~*Need some weanling feed advice*~?

This is a common problem for weanlings, and normally disappears as they mature. I once read an article by a top halter exhibitor who kept his weanlings on their mother longer than other exhibitors. When he hauled the foals to the futurity shows in the fall he took the foals and mothers, which no one else did. This exhibitor felt that by allowing the colts to remain on mother's milk they tended to have less issues with being potbellied. I'm not sure if this is scientifically correct or not, but he felt that the potbellies had more to do with a change in feed than in health issues, he felt that since milk was easy for them to digest they had less problems.

So I'm not recommending you put your baby back on his mom, but I just wanted to point out that this is normal, even in top quality foals with experienced handlers.

I almost suspect the best thing to do is just care for your baby wisely, and give the potbelly time to go away on it's own. You very seldom see a healthy yearling with a potbelly, so it will likely be gone by spring.

In the meantime, continue with worming properly. Focus on keeping forage in front of your foal, a huge percentage of babies have ulcers, which could contribute to the potbelly, also to a dull, unthrifty coat, and even wood chewing (ulcers are supposed to feel better with extra saliva, which comes with wood chewing). I would be careful to keep him healthy without overfeeding him, which will be a challenge ifyou are wanting to halter this guy in the spring. Your foal will have a much lower chance of joint problems if he isn't overly heavy and overly fed. Likewise, I personally would not over do it with the grain. This too is a big problem for halter babies - excess grain causes mineral inbalances, it can cause hoof/leg/joint issues, but I also know you want a big, bulky foal, so you're going to need to balance things really carefully. Perhaps talk to a good equine vet and make a plan that will cause good, healthy growth without stress to the growing foal.

The oil should be suitable. You didn't mention a mineral suppliment, you need to consider if your Strategy is providing everything he needs. Likewise, you didn't mention if he's in turnout, or stall part-time, or stalled most of the time. I would encourage turn-out as much as possible. This will help keep him toned up, improve the quality of his growing hooves, and keep his attitude better. Good luck and have fun with your baby. Remember - he'll only be little for a short while, don't over do things because you'll want him healthy for his entire life.

I have a 7 month old and he has a bit of a pot belly too, but I can't really tell with all that hair and I want to show him in the spring. Right now I'm giving him the tiniest bit of grain (he's a mini). It's Nutrena Life Design Mare and Foal in pellets. I hear that even the pickiest horses will eat it.

here's a link:

http://www.nutrenaworld.com/Screens/Equine/Life_De...

I rather have continuously fed weanling's and yearlings the comparable feed I feed my working horses, in basic terms no longer as lots and if attainable I feed them three times an afternoon, and that i additionally feed a weanling calf manna in his feed.

I hope your worming took care of the worm problem. That can cause a lot of them to be potty. If he is 8 mo old he is plenty big enough to start working on his basic training. You can teach them so much at that age! and working him should take off some of the pot belly.