Here is my young mare

Champion1969

Champion1969

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Anni is a 3 year old when she was found she was tethered and even had the head collar grown into her neck, hence why she has a chunk missing. I've only had her 7 weeks and she is so lovely and well mannered apart from having a small problem with the mare next door which has now been resolved. She is currently 14hh still bum high, I would love her to grow to 14.3 but I doubt it

I may also change her feed to Suregrow, currently she is on Mollichop Horse and Pony cubes and Speedi beet plus haylage at night. Would I drop the Cubes and add the Suregrow or is Anni to old to benefit from this feed?

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Couldn't comment on Suregrow as have never used it but my 3 year old (4 in May) has lived out all winter on Dengie HiFi, Growell Equilibra 500 and a bit of suger beet and is looking amazing on it. Not that I need him to grow any more as he is already going to be a bit on the big side for me but would thoroughly recommend Equilibra, would have given him an additional youngstock supplement but he hasn't needed it.
 
Is she 3 rising 4 or just turned 3? It depends on the breed but I reckon you might get another couple of inches, she will also fill out. She looks as though her front end has some catching up to do with her back end. My last youngster who I got as a very young 4 year old grew about an inch and filled out a lot, I would say he finally stopped when he was about 7. He was fed D&H Build Up which we didn't seem to go far wrong with.
 
Wonder what will be the highest weight she will carry when she is fully grown. She was a spur of the moment buy, maybe I need to buy another one :)
 
My mare of similar build didn't stop growing until 7! So you never know. Good grazing and pure feed bulked her up a treat :)
 
She is as weak as a kitten.

Suregrow is an excellent feed for a native youngster and combined with good quality forage, warmth and grass you have every chance of her blooming into a lovely family cob.

Good luck with her, she has landed on her feet with you.
 
AdorableAlice said:
She is as weak as a kitten.

Suregrow is an excellent feed for a native youngster and combined with good quality forage, warmth and grass you have every chance of her blooming into a lovely family cob.

Good luck with her, she has landed on her feet with you.[/QUOTE

She is, she is so light I could push her over, she has already been backed but I am not going to ride her till well into next year, however I do let my 6 year daughter sit on her and I lead her just so she still feels weight on her.
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i am sure she will give you and your daughter lots of fun and pleasure.

I have been feeding my two youngsters - who are two this time and have gone on growing through the winter, in addition to 24/7 access to grass, hay, Dengie good doer, and hi fibre grass nuts, which they love! They are native type cobs and I have been advised by rescue organisation who I have adopted them from to be careful not to over feed coming out of winter, Lami being a lifelong condition if they get too fat and it is the result.

Once you have built Annie up, which is what I was doing with mine last summer you may find you need to adjust the feed.
 
I am just so confused about feeding, I keep getting told to do different things, however I do like the sound of Suregrow but would this take place of the Spillers horse and pony cubes, would I still feed with Mollichop and speedi beet?

I love all your views and I do take in what your all saying, getting good advice in here :)
 
I did some research on web and was careful to read what went into the feeds, in the old days we just fed either oats or nuts with chop and perhaps beet or linseed, there is so much choice now it is really confusing.

I was always taught that it is important not to chop and change feed as horses system is not designed for this, so if you are happy with the results you are getting, only change for a reason to do with health or condition.

I think with youngsters not in work you do not want anything that is heating or too much sugar, i.e. molasses or protien. I looked at the content of every feed in the feed mill before finally deciding which to take!!
 
Adopter said:
I did some research on web and was careful to read what went into the feeds, in the old days we just fed either oats or nuts with chop and perhaps beet or linseed, there is so much choice now it is really confusing.

I was always taught that it is important not to chop and change feed as horses system is not designed for this, so if you are happy with the results you are getting, only change for a reason to do with health or condition.

I think with youngsters not in work you do not want anything that is heating or too much sugar, i.e. molasses or protein. I looked at the content of every feed in the feed mill before finally deciding which to take!!
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Your so right, its a minefield out there with all the different feeds I do suppose if I think back to years ago I never did see a poor horse due to diet. Food for thought me thinks?:confused:
 
Champion1969 said:
I am just so confused about feeding, I keep getting told to do different things, however I do like the sound of Suregrow but would this take place of the Spillers horse and pony cubes, would I still feed with Mollichop and speedi beet?

I love all your views and I do take in what your all saying, getting good advice in here :)
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Suregrow would replace your cubes. It is a nutrient dense, low calorie pellet that enables the correct level of nutrition to be fed without feeding large quantities of bucket feed. For intance, my 500kg 2 year old half shire received 250g of suregrow per 100kg of bodyweight. It can be fed on it's own but I prefer to throw a handful of unmollassed chaff in and a mug of either speedibeet or soaked grass nuts. I find the horse, who is a gutsy feeder, slows down, chews and swallows - in that order !!

Suregrow will not pile the weight on, let your good grazing and forage do that. A young growing and weak horse will not benefit from rapid weight gain and your mare will develop, strengthen and mature through the summer.

From a financial point of view I found it cheaper to use sure grow than to feed the correct amounts of nuts or stud mix, remember if you feed nuts to a horse that is growing or is poor you will need large quantities to hit the correct level of nutritional need. This makes the cost increase and the horse is faced with large amounts of hard feed and unless you can feed every 6 hours there is a very real risk of overfeeding.

Here are 2 pictures taken 6 months apart fed adlib haylage and the diet as I mentioned above. He went from 380kg to 460kg, put 4 inches upwards growth and an inch of bone below the knee. The same could have been achieved by feeding corn but the risk to his joints would have been immense.

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I've not used sure grow on any of my youngsters, even the really weedy babies. I have always stuck with letting them have as much grass as you can (I realise right now is not great for that - but stick with me lol) and then fibre fibre fibre. It is my motto :)

My riding 3 yo arab arrived as a scraping 14.1 skinny weed 12 months ago. She is now, despite the lack of grass a 15.2/ 15.3 blooming beast!

She is fed alfa oil and speedibeet. Adlib hay, including out in the field. I try to keep all my horses on as few sugars as possible, and they seem to be thriving much better than they ever did before.

Feed 2 to 4 small feeds a day. A horses stomach is amazingly tiny - they are just not designed to eat big meals. I'm sure once your grass is through a little more she will pick up in no time :)
 
What a great job you've done there Adorable Alice! That is one fit and happy horse.

Champion - listen to Alice - the voice of experience!
 
I picked one up today almost identical though a good hand smaller! It was a rescue.. My big grew a hand between three and four... And is still growing wider. My friends gelding didn't stop till he was over six so you never really know. Your made looks a nice sort, just my type. Hope all goes well..
 
Wow thanks for the photos amazing, beautiful condition both horses are. I have contacted my supplier to see if they can get some ordered for me. So fingers crossed I will swap the pony nuts for the Suregrow :)
 
Abbeygale said:
I've not used sure grow on any of my youngsters, even the really weedy babies. I have always stuck with letting them have as much grass as you can (I realise right now is not great for that - but stick with me lol) and then fibre fibre fibre. It is my motto :)
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Ditto this. And if they're slow burners, they're slow burners. We panicked a bit with our little weed last winter as he looked ropey, so upped his feed, and he promptly had a spurt and chipped his pedal bone (bone is softer than ligament at that age). Luckily he's come right, but this winter even though he still looks like a weed (rising 3yo now) we've kept the faith and let him be.

Sometimes you just need a bit of patience. And don't compare yours to those that have been 'produced', particularly if yours had a rough start. They come right in their own time, and slow and steady wins the day. Remember that young horses haven't read 'the book' nor have they read the show schedules.
 
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mine just got suregrow, molasses free chaff, grass and as much hay as he could eat he looked like a different horse after a couple of weeks!
 
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