Anyone else's TB going crazy!

[marion95]

Has anyone else noticed a marked change in their horse's behaviour since the weather has turned and more time is spent being stabled/fed hard feed?

My mare is usually so chilled and relaxed - but recently she is wild! Spooky, fizzy, restless when being tacked up etc - nothing dangerous, but just out of character. I am feeding her speedi beat, calm and condition cubes, cool mix and Alpha A oil. Really don't want to cut her feed down as she can't afford to lose any weight.

Don't remember her being like this last year!

 

[H's mum]

She does sound like she's getting a lot of feed - unless she's hunting?
Couldn't you cut out the cool mix and introduce oil instead? Try to go for high fibre to keep her gut healthier - You could also try a digestive soother to see if this helps her behaviour during the transition from summer diet to winter regime?
Kate x

 

[marion95]

Forgot to say she's getting oil too! She doesn't have massive scoops of everything, but maybe I could try cutting it down - just don't want her losing weight now or she won't put it on again 'til next year.

She is ridden everyday and competing regularly.

 

[Sparklet]

My 16.3 7/8 TB is on speedibeet, quiet pencils, readigrass - scoop of each twice a day along with ad-lib hay and is still a good girl. I weigh-tape her regularly and would just increase all of portions a bit if she dropped off. She would be wappy on your horses diet.

She is ridden every day and competes once a week.

 

[bandit]

does seem alot of feed IMO... also the recent warmer weather meant a last ditch attempt with good grazing.
is she also getting different hay and in larger amounts - it may have a higher starch content...

alpha A sends some horses bonkers too - if it's new htis year, change to Hi Fi - I had to with my mare after she put me in hospital!!!

good luck.

 

[monica123]

my TB mare is a bit loopy anyway, but recently going CRAZY! lol......i dont feed her ANYTHING, well obvi hay, she lives out, has always lived out....my theory is it is the weather changes
x

 

[marion95]

Maybe it is the Aplha A then. That's the only thing that's different from last year. She had mollichaff instead last year.

She is still getting the same haylage ec, but there is a lot of grass in her field, so that may have something to do with it as well!

 

[Sparklet]

Haylage too

- hold onto your hat girl

 

[samp]

My mare is on 2 scoops Alfa-Oil, scoop pasture mix, 1/2 scoop SAracen releve and sugar beet. She is competed once a week and schooled/ hacked the rest - she is naturally lazy yet spooky and this hasn't sent her loopy.

 

[marion95]

Ha! No choice unfortunately at my yard!

Think I will perhaps rethink the diet a little though. Too late for the hunter trial on Saturday though - will definitely be holding on to my hat!

 

[sevenoceans]

17 hands, TB Exracer.... double handful alfa Oil, one stubbs scoop calm and condition, 1 stubbs of meadow mix per day Splint in 3 feeds along with linseed ready cooked, garlic, seaweed, and global mud X... he's quiet as mouse... adlib hay.

He was bit aloof last week when the grazing has become too much so he only goes out short times until grazing has lost it's sweetness...

Stopped giving Speedi beet as he won't eat his food
He's nightmare to keep weight on.. i rather him little bit too fresh (he's manageable and not silly) than cut his food as he really needs it as he's hunting soon.

 

[UKa]

my TB went loopy once when I fed her unmolassed sugar beet ...

 

[marion95]

Really? thought the unmollassed stuff was supposed to be less heating? Well she was on the normal stuff last year, so maybe that's where I'm going wrong?!

 

[SillyMare]

Both my TBs absolutely fine at the moment (one ex-racer and one eventer).

Each working fairly hard (but not hunting) and eating a scoop of nuts (ordinary ones) 3x a day, plus a bit of chaff, foot supplement and elecrolytes as required.

 

[Blackhawk]

My TB gets alpha a, speedi beet, nuts oil and garlic.

He's not fizzy at all. He also goes on haylage in the winter as well as hay and is fine on it.

 

[UKa]

no idea, it is what I thought but I took her off the speedibeet and she was back to normal then it may have been something else but I dont touch the stuff anymore.

 

[H's mum]

My mare goes mental on any type of beet - mollassed or otherwise - I know if she's had a handful fed to her as she changes dramatically goes very fizzy and spooky!

Kate x

 

[Sparklet]

Just goes to show that there is not such thing as a standard TB.

 

[Ferdinase514]

Finni has also gone a bit loop the loop recently.

Don't think you're feeding too much.

Finni has 2 feeds of:

1/2 scoop unmolassed chaff
1/3 scoop unmolassed s/b
1/2 scoop working horse cubes
100 mls soya oil
fennel seed

Plus a snack ball with half a scoop of cubes.

This was recommended by a nutitionist as being correct for his work load - at least an hour a day of schooling/hacking/jumping and competing each weekend.

 

[Clodagh]

Alpha A has sent all my horses hypo, I now feed hi fi and lots of oil.
They can then go onto Alpha A when its Jan and they are hunting 3 days a fortnight.

 

[spudsmum]

My TB is loopy loo at the mo! Hacking consists of either spooking or bolting but he always seems to go like this in Autumn, then he's like a lamb in spring! Roll on spring!!

 

[Twiglet]

Alfa A sent my TB totally off his rocker - not that it takes a lot! Also just done it to a warmblood at my yard too........I think some can cope with the extra energy it provides, but it turned mine into a psycho stresshead (inc crib biting, so think it didn't agree with his tummy either).

Haylege did similar and produced azoturia-type symptoms, which he's prone to, because of the extra sugars.

I find lots of Hi Fi Lite, big splash of soya oil, equivite and good quality hay/grazing works a treat - he looks about half his age (16) and has a gleaming coat, and healthy steady weight.

 

[ljubb]

What was she on last year? If that worked y change, in some of your messages you have said 'i changed that from last year maybe thats it'.

My mare came from the track about 4 months ago and could not bare being in the stable, was fine in every other way. We put her on Nupafeed - magnesium supplement and she has completly chilled out now.

They need magnesium to counter act adrenaline, so when she got stressed she had an imbalance in her calcium/magensium levels which meant that as the adrenaline was pumping around her body she was burning off more magnesium and therefore coundn't bring herself back down from her tantrum.

Good luck.

 

[filly190]

Yes, my T.B's have just come in at night this last week and are full of themselves. When I catch them at night, they are really playing me up, galloping round with tails in the air all excited and fighting about who is coming in first.

This usually happens until the routine and pecking order or who comes in, in what order establishes itself.

 

[marion95]

As I've already said in my previous posts, the only thing I've changed this year is feeding Alpha A oil instead of mollichaff.

This was because I was told it was better for conditioning and ws also told (by the feed merchants) that Alpha A oil had less sugar in.

Oh and speedibeet instead of normal sugarbeet, but that's for convenience and has less sugar anyway.

 

[Blackhawk]

Well I said he was fine as always, but he gave an all mighty bronc when I got on him today. Coupled with a new slippy saddle it's a miracle I stayed on!

 

[aran]

mine has lost the plot and hes on hay and happy hoof! there's still grass coming through and he's acting like an oversensitive prat (usually a complete mule!)

(just a thought though - you could get rid of one of the mixes - you dont need both. if fact most shouldnt be mixed with others or straights as they have been formulated to be complete and adding to them can unbalance things!)