Stunted Filly

[I luv herfrds]

Bought a filly last fall. She is full sister to my son's horse.
She is just the size of a yearling, but she is over 2 years old.
When I got her she was full of worms, called the vet and started immediately a worming program on her. Been feeding her and she still gets the dewormer with the rest of the horses.
My concern is she is still so small. Half quater horse half Morgan. Sorry no pictures. Yet.
We are not sure she could be ridden by us adults and I am wondering about possibly breeding her to a Morgan stud. There is concern about doing that even. She is about 12 hands high and her brother is 15 hands. I know the filly will be smaller then a gelding, but not by that much.
Any ideas of what we could do to help her grow?

 

[branDcalf]

That's a shame that happened to her. I understand your concerns for her usefulness and also for breeding her.

Is there a market in your area for large ponies for kids. I know there was in my home area. Being 5'4" and about 135#, I could get them going for younger riders and some women that didn't like tall horses. My daughters and I turned out about 7 or 8 in that range and did okay money-wise.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Got some pictures today, now if I can just remember to get them developed.
It has been a year since we bought her and I can still feel her hip bones. Still not alot of muscle or fat on her chest area. Her neck, hindquarters and legs have filled out some more.
She has a great temperment. Too small for me to try and break her. Need a light weight.
Any feed suggestions?

 

[branDcalf]

Gosh, I'd hate to guess on something like that. I don't have one "formula." I tend to use what's available and consider what the country's like and how other horses in the area do. I'd ask a neighbor who has good-looking horses, my county agent, or a vet.

 

[branDcalf]

Gosh, I'd hate to guess on something like that. I don't have one "formula." I tend to use what's available and consider what the country's like and how other horses in the area do. I'd ask a neighbor who has good-looking horses, my county agent, or a vet.

 

[chippie]

If she were mine and was still un-thrifty after a year, I would have my vet evaluate her. Probably have her tube wormed and dewormed for tapeworms too. Only a couple of paste wormers will get tapeworms. You might ask about putting her on a feed through wormer like Strongid C for awhile too.

What are you feeding her - type of feed and how much? How is she kept - pasture, stall, dry lot? Is she fed separately or in a group?

Are you feeding any supplements? Added fat?

I would probably wait until she is 3 before riding her.

 

[I luv herfrds]

She is out in the pasture with the other horses. we are giving them crested wheat grass. I was thinking of giving her seperately some oats and a grower suppliment for horses. I don't want it too hot because of possible founder.

 

[branDcalf]

http://www.stallionsdirect.com/mares/fe ... al4yo.html

The above is a good link for feeding from foal to four years. Good luck. Take some before and after, or now and later pictures. It'll be good to see how she progresses/improves.

 

[chippie]

The link above is good and here is another

http://animalscience.tamu.edu/main/academics/equine/B-5043_feedingyoung.pdf

To be blunt, your filly isn't getting the nutritional requirements needed for her to grow. Look into a minimum 12% protein quality feed. I'm not sure what brands are available in your area. Triple Crown and Evergreen make good feeds.

We feed Purina Horseman's Edge 12% pelleted feed to all of our horses -- foals to adults plus Direct Action Company Orange Superior Vitamins. ( http://www.feeddac.com) Our horses are turned out 24x7, and since the grass has stopped growing, they have free choice hay.

You can also help increase calories without making a horse hot by adding corn oil or vegetable oil to the horse's feed. 1/4 to 1/2 cup daily to get the horse used to it, and you can increase it up to 1 cup a day.

Introduce the filly gradually to the feed and over several weeks build up to the amount that she needs for her size and supposed to be bodyweight. It may take as long as 6 months for her to get into shape. You want her to gain slowly. If you take it slow, you shouldn't need to worry about foundering her.

You are correct about feeding her separately.

Good luck with her.

 

[ArrowHBrand]

We added corn oil to our stallions feed this past summer to help bulk him up without dumping feed upon feed to him and possibly making him founder. It worked great and he would literally lick the bunk clean. If your filly is in such poor shape have a vet evaluate her again. I would highly suggest you don't breed her though. If her stunted size is genetic in nature and not a product of poor care as a baby, you don't want to pass that off to her offspring. I think she will make a great childrens horse though!

 

[I luv herfrds]

Thanks for all of the info. I will go see what kind of feed the local store has on hand.
Husband is taking the film into town to get it developed. Hopefully he remembers.
She has filled out alot since we got her last year. You can no longer see her back bone or her ribs. Her hind quarters have also filled out nicely. If he remembers I will try to post pics tonight.
Arrow HB I don't think it is genetic on size. I have seen both mare and stud. They are not small like that. The vet thinks it is caused due to lack of care on the part of the person we bought her from. We wormed her 3 times seperately before we even introduced her to the rest of our horses. There were alot of worms. The last one we used before starting over on the paste dewormers was the Ivomec liquid for horses. All of our horses were treated to make sure no worms were passed around.
Chippie I have seen Triple Crown here so I will see what they have and get some for her.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Could not get the pics on this thread. Will post the pics of her on the photo gallery.
Only way I figured out how to put pics on the site.

 

[chippie]

I don't know anything about the photo galleries here.

You can upload your pictures to a free photo hosting site to post them here.

A couple of sites are:

http://my.imageshack.us


http://www.flickr.com/

 

[I luv herfrds]

Got them up. Forgot to turn one
Now you can see her and my concern about her size. That is my husband standing next to her. She kept following me around the pasture. Remember she is over 2 years old.

 

[chippie]

Here she is:

She is a bit lean, but not as bad as I imagined. Her conformation and quality of muscling is not the best. You can get her fatter, but it will not change her quality or bone structure.

I certainly would not breed her. Her conformation is not caused by poor nutrition. She may be a sweet thing, but she isn't breeding quality.

If you want the experience of raising a foal, you can pick up a very nice registered QH weanling for pennies now.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Story: A few years ago I was traveling with some friends and we decided to do some horseback riding. Rode a little mare a couple of times that was real light and small, I think she had been used to pull a tourist cart as well. I was hesitant to even get on her when I was presented with her as I may have a decent "seat" but I am rather, um fat, if we are honest. That little girl hauled me all over the place and I had to hold her back a good part of the way.

My old saddle horse is a big stout son of a gun, but I learned from that little mare that conditioning and exercize can strengthen the smallest critter.

I wouldn't make a light horse/pony carry heavy loads constantly when still developing (say to age 5 or so) but they could certainly manage occasionally. And then be conditioned to it as they gain full growth and strength. Good riding posture and "seat", comfy pads and a well fitted saddle would be a "must" as well.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Thanks for posting them Chippie.
Sorry I get along better with the Morgan breed then I ever did the Quarter horse breed. Tried it twice with the Quarters and got hurt each time. Nice looking horses though. We just don't like each other.
HR I think feeding her some good feed and letting her get a bit bigger might help, but I will wait a few years before sending her to the trainer.