young cob drinking lots of water and eating lots

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becca_lee

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I have a 2 year old, gelding, cob. standing at 14.1hh at the moment, ive had him since June 2013 we moved yard 3 months ago.

He drinks 1 and a half 40L flexi tubs a night, has 2 stuffed haynets and eats his straw bed.

im new to looking after a youngster and horses in general.

Is this normal?

thanks
 
That does seem like a lot of water to drink overnight. Has he got access to clean water during the day (and not guzzling when he comes in because he's really thirsty)?
Best way to be sure he's getting enough hay is to weigh him and your hay. Use a weightape for him and a cheap luggage scale for your hay. Assuming you're not feeding him anything other than grass and good quality hay (and straw!), aim to feed 2% of his bodyweight per day (eg if he weighs 400kg, he'll need about 8kg forage a day).
Is he up to date with worming?
As long as he's not got a worm problem and he's looking well I wouldn't worry too much, he's probably just having a growth spurt. My 2-year old is a food monster, never stops eating. Or growing! :-)
 
There are two big buckets in the field for 3 horses. He gets chaff plus mare and young stock morning and night. He's up to date with worming as he had trouble with that when the previous owner got him. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt
 
Have a look at the field buckets to see if there is anything getting into the water that is stopping the horse drinking freely in the field.

Last winter my yearlings were coming in thirsty and a check of their self filling field trough revealed a dead rat.
 
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