underdeveloped horses- experiences

cob&onion

cob&onion

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As some of you know my section d gelding had a rig op feb this year as a rising 3 yr old. He lost condition withina day after coming home Iitcreally took it out of him. It took till mid summer to get him looking covered despite grass and hard feed. Now he is looking okay nicely covered but he has grown very little amd looks immature. There is no depth to him although he has grown an inch he looks like a 2 yr old despite him coming to the end of his 3rd year.
He is supposed to mske 15hh I have seen both stallion and mare parents and they are good chunky types his dad is very wide......
Will he catch up or do you think he will always be a bit under developed?? And a bit scrawny? Put lots of time and money into him and would be a shame ic he were too small for me. He is 4 next year and I doubt he will be mature enough to back........
Does anyone have any experiences or know of anyone with under developed horses like him?
Thanks
 
I won't go into details but my stallion had a very traumatic time last spring before coming home to me. He was 3 last June and had a hell of a lot of weight to gain back - I gave him all of last year and then started working him early Spring. He is huge now, he has really caught up with himself. I would give him until next summer to really show his true colours, just keep feeding him well through winter and don't do much work with him. Take picture now and then in late Spring and hopefully you will be very pleasantly surprised!
 
I really hope so!
Yes lots of quality ad iib hay oil sugar beet and chaff, will rug him too. Really want to start him next summer. Would be a shame if he never reached his potential. As a 2 yr old he looked amazing. With his one ball.........:p
 
I've got a NF x anglo arab pony who was a late foal & is just 4 now. Mum bought her as a 2yr old & she has always looked a bit under developed for her age. She came to me in the spring looking more like a 2yr old as she had lost a bit of condition over the winter but after a few months of lots of grass, she finally seems to have grown into herself. I think you'll be surprised at how much he grows next year.
 
His still young some horses just take longer to mature, I would just feed him well over winter and this time next year he will look a different horse, my Arab didnt fill out until he was about 6 his 9 now and is still changing shape.
 
I've got a rescued sec d cross, got him as a 2 year old, looked very poor and weedy, standing about 14.1hh. He is now just coming 5 and he is 16hh tank of a horse. You would never think of him as a rescue now
 
I wouldn't worry. I know when pony youngsters look as though they may go over height they are often roughed off and let right down but ultimately it does not seem to affect their adult height.
 
The other day

20130905_195621.jpg


Before his op

IMG_227366147932792.jpg


July this year


IMG_227863413011321.jpg


Sorry this is only order I can put pics inas had to edit words as mixed them up
 
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Like all horses and ponies - he wont be skeletally mature until he is a minimum of 5 1/2 years old.

Don't panic - is the sunny photo the recent one? If so he looks fine, being on the lean side is not a bad thing for a growing youngster. In the other two photos he looks fat rather than mature.

ETA - my grey got a lot wider (chest and pelvis) when she was 4 and longer (spine) now she is 5. I'm really hoping that last years rugs will still fit her.
 
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I don't think he looks particularly immature for a welsh in the top (most recent) photo and is plenty well covered. The only thing that struck me was that his feet looked long.
 
ester said:
I don't think he looks particularly immature for a welsh in the top (most recent) photo and is plenty well covered. The only thing that struck me was that his feet looked long.
Click to expand...

Sorry the top is recent, middle before op and last in July.

Your right his feet look weirdly long in that pic! they weren't that long in real life, must be an optical illusion :p he had them trimmed last wed, gone 10 weeks.
 
Often they will go through a scrawny stage and look light. It's just a phase, like the ugly phase when you look at your yearling and wonder what possessed you to buy such a dreadful looking animal.

Many horses look immature until they are around 5, maturity comes with muscle development as they start working.

He's lovely - his coat in the July photo is amazing, what were you feeding him?
 
I think he looks perfect now. Keep him at that weight through the winter, and he's blossom as soon as the spring grass comes through next year.
 
Tnavas said:
Often they will go through a scrawny stage and look light. It's just a phase, like the ugly phase when you look at your yearling and wonder what possessed you to buy such a dreadful looking animal.

Many horses look immature until they are around 5, maturity comes with muscle development as they start working.

He's lovely - his coat in the July photo is amazing, what were you feeding him?
Click to expand...

Thank you

He has a big glug of sunflower oil in his feed, gives him a nice coat :)
 
He looks really good for his age- very much my "type". I was at the sale not long ago, half the 3/4 year olds still looked like gangly yearlings I was a little shocked.
 
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