Yearlings - feeding and rugs?

kc100

kc100

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 July 2012
Messages
1,051
Location
West Midlands
Visit site
Ok so baby horse is settling in well since arriving last Thursday, such a little sweetheart of a horse and I'm so chuffed with him.

Main problem I'm having at the moment is feeling like a terrible mother, this pesky rain looks like it will stick around for a lot longer and poor baby is rather soggy being out 24/7. Now I hadnt planned on rugging him until it gets rather cold in the winter, summer is supposed to be just about here and I thought he will be fine without a rug but I'm starting to question myself as its raining so much.

Would you rug a yearling with a rain sheet in this weather? Looking at one without any fill but waterproof.

Next question - feed. Now I'm happy leaving him turned out 24/7 for the next couple of years of his life, we are very lucky at the yard to have brilliant all year grazing and he's got a huge field with his 2 new pals where there is loads of grass, then they'll be moved in October time onto their winter paddocks with even more grass. He is good weight wise, pretty lean but no sign of ribs or looking too bony.

Stud I got him from said you need a copper lick (or something with copper in) to help growth, I've had a look around to see what's on the market but there dont seem to be many equine specific copper licks - does anyone have any recommendations? Dengie field lick contains copper, will this be enough? Any other recommendations for anything he might need to top up his diet if he is out 24/7?

Probably starting to turn into paranoid horse owner now so please do tell me to pipe down and stop worrying if I am just going mad and baby horse is absolutely fine as he is :D
 
If he has good shelter then I wouldn't bother to rug him especially if its just raining and not cold. Feed wise nothing brings youngsters on better than good grass. I personally don't introduce hard feed to youngsters til they start working and all my previous babies have done great on just good grass, AdLib hay in winter and a good broadspec vitamin lick (the dengie one should be fine). I've only had one who needed topping up in winter (he was a rescue in shocking condition) so I used to give him some soaked grass nuts just to keep a bit of condition on him.
 
Was he rugged at the stud? I wouldn't have thought so, and if not, he's just come through a really awful winter with no ill effects, so I'm sure he'll be fine
 
Auslander said:
Was he rugged at the stud? I wouldn't have thought so, and if not, he's just come through a really awful winter with no ill effects, so I'm sure he'll be fine
Click to expand...

No never rugged before (that is another lesson he needs to learn!) but was in a barn over winter with the other yearlings so hasnt been out on grass for a while (he was out with his dam before he was weaned then brought into the barn).
 
I have my yearling in during the day and out at night as per the routine that the rest of my horses are on. I have bought him a rain sheet, and when it has been raining or scheduled to rain overnight he has been wearing it. He came from the stud when he was 9.5 months old, and had lived out without a rug for most of that time, although the breeder had been bringing them in overnight and for hay and a feed during the winter. I am also feeding him a youngstock balancer, and he has plenty of good grass/hay when he is in.
 
My yearling is out 24/7 in a small group with four other horses. They were turned out for summer about 7 weeks ago.
He's naked now but had a rug on over winter (stabled at night.)
I have a waterproof sheet I got for him but I'm not going to use it. I think he's more likely to get it stuck in fencing or something. They are checked at least twice daily and friend can see them in the distance from her house but it just worries me that he'd get stuck in the middle of the night and not found till morning.
They are alternating between two fields, every four weeks we lead them to the other field. The field they are in has a little wooded area and because the trees are in leaf it provides good shelter. Their other field has an old brick barn that they have access to as and when they like.
If he didn't have these good shelters I'd probably put the sheet on.
His mum was a really bad doer and couldn't live out at all without a feed once daily. He's looking well on just grass. Although it is very good grass and as I said because they are changing fields every four weeks it gives the grass a break and keeps it good all summer.
 
No rugs and a good balancer here with plenty of grass so I believe the recommended one is sure grow although I have always used top spec. I keep all my horses on a high protein, high fibre diet year round with as low carb and sugar level as possible works for foals to veterans.
Fibre is what keeps them warm so they shouldn't need rugs until you need them dry to ride
 
He only has a little shelter in the form of some overhanging trees, but apart from that not a lot else to escape the rain - in that case do you think a rain sheet is wise? I check him once a day and the girls from the yard go up and down to the paddocks at least twice a day but as you say, could easily get stuck in a fence overnight if he was being a monkey!
 
My three yearlings (well, not quite as they are all late foals) have wintered out and are still out naked with just a couple of heston straw bales for shelter. When it rains they get wet, then they dry out.
 
He'll be fine unrugged!
The agricultural red licks are the best ones for copper and are far cheaper than anything designed for horses. I'm actually feeding a copper supplement at the moment as the licks arent great in all this rain
 
Depends on wha type of horse he is - my yearling is 1/2 cob, 1/2 tb and feels the rain - he's fine with wind, or rain but not both together so if the forecast is dreadful he's getting a rainsheet on to keep his body dry (they have dips in the field and trees but no proper shelter) but if it's just going to be a bit wet then I'm not bothering.
Feed wise he gets a stud balancer and micronised linseed and is out on quite a lot of grass
 
Enif was always rugged with a no-fill waterproof sheet for rain. I'm not one for rugging for cold, but rain is pretty miserable!

I fed Enif on Simple Systems which has worked pretty well for him.

Hope that helps.
 
Never rugged a yearling in my life (and I used to run a stud farm in Colorado, where there is some serious Weather....), and only fed if they were thin (maybe 3 yearlings out of a couple of hundred over the years). Got a mineral salt lick as pastures were deficient and high molibdinem (SP?).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top