Runty looking yearling

[jennywho]

I think I’ve posted about this guy before, but couldn’t find it.

Long story short my colt who is now 15 months, lost his mom at 3 months. He was raised with another mare and foal and an auntie. At this point he’s failing to thrive. Basically he has been raised the same as my other babies and he just looks like crap. Coat is good, but he’s scrawny and ribby and on the smaller side. I am at a loss as to what to try to get him looking better.

I’ve checked and triple checked to make sure his ration is balanced, he is regularly dewormed, he was on gastogard until he was 8 months.

His appetite is good and he always has hay in front of him. He’s a bit high strung, but so was his full brother who was a huge hunk at this age.

I keep waiting for my guy to catch up, but it’s just not happening. Unbeknownst to us, mom was sick before she foaled and we did have to transfer plasma as he didn’t get enough antibodies in moms colostrum.

Any success stories out there from fellow ugly duckling owners?

[PeteyPie]

Are you sure he’s getting enough to eat if he’s in with other horses? I have a mare with a nervous personality who just picks at her food. Slo-o-ow Eater. Teeth are fine. I kept her separate so she could take her time but still, she would always have hay left over at her next meal. She was the kind who would take few bites of hay and then walk down to the end of her paddock to gaze off at whatever scary/nerve-wracking thing she could imagine was in the distance. Also, she is the only one of my horses who hates the chaff. I had to dump out her feeder every few days because the chaff built up. She was very thin when I got her and it took months to get her to a good/okay weight where she was healthy, but still a little lighter than I wanted.

Now I have her in with another mare and she (the nervous picky eater) has decided she’s the boss, so dominates the hay to make her point. She looks fantastic. She’s a great weight, shiny, and dappled. (Bonus is that the other mare finishes the chaff, so she’s happy too).

My point in all of this is that nervous horses can be tricky to feed and the social situation/grouping can affect them. You might want to experiment with different social groupings to find a better fit. If it is in a dry lot or poor pasture with many horses, the bottom-of-the-pecking-order horse loses out at mealtime even if the owner supplies plenty of food, especially if the horse is a slow eater. And if the horse is nervous the effect might be very subtle since there is no obvious case of bullying by the other horses.

On the other hand, without a companion, it might feel even more nervous and be even less interested in its food. Maybe you could try changing things around, see if separating him works, or try putting him in with just one other horse, a timid lower ranking horse. Of course, have alfalfa or hay available all the time.

Good luck.

[kookicat]

I agree. I’d also be looking at adding a bit more protein- some of them just seem to need more. All of mine get oil, too. The extra fat adds calories without too much bulk and they’re getting fat soluble vits, too.

[Laurierace]

I promise I am not criticising but am curious what you mean by adequately dewormed. Worms and ulcers were the first two things that came to mind but with that much gastrogard you should have that part covered.

[Kerole]

I feel your frustration and concern. I had a foal like this two seasons back. Gestation, delivery, milk supply was all normal. Mamma was fat and happy but the foal failed to pack on the weight in the weeks/months after birth. He grew ok but was always a bit scungy looking. His foal friemds were bigger, fatter, shinier. I fretted and fussed. Vet checked everything, bloods, milk, ration, worms, ulcers. Nothing.

He was a runner, always haring about the fields like a mad thing. He didn’t sleep flat out much at all either. On vet’s advice I weaned him at 5 months. He was fed a fair amount of oil on top of a balanced, protein-rich weaner diet. Had a good appetite but never really looked fabulous.

He was sold shortly after weaning. Now a long yearling, he is looking much better but has never had any appreciable extra fat covering. He still self-exercises like a lunatic! He is rangy and narrow, a bit lean but well looking. It will be interesting to see how he comes out in the spring as a 2yo.

[cyriz_s_mom]

I’ve had two who were just really slow growers. One was 15.1 at 3 and then started growing and ended up almost 16.3. The other was pieces and parts though bigger, but had a MAJOR growth spurt as a 3 y.o., he finally matured at 17.1!

One of those was a full TB and the other a WB with a lot of blood.

[JB]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7603278]
I promise I am not criticising but am curious what you mean by adequately dewormed. Worms and ulcers were the first two things that came to mind but with that much gastrogard you should have that part covered.[/QUOTE]

Read my mind

[Slewdledo]

You absolutely know what you’re doing, no suggestions other than this. I put our colts on Source in April on the recommendation of a friend, and the two youngest, smallest, and ugliest are starting to blossom. Literally, as in last two weeks they look like different horses.

[jennywho]

Laurierace, thank you, it was like a lightbulb moment when I read your post because the vet was out today so I sent a sample back to the clinic with her for a fecal. In March we switched from my foal deworming program to an 8 week 3 way rotation between moxidectin, pyrantel and fembendazole.

He always has hay in front of him in two different areas so I know he’s not fighting for his food. He gets grained separate from his friend. However I recently started feeding him in a stall and noticed that he’s a very slow eater so that may have been part of the problem when he was eating outside.

To those that suggested oil, thanks, I added some yesterday and I will look into Source.

Vet didn’t think he looks as bad as I do, so that’s good. We drained a subcaceous (sp) cyst on his back today, so grossly cool.

Thanks everyone on your input. It’s hard to have 6 yearlings that look like rockstar s (yes I’m biased) and then my scrawny guy.

[JB]

[QUOTE=jennywho;7605524]
Laurierace, thank you, it was like a lightbulb moment when I read your post because the vet was out today so I sent a sample back to the clinic with her for a fecal. In March we switched from my foal deworming program to an 8 week 3 way rotation between moxidectin, pyrantel and fembendazole. [/QUOTE]
What was your foal program?

Have you proven through FECRTs that pyrantel pamoate and fenbendazole are effective for you?

[goodmorning]

I had one, though spent a month in the hospital so the rough look was expected. It took a nearly a year…but, we upped the deworming program, Ultium Growth, a smidge of Alfalfa & lots of good hay, and when warm & buggy more pm turnout than daytime. That makes a big difference, for all ages IME.

[jennywho]

Foal program is 6 week rotation with fembendazole and pyrantel starting at 30 days and then add in moxidectin at 9 months.

Honestly, I have been slow to get on the fecal bandwagon, but it’s something I am going to start.

[rodawn]

[QUOTE=jennywho;7605524]
Laurierace, thank you, it was like a lightbulb moment when I read your post because the vet was out today so I sent a sample back to the clinic with her for a fecal. In March we switched from my foal deworming program to an 8 week 3 way rotation between moxidectin, pyrantel and fembendazole.

He always has hay in front of him in two different areas so I know he’s not fighting for his food. He gets grained separate from his friend. However I recently started feeding him in a stall and noticed that he’s a very slow eater so that may have been part of the problem when he was eating outside.

To those that suggested oil, thanks, I added some yesterday and I will look into Source.

Vet didn’t think he looks as bad as I do, so that’s good. We drained a subcaceous (sp) cyst on his back today, so grossly cool.

Thanks everyone on your input. It’s hard to have 6 yearlings that look like rockstar s (yes I’m biased) and then my scrawny guy.[/QUOTE]

Don’t just go and feed any old oil. Most oils are too high in Omega 6 which is inflammatory and for a young guy who is stressed and was previously battling ulcers, this is not the way to go. This is especially true for all rations that have a bunch of soy as the protein source. Soy is way out of balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3. A horse should be getting 4 parts of Omega-3 to every 1 part of Omega 6. Grass is usually correctly balanced at 4:1.

Instead, add fresh ground flax seeds as your oil source. He can build up to 1/4 to 1/2 cup per 400 pounds per day. Flax is extremely high in Omega 3 and will help balance some of that out-of-wack soy-based feed.

I had a filly who remained an ugly duckling until she finally turned 5. I was seriously starting to question my ability to choose a good horse. Some of them are just putting all of their energies into growth and each one grows at a different rate.

You could add an extra vitamin/mineral ration balancer. Some of them just need more vitamins and minerals than others too.

http://www.equinechronicle.com/myth-a-shiny-horse-is-a-healthy-horse/

[JB]

@jennywho;7605824

Foal program is 6 week rotation with fembendazole and pyrantel starting at 30 days and then add in moxidectin at 9 months.

FeNbendazole

6 weeks isn’t the worst, but 4 weeks is more appropriate

This program ^ leaves a lot of important things out. Unless you did double doses of pyrantel pamoate, you’ve never killed tapeworms. Unless you have proof via FECRTs that either pp or fen work on strongyles, you’ve never effectively killed large or small, and may have been leaving large loads behind, until you use the moxidectin. Unless you’ve doubled either of the pp or fen, you’ve never killed ascarids, until the mox.

There’s a growing resistance of ascarids to ivermectin, so one needs to use double pp or double fen to kill them - better to do that than assume ivermectin is getting them. But those 2 have very high and widespread resistance issues with strongyles, so you need to use ivermectin in there. This means rotating between ivermectin, and a double dose of either pp or fen, every 4 weeks, for at least a year, and often 2 years, depending on how long it takes them to get their immune system up.

Honestly, I have been slow to get on the fecal bandwagon, but it’s something I am going to start.

Good

[skydy]

[QUOTE=jennywho;7605824]

Honestly, I have been slow to get on the fecal bandwagon, but it’s something I am going to start.[/QUOTE]

:lol::lol:

Getting on the “fecal bandwagon” doesn’t sound like a good (or respectable) thing to do, in any other context.

However in this situation it sounds very wise and not weird at all…

I will never forget your phrase . “The Fecal Bandwagon”.

It will live on , amongst the great horse parasite quotes of all time.

[camohn]

[QUOTE=Slewdledo;7603849]
You absolutely know what you’re doing, no suggestions other than this. I put our colts on Source in April on the recommendation of a friend, and the two youngest, smallest, and ugliest are starting to blossom. Literally, as in last two weeks they look like different horses.[/QUOTE]

re Source: For some horses it makes a difference, can’t hurt to try. At our heyday we had 14 horses here between polo ponies and breeding horses. we fed triple crown feed, feed grass alfalfa mix in off pasture and have plenty of good pasture the horses are on. 12 always were fat, happy, shiny with good feet. 2 were hard keepers with feet prone to being shelly and cracking. Coats didn’t look as good. Well one year it was a really wet summer, had trouble getting hay baled and the hay quality was iffy. It was a problem for everyone…there wasn’t good hay to be had and stuff that was good was 8 dollars a bale, normally half that. So…since we had to make do with eh hay I decided to add extra supplements. since Source was green stuff I chose that. The 2 hard keepers: after 3 months on it their coats improved and the cracks grew out in their feet. Spring came, good pasture was back. Took them off it. The 2 hard keepers…after 3 months off it the cracks in their feet came back, feet were more shelly. Hmmm. Put those 2 back on it. 3 months later, cracks grew out, coats improved again. The other 12 didn’t have much difference noted. Later was talking to the trainer we used, got to talking about a horse he had with horrible feet. tried the Source, feet improved. I think most horses do fine on a normal good diet…but for a few hard keepers I have seen a rather drastic difference with its use. My farrier was amazed looking at the feet of the 2 tough nuts…could tell by their feet when they came on and off it.

[jennywho]

I wanted to update this thread.

About the time I posted this, I got a new batch of Timothy. The colt broke out in hives soon after and assuming it was just that batch of hay I put him on some orchard grass that I had.

I sold the majority of him in January and sent him off to get started and then to the track. Reports home were not good, although he was doing everything right, they could not keep him healthy, he had a cough, had the snots, etc. he never really got sick so we just blamed it on the typical 2yo issues. Then one day the trainer mentioned recurrent issues with hives and a lightbulb turned on. Long story short, colt is allergic to Timothy and I am guessing since I feed both Timothy and orchard, it explains part of his problems as a baby.

You never quit learning. Colt is now a big strapping beautiful gelding and is getting good reports sent home from the track.

[Foxtrot_s]

Thank goodness - but since horses love Timothy that is a real shame!

[skydy]

Good news. Glad to hear he’s sorted out now!