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Post by cassie30 on Aug 7, 2009 8:52:05 GMT
Well said.
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Post by cassie30 on Aug 7, 2009 10:27:54 GMT
fox111 there are many showing yards like that im afraid. More ponies who are keopt in off grass who have lammy. You obviously care very much for your ponies, that is clear. Good luck with yours, maybe not the way i would do it, but no you probably wont kill them. Cassie.
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Post by cassie30 on Aug 7, 2009 10:38:30 GMT
I think we all do, well most of us, the thing is everyone has different ideas and my idea's are more of the old fashioned sort! All of ours do well without huge feeds, additives or being dragged around, i do feel very strongly about letting them have their time as babies and it will provide a better foundation than too much human intervention at an early age. I know it may seem a strange example, but look at MIchael Jackson! what happened to him, he had his childhood taken from him and i have seen the same with many ponies!
odd thing to say but completely true!
again good luck, im sure your's will do well for you in the future and for your daughter.
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Post by honeypot on Aug 9, 2009 10:40:56 GMT
I know its really hard with horses and ponys as they do as youngsters get really gangly and out of proportion. Its just infortuate that judges place youngsters that look like mature animals. It a bit like expecting a five year old boy and a 13 year old boy to have the same body as a man of 22. I love youngsters but I have accepted that for at least 3 years they are going to look c**p. They go to one or two shows a year as part of their education, I am just happy if they behave and we have a nice day, the rossete means very little. Lets be honest most of us knows our stocks faults. They are backed relatively late, live out as much as possible and all see to turn out balanced individuals who go on to be working animals We are now so lucky to have feed nutrietionstlists so if I think I have a problem I ring one and listen to their advice, if you don't agree with it, ring two. Of course they want to sell their food but so what. My friend has a 18month old TB in training, they are a very different animal!! Its hacking out thru Newmarket on the High Street and being preped for racing yet 4mths ago they had to herd it on the lorry as it had not been handled.Its still got some growing to do but looks almost adult. Perhaps I am odd but if my yearling had no sparkle I would be glad it was quiet and if you really think there is something abnormal I would get a vet, and get it blood tested and that would sort out wether it needed extra vits or not.
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magrat2002
Full Member
Life is not a rehearsal
Posts: 372
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Post by magrat2002 on Aug 9, 2009 11:49:38 GMT
I have a 13hh coloured 2year old.....as a yearling she wintered out (without rugs) and the grass was supplemented right at the end of the winter with a bale of haylage for ad lib feeding. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to tolerate any cereal products...it gives her projectile poos!!!! And I have tried various pro-biotics etc! She was brought in from grass on 3rd August and on 4th August (following copious washing, trimming etc) she achieved her second First Premium as a Sports Pony with the BEF Futurity Youngstock evaluations at Myerscough. She gained one last year as a yearling michaelgarton.jalbum.net/Futurity/Myerscough/Tarnbrook%20Tickled%20Pink/slides/Tarnbrook%20Tickled%20Pink-12.htmlShe doesn't have faultless conformation and no amount of feeding is going to alter that...But I think it just highlights what can be achieved without the need for "hard" feeding.
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Post by fox111 on Aug 9, 2009 19:35:32 GMT
took yearling out to first party today and behave perfectly so now turning away (guess what judge said! you prob gauessed more topline!! i replied yearlings dont get topline they get fat, anyway i like the way they are now, they look healthy and well and wont be fattening them up!!) but will prob have a rug on and will continuing giving them their vits but may turn onto a feed balancer now until grass gets poor come feb.
I think if you yearling looks like it needs feeding, feed it if you prefer not to dont. if you like them educated early do it etc etc im sure alot of ponies do come straight of the mountains and become fab ponies. But there will be ones who would have benefited from earlier education every pony is different and frankly do what you want if everybody did their babies the same we wouldnt have alot of good ones. I dont have a problem how you bring your yearlings/ponies on but i do what i think my yearlings will benefit from.
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Post by sweetsweetpea on Aug 12, 2009 14:07:39 GMT
thanks for all comments when i got her she was very poor in a bad way so i have just built it up slowly but am going to turn her away now - and in reply to comments i always have been a believer in treating babies like babies but prob should have explained she was in a bit of a mess when i got her so she did need a bit extra not so lucky like some of yours ! will post some pics as well .
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Post by jenwalsh on Aug 14, 2009 14:18:20 GMT
i have a similair question as sweetsweetpea but it doesnt really warrant starting a new thread, is it ok if i piggyback onto this one ssp? I will receiving delivery of my new weanling Sec D colt in October and im not sure what/if to feed him? i have tried reading up on it but there are so many conflicting views it gets very confusing he will be stabled at night and out from approx 5.30am till 5.00pm, the field he will be in wont have the best grass in it as its the geldings field and unfortunatly they are all fatties so it has been strip grazed and is pretty low (however i may have access to the other side of the field which has just been cut for hay so should have anice growth come October) now i have heard that weanlings will drop weight when being weaned and it is important to provide what they need in order to re-establish themselves so what is best to feed him that i can continue with over the winter, i do not want him to be pumped full of feed or a hundred different supplements. i have heard that natives are best to be fed a basic fibre diet with an all round supplement? would this do the job? ETA he has one show to go to at the end of October (depending on how the weaning is going) and one in November thanks Jen oh and modified to add, what is your opinions on feeding haylage? or is it best with hay?
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Post by Guestless on Aug 17, 2009 14:12:37 GMT
I think simple is best jenwalsh. My youngstock are fed a good feed balancer (great way of feeding the required vitamins and minerals in low volume) and then diet is topped up if necessary (usually alfa-a and sugar beet are all that I require to add). I'm a great believer in feeding by eye - if the pony needs more condition, then I feed accordingly, and add cool conditioning cubes or Copra meal. Haylage is great as long as it's made properly and usually means you don't need to top up the hard feed very much at all (especially if haylage is ad lib).
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Post by greynag on Aug 18, 2009 8:48:58 GMT
As Guestless says, keep it simple but make sure you feed a decent quality feed. My yearling gets a balancer, small handful of hifi to bulk it out and Red Mills cubes. I also add in a little smidge of Pink Powders to keep his tummy right and help condition. He is looking fab at the moment and I am actually cutting back a little! This is him at 13 months...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2009 16:23:00 GMT
my youngstock are handled at weaning time- then allowed to be babies, running in groups with a mineral block, they are wormed regularly; When they are 3- I get them in from the fields and make a start breaking etc- I take an odd one or two to shows, but not all of them, they go on to make super childrens ponies and are doing ok in the show ring- I have done this for 30 yrs, they do get an odd hard feed in winter when the weather is rough, they also have a handful of topsec feed balancer almost every day- it helps with the skeletal growth. They have big bale hay in feeders in winter too.
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serz
Junior Member
Posts: 194
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Post by serz on Aug 19, 2009 20:02:10 GMT
Hi. I have atwo year old sec d, which we brought at weaning. In his first winter he was fed alpha a and youngsock pellets and ad lib haylage. To be a shown as a yaerling we added topspec feedbalancer to his diet and subsistuted the youngstock pellets for baileys number four conditioning cubes.He only did 6 shows as we dont believe in overshowing youngsters, and he was never out of the top two. May i add that he was still a colt at this point. This year as a two year old gelding he is fed alpha a, topspec balancer and spillers horse and pony cubes. His results speak for themselves, he is unbeaten this season, and we are continuosly being asked when he is going to broken, he looks that mature. Hope this helps x
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Post by fox111 on Aug 24, 2009 21:31:01 GMT
just swopped my onto hayledge as having to be in at night due to getting bales in aahhh! but dont need to feed anything else look fab, ablib and just a balancer for growth. what a difference.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Aug 25, 2009 7:41:50 GMT
Jenwash - the first essential for any horse is the fibre source, ie grass/good hay/haylage/alfalfa ad lib, unless the animal gets too fat on what is given when it should be restricted but should never drop too low as fibre is needed for efficient gut function. Then a good quality balancer to make sure all essential micronutrients are supplied in suitable quantities, then only if required a further calorie source in the form of conditioning cubes, sugarbeet (preferably unmolassed) or oil in some form or other. Cereal is best avoided for natives (read the bag labels!) as it can cause laminitis if fed in too high quantities, and can predispose them to insulin resistance and metabolic problems.
Balancers are formulated to give a balanced range of vits, mins and essential amino acids. Giving supplements of single or few ingredients can upset the whole diet as they do interact - in some cases over supply of one mineral can block absorption of others so I prefer to leave the formulation to experts and always use balancers! Unless directed by the vet of course, which would be after blood tests to establish if/what problems there may be.
Cubes and mixes are formulated with added vits and mins, but unless feeding the full recommended amount of these, which those of us with natives seldom need to do, they will be going short of vits and mins which is where balancers come into their own.
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Post by sugarplum on Sept 11, 2009 19:39:14 GMT
My fell babies are on forage, grass in the summer, grass and meadow hay in the winter, along with ad lib access to Horslyx in order to fully meet their daily requirements! They seem to do perfect on it.
After all that is what horses are designed for, eating forage for 16 -18 hours a day. Maybe we ask a little too much of them, i.e. more topline, more height etc. We have evolved our feed practices... someone should tell the horses' gut!
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Post by welshdcaramello on Oct 21, 2009 14:46:47 GMT
my yearling has just been re-introduced hard feed (welsh d yearling) coming into winter, summer just grazing but good grazing, his grazing is now limited as I'm stabling at night so he is having haylage and a small scoop of young stock Allen&page as well as safe and sound chaff and a scoop of global herbs young stock supplement. I buy herbs for all mine that are given daily, including nettles, raspberry leafs etc this helps for each breed if you look up there natural environment and what they would forage. HELEN WINGSTEADT is a health and performance consultant in Wales, I have used her as well as a friend. She isn't cheap BUT the results are amazing! I'm in cambridgshire and had no links to her but she has made 3 ponies of mine incredible and my friends horse diagnosed with blindness to the eye by a vet she now has clear vision. Its not just feed that effects yearling's weight or any horses weight its environment etc as well. She does telephone consultations and will come out for more money, try and call her as it will make an amazing difference and you will understand your horses needs far more then you will imagine. I am one of those that doesn't believe until see it for myself and ignore advise and learn the hard way so when I recommend a specific product or person I mean it works. she might even tell you to stop feed all together and start again as you may be causing more problems then helping. www.helenwingstedt.com/Helen, got my sec a (that was told by the vet he had to be uthernised) on her program and he is now off competing healthy and looking better then he ever had if she hadn't been introduced to me and my horses I would of lost my pony! she will save horses life's and those that don't need saving she will repair! My other pony had problem putting weight on his bum it was pathetic and looked horrible, no work or feed helped he would build up upfront but lacked always behind she diagnosed a kidney infection and I bough her herbal program he is a solid all round lad now and has no problems keeping the weight on even after the herb was finished! up to you guys but for a youngster worth every penny for her opinion. x
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Post by intsrt on Oct 21, 2009 21:13:25 GMT
My yearling is fed baileys prep mix, stud balancer, and outshine along with handful of apple chaff and she looks amazing. also attitude to die for , i can brush her with a plastic bag and she doesnt care, have had bags flapping over face, under belly and she doesnt bat an eye lid.
she is pba to make hack/srt.
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Post by kerryo on Dec 17, 2009 23:27:29 GMT
HI, I would recommend that you email top spec, tell them all the info regarding your youngster and they will get back to you with the best recommend feed. I did the same with my TB/Sec D and they advised me what to feed him and it has worked a treat, they also send you information packs out so you have all the relevant information needed. Hope this helps
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