A SUCCESSFUL sales prep will see your yearling arrive at the sales complex bright-eyed, with a healthy coat, and in good body condition with a well-defined topline. While most yearlings sail through the necessary preparations, others fail to hold condition, struggle with the added pressures of exercise, or suffer with coughs and colds when stabled in close confinement with other horses. Nutrition is just one cog in the wheel of getting your yearling successfully to the sales. Ensuring key dietary requirements are met will be key to your horse looking and feeling its best when it walks into the ring.

Copper Deficiencies

Rich summer grazing will often meet the calorie requirements of yearlings, so it is likely that many have not received supplementary feeding in the months prior to sales preparation. Irish grazing alone will not contain enough copper to meet the daily requirements of growing horses so if your youngstock have not been supplemented while turned out it will be important to address this as soon as they are brought in for prepping. Copper plays a role in several key functions in the body. A copper deficiency can often be identified by a dull, orange-tinged coat and because of its involvement in new bone formation, a deficiency may also cause an increased incidence of OCD lesions in young horses. Foran Equine’s CopperVit has a multitude of benefits for yearlings. As well as supplying a fully chelated source of highly available copper, it also contains antioxidants to support a challenged immune system and key vitamins and chelated minerals to support healthy joints, coat and hooves.

A short course of CopperVit at the beginning of sales prep will help to rectify present copper deficiencies and a second course closer to the sales may be beneficial to improve appetite and optimum depth of colour and shine to the coat.

Get in touch with the nutrition team at Red Mills and Foran Equine for further advice.