# My Araloosa Yearling



## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

This is my 22 month old ArabianxAppaloosa filly, she's 14 hands. She came to me as a rescue 11 months ago, near-death, and has done extremely well. I'm going to be using her for a western pleasure horse in the future. 

People often make comments about how skinny she looks, and my rebuttals about how she's just a _growing, awkward, yearling_ don't seem to satisfy everyone. I believe that she's perfectly healthy and happy. She's eating 2lbs MVP twice daily, as well as 2-6 flakes of hay daily.

I'd love to hear your input on her yearling confirmation, as well as how you think she'll grow in the next couple of years.


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

*.*

Flicka


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

She looks happy and energetic. She does appear to be thinner than I like to see, but as long as your vet says she's healthy and progressing normally, who am I?

Thanks for sharing.... and welcome to the forum.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

maybe a dumb question, but is she kept up to date on worming?


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

although I 'm all for growing horses being kept a little on the thin side (horses that are over weight while growing can have a lot of problems, including joint issues) but she is a little under weight. I would like to see her up another 20+ pounds. otherwise she looks happy, and has a nice shiny coat. I've had several young horses, so I am very familiar with the awkward phases. why do you say 2-6 flakes of hay? Even the fattest horse on the farm gets 3-4 flakes, and the 23 month old gelding on the farm gets 6. 2 flakes is not enough for a growing horse(or most adult horses.). 

Other than being a little thin, I like the looks of her, pretty face, love arab/appy (I have an arab and an appy)


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Yes, she is up to date on worming. She came to me in an extremely bad state, and had a HUGE wormy belly. We've been de-worming on schedule for a year. Thank you for the concern.

A little more of her story, here she is the day I picked her up from a terrible "rescue" that I later reported. That's a full winter coat in AUGUST and a huge wormy belly. Could see ribs through her coat. Heartbreaking.









This is what was underneath that coat 









Getting a little more filled out by September/October.









Nice and plump this winter, February.









March









I just believe she's in a phase of growth, because she's grown an entire hand since January and has been eating an extra scoop of grain twice daily. Her teeth, feet, and everything else is normal.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

She has a very stiff flat top line carrying into her hind quarters which are rounded. Her coupling looks rough with a poorly placed LS joint. She is tied in at the knee.. something that will not change as she grows. Her shoulder lays back nicely but her point of shoulder angle is closed and her neck is placed low and is a bit ewe. The angles or her hind legs are a bit too open and she appears straight through the stifle.. with the entire hind leg placed too far to the rear. 

I understand this is a rescue, but after 11 months she should have a covering over those ribs (feel them not see them). This animal is getting insufficient feed. 

She is growning (as you note) and it using more calories than she takes in. 

*Weigh her hay* (I hate it when someone says they feed X flakes of hay.. flake size and density are determined by the dryness of the hay being baled, the ground speed of the baler and the PTO speed of the baler that controls the speed of hay pick up and plunger speed). She should be getting about 25 pounds a day of decent grass hay (have the hay analyzed buy your feed store). If your bales weigh 40 pounds that is more than a half a bale a day (horses are expensive to feed). 

Another thought.. how dusty is that hay and how is her breathing? This filly looks like she has a heave line along under her ribs. If she is allergic to the hay and it causes her an allergic reaction she needs an entirely different complete feed.


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Regarding the hay, we buy from a local farm (it's extremely good quality) and a bail is set out daily for her. The flakes are larger than normal, about 6 per bail instead of the normal 10, and she eats what she pleases. She also has unlimited grass, so she tends to eat that up and eat less hay.


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Elana: she is provided an entire bail per day, and it is the highest quality in the area. The hay is not dusty and she has never had any breathing problems.

Thank you for the confirmation overview!


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

BTW this is what I mean about a heave line. If she has heaves that could explain her loss of condition in the spring.

It is less obvious with her standing.. but it is there. A horse with heaves has a tendency to be unthrifty until they get the proper feed to control their allergy (asthma).

And it is confOrmation.. Confirmation is something you do when you assert something is correct or something that happens is some churches.


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Thank you. I do understand what a heave line is, and I have had her checked by a vet this spring. No problems. Thanks for the spelling lesson.


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

She has certainly come a long way since you got her! It's almost a catch-22 with young neglected cases like this. They have to catch up on nutrition PLUS take in enough nutrients to keep up with all the growth and development going on. It does take a long time, but I'm with the others here- would like to see a little more weight on her. Maybe something your Vet could recommend to really boost that system. She definitely has the will to survive! I hope she turns out to be everything you want


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Boo Walker said:


> She has certainly come a long way since you got her! It's almost a catch-22 with young neglected cases like this. They have to catch up on nutrition PLUS take in enough nutrients to keep up with all the growth and development going on. It does take a long time, but I'm with the others here- would like to see a little more weight on her. Maybe something your Vet could recommend to really boost that system. She definitely has the will to survive! I hope she turns out to be everything you want


Thank you very much! The vet has suggested a few things, she broke out in hives after taking the first supplement so I have just decided to take a step back and tweak her diet a bit. 

The hives did give me an opportunity for another checkup (for free) and was told she was otherwise healthy, still no word on which ingredient it could have been :?


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

Yes.. I did forget to add you have done a nice job with your rescue of this filly. 

Hope she works out for your.


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

Se has made a lot of progress. Has she ever been treated for ulcers? Ulcers are fairly common in rescue horses and can be a common cause for why horses won't put on weight the way that you might expect.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

it must be very satisifying to see her progress, and you HAVE done a nice job with a very neglected baby.

Her conformation isn't outstanding, but it isn't horrible, either. I bet she'll come around and become a lovely general riding horse. Does she have a name?


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## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

She needs to be standing square on a flat ground to get accurate conformation feed back, but it sounds like you have done an extremely well job caring for this horse. I applaud you for that. She sounds like she is in great hands now!


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## araloosa (Jun 25, 2013)

Thank you all, her name is Flicka (as silly as it sounds.) My grandmother used to tell me the story by heart, and she was the person who inspired my love for horses- as well as taking me to my first riding lesson 15 years ago. She's quite the little spitfire as well, so it fits her perfectly.

I'd love to post another thread in a month or so with some more progress pictures. We've been doing a lot of bulking up, new dieting, stretching, and exercise (hills, groundwork, trust-building) in the last two weeks and I'd love to submit some more photos. I'll include better conformation shots as well.

She's an amazing little girl, she lays down easily on command (with a little help), smiles on command, and knows other various tricks. My intentions are to work with her in whatever she does best, trails, western, dressage, whatever she enjoys. She's just my backyard pal, so I don't plan on ever showing her or anything of the like. As long as she's healthy and happy, that's all that matters.

P.S. Thank you for the comment about the ulcers, it had come to mind at a few points after rescuing her but she has been checked out by various vets (I'm a veterinary assistant and tech in training.) I'll have to have someone more specialized look at her, the previous vets were so focused on specific past ailments that she hasn't had a good _overall_ checkup.

Thank you all, I look forward to seeing you again in about a month!


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