I have a 5 month old arab mustang colt, that from the day he
hit the ground, everyone says he is the biggest colt they’ve seen for his
age and breeding.
I just tried a new vet today (we moved recently) after
finding someone with experience with distance riding.He estimated the colt to be 7-9 months
old – but that he has epiphisitis.
I have been aware of the concern of a young horse growing
too fast, he’s been fed grass only and is getting half the amount of
Equine Junior with beet pulp that is suggested for his size.
The vet has recommended that we switch to something with
less protein or cut it with oats. The first vet we tried here didn’t
notice anything and I’m sure this is not a recent thing as we’ve
noticed his joints are big – but stupidly thought that it was just
because he was going to have these wonderful solid legs and joints like his mustang
mom.
So, although I know we’re not going to see an
overnight effect from reducing protein in his feed, I’m sure we’ll
be doing the right thing for him.Is there anything else we should consider and what precautions should we
take or things should we keep an eye out for in the future. Does this cause long term worry for his
endurance career?Would x-rays be
wise at some point to see how things work themselves out?I am NOT finding as much info on the web
as I want!!!
Yes, this is our first baby – at least I don’t
call the vet every day or week with panic any more!But he is our first foray into what we
hope becomes a breeding program with arabs
and mustangs and everything else about him is just amazing. Today was also his second day of trailer
training (first was for our move and not exactly done by his choice) and he
looked at the trailer for about 10 seconds and walked right in once he figured
out how to get his hind feet up that high. I don’t think I’ve ever seen
a baby this calm!I suppose that
may be a good thing that he’s not always stressing his joints with this
problem???
