'Hay belly' on yearling

[juliehannah58]

My yearling fillies have real hay bellies at the moment. I have recently aquired 10 acres of new grazing which is lovely but hadn't been grazed for about 10 years (although regularly topped). The grass looks great but I have been told my local farmers that the grass is very fibrous so it's rather like them having copious amounts of hay.

They both have huge bellys low down but you can make out their ribs on the top, it looks awful! It's not like they are skinny, they just look like little barrells!

They have always been regularly wormed as well as we poo pick religiously, so I know it's not worms etc.

Is there anything I can do to combat this? I really can't move them off of the grazing they are on, but wondered if there is something I can feed that may help?

Thanks

 

[Raven616]

I wouldn't worry about it unless you're showing them. My yearling is fed daily with Top Spec Stud and Hi Fi Good Doer. She's a Dutch Warmblood cross TB. She goes through phases of looking beautiful and looking like a mix of left over body parts. Animals have the knack of levelling themselves out and it wouldn't matter whether the grass was like hay or short and sweet, they still look like pigs on stilts for a while in the summer. My advice with any horse is to make sure they have all the vits and mins they need, whether in a feed or a supplement, and they will find the rest themselves in the grass. Remember a horse is still designed to survive on its own, not like us humans that can't live without Sky tv and chocolate! It might help you to fat score your babies, that way you know what the overall condition is

 

[Enfys]

A bit like this? The nearest 'body' is a yearling arab x QH and she too, is like a barrel, her full brother is still flat packed by comparison at three months. Mom (with the blaze) uses 'baby belly' as her excuse.

 

[juliehannah58]

LOL!!

thanks guys, I guess I will just have to put up with the ugly sight for a bit longer!!

 

[linali]

My two yo still looks like a barrel now! Although to be honest thats probably too much grass

 

[Kallibear]

I pretty sure my 2yr old is wider than he is long at present. You can feel his ribs easily enough too, but he looks like he's in-foal . He too has recently been turned out onto lots of older, long grass.

I'n not bothered. A night in the stable, with slightly restricted hay, before a show yesterday deflated him enough so he didn't embarass himself. He'll be back to pregnant again by the morning. I'm just making sure he's getting all the vits and minerals he needs with a supplement.