Fat yearling

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Angelz

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Feeling pretty rubbish, when I got my yearling in July he was drastically underweight, I had him 24/7 turnout at the farm on good grass and just fed a local balancer (same as my 7 year old) Within 7 weeks he looked fab!! I moved them to a yard and put them onto an ungrazed field, still out 24/7. They have been in over night for a month now and the yearling has ballooned in weight! :-( Im gutted, he has about 5kg hay for overnight plus local balancer and FF, I just dont know what I can safely reduce to bring his weight down, hes 18 months tomorrow, the grass is just about dying off he now and temps are finally forcast to drop, Im really hoping this is enough to get the weight off him, any suggestions on what I can do if not?

Plus my 7 year old has become very footy the past 2 weeks, hes never been shod and never been footy.......could my hay be too good? I just dont know:(
 
I could do and I could soak the hay, what consequences would there be if I dropped the balancer for a while, I feel that because hes young he needs the vits n minerals but I also feel the excess weight hes carrying is maybe worse for him than not getting the vits for a while?? what do the experts think?? which is worse no vits or excess weight?
 
Agree with the other two replace with some straw and soak hay, your other horse could be footy due to the rich grass I would act now as it could be the start of low grade laminitis, my mare gets very overweight from rich grass and can look cresty so I have had her on magnesium oxcide and it has definately helped with the fat pads and she looks heaps better.
 
Well I'd start off with a small amount of straw, building it up gradually so that you are feeding half hay, half straw.

Make sure you're feeding good quality straw though.

The other option is to feed half hay, half Hi Fi Lite.....
 
Just had a thought.....hes on a straw bed, if he was eating the bed when he had finished his hay would that make him ballon?? :eek:
 
The grass is still good, too good in many cases. All this wet is making it very rich for the time of year.

Restrict their grazing and soak their hay. Triple net the hay and if the balancer comes in nugget form then put it in a snack ball to make it last longer - thus them eating less hay.
 
I feel your pain.

Was in exactly the same position as you a couple of weeks ago with even my foals looking fat. I have no choice but to feed awesome haylage and that really doesn't help. However, my (equine) vet who breeds horses was out to tet/flu my foals and to do a precastration check and he said that he would be delighted if his broodies and foals looked as well as mine - all very confusing.

We've had snow on the ground for a couple of days now (lots) but horses are still digging to get at grass despite said haylage so I think the grass is to blame mainly. I like the straw idea also but you need to be very careful as the weather gets colder that if there is no access to water (frozen) then stop feeding it as it may impact.

Good luck.
 
Angelz said:
Just had a thought.....hes on a straw bed, if he was eating the bed when he had finished his hay would that make him ballon?? :eek:
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Er yes that'l do it!

When tested a lot of straw has been shown to be as high if not higher than hay in sugar...... Straw is also treated with a lot of chemicals, depending what type of straw and chemicals can compromise the gut which in turn effects the feet...

Sounds like he needs swapping to shavings, soaked hay net and double net it to slow him down. He needs 1.5% of his body weight in hay - you can work this out if you weigh tape him.

Also the grass this year still seems to have a lot in it - guessing its the wet and sunny spells we keep having.

Which balancer are you using?
 
TigerTail said:
Er yes that'l do it!

When tested a lot of straw has been shown to be as high if not higher than hay in sugar...... Straw is also treated with a lot of chemicals, depending what type of straw and chemicals can compromise the gut which in turn effects the feet...

Sounds like he needs swapping to shavings, soaked hay net and double net it to slow him down. He needs 1.5% of his body weight in hay - you can work this out if you weigh tape him.

Also the grass this year still seems to have a lot in it - guessing its the wet and sunny spells we keep having.

Which balancer are you using?
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Having seen the photo's - I agree 100% with everything TT has said.
 
TigerTail said:
Er yes that'l do it!

When tested a lot of straw has been shown to be as high if not higher than hay in sugar...... Straw is also treated with a lot of chemicals, depending what type of straw and chemicals can compromise the gut which in turn effects the feet...

Sounds like he needs swapping to shavings, soaked hay net and double net it to slow him down. He needs 1.5% of his body weight in hay - you can work this out if you weigh tape him.

Also the grass this year still seems to have a lot in it - guessing its the wet and sunny spells we keep having.

Which balancer are you using?[/QUOT

Thankyou, hes 300kg so 4.5kg of hay and I'll put him on shavings.

He was on Baileys lo-cal, now Horse and pony direct lo-cal.
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how tall is he? (just out of curiosity)

remember to base your feed ratio on what weight he should be, not what he is and also take into accoung the bucket feed you are giving him and the grass he is getting needs to come outof his ration too. he is very large and i would be tempted to pop a muzzle on when turned out.

my mare (now 5yrs) is prone to weight gain and as a youngster did not get hard feed (still doesn't) just good quality hay and grass, at one point when she lost more weight than i was happy with i gave her a broad spectrum vit and min supplement and just upped her hay to ad lib, i really dont think they need hard feed at all
 
I know the feeling with fat yearlings. Mine could do with a little bit of the belly but he isn't too bad. And it's not like we can work it off either. He looks amazing on the 7weeks photo.
 
Bought the forage plus, was going to get this for my older one one the HnP had ran out anyway.

JingleJools,

Hes 13 hands.....what do you think he'll make?

I know hes very large, Im devastated, just hope Ive not left it too late to do something about it before it effects his health :-( his crest is very hard but other than that he isnt showing any other lami signs (YET) and Im worried about the stress the weight is putting on his joints.....as you can see from the pics, it has come on rapidly since hes been stabled overnight, which is only one month so fingers crossed there will be no damage done if I act now.....cold snap finally forecast so Im hoping the grass will die and the cold will hepl get his weight down. I'll hopefully post a pic of him looking good again in the new year
 
swintondesire said:
I know the feeling with fat yearlings. Mine could do with a little bit of the belly but he isn't too bad. And it's not like we can work it off either. He looks amazing on the 7weeks photo.
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Thanks, yes I was so pleased then, feel like Ive ruined him now tho.....he would have been better off left skinny!
 
Take him out for walks. Start with 10mins and slowly increase. Walking isn't going to hurt him if you take your time to get him used to it.
 
I actually think he is carrying a fair amount in the 7 weeks pic, he is fatter than I ever had my yearling. (Who is now 2). I would definately soak hay, double net, shavings bed, no rug, no hard feed at all bar his supplements in a handful of the most boring chaff you can find. I know you know there is a problem but you don't want to be dealing with that in March when the grass comes through again.
 
Angelz said:
No, unfortunately not, Ive been putting a light weight on on wet days but thats all. Stabled overnight until spring now:(
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stop rugging him too he has plenty to keep him warm.

my mare was 13.2 ish at that age and at 5 and half she is now 15.1ish

she has only just levelled out and has been quite a late developer for a cob cross, maybe that is down to lack of hard feed forcing her growth though-i will never know as i dont know who or what dad was
 
meandmyself said:
Take him out for walks. Start with 10mins and slowly increase. Walking isn't going to hurt him if you take your time to get him used to it.
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I did on Sunday, 1st time out 15 mins to the village and back, busses, cyclists etc and he was as good as gold!! So I will do that once a week now, cant see that doing him any harm......will it?
 
JingleJools1234 said:
stop rugging him too he has plenty to keep him warm.

my mare was 13.2 ish at that age and at 5 and half she is now 15.1ish

she has only just levelled out and has been quite a late developer for a cob cross, maybe that is down to lack of hard feed forcing her growth though-i will never know as i dont know who or what dad was
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Really not rug him? even in the freezing rain?? He does have a really thick coat and I dont like to rug but.....so long as your sure.

Oh thats good about the height as people are starting to worry me saying I'll be lucky if he makes 14 hands.

Dont know what his Dad was, apparently Connie mare crossed with gypsy cob.
 
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