nutrition for a yearling and 4 month old

Question
Hi- I have a couple questions. I have a 4 month old colt who was weaned at about 3- 3 1/2 months and I also have a yearling who is being "boarded" at my place, more or less, and they are both underweight. The guy that owned them did not take care of them very well. My dad said they probably have about 2/3 of their weight. You can see their ribs, backbone, and hip bones. What do you suggest, besides hay, to give them to help put weight back on them? It's getting close to winter here and I'm worried, especially about my colt. Should he be on a milk replacer, seeing as how he was weaned so early? They aren't severely underweight, but still enough to not be good. Should I get some blankets for them also, until they get good weight put back on them?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I'm really concerned.

Michelle

Answer
Hi Michelle,
                 To begin with, I would worm both of the horses evry 30 days with strongid. You could be dealing with a case of worms. If both horses are not getting hay 24/7, then you will want to make sure that they are getting free choice ha. A good grass hay will be best. To put on weight on the foal, feed him 1lb a day of a foal feed. You can add beet pulp and a can of soaked alfalfa cubes. This will help him with the weight. The yearling should also get free choice hay. I like to see my yearlings be a bit on the thin size, as they are lesss likely to get OCD which is an orthopedic problem.  I would give him 1 lb of oats, 4lbs of soaked beet pulp and you can add 1/2 a cup of oil a day.  Also make sure that the horses have access to a salt block. Depending on the temperature of your area, you may want to blanket them. I would start with upping the feed first and seeing how that goes.

Let me know how it goes.

Lisa