stunted growth

Question
I am looking into purchasing a one and a half year Arabian X filly or a one and a half year old Appaloosa/Curly cross colt. These foals are both from a rescue organization and when they were siezed they were both neglected and very under weight. I feel that they are smaller than they would be if they had been properly fed. With proper nutrition now, do you think they could "catch up" to a normal size, or is it possible that they would stay smaller than normal?

Answer
Dear Melinda,

This will depend on whether their growth plates have closed.  The growth plates in the legs close at different ages, once they are closed that bone can not grow any more. The pastern, fetlock and shoulder will be closed by now but the upper fore arm, parts of the shoulder and knee will still be open.  So you may get some more height.

There is a phenomenon that is well known in cattle called compensatory growth .  When cattle are not able to get the nutrients they need such as during drought their growth rate falls and then when they are introduced to the necessary nutrients their growth rate is far faster than it would have been and they typically end up the same size as they would have.  Beef producers use this to their advantage sometimes becuase it is a more efficient type of growth they get more growth from fewer groceries overall.  This is ok in an animal that you are going to eat becuase you don't much worry about the quality of the resulting bone or issues like OCD.  This is a concern in horses.  So you need to be careful not to feed them too much grain becuase you are worried they are under weight.  The best thing you can do is fill them up with as much good quality grass hay as you can along with a grass hay balancing supplement.  To provide any extra protein they need you could feed some alfalfa hay or pellets but no more than 30-50% of their total forage intake.  Slow and sure is the best insurance with these babies as with any others but you just need to be aware that they are at risk of faster growth than other babies of the same age and the issues that can go along with that.

Best of luck,

Clair Thunes, PhD.
Independent Equine Nutritionist,
Equilibrate Equine Consulting,
clair@equilibrateequine.com
www.equilibrateequine.com