What is the context of this? Someone used to looking at WB foals will think a QH foal is “small for his age”.
I was wondering if anyone new of any supplements that are good to add to a foals diet. My barn manager mentioned that were some some sort of full feed that was good for making sure your horse got all the vitamins they needed.
What is his current diet? Forage-only diets may contain all the calories a horse needs, but they don’t contain all the nutrients, or all the nutrients in the right balances, or both, that a horse needs. I would at least have him on a ration balancer (Triple Crown 30, Purina Enrich Plus, Nutrena Empower Balance are 3 commonly available ones), fed at an amount appropriate for his age, which will be 2-3lb, depending on his expected mature weight.
If that makes him fat, then a good quality v/m supplement at the very least.
Most foals do not need the calories that come from regular growth feeds, but if he happens to, then find a low sugar+starch feed, like Triple Crown Sr (yes, senior, it’s an excellent feed for growing horses, the formula is nearly identical to the original Growth formula before they added more oats and raised the NSC), and feed at the appropriate rate.
A common mistake I see is feeding a "regular’ feed, the TC Sr for example, but at too low an amount because of the calories. That needs to be changed to a ration balancer in most cases.
I also wanted to ask tips on training for these little guys, I’ve trained before, but never this young, so i’m coming across some behaviors that I want advice on how to address properly.
Biting- I usually pinch him in response and its not aggressive biting. His previous owner carried treats in her pockets and he pulls at my clothes. He has nipped my arm once but it wasn’t too bad. Just a little sore that day.
I would find someone who can give you a few lessons. Biting and striking/kicking at 100% unacceptable behaviors, ever, and something that warrants a “you are going to think I can kill you right now” moment. Loud and big and arms waving and all in his face so he runs backwards as fast as he can. Do it immediately, no more than 3-5 seconds, and then just stop and back off and let him stand with a “WTH just happened ??!!” expression on his face. Once he relaxes, go to him and love on him a bit and go back to whatever you were doing. Honestly, if he comes back for more biting/kicking/striking, you didn’t scare him enough.
And no, contrary to what some might say, this will not make him scared OF you. Not if you are fair in your behavior, very black and white rules ALWAYS - no nipping allowed here because “oh, it was just my jacket, it didn’t hurt” but then laying into him because he nipped your finger. No teeth, no feet, period.
Restless being tied- when he’s tied up he doesn’t know how to stand still and he is not cross tied trained. How would you go about teaching him to stand pretty?
Teaching any horse anything is always based on the same framework - ask, ignore the wrong tries, reward the smallest try the INSTANT he does it, no matter if it was just accidental or not. When he stands still for a nanosecond, praise him. Then ask again, praise, ask, praise, and over time, your praise doesn’t come until he stands still for 3 seconds, then 5, then 10, then 30, etc.
Do this with a lead rope in your hand. Do not tie him at this stage. IMHO hard tying is not where you start, especially with this age, because they can very easily get into trouble and damage their necks. Just walk around with him, ask him to whoa, praise when he does, praise when he stands still for a few seconds, then go do something else. 5-10 minutes a day TOPS at his age. His attention span is really, really short.
