Advice For A Novice Please?

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Zoey3

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I am 19, a college student, and I just bought a AMHR black 7 month old colt on 9/21/08. He is 32" and should be 36" mature. So he is a B size. I will be showing him in driving, obsticle, and jumping. I my do a little halter in the mean time while I can't do the other things. I do have lots of experence with Quarter horses, had a few for many years, but sold my last one two years ago along with my first mini, that I did not show. So mostly all I would like to know is feeding, exersice, and other things I may not know. He is in a stall in the barn now, I know not to leave him on pasture. I do plan to let him get a little light pasture every few days, while he is young and not showing him. Right now he is on Omelene 100, 10% protein, 1/2 lbs twice a day plus a good amount of great coastal hay. He was pretty halter broke when I got him, and so I am tieing him and brushing him everyday. He has great conformation, he is that "Arabian type" mini. His father was a National champion and all his foals have won many champions ect too, including mine's full brother. Did not pay alot for him, he is just a "play" horse not in it to win! My only worry is the way he walks, but I think it is only because he has not had his hooves trimmed yet, I will get that done this week. He does have worms too, the breeder dewormed him with Ivomec after I got him and they are in his stool now. I beleive it is Strongials. He needs to be dewormed again in 4 weeks with Ivomec right? The breeder just had to many horses to take care of, and has neglected some of them, only focusing on their show horses. Also I would like to clip him, but I do not want to buy a blancket for him until next Fall when he is much bigger. Thinking about just clipping a little, like his neck and head. What do you think? It is still 80-90s here in TX, but it will get cold in a few more weeks and I don't think horses grow hair real fast.

So if you have any advice at all, please tell me! Thanks in advance!
 
Congratulations on your new acquisition; you will have oodles of fun with him I'm sure!

For starters may I suggest that you may want to switch to a grain that is higher in protein. I do not believe that 10% protein is enough for a weanling. Our weanlings get oats with 16% foal pellets, then once it is late winter/early spring of their yearling year they are switched to 14% pellets w/their oats. Ours also get alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix hay pretty much free choice. I haven't had a weanling get too fat on this yet. Once they are yearlings we have to watch their diet or they'll get too fat, but weanlings are different than yearlings.

If you've got pasture for your little boy I would let him out to graze daily--he'll enjoy the grass, and he'll benefit from having the room to run and play.

We'll be waiting to see photos by the way!!
 
Congratulations on your first show mini
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I am a first time mini owner myself. Unfortuately, I don't have to much to share as yet but I would say if possible try and get the help of a knowledgeable trainer if you can. There are lots of very knowledgeable and friendly people here who give very good advice.

Please post pics soon so we can ooh and aah over your new mini.
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First of all Congrats
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...the most important thing with these weanlings/yearling and junior horses is keep good quality nutrition in them and take good care of those hooves. A higher protein and fat grain will help your weanling threw this growing stage and into and eventually threw the yearling stage. I recomend Omlene 200 or another high protein high fat grain. The higher protein grain will help them in this growing stage when they need that extra protein to grow. They need everything and more while they are growing. As for the hooves....i think its especially important to keep their hooves propperly trimmed while they are weanlings-yearlings as that is when the legs are developing and you want them to be tracking straight. I also think you can fix some leg issues during this time to with propper or corrective trimming...

Enjoy and let your baby grow
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. Buckeye Gro N Win (32% ration ballancer) is also a good grain for those growing horses. I think good nutrition is the key to reducing the risk factor of conformation faults later on down the line...

Just like Children, when they are growing..they need a little bit more
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Congrats on your mini!

In regards to feed, you definitely need to increase his protein intake. I feed my babies 1 c of Born To Win by Purina 2x's a day and 2-3 cups of oats 2x's a day, depending on what they need. They also get a flake of hay 2x's a day. I like my babies to be chubby, especially going into winter.

Deworming - my babies get dewormed every month for the first full year of their lives. After their actually first birthday, they get put on the normal every other month schedule. And I do rotate my dewormers. Since your colt has worms, if he was mine, I'd worm him again in a week or so and then once a month at least until he is a year old. Perhaps do a fecal egg count on him too.

Trims - you need to get his feet done asap. If he is 7 months old and has never been done before, he may need to be done every 4 weeks for a while, especially if he is having any issues at all, like if his heels are constricted.

Sounds like you're on the right path with wanting to get him in good health/care. Best of luck to you and we look forward to hearing how he does in and out of the showring!
 
Thanks everyone! So he will not grow to fast and go over 38" if I feed him a higher protein feed? I will not be able to show him if that happens! If he will for sure not then the next bag I buy will be the omelene 200 which is 14%. The breeder is the one who told me to feed omelne 100, which is much more nutritional then what he was eating before, a horse and mule feed! 12% protein. They were very nice people and are elderly, they just have too many to take care of and with the feed prices they had to switch to a cheaper feed for some of them. All their mares, stailions and show horses looked great! I will take a pick of him soon, after his hooves are trimmed! Although his bot belly from the worms will take a while to go away, plus he needs to fill out. Thanks again!
 
Hey Zoey, Welcome! Where in TX are you from? I'm located in Iola, between College Station and Huntsville. Everyone has given good advice and I congratulate you on wanting to become more involved in showing, etc! You'll find it addicting! Plus, there are more shows here in TX than you can shake a stick with 3 more for the fall! I invite you to come join us Halloween weekend in Glen Rose for the Spooktacular. This is one of the major shows in our area featuring ALL divisions including Shetlands. With over 400 classes, you'll learn a lot!

A couple things that I do:

I feed a 12% protein/6% fat pellet feed to all of my guys. I've had alot of success with it. Omelene is a good product and I've used it, but I've had better results with my current feed. I also feed wet beet pulp and alfalfa.

Deworming: Since you are already seeing worms, I would be hesitant on deworming with Ivermectin. Yes, the breeder did it but a large worm load killed with ivermectin can actually cause an impaction. I would deworm this round with pyrantel pamoate (Strongid) and then deworm in 4 weeks with ivermectin again.

Trimming: I can recommend an excellent farrier if you PM me.

Body clipping: Go ahead and body clip him if he hasn't been done. Minis grow hair much faster than horses and he'll be fine by the time November gets here. A thick coat with our flunctuating temperatures right now could make him prone to get sick (sweating all day then shivering from the damp hair that never dried could lead to pneumonia).

One last thing....we need pictures!!
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Everyone has already covered the bases for you and said what I would have. So i just want to say...

[SIZE=14pt]WELCOME![/SIZE]
 
The breeder did give me beat pulp too. What does it do in your opinion? Does anyone have a good local farrier I can call, one not too expensive? I do have one comming tomorrow I think. I do feed him a little alfalfa after I brush him and work him. I will start clipping him soon! Glad to hear that would be OK at this time of year! I will be comming to Glen Rose to watch and gain more experence!
 
They can develop pot belly from lack of protein, also. All of mine get 16% from babies to oldies.

And I actually specialize in the smaller ones.......so, no -- it isn't like fertilizer
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They will grow to their genetic height so long as they are well fed but, may not reach that if they are not. Of course, they may have many developmental problems with poor nutrition. Not that what you have is "poor nutrition" but, it is not enough for the requirements of a growing weanling. They need lots of energy and the higher protein.

Sounds like your are asking the right questions and making sound plans for your babies future!!
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ENJOY!!!!!!! These are wonderful equine.
 
The farrier is Carolyn Ficklin. Does anyone know her? Would you recomend her?

So should I feed Omelene 200(14%) or Omelene 300(16%), I am thinking 200 just to be safe or will he no mader what, not grow taller then he should be geneticly. His father is 37" and his mother is 35". He is 32" now at 7 months. I sure don't want him to go over 38", but I do not want to starve him of the best nutrition possible and not let him be the best he can be. I know Omelene is very good feed and high in energy, just need to find out which one to feed my little guy. Also how much do I need to feed him twice a day, in pounds please.

Thanks again!
 
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He will have a mature height that is his destiny, and he isn't going to go over that no matter what he is fed. Believe me, they do reach a point where they stop growing up and start growing OUT instead.
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If he's well fed now he may grow faster, but with a lesser diet he will still end up the same height, it might just take him a little longer to get there. I think he would have to be very underfed to keep him from getting as tall as he's meant to be.

Parents that are 35" and 37" won't necessarily give you 36" on the foal. I've bred those two sizes and come up with 37.75" the first time and 35.5" the second time... another pairing of the same size combination gave me 37.75" the first year and 34" the next
 
The breeder did give me beat pulp too. What does it do in your opinion? Does anyone have a good local farrier I can call, one not too expensive? I do have one comming tomorrow I think. I do feed him a little alfalfa after I brush him and work him. I will start clipping him soon! Glad to hear that would be OK at this time of year! I will be comming to Glen Rose to watch and gain more experence!
I don't know of your farrier. I use Vickie Hillard (JourneysEnd on the forum) and she does a wonderful job (even on my silly ones!). Beet pulp is an additional source of protein and fiber basically, and it's a great feed to get them on especially if you're hauling to shows. We feed a lot of it. Most minis, I start out on a pound of grain and increase/decrease as needed. I would have to actually put my hands on your guy to give you a good recommendation on how much to feed. But, the minis in training here get from 1/4 pound - 1.5 pounds depending on age, condition, and ability to maintain weight.

Make sure you introduce yourself at Glen Rose next month! I'm stalled on the 2nd row by the exit to the warm up arena. Black curtains with black/pink sign "Pondering Oaks". I'll have 7-8 horses with me but if you catch me grooming in my tack stall or waiting for a class, I'd love to meet you!

Congratulations again on your new little guy!
 
I just now added a pic of him, this was taken shortly before I brought him home on 9/21/08. Tell me what you think of him. I know he will look much better when he is clipped and in good condition. When that happens I will take more pics of him. If you have any more advice, please tell! I want to make sure he gets in the best condition possible as quickly as possible.

Thanks!
 
Oh, in your avator. Well, actually the only thing I can tell is he's a mini and black. I would need a full side shot to give any kind of critique as well as the photo being in the post. Or you can email me the photo if you want. But a 3/4 profile shot doesn't tell me anything as far as his conformation.

He's a cutie though!
 
I sent you an E-mail!

Thanks again everyone!
 
Congratulations!! Everyone else seems to be helping you on your way!! Cant wait to see the handsome man!!
 
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Hey, I just bathed him, clipped him lightly and he just got his hooves trimmed! He acted great being his first time! He is walking better now. He is not clipped perfect, but he looks better then before. I wanted to clip him before it got too cold, but still did not want to clip him all the way. I used the 4 blade on his body and the 15 on his neck. Trimmed his ears and legs very little.

Anyways, he is a little thin and pot bellied, but he will get there with proper feeding and deworming. Also 6-8 week hoof trimming and daily grooming. Also, what else can I do to get his mane to lay on the right side? I braided it as you can see.

The next feed bag I will buy will be the Omelene porformance 14%, 1/2 pound twice a day. Am I right? I will of course adjust if needed.
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Sorry I could not load the picture on the post...

Thanks for all the help everyone!
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