Feeding my yearling (pic included)?

Question

I feed my 14 month old paint gelding 3lbs of omolene 300 growth and 2 flakes of coastal 2x a day. He is a good weight, just enough to see a 2-3 ribs when he's moving. He is 14.HH at the wither and 14.2 3/4HH at the croup. Based on what he looks like do you think i'm feeding him enough? Is his body weight good for his age and size?

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o51/Kdooo/100_4993.jpg

Answer 1

he looks fine to me

Answer 2

Wow! he looks great. Wish my weanling looked that good...

Wish I could buy Omolene... wish I lived in your country... but thats another story! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Good Luck with your horse.. he is big for 14hh - what do you think he will eventually be? Just curious.... :-)

Answer 3

he looks good to me

congrats with your horse and i hope to see u and him on the trails in the future

Answer 4

Hey !

This is the same gelding you asked about his legs and height....stop worrying girl!  You've got a nice youngster there!

He's good - not too fat, not too thin.

Omolene is a good all-round feed.  Horses can't do poorly with too much hay as long as it's grassy - alfalfa is too high a protein content to feed a lot of.  But if you've got access to good grass hay, he can't hurt from getting a flake more.

I've always fed mine 2 flakes grass morning and evening - I've raised 'em on Omolene and Strategy.  They've done well - much better than when I fed straight "sweet" feed.  My vet told me last year he thought feeding Strategy was a needless waste of money.  when I asked what he thought would be better, he said Omolene or another well put together feed, but not a feed put together by the local mill - too high fat/starch/sugar content.  so I checked it out - come to find out Omolene was 2 bucks more a bag than Strategy.  

I switched my horses - even my yearling filly - to Strategy about 5-6 years ago.  I found the riding age ones were calmer and less antsy on the Strategy due to lowered starch content - taking away the molasses was like taking the kid off the candy and pop.  I have heard people with great success using Nutrena's Safe Choice as well - it's proven to have all the stuff they need, only the amount of starch they need and a safe feed for all types of horses.

If you find you're guy is a little more hyper or energetic than you like, you might try switching to a lower starch pelleted feed - but do it gradually, not just a quick switch overnight.  (Not sure how knowledgeable about feeds you are).

Keep coming back from time to time - it'll be interesting to see what he looks like at 2 and 3....

Good luck!

Answer 5

He looks very healthily to me. He looks like he at the weight he should be at. You don't want to over feed the youngsters, because it can lead to many other health problems in the long run. I think he looks great!

Answer 6

He looks good.  Not sure how much your flakes weigh but we figure 1 lb of hay for 100 lbs of horse adding a bit of pasture is thin, heavy work or breeding/growing.

Answer 7

I think is enough.

Answer 8

How many times are you going to post this picture of your yearling???? You have asked this same question at least 5 times in the last month, Like we have all said a million times...hes just in an awkward stage, hes not swaybacked and he just growing.........Im not sure what answer you are looking for???? What do you want us to say that has not already been said.......this question is just getting annoying.

Answer 9

For 14 months he looks fantastic!!! You have no weight issues to worry about with him by the looks of things.  I wouldnt be concerned.  Generally, yearlings and 2 yr olds are typically ribby anyways, in a healthy way.  They grow so fast so their metabolism is relatively quick.  Anyways, he looks great! :)

Answer 10

He looks good, but that's alot of grain be careful overfeeding a young horse can be devastating.

Plenty of hay, is better than all that grain at this age.

I feed my know 5 yr old 3 flakes in am and 3 flakes in pm and about 1 # grain Growth Purina twice daily, she did great and no health problems.

Answer 11

He looks good - you don't want a youngster too fat because if they overload on starch it can cause serious joint problems.

If he grows anything like our 2 year old then he will be a big boy (depends on the parents height as well) but the best gauge for how much food he needs is how much of his ribs you can see to make sure he is getting enough and aswell as getting fat if he gets too much he will become a handful to manage.

He certainly looks like you're doing a good job with him. The only thing I would say is if you have access to a field thats on a reasonable hill, preferablly with a little rough ground then his butt muscles will develop very well and he will also learn about picking his feet up and not tripping which will make him much better for trail riding etc. Our 2 year old went into a field like this about 4 months ago and he has muscled up beautifully since going in there.

Keep up what you're doing.

Answer 12

Your doing awesome and that's a good amount. BTW Hels very cute!

Answer 13

I'd say he looks perfect.  Yearlings and 2 year olds should look lean.  You want to be able to just see their ribs.  If anything I would add more hay and exchange the grain for some Strategy pellets.

Answer 14

I think he's fine.

Answer 15

As long as you're covering all the bases in terms of nutrition/vitamins/minerals, and he is maintaining his weight (not losing)..you're doing just fine. If he does start to lose, you can tweek his rations accordingly, adding more feed until he begins to maintain again.  My 2 year old STB filly is what I call a "hard keeper" and I've found that adding a little bit extra to her rations and maybe a bit of wheat-germ oil/corn oil helps to keep the weight on her.

Answer 16

Yes that is plenty for a horse his age. That is actually a good amount, if you want to add a little more flakes then this would be okay.

P.S. - His adorable. :) !

Hope i helped.