finding a horse trainer

Well I guess 'friends and word of mouth' isn't really a sufficient way to check out a trainer, based on your results besides you told me she went there because he was a relative. The question is whose 'words' and whose 'mouth'. Most people don't know spit about training young horses, including the people that advertise that they do.

Advice: don't leave a horse with a trainer that you haven't watched in action and observed in different situations, and gotten references from experienced, humane people in the area who are satisfied with their services and have used them for a long time to do exactly what you're planning on have him do, and THEN, go every day and check on what's going on, and be there while he works the animal, and if the person loses his chestnuts and starts screaming and wrapping your little tiny pipsqueak weanling in ropes and ripping her skin off, load her up and take her home. That guy lost his temper and he took hide off that filly, and when you arrived she was soaked in sweat and exhausted.
 
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It doesn't really work that way though. Fiber keeps them warm, and total calories sometimes need to be supplemented.... but neither alfalfa nor oats is a terribly efficient way of doing either. Usually what you would do is feed more hay (up to "free choice", and possibly even a *poorer* grade of hay if they get too fat on free-choice your-regular-hay). That is PLENTY for most idle horses to keep them warm and healthy weight over the winter.

If you have to supplement with something more to make up total calories in midwinter, it's most effective to make it either straight corn (if you won't be adding much) or some form of mixed-grain or concentrate, possibly with oil added. Oils (corn is naturally high in oil, or of course oils *are* oil <g> but must be fed on something else for palatability) give you the most 'bang for your buck' so to speak. Anytime you are adding grains or concentrates though you need to review the nutritional balance of the diet, ESPECIALLY for horses under 4 or so, because it is easy to slip into problems with Ca:p balance and such.

For what it's worth, two of my horses are fairly hard keepers (both TBs off the track, one middle-aged, one elderly); they live outdoors 24/7 all except usually about 2-3 nights per year, with an uninsulated turnout shell most of the winter or a midweight blanket when it's getting down to like -30 F, and they do FINE with just free-choice hay and a *small* amount of ration-balancer pellets (like, I dunno, quarter to half a pound per horse per day; and only because my hay is usually kind of 'enh', not bad but not super good either).

Certainly if you have reason to believe she will get fat with free-choice hay, that is likely to be all she needs over winter to stay warm! And hay will keep her warmer than any other feed anyhow (weight for weight).

Pat

I heard corn was bad for horses.....hard for them to digest and can give them colic.

I was told for her whole oats with oil....or just plain whole oats. Not sweet grain cause too high in protein and the sugar will make her more hyper.

I will see on average what a flake weighs that I am giving.

Someone gave me the idea to put up a bag w/ hole in it and put some hay in there to give her something to do between meals.

She does not look under weight....how can you tell if she is malnourished and not under weight, just wondering. I don't think she is either.
 
So this filly is being fed 2 flakes of grass hay a day to...keep her quiet?

Young horses need protein, fat, salt, calcium and other minerals every day to grow normally. Young horses do not need tons of carbs and fat, like in junk-food-molasses-corn cheap horse feed, but if all they are getting is grass hay, they need a salt-mineral block and a ration balancer product every day, designed to provide what grass hay does not provide.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

http://nrc88.nas.edu/nrh/

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1286816771.html

http://www.esc.rutgers.edu/publications/factsheets_nutrition/FS038.htm
 
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Yes she was and has been.....since cold she has been getting 3-4 flakes 1 1/2-2 am and pm I will weigh them.....she does have a trace mineral salt block out there in her pasture as well. The cows were just butchered but when they were here she would get some sweet grain here and there for a treat not much and not that often though.

She does not need to be kept quiet though she is not starving. She snakes sometimes only when she sees me or I go out. If I open the door sometimes she neighs if I try petting her sometimes she bunny hops if she would rather have food instead. Not always she is not bad or constantly crying out for food. I just wanted to know what to do if she rears like that what would you guys do I am positive it is not cause she is starving....she may think she is.
 
For crying out loud--you can count her ribs. FEED THE HORSE! A flake of alfalfa at sunrise. A flake of bermuda at lunch. Another flake of alfalfa at 5 or so. And a flake of bermuda for bed!!

Her legs are so cold the snow isn't melting off her legs!!!!!!!!
 
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My thoughts after reading this thread. Daizy is a young horse, she is testing the waters with you to see who will be the leader of your herd of two. I think you might actually find it more helpful to have someone come to your barn once a week or even once a month. That way she is at home and you can look out for her welfare and also be able to work with her yourself as some else giving you pointers. She really isn't doing anything so different than any young horse will try to do. She's looking for leadership, just like kids do. Trainers come in every style and each think they have the only way of doing things. Finding one that you are comfortable with may take a few tries, but there is one out there that will fill your needs.

Counter point...snow on horses legs does not always melt off in cold climates.
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She was playing in the snow stomping in it that is why I started taking pictures/videos....she had that snow on her legs a whole 5 mins. Also....she just ate 2 flakes and they are good size flakes. Just move on if you have nothing but rude to be and accuse me of straving my horse...I don't want to hear from you....bye.

ETA: All over her face too cause she was putting her face in the deep snow. If you can't read I said she is now getting 3-4 flakes per day since colder out....just 2 times per day. Been pretty cold her lately too but not the case anyways she was pawing in it watch the videos.

I don't give up by the way you can it is not your problem so it is just that easy for you and I don't think it is funny....not what that poster originally wrote either. There is other pics I took a about a month or two ago on this thread or another thread and her ribs are not that bad she should be a bit lean not too fat she is not being worked and she has always gotten the same feed. Shes getting more feed now but her ribs are showing now makes sense.
 
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Personally I'd way rather see a young horse on the lean side than halter-fat the way a lot of people grow 'em. For whatever it's worth, the pic you posted doesn't look drastically problematic to me, although as someone mentioned earlier when they are in their winter coat you sort of need to be there to *feel* them to see what the real state of the horse is.

If she is ribbier now despite more feed, that is almost certainly telling you one or both of two things: 1, that your worming program needs to be altered (in terms of frequency, wormer class, or how much wormer actually ends up *in the horse*); and/or 2, that she needed more feed a couple months ago (there is usually a lag between underfeeding and obvious weight loss, and a lag again before it goes back on when feed is increased). Especially if she happens to be in a growth spurt (there is really no way for you to know for sure if she is, other than by observing the relation between her feed intake and weight).

I would suggest reading some reputable summaries of basic equine nutrition. Try going to www.thehorse.com if you want a good online source (you have to register to read full text of many articles, but it is free and I've not had spam problems from them). I get the impression your info is coming from old books or from the guys next door or at the feedstore, and much of it could really use some reality-checking.

I wonder if you could run a couple lines of electric wire *in addition to* your existing fence? Even if you cannot remove the barbwire yet (I know that long lengths of barbwire *are* heavy and quite obnoxious to work with, so I can understand your reluctance to try it singlehanded), although it does need to go as it IS a menace even if "protected" by hotwire. Like maybe a standoff hotwire at chest level in front of the pagewire, and then another standoff hotwire in front of the top barbwire. Wouldn't involve buying anything you would't be getting ANYhow when you do the whole job proper. Just a thought anyhow.

Pat
 

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