youngsters - how do you keep them?

SeasonalSituation

SeasonalSituation

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Well as some of you may have noticed I may have the chance to buy a 6 month old purebreed Arab, I've really fallen for her so far but have no definate answer at the moment.

Being my first youngster I just want to know what peoples monthly cost are?

How much/little did you do with them?

Grass kept/stabled?

Herd/1 companion? (if herd with youngsters or established older horses?)

Rugged/naked?

Feed?

What sort of insurance and price do you have?

This is all for a horse from 6 months till 1 year. I have my own answers for most of them on how I'd keep her just wondered what everyone else's are like?

As always your the beat HHO! :D
 
At 6 months my youngster was turned out with his sister who is a year older, their mother and my mini Shettie. The Shettie was and still is his best buddy (he's 2 now). I like to turn babies out in a mixed herd where possible even if it's only a small one, they have younger ones to play with and older ones to keep them in line :) He was turned out from approx 8am-5pm over his first winter, the same as all my ponies. He had a lightweight turnout rug but he only had it on if the weather was particularly unpleasant (he is Welsh A /Shettie so naturally hairy). I did very little with him at that age. He had basic handling, he would lead sensibly, I groomed him/picked his feet out, he would behave himself for the farrier/ to be wormed etc but nothing beyond the basics at that age.
 
My youngsters all live out. They are segregated into year herds, so the weanlings are all together, the yearlings are all together, the two year olds are all together etc etc I do not mix age-groups at this stage, and particularly would never have older youngsters in with weanlings as they are often way to rough and tumble for the little ones. All my youngstock herds have at least 2 mature horses living permanently with them.

Mine are fed adlib hay, a good balancer and have 24 hour access to big barns for when the weather is not nice. I rug all of my youngsters right from weanling age, not so much because they need rugging but because I like to start their "training" over periods of years and I find that rugging them is a positive desensitizing practice.

All of my youngsters have spent time in stables. That is something they learn quite early on however I do not like youngsters under 3 years old being routinely stabled for large parts of 24 hour periods. I like them to live out and be able to exercise and have the option to play and cavort like the youngsters they are.

Presumably you are talking about insuring for vet fees, if so I do not insure any of my horses, young or old for this.
 
My 6 month old weanling is out by day and in by night..she is turned out with my two other horses.My 17hh ID has taken her under his wing and looks after her and teaches her what to and not to do..The filly has a rug on (weather has been atrocious)..As for handling she came to me untouched but is now able to be groomed,led and feet picked up and touched all over..Other than a few youngstock classes next year she will not do anything else other than chilling..
 
2 cob yearlings, great friends together and love to play and be handled. Still prefer grass to hay, so up to know as have own field, cost has been public liabiity insurance, farrier and small amount of hard feed, no rugs and field has shelter so out all time at present, not sure what I will do if we have bad snow, have the option to bring in.

No rugs, as advised they are better developing natural coats at their age. However have spent quite a lot on improving fencing as they are very curious like all youngsters and try out everything they can.
 
sitch said:
Well as some of you may have noticed I may have the chance to buy a 6 month old purebreed Arab, I've really fallen for her so far but have no definate answer at the moment.

Being my first youngster I just want to know what peoples monthly cost are?

How much/little did you do with them?

Grass kept/stabled?

Herd/1 companion? (if herd with youngsters or established older horses?)

Rugged/naked?

Feed?

What sort of insurance and price do you have?

This is all for a horse from 6 months till 1 year. I have my own answers for most of them on how I'd keep her just wondered what everyone else's are like?

As always your the beat HHO! :D
Click to expand...


It depends what you want to do with her?.
My yard includes a stable with the price so hes in at winter and out from late spring. I find the feed is the most expensive as they need good youngstock feed or balancer to help with them when growing and i find the bags of mix never seem to last long :( I show mine so i have him rugged most of the year untill the nicer weather in the summer and then he is rugless even though he is perfectly capable of living without a rug (Hes a cob!) but thats my choice. I kept him with one other horse at first till he settled, then introduced him to the big boys and theres about 7 of them from oldies to 9years olds he is the youngest. and i think this has been a great thing for him as they put him in his place and teach him manners within the herd. I handle him daily, groom, and do bits and bobs in the school with him ( playwise ) and every so often i walk him out in traffic sometimes with others and sometimes by himself. Most people would turn away but im glad i didnt because i think they can become attached to the horses they are around and then it can cause a fuss when you try to seperate them. but thats some not all.
Last thing buying a youngster was the best thing i done watching him change has been amazing and he knows me a mile off. its a nice relef when you see what an achivement you have done. good luck hope all goes well :D:D
 
Thanks for the information everyone it has helped!

She would be my first youngster and I really like her breeders so far they seem in it for the home not so much the money. I'd keep her mainly at grass until next year within a herd obviously and just doing very basic here and there with her. Aiming for inhand as a yearling as her parents have done very successful in the show ring.
 
We have two here, mine will be 2 next summer & there's a 6 month old colt. The colt lives with two older geldings, who he gets on with very well & they keep him in line when needs be. The filly is turned out with one other, a gelding, who tends to be a bit of a bully but she has turned that around quite quick - she's a tough little gal! The filly is unrugged unless the weather is horrid, the colt has a turnout on. Filly gets a handful of chaff & balancer, colt is on an array of hard feed & supplements. Both are stabled at night, purely due to having the place flood and only being able to use one field at the moment for turnout. (The filly I own, colt belongs to a livery)
 
sitch said:
Well as some of you may have noticed I may have the chance to buy a 6 month old purebreed Arab, I've really fallen for her so far but have no definate answer at the moment.

Being my first youngster I just want to know what peoples monthly cost are?

How much/little did you do with them?

Grass kept/stabled?

Herd/1 companion? (if herd with youngsters or established older horses?)

Rugged/naked?

Feed?

What sort of insurance and price do you have?

This is all for a horse from 6 months till 1 year. I have my own answers for most of them on how I'd keep her just wondered what everyone else's are like?

As always your the beat HHO! :D
Click to expand...




I don't have a youngster anymore, but when I did, aged 6 months to rising 2...

How much did I do...

walking on roads in hand several times a week, teaching him to walk and trot correctly in hand, bombproofing around traffic, tractors, trains, teaching him to stand, to be tied up, to pick feet up, to accept have ears and sheath area touched, to move away from pressure against his side and to move over, to walk through puddles...


He was grass kept, except over 1 winter when I stabled him, partly to get him used to the idea of being stabled and to help to tame him!


He lived with at least 1 companion at any one time, sometimes more, always older. I would have loved another youngster for him to have played with. Mares and geldings taught him different social lessons, I found.


He was naked for the first winter; I rugged the second partly because I was no longer stabling and I once found him shivering after terrible gale and was unable to bring him inside... so after that a lightweight went on. Also, I thought it was good practise for later life.


Feed: I feed NAF stud and youngstock powdered supplement... I found actual youngstock feeds too calorific for natives!

Insurance: I had him insured with NFU. I think it was around 20 pounds p/month.
 
Being a breeder I have the advantage of a number of weanlings to care for. When first weaned (about now) They're grouped up into small groups (2-3) and are in at night in a BIG stable. Out by day. Apart from leading and picking feet up, they get very little handling - they need to learn to be independent little horses first!

Feeding: ad lib haylage and a small ration of Bailey's Stud Balancer twice a day! In the spring they'll go out - one group of colts (until they're gelded) and one group of fillies! They'll be brought in every 8 weeks for the farrier - and worming - but otherwise ...
 
sitch said:
Well as some of you may have noticed I may have the chance to buy a 6 month old purebreed Arab, I've really fallen for her so far but have no definate answer at the moment.

Being my first youngster I just want to know what peoples monthly cost are?

How much/little did you do with them?

Grass kept/stabled?

Herd/1 companion? (if herd with youngsters or established older horses?)

Rugged/naked?

Feed?

What sort of insurance and price do you have?

This is all for a horse from 6 months till 1 year. I have my own answers for most of them on how I'd keep her just wondered what everyone else's are like?

As always your the beat HHO! :D
Click to expand...

I got my first youngsters 5 days ago! They are almost five months and shetlands so a bit cheaper to keep than a bigger horse...

At the moment they get handled a lot, but are very nervous so all they are doing at the moment is learning the basics - picking up feet, leading, going backwards, tieing up etc.

They are stable kept at the moment, purely because they are terrified of being in the field and I can't catch them! But when they are better they will be our all day and in at night.

Unrugged, their coats are well over an inch thick!! They are with just each other.

They have a bit of hi -fi/pony nuts at night with a vit/min supplement.

All new to me so this thread is interestign!! :)
 
Very interesting to see the similarties between how people keep there youngsters.

I'm getting excited, any ideas what price Id be looking at paying for the things I'd need to buy to start with also?
 
I have a 2yo and a 3yo. Both are kept out 24/7 (since weaning), un-rugged and have a hay ring. They are brothers and stay with another 2 youngsters and an elderly gelding. They have their feet trimmed regularly and are well handled. The 3yo will load himself and the 2yo is still learning. Both have had the dentist fiddle with their mouths and had all their other bits fiddled with by me :) Neither are given any feed etc

They have had rugs on, been walked in hand and had an assortment of tack on. The 3 yo has been lightly backed and will continue his education in February.

Insured with KBIS for about £20 each per month.

:D
 
We've been very lucky because we found a place locally where our youngsters could be out 24/7 in a stable herd of other babyponies with our older more dominant horse for company/discipline. So they've lived like that since they arrived with us. The purebred youngster is rugged and fed but the partbred isn't and just lives off grass, hay and vitamin biscuits.
 
Mine (hanoverian x tb x ish) were kept out 24/7, with a turnout on with no filling during the winter. Kept with another youngster and an old unshod semi-retired horse. I would never turn them out with anything that was shod. Fed plenty of hay, and baileys stud balancer. Insurance is with SEIB - for the value I put on them I was told that in the event of a claim I would have to justify the value that I put on them.
 
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