Feeding a yearling

[CanteringCarrot]

I’ll be having a yearling (1.5 yrs old) shipped over to the US in a few weeks, and I’m wondering how and what to feed him.

Currently he’s on a growth pellet here, and I would think that I want to keep him on a growth formula and maybe switch over to a ration balancer as he gets closer to 3.

I’m having trouble choosing feed for him though. BO will feed what I order/provide. It’s been ages since I’ve kept a horse in the US, and I primarily fed Blue Seal and Triple Crown back then.

What I don’t want to do is pay $$$ for feeds that are primarily soy and wheat. Here we have some great forage based feeds, with good quality ingredients.

The youngster is a PRE, so could be more prone to being an easy keeper (my other one wasn’t an air fern or an that easy of a keeper), and I’m not sure how much to be cautious about the NSC or just sugar levels with a youngster. Normally I feed a very low NSC or low sugar diet. I did feed oats when my last one was in work though.

It looks as though Purina, Nutrena, and Triple Crown are available, and maybe some others, but here I can order feed from any brand online and have it delivered, so I’d think it would be similar in the US?

Anyway, what are some good growth formula feeds over there?

[Arlomine]

I’ve had excellent results with triple crown senior (or senior gold, I believe a little lower NSC)

Since I was not feeding the full volume by weight to achieve ideal vitamins/minerals Content, I fed some Triple Crown balancer gold, and some of the senior gold. I called the company and asked about the proportions by weight for my colt, and this has worked out very well for me.

[CanteringCarrot]

I’m really not impressed with the ingredients in Triple Crown Growth, but if it works and horses do well on it, who am I to say. It’s possibly just different than what I’m used to.

I was also considering mixing in a ration balancer because I don’t anticipate him eating a “full serving” based off of what he’s fed now.

[JB]

how many pounds of the Growth feed?

There’s no reason to wait until 3 to switch to a ration balancer - the decision should be based on calorie needs, not age

I’m not a fan of the current TC Growth formula. They increased the oats, and therefore the NSC, to accommodate their large TB racing community who needed more energy for their young horses in work

But TC Sr is nearly identical to the old Growth formula and makes a GREAT young horse feed for those who need those calories.

TC Sr Gold still has soy.

@CanteringCarrot

I’m really not impressed with the ingredients in Triple Crown Growth

what specifically don’t you like?

[CanteringCarrot]

It’s got oats, molasses, soy, and wheat, basically, and normally I don’t feed oats to non working horses, I don’t like molasses for these types (PRE’s are usually easy keepers and more prone to metabolic issues) and soy has made my last two hallucinate (ok, dramatic, but it’s like someone flipped a spooky horse light switch). This one might be fine with soy, and maybe I need to open my mind a bit

Perhaps I should start with a ration balancer and go from there? Add if he needs it. Or should I start with the growth first and see how that goes?

I was fine with my adult horses, but I’m apparently being a bit extra with this one.

[JB]

Molasses without context is a useless measure of quality Normally, TC Sr has an NSC of 11.7% with molasses. Righ tnow, that got bumped up to 14.something % due to a higher than normal NSC wheat middlings crop.

11.7%.

but you wouldn’t be feeding a regular feed to easy keepers anyway, too many calories

Lots, and lots, and of horses prone to metabolic issues do totally fine on the amount of soy in 1lb of a ration balancer . But if that’s truly a concern, Triple Crown Balancer Gold has no soy OR molasses. Tribute Wholesome Blends Balancer doesn’t either, but with its pea protein it’s higher NSC than the TC.

Purina Omega Match doesn’t have soy or molasses either, but it’s got about a double feed rate than typical ration balancers

For me, personally, unless he’s eating a LOT of growth feed now, I would do a ration balancer for the nutrition, and then some alfalfa pellets if he really needs a boost in calories. That way you can tailor the amount of alf pellets based on growth making him too lean, or too heavy, and then eventually settle down to just the ration balancer

[CanteringCarrot]

Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll do.

I think that I overthink it because my other PRE has some sensitivities, and the feeds in the US are a bit different/don’t have direct matches and whatnot.