Feeding a neglected young horse

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JenniferR

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I'm just about to take on a rising 2 year old filly cob found abandoned on the roadside. The people who found her have done a great job looking after her over the last 6 weeks and she is no longer underweight. However, she looks a little weak muscle wise and has a pot belly (she's been thoroughly wormed withPramox and pregnancy test underway) and her coat is poor. Any suggestions on feeding to improve condition please.
 
A good age apporaiate balancer and forage and time , I would not feed a lot of hard feed but would add some micronised linseed to what ever you give here it would be alfalfa and speedi beet .
 
If you are worried about her muscle tone then some in hand walks and stretches certainly won't do any harm but turnout in a large enough field (with hills if you can) will work wonders.

Good luck with her.
 
Second what Goldenstar says. Pink powder is a good balancer, relatively inexpensive and has probiotics for a healthy digestive tract. My horse has been on it for years, its really good for keeping gassy colic at bay, or so I have found with my boy.
 
i've a rescue skin and bones oldie, and fibre beet, oil and a balancer seem to be doing the job after a few weeks. that and ad lib forage. i would keep the feeding very sinple, and good forage will do most of the work. Might be no harm getting a worm count done as well.
 
Just a word about Pramox with a neglected horse of that age. It isn't always the best choice to treat an underweight horse as not enough body fat and also might not be the best for roundworm. Roundworm can be a killer for young and neglected animals so worth checking exactly what has been done. Definitely monitor with worm counts as it can take years to get good worm control after initial neglect.
 
Forage, forage and then more forage! You could also feed an oil coated chaff + speedibeet with a vit and min supplement. Micronised linseed is also good for conditioning.
 
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