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Lickable I mean Likeable
Posts: 3965
    
Location: De Berry, Tx | I am looking at a very well bred yearling to buy but she is underweight and has probably been on the thin side all her life. My question is should I just move on from buying her or can I get her home and get her on good feed and bone building supplements and she be ok? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | I've bought a few horses that were underweight with good blood lines. Sometimes they just need food. I would buy her and work with her. I feed them THE Muscle Mass and Beet Pulp. The skinny ones have always turned out to be the best for me. |
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  Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Like how skinny are we talking here? |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Also, what would be your plans with her? NFR? |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Skinny wormy colts are at risk for colic immediately as well as later in life due to parasitic infestation and the scarring it can leave behind.
I have learned to spend the money on well bred, well fed, nicely handled babies from reputable breeders. I know this doesn't guarantee anything, but I feel that it can sure reduce the risk. If you feel like you can get her blooming and make a little then I would go ahead and give her a try, but I sure wouldn't pay much for her. There are plenty of nice babies out there right now that are priced right and don't need to be rehabbed. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Just depends on how thin she is and how much they want for her. I have bought horses that were thin and they pulled out of real nice with good feed and hay. |
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Lickable I mean Likeable
Posts: 3965
Location: De Berry, Tx | I would just call her underweight not skinny. She is lacking fat on her topline all the way to her tail. I just wonder about any bone joint issues. I dont know how often she has been wormed but she doesn't look like a complete worm infested horse. She is with probably 13 other yearlings a few look good most look ok and some look thin like this one. |
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Lickable I mean Likeable
Posts: 3965
Location: De Berry, Tx | LRQHS - 2014-09-26 1:31 PM
Also, what would be your plans with her? NFR?
She will be a barrel horse. Not sure I will ever haul enough to make a bid for the nfr but will definitely haul. |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Well, if she's just thin, I'd give her a shot. Don't push her too hard though, even though it's tempting. I'd feed a good complete feed (start slowly), freechoice good hay and/or alfalfa and go from there. If she's just thin, I wouldn't start pushing supplements or anything else on her. Just start slow and let her come around. You won't be able to tell the difference next year at this time and you don't want rapid growth while her joints are still open. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | LRQHS - 2014-09-26 1:57 PM Well, if she's just thin, I'd give her a shot. Don't push her too hard though, even though it's tempting. I'd feed a good complete feed (start slowly), freechoice good hay and/or alfalfa and go from there. If she's just thin, I wouldn't start pushing supplements or anything else on her. Just start slow and let her come around. You won't be able to tell the difference next year at this time and you don't want rapid growth while her joints are still open.
Good advice  |
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Lickable I mean Likeable
Posts: 3965
Location: De Berry, Tx | Thanks! |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Honestly we bought 3 thin babies from a sale years ago and they all turned out fine, no issues what so ever later in life. We had bought a horse that wasn't as he was represented to be in the sale. Instead of giving us our money back we had to use it towards their next production sale.
Yearling is young enough I think you can get it on the right track. I would probably rather buy a young one that is thin, than one of the sale fit yearlings that are about guaranteed to have OCD and joint issues from being fed up like a market steer. |
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Veteran
Posts: 204
Location: North Louisiana | I just bought one back in May had just turned a year old.Now here in September he is bigger than the colts that shrimped him then. I have wormed him about four times and feed Equine Manna and Heaavy Duty 14. On a roll of Alicia Bermuda 12-14%. and free fed off the pear tree. lol He is beautiful wished I could show you pics! you can go to my facebook Tara Charmaine McCoy. He is a little paint colt.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| When my friend bought the gelding I worked with, he was a stunted yearling (looked like a weanling) from being left in a stall and not fed right. Now here we are, he's a little over 2 years old, filled out and 15 hands tall, plus the best riding horse in the barn. He'll go anywhere you point him. Sometimes those skinny ones end up being really nice horses once you take care of them. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 448
Location: lone star state | Just make sure he is developmentally on target. I rescued a yearly once who was DFC and he had a hard time because his mouth was too small for adult teeth. He gained weight and grew but his mouth took a long time to catch up causing dental problems later. |
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Miss Southern Sunshine
Posts: 7427
Location: South Central Florida | We bought one several years ago. She was 20 months old and I bought her knowing she had been turned out for 11 months. She was not really thin, but VERY small. I don't think she was 13h when she unloaded. I was very concerned, but as soon as she started being fed good feed and good grass, she started growing right before our eyes.
She is still not very tall, but is built like a tank. She is about 14.2, maybe .3 however looking at her breding she may be about the right size. She is very thick and healthy. Never been sorry.
Edited after reading the above post, we did have some dental problems but not serious. Her caps did not come off, and she developed weird lumps on her bottom jaw. I had no idea what they were but my farrier knew. We had the caps knocked off and it took about 2 years but the lumps went away and no other teeth problems.
Edited by Swannranch 2014-09-28 6:28 PM
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Buying underweight yearlin