Showing a 2yr old

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angel1c

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Hi all, iam looking for some help as per title, my yearling filly did very well showing this season always placed but a lot of the horses although same build and some bred the same had a lot more topline than she did.

I want to get her to even more shows as a 2yr old and as in hand showing is all new to me, i am trying to find some advice on building topline on a 2yr old... do the pro's work them in some way to build it or is it more feed realated? I just want to get her looking her best but i want to do it in the correct way which is why i am asking for advice now so i have plenty of time.

I have posted this in Competition riders to as i wasn't sure where it should be!

Any help anyone can give will be really appreciated!
Thanks
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First of all be careful! It is very easy to over feed and over work a baby in order to get the mature frame you see so often in the show ring - but that can be at a risk of long term soundness and metabolic problems.

I know of too many examples of young horses over fed and voer worked to get them looking amazing at 1 or 2 who have problems later in life

Having said that if you put the work in you can get them looking better. Feed wise I would look at something like a balancer or Winergy Equilibrium Growth and I now swear by linseed added for coat shine and topline.

Really good grooming and strapping plus walking out in hand, we use a roller, bridle and rope system, difficult to explain but it is similar to side reins but without being fixed. I do a very small amount of lunging with 2yos, but very minimal, better to have them walking out instead.
 
i have shown youngstock for many years. but we do not over feed and we definately do not work them. i used a combination hifi, top spec comprehensive and a feed called coolstance copra meal. this is the white pulp of the coconut which is dried and cooked, then ground up for use as a horse feed. it is high in fibre and natural oils. it is fantastic for youngsters as it does not make them fizzy. check out the coolstance website. x
 
Thank you so much for your reply... like you said doing to much to early is something i really worry about, but have never thought about walking out in hand.

My filly is just turning 18 months old and is currently feed 1scoop of Alfa a oil and 1 scoop of D&H Build up mix 2x a day. We have hardly any grass where we are so she is given plenty of hay in the field and stabled at night again with plenty of hay. At the moment she has a slight covering on her ribs (you can see them when she trots but they are covered) and none of her bones eg hip, spine etc are sticking out, they are nicely rounded. She did drop alot of weight over her 1st winter and it took a while to get it back on. What do you think of her feed amounts and the brands?

When did you first put the roller on like i said my girl is 18 months old.

I have never done strapping is that when you tie up straw?? or is it the vigerous (SP?) grooming?

I sound like a complete novice, i'm really not, just in this area... as i usually get rising 3 year olds ready to back!
Thanks again
 
In my opinion I have always found it is so much more difficult to show a two year old as most of the classes are 2 & 3 years combined, this is where you do have to be really careful not to overfeed as to try and compete with the more developed older horses, I tend not to show that much at two and take them out again as three year olds to hope they will do as well as they did as a yearling. Good luck and hope she has a good year!!!!
 
What breed is youur filly? I would worry about feeding a build up mix to a yearling. I would rather see them on a diet balanced for a youngster

The best in hand producer in the country (IMHO) feeds the Winergy Growth feed which is properly balanced for babies and his horses look amazing at any age. The balance of a weight gain feed is all wrong for a baby IMO

Micronised linseed from Charnwood Milling is brilliant stuff and I have heard good things about copra meal too.

Echo Holiday that the 2yos can struggle against 3yos in mixed 2/3yo classes. When we showed our 2yo hack this year he looked quite immature next to some of the (far too overweight) 3yos. A good judge should take account of the age.

As for putting a roller on, you could start doing that now. If she is used to rugs then she shouldnt mind too much. Re strapping - we have a leather strapping pad (but I confess I dont use it as often as I should). Our show horse are on holiday now and come back in after New Year to start getting their coats out and muscling up. Our first show is not normally till May (Leicester County)
 
She is Hann x TB (with a bit of ID thrown in) Her Dam is Hann x ID and very bulky, her sire is a full TB. Filly has plenty of bone but not bulky like Dam. I was worried about weight loss so i called D&H for advice, this was what they suggested, but am open to change it as i'm not convinced, i seem to be feeding so much of it) she stands at 15hh at the moment.

I will look into winergy growth now... who is the in hand producer you are referring to (do they take in young horses to produce and show?)

She is used to rugs and has had an elastic surcingle on to hold her travel fleece in place.

Leicester county will be our 1st show as well so i should probably relax a bit on the topline. But can i just ask what you do to get the coat out coz i really struggled with this, this year. She gets a very full wooly coat!

I really appreciate your help by the way!!
 
Presuming you're talking stubbs scoops of feed, her feeds sound rather large! My boy - 2 y/o pure cleveland standing at 16hh gets half a scoop hi-fi lite, a handfull of hi-fibre cubes and half a scoop of wet speedi beet twice a day. ok, you might want to cary on with the alfa, but you might wantto consider adding something as simple as speedi beet - having never fed it before i really didn't believe in it but it is really good for helping them keep the weight on.

I was in a similar position to you this shoing season but I'm much rather have a slim youngster than one with too much condition. It will all come with time..
 
Hi CBFan, thanks for the advice, yes it is stubbs scoops and i agree i seem to be feeding her loads, but like i say we have no grass at all and she is hungry all the time... I like the idea of speedi beet, it's something i have been think about lately or has anyone tried allen & page fast fibre, i have heard really good things about that?
 
angel1c, we rug the show horses from about November onwards while they live out, then in January they get rugged quite heavily, and just lots of grooming (plus feeding and walking out). They all have pretty decent coats by May, but they are all riding ponies, hacks and riding horses. Some of the smaller ponies with a lot of Welsh in them are hard work to get their coats out, but we get there in the end.

If you are thinking of sending her away to be produced then the best person in the business is Jerome Harforth if he has any space!
 
Angel1c we have very little grass here either, so I know how you feel! My boy was getting very narky so just last week started feeding him some hay in a penned off bit of the field. he's now getting 4 good sections a night which is keeping him happier as the others are now in at night and I plan to increase that as winter progresses. He is currently unrugged but again, I have one at the ready to chuck on when the weather really deteriorates. I'm just taking each day as it comes at the moment.

I also just started his speedi beet again last week and he seems to really enjoy his dinners since adding it! I haven't tried the A&P fast fibre or heard much about it...
 
I showed my 2yr old this year from the field and have to agree with volatis that the micronised linseed is fab stuff for their coats. My boy was on two mugs of baileys stud cubes, a mug of linseed and a handful of hi fi once a day plus good grazing.
This pic was taken at the end of may and he still had some winter fluff from living out, but as you can see was lovely and shiney;
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TBH i didn't really do any work with him, he was lunged in walk with a roller on about three times in July.
 
This is one of our two yr olds he has half a scoop of D&H leisure mix a day! OK he is a purebred draught and could drop a bit, but we only feed by eye and a lot of grass. So if like you we had no grass he would get hay. He has no work at the moment, that will start this autumn.

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