Stunted Forever?

[PaperPony]

Last year, I got two coming yearlings out of a bad situation. Someone had picked up these two from an auction (as 3-4month olds, they weren’t sure) and thrown them out in a field with a herd of horses, where they got pasture and some all grain/alfalfa pellets once a day in a group feeding situation. Nevertheless, by the time I picked these two up, they were still quite small and full of worms. They were also completely unhandled & unable to be touched.

I cautiously de-wormed both, they were power packed & have been on a regular program for the past year. I fed them purina Jr. for the first couple months, along with alfalfa and free choice hay. They both have since been halter broke and handled regularly, which has allowed for easier feeding & other vet care.

For the past couple months they have been on blue bonnet’s cheap end feed (Energized), along with free choice hay and salt mineral blocks.

One of the fillies has grown beautifully and now looks like a well-proportioned 15.2hh 2-year old. The other, who was probably younger than the first, has not. She has grown some, but still looks awful. She has a giant head, tiny legs, a pot belly, poor coat, etc. and is maybe 12-13hh. We had blood work & fecal testing done on her last fall, which still showed some parasites & the vet mixed & administered a custom de-wormer for her. She has been out with 2-3 other horses on well maintained pasture, everyone on the farm is on a de-worming program and has been fecal tested yearly.

My my question is, is this filly stunted forever? Is there a particular supplement or feed that is recommended in these kinds of situations? What kind of long term prognosis does a horse like this have? Has anyone ever seen a horse like this “turn around” and be able to grow into a well-proportioned horse?

[keysfins]

Is there any guess on the breeding of either of them? Could the smaller one just be genetically smaller?

I think once the growth plates close, you may not get much more height by way of the long bones in the legs. But the withers might yet pop.

Do you have photos? That would help.

[PaperPony]

They are supposed to be full blooded TB, but I do not believe it. In the photos above the one with the saddle is the oldest, she still looked pretty emaciated there and certainly doesn’t look like that at all anymore, but the big head still remains. She has only grown 1-2" since that time.

[keysfins]

Is the one with the round star the younger one? Have you measured either of them with a stick? (Can be a bit difficult with youngsters.)

How recent are the photos? The older one may grow in to that noggin, I think many go through that phase. One of mine did, the other did not.

[PaperPony]

The one with the big star is the one in question. I have not measured her with a stick. The saddle pic is from early summer, the field picture near gate is from the fall, and the picture with the wood fence & the other horse (middle), is fairly recent.

The big one (dark, small star) I’m not worried about at all. She seems really well put together and has consistently grown like a weed. She’s already over 15hh and her legs are longer than most of my other 16hh TBs

[warriorhorse]

She looks pretty good in most recent picture. If she’s still young might have a growth spurt yet. The big head might improve as she gets older. But it doesn’t look that bad.

My one gelding looked like a yearling as a 2 year old.He was 4 almost 5 before he looked good. Wasn’t real big either then bam huge growth spurt ,sticks at 15.3 1/2 hands. Was an ugly gangly thing for a long time.

[goodhors]

Usually once they have the “big head” issue, it does not change with time or better nutrtion after. I used to see this more often as a kid, viewing poorly fed young horses and others of older ages, who had poor beginnings. We went to lots of horse auctions then, easy to spot such horses there. I owned one with a big head as an aged horse of about 12 to 14. The rest of her body was well developed, muscular, athletic in use. Just had a head that was a bit big for the body. She was about 15H, of QH, Arab and Saddlebred breeding. We learned her history after purchase, was from a locally well known performance mare. Just had a poor upbringing before maturity.

I believe with continued good care in food, lots of hay, not so much in grain diet, balanced vitamin and mineral supplements, your young horses will SLOWLY reach their geneticly designed heights. Horses continue growing until at least age 6 years. More growth until 7-8 years if large animals.

My own young horses are given very little grain (handful daily with vitamins) until they start a working life at about age 4yrs. They get great pasture, fertilized yearly to produce excellent grazing. They get the basic complete vitamins and minerals needed in our locale. Hay is a grass mix, no alfalfa. They get all they hay or gazing they will clean up. Their genetic code is for large animals. They grow slower without all the rich grains, commercial feeds in their diet. Not huge as yearlings, gangly 2-3 years old, but growing taller steadily. They will show ribs on turns, look athletic, shiny, playful. This is how young horses are SUPPOSED to grow, lighter weight on soft bones, with all parts pretty proportional in size. Not the mature looking young horses seen in advertising and winning halter classes. With slower growth these young animals stay sound longer even in hard use and into older ages unless injured. Our have all finished as the large animals their breeding is designed to produce. This is 16H to 17H, big Sporthorse style bodies of 1400 to 1500 pounds. It just takes 7 or 8 years to get them “done” growing! No “big heads” on them from poor nutrition, just heads large enough to fit the bodies.

So I think your horses will grow as their genetics tell them to. This could be tall or less tall. You continue to feed good diet, maybe heavier in forage of good hay, grazing, over grain products. Give needed vitamins and minerals, salt. It just will take a longer time. They are not actually adult or fully grown until age 6 years or more. They should be sturdy, with good bones that have not been overloaded with fat bodies while young. Should last in work for you to enjoy a long time.

[lifeishorsesarelove]

I bought my mare as a stunted, wormy, skinny 3yo. She’s 6 this year and she’s evened out nicely. Perhaps she’s not as tall as she would have been if her first 3 years had been quality nutrition, but she’s fine and is not hard on the eyes.

You got to these two even sooner. I am sure that if you continue to feed quality hay and an appropriate ration balancer or grain as needed, they will be OK.

Some horses are just not as genetically gifted as others in the end. And some just have REALLY UGLY growing phases - plenty of those too, and then end up alright.

[candyappy]

Are you sure she is getting appropriate amounts of feed? It may be genetic and as mentioned above some horses just look awful no matter what you feed them.

I remember a TB that was foaled at our boarding stable . I made extra money back then by handling the babies that were born there. This particular filly looked so awful from day one I nicknamed her “burlap”. No matter what we fed she never really blossomed like the others.

She left at 2 to start her race training so I never knew what became of her.

I would say feed her the best you can afford and make sure she gets it . You may be pleasantly surprised in a year or 2.

[Mango20]

I think that since you really have no idea of her breeding, it’s impossible to say if she is stunted, will remain stunted, or is just a bad mix of genes from an accidental breeding.

I have experience with three weanling auction buys. The first two grew up nicely into a clydesdale and an Arab/QH. The third may have been stunted, but since I don’t know his parents, I don’t know what his potential could have been. He looked like a very old, very broken down small pony the first two times I passed his pen. Skinny, head hanging down, no spark. On the third pass I took a look at his teeth and he was just a baby, so I bought him and fixed him up. He ended up being 14 hands with a QH-like build. I could easily see that he might have been destined to be a bit taller, but who knows?

[BeckyS]

I got a “three year old gelding” who turned out to be a two year old stud colt from an auction. He probably weighed 500 lbs. Huge bones, no meat on them anywhere. He was a little less than 2.5 when I got him and probably 13 hands.

I do wonder how big he would have gotten had he been fed properly. He’s now 14 hands with a drafty build, and likely close to a thousand pounds. Looks like a 14 hand Clyde. Wears an 8" gullet saddle with really wide angled bars. (No, he isn’t overweight).

Just keep feeding appropriate amounts of good grain to ensure the right amount of vitamins and minerals, and see what happens. My pony did grow a full hand after he turned 3, so it is possible, depending on circumstances.

[StormyDay]

I would probably still have them on a ‘growing’ feed instead of blue bonnet since they are only 2, and the one may be a young 2. I would also have them on a specialized vitamin/mineral for them considering their hard start, one with good joint support. I would also pull bloodwork to make sure you don’t have any deficiencies, like an iron deficiency. You could try posting this over in the breeding forum because they will have more useful advice on young horses that need some extra help.

[NancyM]

Do a string test to find out how much more growth your small one has in it. Run the string from elbow to ergot, then turn the string at the elbow and run it up the side, past the wither. However much string is extending above the wither will show how much growth is left in the higher leg column and wither. It works because the lower growth plates are either closed or close to closed, and growth is complete in that area. The higher growth plates won’t close until later, 4 to 5 years of age. The horse must be at least 2 years old to be anywhere close to accurate for this reason. The key to success with this test is to A) identify the exact point of the elbow, and B) make the turn keeping that end of the string on the point of the elbow. And it’s not “exact”, it is a rough estimate of adult size. If the horse is that small now, perhaps best to hope that it stays under 14.2 when mature.