I have a draft cross gelding 10 month old. I have had him since March 17th. Since then he has been on proper worming protocol and got gelded. He is behind in weight, Hw some good calories and filling out. He looks a lot better than when I got him but he still needs weight. He is on free choice hay. He has been on 1 lb of tc30 and 1 lb of senior mainly for taste and about 2 lbs alfalfa pellets twice a day (1/2 am and pm of senior and balancer 2 lbs alfalfa pellets am and pm). My hay is a grass mix good but is a bit course/stemmy so he doesn’t eat the course stuff. We cut grass hay here beginning of June but until then I just buy what I can get that’s mold free. I’m wondering if I should up the senior? Or go strictly to senior? I don’t want to feed a ton of grain but I also don’t want to be feeding all different things. I was going to maybe switch him to Vermont blend flax hay pellets being I do like that concept of feeding and I’m coming up on needed new bag of both balancer and senior but I figured I wouldn’t gain much from that right now and keep feeding him something offers more right now. Least till he good weight wise.
Not anything exact to add. But, generally with the drafts a little thin is good. They get fat quite easily. High fat, low sugar is your friend. I would lean towards the Vermont blend flax, since I’ve found the flax to be critical for my boys. But, they are both Shires, and the hairy drafts have some skin issues that flax is wonderful for. If your draft is a Belgian/Percheron that might not be an issue. But you can’t go that wrong with good hay, high fat, decent protein, and enough vitamins. Keep in mind what he weighs as he grows. With my Shires I have to double everything since all measurements are for a 1000 pound horse. So, I do double worming, double on most vitamins since they both are close to 2000.
Also, drafts can be slow, very slow in their growth. If you are used to Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, or Warmbloods all of whom look like adult horses when they are two and stay looking that way, watch out. Depending on the draft blood, you may be looking at a horse that keeps changing for some time. The more modern Percheron crosses generally don’t do that, but the Brabrants, Shires, Clydes can get really weird at age 2 or 3. And may continue to change until age six or seven.
This is my young boy at 14 months, a day off the trailer. A good weight for a young draft. You could almost see ribs in the right light.
He’s not 1/2 draft. He’s out of quarter horse Clydesdale cross mare and Appaloosa stud. He’s very cute! Flashy guy. I do know u don’t want babies fat. But he essentially has no fat covering bones at this point much yet. He is better than when he came tho so that’s saying something. His hip bones and spine are not as easily felt anymore but u can still feel them pretty easily. His chest bone and points of shoulder are very easily seen still. He doesn’t have like a worm belly but I can still feel all ribs yet. He is hairy. So now that he is shedding more, the thinner he looks being hair was giving off a fuller look! He has hairy legs, which is adorable lol. I have only ever had quarter horses so not used to seeing cute hairy legs. Not hairy like full draft but u can tell he got Clydesdale characteristics. I have Vermont blend here bc it’s what I feed a pssm horse but I am almost out and need to order some if I choose to go that route with their omega e product. I have been just adding like teaspoon am and pm in for last 1.5 weeks just incase i decided to switch him over to it fully he has been started on it and up it slowly till appropriate amount . He does get 1/2 cup of flax am and pm.
Given his likely expected size, you’re under-feeding things from a nutritional perspective. I’d feed at least 2lb of the TC30. But you could also go just to TC Sr since you’re feeding fairly significant calories now.
I would not use a forage balancer for horses < 2, unless you have tested hay, or feed enough alfalfa. You’re going to be missing out on protein and calcium.
I went by the bag. Bag says 1 lb for his age.
He’s not 1/2 draft he’s 1/4 draft if that makes a difference. Idk how big he will get. According to his estimated height test. Least 16 hands. He’s only 460 lbs now and 13.2/3 ish. So according to the bag of tc30 he should only be getting .5-.75 lb a day.
Some of them, IMVHO, have a too-low feed rate, including Triple Crown, which just recently added rates for growing horses.
Ok, so he’s fairly small, going to be maybe 15.2 or so, so I would feed at least 1lb of TC30, potentially even 1.5lb.
He will be least 16 hands. I have never had estimated height test be off being shorter. I have had them end up little taller tho but not saying it can’t and ends up shorter. He could also be younger than 10 months. The ppl I got him from got him January 17th and they got right taken right off dam ran through a sale there’s was 13 ran through. His 3rd baby incisors just popped on top which pop 6-9 months old. He could use 100 lbs honestly still so I don’t think he should be only 460 lbs. the vet thought he was almost 600 lbs when he gelded him. That’s how lanky and hairy he appears in person!!
