 years. I am also ex-vet college, which breeds a healthy scepticism if nothing else. Vets and feed merchants are in business to make a profit.
 

JanetGeorge

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My 2yos are on lousy grass (over-stocked). They have ad-lib haylage and a mineral block. Tests have shown we have a cobalt deficiency - which was a big problem with lambs until we discovered it and treated the water - but horses rarely suffer a cobalt deficiency as ruminants do - and what is in a mineral block is plenty. They're all quite fat!
 

Damnation

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I wonder what qualifications you have to give advice and even more importantly what insurance you have to cover you should that advice be incorrect.

In which case I think we should all stop commenting for fear of being sued and H&H should shut the forum down...

On a more serious note, yes, I'd feed a youngstock balancer. The 2 year old my mare is nannying is on Suregrow twice a day and it barely covers the bottom of a small bucket. She is a cob type and prone to weight gain and hasn't gained actual weight since being on it.

*Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist please don't sue me*
 
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