Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Feeding underweight colt

From: Lisa

Hello, Two weeks ago I purchased a 10 month old thoroughbred colt. I've owned horses in the past, and ridden most of my life, but I've never started this young before. The colt was abandoned by his former owner before he was even weaned. The mare was very malnourished. The colt is still underweight, but has slowly been improving over the past couple of months. I did have a vet check the colt before I bought him, and the vet thought he was in pretty good shape, other than being underweight.

Needless to say, I'm very concerned about nutrition. One person tells me to increase his protein, others tell me I will cause all kinds of problems if he grows too fast. Right now he gets 10% sweet feed twice a day, 1/2 cup of corn oil, and one scoop of Source Micronutrients and pretty much unlimited coastal hay. He also gets alfalfa cubes as "treats", probably 8-10 of them a day. I've been told that calf manna is a great supplement for youngsters like mine, but I don't know much about it, so I'm very hesitant. "Woody" loves his hay, but can be picky about his grain. There have been days when I stand in his paddock and hand feed it to him. Should I try something besides sweet feed? Do you think the calf manna might be a good addition or alternative?

The colt lives in a paddock by himself with a little shelter to protect him, other horses on two sides of his area, and of course, plenty of fresh water. He gets wormed every 8 weeks. I guess I'm basically looking for your advice on diet. I'm sure it is hard for you to say without seeing the colt, but I would definetely appreciate your opinion.

Thanks!!

Lisa

Hi Lisa! I think that what you really need to do is have your vet come out and look at the colt. He'll be able to give you good advice about a diet for this particular animal, based on what he sees and on what he knows about the colt's history.

If you also want my opinion, I would say that the colt needs more protein in his diet. Coastal hay is not known for being super-high in protein, and your colt isn't getting enough alfalfa to raise the total protein content in his diet by more than a tiny amount. A colt this age should normally be fed

Your vet can help you determine how much protein your colt is actually getting; you'll need to figure out how much is in the hay and how much is in the grain, and THEN how much is in the total feed. You'll also need to think about minerals -- especially the calcium- phosphorous balance. Your vet may recommend that you use a higher-protein grain mix, or that you offer the colt a complete pelleted or extruded feed designed for weanlings.

You don't mention salt -- I hope your colt has 24-hour access to a mineralized salt block.

The key to analyzing any horse's diet is information. You need to know what your colt NEEDS -- what his nutrient requirements are. You need to know which nutrients will damage him if fed in excessive amounts, and which will damage if fed in inadequate amounts. You need to know exactly what you are feeding him -- the nutrients present in what he's given to eat each day. And you need to know how MUCH of WHICH feed he needs to get the necessary nutrients.

I personally like Calf Manna, and I like Source, and I would offer free- choice feed to a colt that's fed alone, but there are always exceptions! Good basic feed is much more valuable to a horse than any supplements. Please talk to your vet about a comprehensive feeding program for your colt. We can all get in trouble if we try to create a program on our own, mixing this feed and that feed with this and that supplement. Even with the best intentions, and even if it costs us a lot of money, we can end up with an unhealthy young horse! Adding a vitamin/mineral supplement, for instance, can create an overdose of one vitamin or mineral, and a corresponding deficiency of another. And there are always many, many people who will give you advice that begins "What you want to do is...."

Well, what YOU want to do Fortunately there are feeds specifically designed for horses of all ages, so you and your vet should be able to make a plan that will let you feed your horse well without having to mix ten things together every morning!

Let me know what your vet says, and how your colt does, please!

- Jessica

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