Hard feed for youngsters??

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missyme10

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Hey all,

I've got 2 youngsters, a 1 year old welsh section D and a 2 year old dutch warmblood.

When I last had the vet out, he asked me if I gave either of them any hard feed, I said no, they just live off the land and get hay/haylage if short on grass.
I told him I do the odd time give them a couple of handfuls of chaff with a chopped carrot and apple as a treat.

The vet said the odd bit for a treat is fine, but not the feed them hard feed.
He explained a little, said something about not wanting them to grow to quickly, that if youngsters are fed hard feed and encouraged to grow quickly, it can lead to joint problems, I think he mentioned OCD.

Others who have horses have basically said of course you can feed youngsters and they have fed theirs with no consequences.....still young at present though and from what the vet said, the problems show later in life.

What are you views on this? These are my first youngster I have had, and I've done what I think is the sensible thing and sought advice from my vet every step of the way, it does seem silly to not follow advice I pay a lot of money for!!

I think its also relevant that my youngsters are a good weight, neither fat nor thin and both in very healthy condition - they are the two bays in my signature and these pics were taken about 6 weeks ago - thanks :)
 
I used to give my youngsters approx 1/2 scoop A&P stud pencils with Alfa-A until they were about 18 months. They are all warmbloods and live out 24/7.
I then swapped the stud pencils to yearling pencils for about a year and then at 3 I tend to put them onto high fibre cubes with Hi-Fi and a vits and mins balancer.

You definitely do not want your youngsters to grow too fast.
 
my welsh D yearling lives out atm he will get haylage when the grass goes down, and he gets x2 handfuls of alfa a and a handfull of D+H suregrow to make sure he gets the vits and mins he needs, last winter he was in being fed alfa a, sugar beet and stud mix, then he has been out since may until now with no feed. its the high protien feeds like the ones made more for TB types that make them grow on to quick,
friends of mine breed welshies and they feed similar, but I agree your two look great, what breeding is your welshie? :)
 
Now there's a question, what breeding is my welshie lol.
I can tell you what it says on her passport, but it means nothing to me as I am clueless as to who's a good sire and who isn't.

Her sire is: Crugmelyn Myridden, he's by Fronarth Victor, who was by EBBW Victor

Her dam is: Nantyfyda Briallen and she's Thornyside Flyer, Goyallt Bonhieddwr as her dams 2 grandfathers.

Lots of other names also, but none mean anything to me x
 
I feed mine a little bit of alfa a (a handful) and a bit of mare and youngstock. She is 2. I wouldn't want to feed her nothing as where on earth would she get her vitamins and minerals from? Our grass is rubbish and she wouldn't grow at all if she was left to eat just that. I've never heard that you can't feed youngsters hard feed.
 
I would only want to feed a basic feed such as a high fibre chaff based feed to a youngster, such as dengie hi-fi or happy hoof and only if they needed a bit extra if they were not well enough of hay and grass alone. That's just the way I would probably do it, we never used to feed our youngsters hard feed, they would try nibble on their mummies stud mix occasionally mind :D
 
I think quality of grass must play a part, around my way its pretty good.
The filly I was speaking to the vet about grew from 14.2hh to 15.2hh in a period of 4 months this summer.......so no issues on growing!! I think also her being a warmblood influenced my vets advice, I think they are more susceptible to joint problems and OCD?????????

I really dont know what to do for the best, my 2 are in great nick and get nothing, but we are going into winter, maybe I will have to rethink.
 
Actually I am really confused now. How can you possibly make a horse grow too fast. You can't make your children grow too fast so how is it possible in horses. Surely it will only grow as fast as it will grow and feeding it can't change that? Obviously you don't want it fat but I really don't understand the science behind this logic

Am I being thick? Can someone enlighten me please? I'm sitting here scratching my head now. Not helped by watching QI I have to say!
 
jesstickle said:
Actually I am really confused now. How can you possibly make a horse grow too fast. You can't make your children grow too fast so how is it possible in horses. Surely it will only grow as fast as it will grow and feeding it can't change that? Obviously you don't want it fat but I really don't understand the science behind this logic

Am I being thick? Can someone enlighten me please? I'm sitting here scratching my head now. Not helped by watching QI I have to say!
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I think I am as clueless as you at the moment lol.
I think good nutrition encourages the growth spurts to quickly and can lead to joint problems - I think this is what my vet was trying to say, it being particuarly an issue for WB types.

I was rather hoping someone could explain on here!! lol x
 
missyme10 said:
Hey all,

I've got 2 youngsters, a 1 year old welsh section D and a 2 year old dutch warmblood.

When I last had the vet out, he asked me if I gave either of them any hard feed, I said no, they just live off the land and get hay/haylage if short on grass.
I told him I do the odd time give them a couple of handfuls of chaff with a chopped carrot and apple as a treat.

The vet said the odd bit for a treat is fine, but not the feed them hard feed.
He explained a little, said something about not wanting them to grow to quickly, that if youngsters are fed hard feed and encouraged to grow quickly, it can lead to joint problems, I think he mentioned OCD.

Others who have horses have basically said of course you can feed youngsters and they have fed theirs with no consequences.....still young at present though and from what the vet said, the problems show later in life.

What are you views on this? These are my first youngster I have had, and I've done what I think is the sensible thing and sought advice from my vet every step of the way, it does seem silly to not follow advice I pay a lot of money for!!

I think its also relevant that my youngsters are a good weight, neither fat nor thin and both in very healthy condition - they are the two bays in my signature and these pics were taken about 6 weeks ago - thanks :)
Click to expand...

IMHO your vet is right, here in Germany most youngsters just live off grass and good quality hay - OCD is a very real problem, especially for warmbloods.
 
i have 18 month old appie filly and she is on dodson and horrel mare and youngstock mix and alfa-a oil. along with milk thistle supplement and some crushed oats this is mainly as she needs bulking a bit for winter but have always fed her since owned on d&h mare and youngstock and alfa-a oil or alfa gold. x
 
Bailey's stud balancer - you don't need to feed loads but you still feel like you're giving them something! I think it's approx 2 coffee mugs depending on size & it contains everything they need without giving them a bucketful! x
 
Our lad has just turned 2 and we have had him since 8 months. He has balancer and dengie light with an apple or a carrot split into 2 feeds. If he needs condition in the winter he will have speedie beet like he did last winter. He has good grass and ad lib hay and lives out 24/7. Our vet said the same as yours. He commented last visit (for our other lad) that the 2yo had a lot of growing left to do and not to fill him full of hard feed but to "grow him on slowly". I took this to mean give him lots of fibre and the required vitamins etc but not to put too much condition on him.
 
misst said:
Our lad has just turned 2 and we have had him since 8 months. He has balancer and dengie light with an apple or a carrot split into 2 feeds. If he needs condition in the winter he will have speedie beet like he did last winter. He has good grass and ad lib hay and lives out 24/7. Our vet said the same as yours. He commented last visit (for our other lad) that the 2yo had a lot of growing left to do and not to fill him full of hard feed but to "grow him on slowly". I took this to mean give him lots of fibre and the required vitamins etc but not to put too much condition on him.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think this is pretty much what my vet meant.

I checked her thoroughly today, she's in really good nick going into winter well but isn't carrying much excess weight. If I can maintain her over winter as is that will be fine.
She's gone really butt high within the past few weeks again, so another growth spurt is about to happen.
Bit worrying really, she's 15.2hh and was expected to make 16hh, when her withers catch up with her butt she will be 16hh and probably only 2 1/2. Little chance she's finished growing at 2 1/2 lol.

I dont think its uncommon for vets to advise what I have been advised and I see a lot of sense in it and I think its particuarly important for WB's.

But I also think a litte bit of food is fine as a treat or to get essential vitamins and minerals into them, or to give nutrition where the land is incapable of providing it providing you dont let them gain to much condition x
 
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