starved foal

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My sister in law recently adopted a starving filly, this little girl had no food or water for weeks at time. She is 3 now and looks like she is yearling. She now has plenty of food and water but is very little, and we are worried about when she will bulk up. It is that time to train her but everyone is too big to ride her and we don't want to hert her. And the the way things looks she could never be a brood mare because of her size. She is a wonderful filly and very loving. She is out of a morgan and a paint stud. I was just wondering if anyone out there had any advise for us and Belle (the filly). Thanks Breyanna Kelly



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> My sister in law recently adopted
> a starving filly, this little girl
> had no food or water for weeks at
> time. She is 3 now and looks like
> she is yearling. She now has
> plenty of food and water but is
> very little, and we are worried
> about when she will bulk up. It is
> that time to train her but
> everyone is too big to ride her
> and we don't want to hert her. And
> the the way things looks she could
> never be a brood mare because of
> her size. She is a wonderful filly
> and very loving. She is out of a
> morgan and a paint stud. I was
> just wondering if anyone out there
> had any advise for us and Belle
> (the filly). Thanks Breyanna Kelly Just because she is small and stunted doesnt mean her foals will be small.



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That is what we are afraid of, if she were to to be breed. She is just so tiny we don't think she could cary a foal from a full size horse. Maybe a shetland or something small like that.

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you don't have to go as small as a shetlander, but you do have a serious problem here.

the best thing you can do is just feed her, let her be, and see what happens. but generally horses stop growing at the age of three, so i don't think she'll reach anything near her potential size. but if she's nice, have some kid ride her, that shouldn't be a problem, unless she has damage to her bone structure.

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> That is what we are afraid of, if
> she were to to be breed. She is
> just so tiny we don't think she
> could cary a foal from a full size
> horse. Maybe a shetland or
> something small like that. We have two mammoth jacks, one sorrel the other black, they are both 63inches tall, we stud out to raise mules we've bred mares as little as 52 inches and never had any trouble, also my neighbor had a a 15 hand appaloosa stud breed a 13 hand mare and she had it fine, we bred 36 outside mares last year. oscar p.



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> My sister in law recently adopted
> a starving filly, this little girl
> had no food or water for weeks at
> time. She is 3 now and looks like
> she is yearling. She now has
> plenty of food and water but is
> very little, and we are worried
> about when she will bulk up. It is
> that time to train her but
> everyone is too big to ride her
> and we don't want to hert her. And
> the the way things looks she could
> never be a brood mare because of
> her size. She is a wonderful filly
> and very loving. She is out of a
> morgan and a paint stud. I was
> just wondering if anyone out there
> had any advise for us and Belle
> (the filly). Thanks Breyanna Kelly

You are probably right she will never get as big as she should, but she will grow until she is 5 years old. Worm her now, worm her in two weeks, feed her good quality feed and hay, divide her rations into 3 times a day. You can use crimped oats almost like a creep feed, start out slow and build up as she is not used to a lot of feed. We buy a good breed project horse ever year from a yearing to a 3 year old that are usually in vary thin conditions, with a little TLC in 6 months you would not know them. Good luck give her 6 months and I bet you she will be bigger than you think she will be.
 
Have her examined by a good equine veterinarian before you make a decision. If she has any permanent internal abnormalities because of her early starvation, it wouldn't be fair to breed her. You could easily lose her. She needs a good physical exam, including reproductive. Follow your veterinarian's advice.

> That is what we are afraid of, if
> she were to to be breed. She is
> just so tiny we don't think she
> could cary a foal from a full size
> horse. Maybe a shetland or
> something small like that.
 
I baught a stud colt at 18 mths old that was under fed also. I had a vet check him and was told he would never be big enough for me to ride. I am 6'2" and weigh 245#. I had him cut after I got him and now he is about 16 hands and about 1100 pounds at 6 years old. I'm not shure he will ever quit growing! I just feed him 2 to 3 times a day and let him be a horse for the first 2 and 1/2 years. a lot of TLC will do wonders, good luck.
 
I have to agree with Linda, have a Vet look at her. My question to you is why breed her at all. If she was straved as a youngster she is probably stunted and will never grow to "normal" size. If this is the case it would not be fair, to her, to breed her, it could kill her or cost hundreds of $ in Vet bills at foaling. Let some kid ride her or find someone about 100 to 130 pounds to start her. Save the filly and your money and buy another horse to ride and use as a brood mare. The $500 you spend on another horse will probably be cheaper than breeding this filly.

Just my opinion
Alan
 
I bought a yearling filly that was thin, not starved but thin. In the 7 months I had her she shot up 6 inches. My height limit is 14 hands (I'm short) and I had to sell her because she wasn't 2 yet and was already at 13.3 hands. To bad, I really liked her but no point in keeping a horse I cant mount. Just have your vet check her out and give her good feed and time. She will probally grow bigger that you think possible.
 
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