A question of sparkle feed for a chunky Welsh Cob

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Bobbin74

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Hello everyone **waves**

I have just joined to get the wider community experience of feed.

I have an 8yr old Welsh cob, he is ofcourse a good doer. The problem I have is that is just so lazy and lacks sparkle.

I have an appointment with the vet for blood tests and he is now coming in at night again as muzzling him is not an option, he rubs very easily and he also chews so I can see a muzzle going the same way as his leather headcollar....twice!!

The problem I have, I genuinely believe can be improved by fitness, but I literally cannot get him to move in order to get him fit. He is a lazy lump and so far I have had him on Power and Performance and Competition Mix plus and no real improvement.....maybe temp then just goes flat again.

It's really starting to get me down because I can't ride him for more than 20 mins in the school without me being exhausted and him just looking like we ran a 4 mile race or hack for much longer than 30 mins....maybe an hour in company.

Any insight greatfully received!!

Both vet and Osteo have seen him within the last week and think he looks the picture of tubby health!

Just an idea, he is in light work, ridden approx 4-5 times a week. 2-3 x 30 mins schooling and 2-3 hacks 30 mins to an hr....mostly trotting and cantering where possible
 
Hi,

I've owned my Welsh Cob for almost 10 years and in that time have battled with his weight, had to muzzle and so on.

He's been slim and stayed slim now for about three or four years. He is over 100kg lighter by a weight tape than at his heaviest (he is 15.3 and was 585kg), has more energy and is less stubborn!

What has worked is the following:

Fast Fibre, Hoofkind and a few maintenance cubes all year round - quantity varied according to the weather

He now lives out with my other two on relatively poor downland grazing - not ex dairy pasture. He is moving around all the time.

He has hay/haylage when necessary - most of the time this summer. I make sure he never has less than 1.5 per cent of his body weight in forage/feed even if there is some grass left in winter. In cold weather much more.

If he needs more energy he has Ride and Relax - this is rare.

Once he lost weight his metabolism seemed to stabilise. Before this I had to soak hay, muzzle etc. He was definitely harder to keep slim when he was in overnight.

I would avoid anything sugary with your cob as he may be prone to laminitis. Indeed, he may have low grade laminitis already which might be why he is so slow.

It's taken me a long time to realise how important a more natural life style is in keeping horses happy and healthy. If your Welsh D is anything like mine, he will be a sensitive soul!
 
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Hi again,

Another thought on the question of exercise and willingness to go forward. There is evidence to suggest that walking for horses and humans is a better way of losing weight than faster paces.

Something I found worked well with my cob to get him going forward more was long reining, both in the school and round hacks. It made a lot of difference to his temperament. We don't do it so much now as we are lucky enough to have fabulous hilly hacking on the South Downs and he is now much more forward going anyway. The other thing that helped a lot at one stage was regular ground work to get him listening and respectful (this is the horse called a lager lout by our vet!)

One last thing, my Welsh D was a very late maturer and was very different by 10 or 11 to his younger self! It was worth the wait, though!

Welsh Ds are very clever and in my experience very sensitive and want to please. Once they're on your side, there's no better horse. Mine still likes to have an opinion at times but he really looks after me and is worth his weight in gold!

Hope this helps.
 
If he is fit and still lacking sparkle then Id recommend topspec turbo given before a comp or for a bit of ping :)

Works for my welshxdales mare :) she doesnt get a feed as she lives on air but lacks sparkle despite being fit so I give her some of this and some alfalfa before we go anywhere and she has plenty of ping :)
 
There is no such thing as feeding for sparkle/fizz, it's a total myth and is notmally caused by other factors such as the weather, temperament and change in environment. Feed does NOT (and cannot) cause fizziness!

I have a 8yo Welsh D (competing Elementary and working Adv Medium). He's fed Dengie Hi-Fi Lite, Saracen Bio-Life 2000 Feed Balancer and a very small amount of Equi-Jewel. He never feels tired, but he is fit!

So getting your horse fit (and making sure he's the right weight) is the answer, as mine was super lazy when I first got him as he was fat and very unfit :)
 
If he has a clean bill of health but you have trouble getting him to move whilst on a hack, then I'm afraid that sounds like he is overweight. (Given that most horses are more motivated to move whilst hacking - maybe he just can't due to his weight). Pushing more calories into him won't give him more energy I'm afraid.

As with humans you need to get him to use up more calories via exercise than he is eating. Sounds like you need to up his work level. Perhaps try lunging him to help and then longer and more frequent hacking.

Buy a weight tape and learn how to condition score, this will enable you to understand whether a new exercise regime is working and having the desired effect.

The risk of laminitis is too high for you not to do something.
 
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