Bloated?

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LeosPocoDan

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I was thinking my little Cinnamon was getting alittle chunky lately but from looking through topics on here I am now thinking she is bloated not chunky.

Here are recent pics from just two days ago-

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Now I just feel horrible. After finding out SafeChoice isn't ideal for the growing yearling I switched her over to Equine Senior just Sunday. Is there anything else I can do to get her back to her normal self? Any extra Supplements or grain mixes?

I read on a few topics to deworm her and give her probios, so I am going to take care of that tomarrow.
 
May I ask why you decided on Equine Senior? I feed my weanlings and yearlings Equine JUNIOR (it is specifically formulated for growing horses). Feeding her plenty of a youth-based feed, along with good hay or pasture, and deworming her should help lots, though it may take a little time to see results. Also consider whether she could be ingesting sand, and if so, a psyllium product for helping clear that out, like Sand Clear, can be very helpful.

Your Cinnamon is a darling filly!!
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I feed my weanlings and yearlings Equine JUNIOR (it is specifically formulated for growing horses).
[SIZE=8pt]When my horses were that age, I also fed Equine Jr.
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Sand Clear would be a good investment, I think. If you live in a place with lots of sand like I do, it is extremely helpful!

Good luck with her, and I hope she feels better soon! She sure is a cutie!
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Thank you!

I chose Equine Senior because when I went to the local feedstore to get Junior they were out, but said Senior should be the closest equivalent. And I saw on here that someone said they feed their yearlings Junior or Senior so I figured it would be ok for now. Better than SafeChoice atleast.

I am definately going to deworm her today. Her pasture doesn't have any sand in it, but she does like the eat what falls on the ground from the other horses, so she may be getting some dirt.
 
Why do you think Safechoice isn't for yearlings? I've fed it for years to ALL of my horses and love it.

Regardless, I agree with what the others have said. Check for sand and a good deworming program works wonders. Also, how much feed is she getting? Many times a young horse "appears" bloated or wormy only to be not getting enough nutrients. What kind of hay is she on?
 
I am also curious as to why you feel safechoice isnt for growing... It is a very good feed, I used it to get a mare back in shape and loved it!
 
Oh, I had a topic on here a few days ago about what was the reccomended feed amount for a year old filly and I said she has free-choice coastal all day, and she get a pound of SafeChoice a day. And someone mentioned SafeChoice might not be the best for her, that is was more of a maintainance feed. Cinnamon is my first mini, I have two full sized geldings (QH and Paint) that are on SafeChoice so I thought it would be fine to give her that too, but then I felt horrible for potentially not giving her the nutrients she needs. So that day I went to the feed store to get her something else, and that is when the didn't have Junior so I got Senior.

So now she is on 1.5lbs of Senior SafeChoice mix because I am switching her over, and her free-choice coastal.

I feel so bad for her, but today I dewormed her, and gave her probiotics. She just looked uncomfortable and her back is sorta roached. I was thinking about pulling her off the coastal for a few days, but she would have to be put in the round pen which doesn't have shade, because the coastal is a round bale out in the pasture.

And also, I don't think she is getting sand, but would it hurt to go ahead and give her the sand clear just in case?

Im really desperate to try and fix this. . .
 
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Well, all of my show horses (weanlings to Sr horses) have been on SafeChoice without any issues. I also don't supplement except for coat color or increased weight gain. Advising on feed programs is so hard if you aren't physically able to look at the horse and you may not be able to "fix" this over night. But here is my GENERAL game plan:

Deworm regularly and rotate dewormers every time (watch your active ingrediants).

Make sure you are accurately estimating her weight when you deworm.

Feed good quality hay: coastal or alfalfa it doesn't matter

Grain: yearlings need more. 1.5lb sounds pretty typical

Beet Pulp: I love beet pulp. 1lb soaked mixed with feed seems to work with me.

Giving her a sand supplement shouldn't be harmful.

And to be honest, she doesn't look that "bloated". Could this just be a hay belly from a lack of exercise? I would also look at her water intake. I've had a couple horses that would bloat themselves by drinking an entire bucket in half a day! They normally do it from boredom.
 
she doesnt look roach backed to me instead it looks like her back is up and that means she is underweight. When they get underweight the back bone goes up and the belly bloats. I would for sure put her on Equine Jr (slowly of course) as she gains weight her back will flatten and the belly will come up.

Sometimes its really hard to tell if a horse has a fat belly or a belly from being too thin.

Good luck!
 

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