Hello everyone.
I have a just 3 year old Dutch Wb X filly and everyone I speak to is recommending that I stop giving her grain all together and feed only high quality hay.
(Thinking behind this is that grain makes the babies grow too quickly for their joints to keep up.)
I feed 4 cups of Fit and Fiber…
What grain do you feed your babies? Or do you at all?
Background: filly is on grass field most of the day with plenty of hay.
Very light u/s work.
She needs something else in addition to hay. There are several options out there such as Buckeye Gro N Win, Purina Enrich 12, and Nutrena Empower Balance to just name a few. I am not familiar with the Fit N’ Fibre, but it appears that it may also be suitable.
Right now, we are using Purina Enrich for our easy keepers but plan to switch over to Nutrena Empower Balance as soon as the feed store stocks it.
Yes I give grain, the amount depends on the body condition of each young horse.
Usually a 14% complete pellet mixed with a bit of beet pulp plus a scoop of the vitamin and mineral mix I feed.
My young horses live out in 3 sided shelters, pasture during the day during late spring, summer, and early fall …so the time of year changes how much they get.
I don’t let the youngsters get fat but I want the nutrition in them for growth and health.
Martha
Good grief, i can’t imagine NOT feeding grain to my youngsters, unless they were round and in good weight on just grass + hay, which has NEVER happened. Last year my gelding (who was 2 at the time) was out 24/7 on a huge, lush pasture with free choice hay as well, and he also got 5 lbs of Fit n Fibre and a quality vit/min supplement. With all that, he was just “ok” weight-wise, nice and lean.
I think you can overfeed them, for sure (i know people who have their youngsters on 10-12 lbs of grain a day to get them fattened up for line shows), but every horse is an individual. If your filly is in very good weight & round, then you may be able to take her off grain but make sure, as sj66 said, you give her some sort of ration balancer or vit/min supplement.
4 cups of FnF is nothing. My gelding (now 3 yr old) is still getting 4.5-5 lbs of Fit N Fibre, plus 2 cups of Flax Appeal, plus Nutrequin. And he’s STILL lean. 
Having them maintain their condition/weight on just grass seems ideal, but not everyone has the same quality pasture as others and most of the time it’s just not realistic.
Thank you both.
I am interested in the Gro n’ win… seems like a good mix.
Chart showing 1.5 LBs is appropriate for my filly’s weight, I just increased my filly’s feed from 2 cups to 4 cups(2lbs) but she is starting to really pack on the pounds too quickly.
Should I cut her back or is it the type of grain? (feeding fit and fiber).
Thank you ASB.
It is beneficial to hear an opinion from a fellow Fit & fiber feeder.
I have fed ration balancers since 1999. Currently, I use Buckeye Gro N Win, supplemented with Buckeye Cadence Ultra for those that need extra calories. They also get free choice Buckeye minerals - Grass Mineral and Harvest Salt and good quality grass hay. The amount of Gro N Win fed depends on the horse’s age, stage of growth or gestation/ lactation and activity level, but the basic building blocks of the feeding program do not vary.
I also advocate feeding concentrates to youngsters – generally through their 3rd year.
Maybe later, but that depends.
I have little pasture, so all my horses get hay 24/7/365. I am lucky that I have a supplier of very nice quality hay, both grass mix and straight alfalfa. I usually work it so my youngsters also get at least 5 lbs of the alfalfa
I don’t feed one “brand” – I mix my own. Ingredients vary for age of horse, etc., but for the average WB youngster age 2-3, it would be beet pulp, rolled oats, a Puriena product called “Country Acres Sweet”, which is a fortified COB in a pelleted form; 12% protein. Plus I add a fat product – either a rice bran pelleted product called “Satin Finish” or veg. oil. Lastly, a multi-vit formulated for this area. For the first 2 years I feed a joint/bone supplement called “OCD Pellets.”
Soak all in hot tap water. Stir & feed. Yummmmmm:D
Oh, yeah – forgot: a small handful of loose salt. Hot sauce to taste (kidding).
Amt. varies on horse/age/my eye, etc. Min is 3 lbs (total) max is usually 9 lbs (total) with up to 2+ cups of veg. oil.
I have a two year old that I have a hard time keeping the right weight. He is out on pasture and is just an easy keeper. Products with high protein, like the Power Balance are hard to find. Always struggling to give him the right nutrition without having him overweight. Also he is being treated for ulcers. I have read that the pelleted food can aggravate ulcers so I am using alfa alfa pellets (which are around 18% protein) because of the Ca and the healing effects. Adding mineral and vit.
Anyone else have suggestions on how to make sure he is getting everything or what may be missing?
There is nothing wrong in itself with feeding only a good quality hay or pasture ALONG WITH a good mineral supplement.
You need to make sure she maintains a healthy weight (a tad on the lean side for growing horses, which she isn’t so much anymore as a 4 year-old) and receives all the required minerals and vitamins. If hay does the trick weight-wise, no need to feed anything else than a good ration balancer. Even still, if she is gaining weight, a simple mineral supplement (without the added protein and fat) will do the trick and fit her needs.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution. You need to meet her needs appropriately, and that may or may not include grain, but it will be based on a good quality hay. 
I also feed Gro n win, and have been very happy with it.
Most WB youngsters are still actively growing at 3 to 4 years of age, so for them it is very important to have a balanced mineral ration. This is the time when they’re adding some bone and muscle mass as they’re filling out. Warmbloods continue to grow well into their 6 or 7-year-old years, so once they hit 4.5 to 5 years of age, I then take them off the Growth Formula and switch them over to a General Adult Complete Feed extruded pellet, but continue to mix in balanced minerals on top of it.
So, for a 3 year old, what has worked for me is, if she’s on the too-lean side, mix in the minerals into a high quality extruded Growth Feed. But, if she’s not overly lean and is holding well on good grass and/or hay, then just make sure she gets adequate balanced minerals daily. You don’t want her fat and alternatively you don’t want a bone rack either. You should be able to easily see the ribs when she takes a deep breath, or alternative easily feel the ribs under her skin. But if she has bony prominences sticking out for her hips and the skin sags between the ribs then she’s a bit too lean.
I feed all my youngsters a ration balancer-- no additional supplements, but adjust hay type as needed.
Feeding a horse isn’t based on what someone else is doing
It’s about what that horse needs based on his age, weight, amount of work, and more factors.
Growing horses need more nutrition than adults. Hard working horses need more nutrition than idle horses.
I would not be feeding a growing horse hay-only unless it was just fan-freakin-tastic hay per testing.
Easy keepers could get away with a ration balancer. VERY easy keepers might need a v/m product with added amino acids and a low-calorie carrier (as well as maybe being muzzled on grass LOL). Harder keepers can benefit from at least the minimally recommended amounts of food that’s appropriate for their age or needs, such as a Growth formula for this 3yo.
Learn to separate nutrition from calories and treat each as they need to be treated. Easier keepers, regardless of age, need more nutrient-dense forms of calories (like a ration balancer) and maybe also restricted calories, while harder keepers (or in hard work) need more calories as well as more nutrition.
My Balta Czar X TB mare, just coming 4 yrs, was OBESE on - literally a handful of beetpulp and maybe 1 cup of strategy and another handful of rice bran- (Once a day) = total, soaked - maybe 2 qts; mostly water. She then spent 4 days at my vet clinic in May in the process of being bred - where she got nothing but high quality grass hay. She came back looking better than I have ever seen her- shiny, in perfect weight. Hard to believe the little bit of grain she was getting was contributing to her {ahem} rotund stature, but I took her off the grain and she is continuing to look like a million bucks. Nothing but hay. So figure that one out! I guess they’re all different. My andalusian filly is not quite the easy keeper that my Balta Czar mare is.
My just 4 yr old Westporte mare only eats a handful of grain and good quality hay. Very easy keeper, looks fat and shiny with a nice topline. She’s ridden about 4-5 days a week hacking and some light jumping. She didn’t really eat much grain as a 3 yr old either but she was living in a field then.
While she is growing, feed her enought to have the energy to do what you need her to do and enough feed to keep her ribs lightly covered but not so covered (the ribs) that you have to go feeling hard for them or have the divot on the top of the rump that says “obese/overweight”.
You do not have to feed exactly what the feed bag says. If most did follow the feed bag recommendations, there would be alot of obese, ocd or epiphsytis cases, more than one could imagine.
I feed according to rib coverage, I want to just barely feel them or look at their sides and see the hint of them. But not drawn in the flank.
All of my youngsters get a ration balancer (the Purina Enrich), free choice orchard grass hay and good pasture. The foals also get a supplement called Conformaid, which promotes healthy bone and joint development.
Fat youngsters need calorie reductions, NOT nutritional reductions.
[QUOTE=JB;5644067]
Fat youngsters need calorie reductions, NOT nutritional reductions.[/QUOTE]
very much agree, but it can be a challenge getting the good stuff in, having food available all the time (for the ulcer prone animal) and not having an overweight horse. Grass is hard to test because it varies so much, but yet it is very healthy for them. Moisture content can vary so much.
I could not find a local product that is concentrated enough so I have bought most of the “necessities” and mixed my own recently. The trick is not to miss something important. I would rather prefer a hard keeper, hell I wish I was a hard keeper. I can barely drink all the beer I need for required B-complex.
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