Foal Help!!!

[HAurellia]

Hi Everyone...

In a few weeks time I have my new foal coming home. She has lived out since being born and has been bought in recently to be weaned and handled etc and she is arriving to me in a few weeks.

I am however in need of some advice!! I need to purchase some rugs for her and was wondering if it would be an issue if I bought her rugs that were a few sizes bigger than what she needed to allow for growth for a while? Also I have been told so many different things by stud farms and nutritionists on what to feed her but would like some advice on that too??

Any help please??

 

[SpottyTB]

Hi there ,

firstly, what kind of foal have you got coming.. breed? then we can help you o n feeding!

RE rugs - personally i'd want to put a nicely fitted rug on a foal and just by the next size up when needed - just because you don't want it rubbing, slipping or making the foal un comfortable - but then i'm in the same boat as you .. a new foal owner and learning - a more experienced breeder will come on soon and give you some good advice i'm sure

STB

 

[HAurellia]

Shes a coloured warmblood cross. Her father was a Show Cob. She's quite spirited and has good covering, if not a little chubbs which is good for this cold winter we are having!!!

 

[SpottyTB]

Well.. i've just had my warmblood foal delivered (today) and have decided to put him on gro 'n' win .. you only need a very small cup full and you don't have to feed anything with it - providing you have good hay and grass.. it's got all the right things in it to keep the weight on and condition them!

I've got p*ss all grass atm so he's going to have a cup full of chaff to go with it and a slice of hay a day!

If she's well covered, then i'd be inclined to wait to feed her until she needs it? However again, i'm sure some experienced breeders will come on soon and give you some fantastic advice!

Good luck i felt sick this morning but now he's here i am so pleased!

 

[KarynK]

I have found Amigo Pony rugs are super for foals they fit really well around the neck and there are no legstraps. I usually buy the 1200 d ones as they are much tougher and buy the lightweight as they are very fluffy anyway in their first winter.

I buy them two sizes apart as they grow so fast it is pointless having all the sizes, mine have hand me downs as they are not in them very long and these rugs last. You can do it with horsewear as they fit so well, so they start off with the rug a size too long then I change up when their backside sticks out a bit!

My foals are average size matruing 15-16hh and start in the autum with 4'3". Hope that helps.

 

[Hurricanelady]

Hi there

Rugs - I have found with my two foals this year and last year that they do need to be well fitting and you just have to get used to having to replace them fairly quickly in the first year! Having said that, they often sell well on e-bay. I have found the Amigo Mio rugs brilliant - not too expensive, no leg straps to worry about (fillet string only) and narrow at the chest which is important for slender foals and yearlings. I just bought my 4 month old foal an Amigo pony rug and it fits him very nicely now that he has just grown out of the excellent Amigo 4' foal rug which was fab from a fitting and usage perspective. Personally I won't be going anything above a medium weight (and that only in very cold and wet weather), as my foal and yearling will be growing good winter coats, will be running around a lot in the field, come in at night as we're on clay land; and I don't want them over rugged. Plus there is often quite a lot of rug abuse with youngsters!!

Feed wise, I personally use Thunderbrook feeds and their base mix simply mixed with grass chaff and the whole lot dampened works very well for my entire herd which includes foals to 18 year olds. It is cost effective (you can often feed less than the maximum ration of 100g per 100 kg body weight), and doesn't include any by-products such as oat or wheat feed. I know other breeders use many different feeds with success, but I believe most of them advocate only feeding the growing youngster what you need to - i.e something like a balancer (but be careful with some of the quantities suggested which from some companies seem to be very high) or even just a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement to ensure all required vitamins and minerals - plus good quality forage. I personally prefer hay over haylage for youngstock. Be careful not to use feed products intended for the (very fast growing) thoroughbred if it is a different breed; and definitely not over feed which can cause serious developmental/joint issues.

Good luck you must be very excited

 

[legyield]

I have a PRE filly foal. She isn't rugged yet as she has a coat like a grizzly bear already. I feed her Dodson & Horrell young stock mix and she's doing well on it.

 

[Jools1234]

rugging foals is personal choice, as is if they live out or not. personally i dont ever rug foals as they are not clipped, in full work or overly groomed. i think the harm they can do themselves by being caught up in them is too much of a risk-they also learn electric fencing cant 'get' them.

if they get really wet i just bring them in for a few hours to dry off and fill their bellies on hay then put them back out.

feed wise i tend to give a youngstock mix at half recommended rate and give a suplement on top of that

 

[putasocinit]

I wouldn't rug, flattening down the hair makes them cold as they cannot insulate the air, as long as you are feeding enough they will make warmth from within, lots of hay, bit of stud mix. Will also save on wasting money buying rugs that will be town out of.

 

[cobden99]

I have a PRE filly foal. She isn't rugged yet as she has a coat like a grizzly bear already.

No advice Im afraid (I would prefer not to rug but my youngsters have been shivering in all this rain so are now in lightweight Amigos) - but the above made me laugh !

 

[DosyMare]

I wouldn't rug, flattening down the hair makes them cold as they cannot insulate the air, as long as you are feeding enough they will make warmth from within, lots of hay, bit of stud mix. Will also save on wasting money buying rugs that will be town out of.

I agree with the above. You will need a heavy weight to make up for the warmth you take away.
I did rug my foal last year as he was shown and stabled.
This years foals are living out and naked and much happier and with above yearling who is also naked.

With feeding be careful not to over feed - adlib hay is much better.

 

[CBFan]

I wouldn't rug a foal. They cope perfectly well as long as they have a good supply of forrage. I say this for two reasons. To rug them so young, you are setting them up for life - they will feel the cold forever more. 2 The grow so bleedin' fast before they hit 1 year old that it costs an absolute fortune trying to keep up with them.

If she is going to be stabled at least some of the time she will have plenty of time to dry off and warm up but even if she were to live out, you'd be suprised how warm they can keep themselves with addequate forage.

Feed wise, I personally am not a fan of balancers - they are only balanced to themselves so only give the foal 'the right balance' of vits and mins if they aren't being fed anything else at all, which of course is never the case they are also VERY high in protein - far outside the needs of a growing youngster. I have and would again, feed some speedi-beet with a broad spectrum or youngstock powder supplement added and then just add -lib hay. My boy has grown well and very steadily, unlike his sister who had a multitude of problems raised on a balancer.

 

[Rollin]

I have a PRE filly foal. She isn't rugged yet as she has a coat like a grizzly bear already. I feed her Dodson & Horrell young stock mix and she's doing well on it.

Just to say I feed D&H youngstock!! designed to be fed in small quantities.

How is this for a two year old?