by Ruth » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:31 pm
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I am no feed expert, and if you are lucky maybe Jakesterd who is an animal nutritionist will be able to help you, but:#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#First get your hay/pasture analysed, that is the bulk of what your horses eat anyway, and unless you know what's in that you don't know what you need to add.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I keep my youngsters on the thin side too. We just had to wean the WB filly at 4 months due to rapid growth issues. She has had nothing but hay and a half cup of Optimal 2X day for the last 3 weeks, and yes, she looks a little Ethiopian, but her tendons and ligaments have now had a chance to catch up to her bones. Her front pasterns are now at a more normal angle and her joints are nice and cool. I have now added a handful of Juvenile Development, and will increase that gradually.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I have my own question while on this subject. I do need to do hay analysis myself for this year, and this issue is aways off, I need some help with ideas about feeding the mother of the aforementioned foal.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#This foal was born with 2 contracted tendons and a varus angulus, all of which have resolved nicely, but this was due to the fact she was quite a big foal out of a 15.2hh mare. I bought the mare when she was in foal, so did not choose the stallion, who is over 17hh. The foal due next year is by a smaller stallion. I did not overfeed this mare at the end of her pregnancy, in fact by the time she was hitting the last trimester she would not eat much grain, and by the end of the pregnancy wouldn't eat grain at all. I didn't have the hay analysed last year, but typically the protein content has been around 11-12% from the same producer.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#So I'm trying to figure out what to feed her to result in a healthy, but not so large, foal. Preventing OCD is my prime concern, and I am not interested in her having huge babies, size is not a big concern for me, but health is.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#