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 Regular
Posts: 53
| I have a yearling colt out of Letta Hank Do It. He's developed strong muscle, but unlike his dad, he is small boned. That's fine, but I am NOT impressed with his growth. Does anyone know if Letta Hanks are small in stature naturally? His dam is a solid APHA mare who has done very well in USTRC. This is why I bought him. I know his dam had proper nutrition and I know she's well cared for. I have him on 8 lbs of Strategy and about 12-15 pounds of good quality alfalfa blend, but he's slow to pick up size. He's sound and UTD on trimming and deworming. I know he's a long way off before his plates fuse, and at times I like to see foals grow slower as it doesn't compromise joint health and we see less bone chipping, but I'm a bit worried. Anyone use anything to boost development? I know some subscribe to Calf Manna and Grow Colt. I've just logged onto Silver Lining to see if anything might be beneficial there. Would greatly appreciate any help. |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
  
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future. |
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| My LHDI is a very big girl, about 15.2 and around 1,300lbs. Her momma was also a big girl. We raised her. I'm trying to remember her as a yearling (it's been 6 years ago!), and I think she might have been a little lanky as a youngster. But now she is obviously a very big girl! She didn't get anything special as a youngster, most of that time was spent out on pasture. |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| wyoming barrel racer - 2015-07-14 9:10 PM
scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future.
I agree. Even when our youngsters are gathered from the pasture we don't feed that much grain. We had been feeding Strategy but switched to Omolene 300 (or whichever number the mare and foal feed is!) and are happy with the results. But they might get 2-3 pounds per day, no more. We also feed alfalfa and supplement with a grass hay if needed. I wouldn't worry so much about growth right now as I would a good feeding, mineral, and worming program. |
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| Breeding to paint bloodlines is a tricky business. The stallion needs to have dominate genes to prevent any flashbacks to old style paints in their pedigree.
This is the reason you see very few successful AQHA sires listed consistently in the top 5 of racing paints ... you will see an occasional freak runner but the top 5 sires of APHA race horses are there for a reason ...
This crop out qh is the consistent sire of racing paints ..
http://apha.com/racing/welcome/royal-quick-flash-gallops-past-36-5-... |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Could be the cross will result in a small horse
I had a mare and stud both over 15 hands, could not for the life of me get offspring over 14 hands |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I think yearling is too young to be worried about growth. I had one that was a dainty little thing as a yearling, she reminded me of a deer. She never got very tall (not even 14.2) but she ended up being built like a brickhouse with nice sized feet.
I've had two others that were really lanky and gangly up until they were like 4 and then suddenly everyone was asking if I had them on steroids or what we put in our water haha.
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Regular
Posts: 53
| I hate to bother him, but I had the opportunity to speak with my former mentor a few hours ago. He's moved on and now works at New Bolton, but we've kept in contact. Anyhow, he looked over photos of my colt and his progress and agrees he's abnormally small. I'm going to draw blood this week and then send it off for him to do a workup on insulin, T4, leptin, ACTH, and glucose levels. He's considering the possibility of a metabolic disorder since "body condition looks great, but he hasn't grown as he should be." He's still in a weanling fly mask while my others are barely fitting into their yearling masks! Interestingly, there's a recent thread on here about Progressive Nutrition. He recommended that I take the colt off of the Strategy (which I don't like anyhow), and switch him to Progressive's Premium Growth Pellet. I also have an appointment with our veterinarian here on Thursday for a mare with a histamine reaction so hopefully we'll have an idea of what's going on with him as well.
Edited by heartswideopen 2015-07-15 2:54 AM
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Regular
Posts: 53
| When you switch from Strategy to Omolene you up caloric intake by increasing the amount of fast macro nutrients. In the case of a foal with slow growth, you want to avoid feeding high calorie, fast digesting carbs - especially since most horses can ingest and process most fast sugars from hay alone. Omolene and the like work for lactating and late term mares, but can also induce edema and other problems like red-bag. Thus, I rarely, if ever feed sweet feed to any of my horses in-foal or not.
Right now the intake on my colt allows him management as he hasn't lost weight, but won't gain weight. Had I decided to place him on Omolene or something similar, this would either force his metabolic rate to increase and cause weight loss, or conversely, cause him to gain visceral fat, founder, etc. which is the last thing I want. Further, a trusted professional has referenced me to Progressive Nutrition Horse Feeds and instructed me to maintain my feed plan after gradual introduction.
If you look at the website for the growth pellet I was recommended, the recommendations are right on par with what I've already been feeding.
I wasn't exactly looking for nutritional feedback, but was looking for sources that might boost growth in terms of immune response etc. Thank you for your help, but I apologize if I made it seem that I was somehow naive in how I manage the nutritional health of my horses. I simply wanted to know what other less-drastic measures some have used to promote healthy growth. I recognize that growth plates beneath the distal radius won't fuse until 36 months, but I am particular about the legs on my horses and I'd like to make sure that I'm doing all I can to ensure that this colt will have a strong short pastern (arthrodesis is an EXPENSIVE procedure) before he's 18 months and fusion occurs. This colt's value may be nowhere near as competitive as some of the others horses I own, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let his well-being be compromised. Again, my apologies if I gave the wrong impression.
Edited by heartswideopen 2015-07-15 4:07 AM
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I have a 4yo colt who is nearing 15.2 hands. When he was a yearling into his 2yo year he was kinda runty. Not poor, but not huge and impressive looking. Considering he is a son of DFP (16+ and rather big built) out of a mare who consistently throws really nice babies I decided to just keep on feeding normally. When he was near 3yo his growth spurt started and he is still growing and filling out.
If you overfeed babies, especially bagged feeds, you can cause a plethora of growth issues. I might throw an extra bit of alfalfa at one if they look a little light, but I'd rather have slow, even growth than cause any issues down the line. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | Could you post your pictures. Would be nice to see what you are talking about especially if you have some of him with a couple of your normal yearlings. I have never experienced this all of mine I have tried to slow down their crazy younger growth. I have no advice but always looking to learn. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | wyoming barrel racer - 2015-07-14 10:10 PM scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future. I agree, I would stop pushing for growth. If you have him on a good feed program, he will be getting all the nutrition he needs. Genetics are genetics. I'm six foot, and if my parents fed me something to make me grow, then da*mn them, lol.
As for LHDI's, they are *usually* on the bigger side. Usually 15 hands and above and built like tanks. Actually I've never seen one shorter than 15.1-15.2 hands, but I've heard they are slower to mature. But you have to consider half of your colt's genes are from Momma :)
Edited by Murphy 2015-07-15 7:49 AM
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | wyoming barrel racer - 2015-07-14 9:10 PM scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future.
I agree, some colts are late bloomers.....let him be a baby but give him the proper nutrition. |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24138
Location: Carpenter, WY | hoofs_in_motion - 2015-07-15 6:50 AM wyoming barrel racer - 2015-07-14 9:10 PM scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future. I agree, some colts are late bloomers.....let him be a baby but give him the proper nutrition.
I agree. Don't push too hard for growth, just make sure he has consistent good nutrition. Genetics will give you the end result of what he is.
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | hoofs_in_motion - 2015-07-15 7:50 AM wyoming barrel racer - 2015-07-14 9:10 PM scares me seeing posts pushing youngsters for growth. 8# kind of seems like a lot too, especially for a yearling. If he is small boned he may just be small. I guess I always thought the LHDI were around that 15 hand mark. If he and she had proper nutrition, he will only be as big as he will be. Pushing him for maximum heigth now will be very detrimental to him for the future. I agree, some colts are late bloomers.....let him be a baby but give him the proper nutrition.
I have one right now. Although she's a 2 yr old, she was very small as a yearling. She's a granddaughter of Special Effort out of a TB mare. Thought she would be bigger than she was, but was a June baby so we just let her be until about 2 weeks ago when we put her in the barn to start breaking her. She took a growth spurt about 3 months ago and has gotten nice size, but not overly big. Let him be a baby. |
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