Feeding a 4 year old

Blaise

Blaise

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Could anyone shed any light on what i may be able to feed my just-gone-4 year old mare? I'm slightly concerned that she's just not getting as big as she was expected to be. She had quite a poor start in life, turned out for the first 3 years on fairly poor grazing, sold to a dealer then who had her for just over 6 months & never fed her. I had her Jan this year and she was like a hat rack. She was meant to mature at 16-16.1hh and is approx 15.1hh at the moment but is bum high so will probably be 15.2-15.3hh when she levels out again. I'm not worried about her height at all, more about her weight carrying ability. She's 3/4 TB 1/4 Appaloosa, her dam was a full Irish TB with a good amount of bone and her sire was 1/2 TB 1/2 Appy, again with a good amount of bone. Lola on the other hand seems to have spindly legs and doesn't look like she could carry a child at the moment, let alone me. She's been on good grazing over the summer, we moved yards yesterday and is now on excellent grazing. She is fed on Mollichaf Showshine (the high oil one) and has been having D&H leisure mix over the summer as i thought when she was back onto good grazing she would start filling out more. She has filled out, just not as much as i'd hoped. I'm debating changing her feed but i'm not sure what to. My other TB is on the same chaff and baileys LO-Cal and does really well on it. Do you think this would suit Lola? She's not backed yet and is only lightly long reined and lunged so i dont need her on any high energy feeds, would Lo Cal have enough in it to meet her requirements, especially as she's still growing. I was debating putting her onto a stud balancer but she's 4 now so not really youngstock any more, would this help with the growth & filling out issues. She missed out on a lot nutrition wise when she was younger, would a stud balancer help her now or are there any other feeds you might reccomend?

Here is a photo of her so you can see what i mean. (not a very good one, but illustrates my point, especially about the legs!)

P5110311.jpg
 
To be honest she looks like she need time to mature & to get some good feed & grass into her, she looks closer to a two year old than a 4 year old.

An alfalfa diet would be better for her than a chaff diet. We fed our youngster who was a bit immature chestnut Alpha plus its complete, & not really high in protein like a lot of stud feeds.

They were really helpful when we needed advice about feeding her give them a call or email.
 
Thanks Nelson, i'll give them a call. I didn't think the Lo-cal would have enough in it for her. I never gave Bailey's 17 a thought, Gem was on that to get her weight up when i first had her (before i swapped her to lo-cal) I'll keep that in mind :)

Cat & Mouse- I know exactly what you mean. When i had her i was convinced she was a yearling and rising 2, not 4. The dealer i had her from is dodgy to say the least so i was sure the passport he gave me was just the wrong one. I contacted the breeder from the passport & sent photos & confirmed it was right and she was rising 4. Had dentist to look just before her b/day who also confirmed she was definitley older than 2 and 4 was about right. I still don't think she looks 4 either. I had her on Alpha Oil when i first got her but she started to itch really badly, to the point where she made herself bleed. I took her off it as someone said she may be intolerant to alfalfa. The itching stopped. I tried her on chestnut alpha chomp along with leisure mix briefly too to see what would happen & itching started again so took her off it. I might get the vet to look into feed allergies to find out whether if definitley is or not. Thanks for the suggestion though :)
 
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