Behavioural problems due to feed??

I am a big fan from Alfa a. I feed the version with oil and equ Jewel and it suits my big TB X SF very well so it's not all bad! In fact, previous yard of eventers were all moved into this as a base feed due to ulcer concerns and it worked well.

Good suggestions on the feed, but I would also ask about turnout and exercise. I have seen horses leave a previous yard chilled and easy only to turn somewhat nuts after a short while. First was when the turnout was drastically cut back and second was when a horse in regular work (5 days a week) was fed the same and only ridden at the weekends.
 
ester said:
I'd rather feed those I mentioned than carrots/apples. I use them for his stretches (need to keep a 22yo flexible ;) )! And for reinforcement during some in hand work in the school.
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I use long thin slices of carrot for stretches - I can make one little carrot last for many many stretches if I cut it thinly enough! ;) thankfully mine doesn't go nuts on carrots but Alfalfa does tip him over the edge. Although that said, so does most hard feed. He exists on grass in summer (plus soaked hay if he's on starvation patch) and haylage when stabled in winter, nothing else. He can be very difficult and naughty on hard feed - you know when they're only just about hanging on to sanity and can't concentrate?! By keeping him on just the above, plus the occasional carrot for stretches, he's lovely, sane and can cope with life ;)
 
ester said:
treats - red rufus/agrobs ones, purefeeds treats I also think equimins ones don't have alfalfa in either. All molasses free too.
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Thanks for that and Yorks G for suggestion of sugarfree mints too - I never thought about that! I have found the Agrob ones but nearest stockist quite a way to travel. I was thinking of using the Graze on Grass Nuts but they don't specify type of grass used? Purefeed treats I can get but 2kg won't last me very long with 3 of them.........

Oh and Chestnut Cob - yes I must treat I'm afraid. I too clicker train and reward train my horses and my cob has to do physio daily so needs some bribery to stretch! I don't hand them out willy-nilly though! :) :) :)
 
Lol tbf my 2kg ones have lasted ages! I'm probably quite stingey!

re the agrobs I was using sample packs of their wisencobs for a bit too if you want to bulk buy but a bummer if nowhere close.

The grazeon nuts will be grass rather than alfalfa,

A unique blend of grasses is used by Northern Crop Driers to produce their grass nuts. This blend is made up of the following grass types:
Solid Hybrid Ryegrass, Donard Perennnial Ryegrass, Moy Perennial Ryegrass, Dovey Tall Fescue, Promesse Timothy

also a lot of barefooters use spillers high fibre cubes without issue too if you are happier with smaller size for treats.
 
We feed grass nuts (only branded ones as someone did once supply some unbranded that MUST have had alfalfa in them, that was an interesting week!) I wouldn't want to use them as treats though, they are too tiny :)
 
My horse reacts to many feed but alfalfa turns him into an unrideable,unhandleable fool! He's also upset by the slightest thing that changes in his life, a change of field(on yards he's been on for years)can unsettle him for days.
 
WelshD said:
Its also worth asking if the horse is being fed haylage as that can send horses scatty sometimes. Hopefully the chaff is the answer though
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Good point. If they feed a different type or brand to you or have introduced it too quickly that'll do it. Same mare can have meadow but not timothy haylage and my gelding gets the runs on meadow haylage from Marksway but not Easypack. Aren't horses fun?!?
 
JanetGeorge said:
I've sold a dead quiet, laidback 10 year old gelding (ID xTBxPercheron mare) to Scotland and he was a bit of an idiot when he first arrived. It was a big move for him and I thought he'd settle down in a few days after the journey. But he's got worse - I wonder if something feed related could be a problem - or if he left his brain in England. I feel SO bad for the owner.

If he doesn't settle, I'll have him back - but that's another LONG trip - so any ideas very welcome. i've asked her for full details of any feed and suggested she speak to her vet about mild sedation for a day or two. But feel rather helpless.
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JanetGeorge said:
I bred him - so he'd been with me 10 years. That's a long time and it's possible that was enough to make him silly to start with - but knowing his breeding and how laidback he has always been, it shouldn't have taken more than a few days - and he shouldn't have got worse. My home-breds are usually sold younger (4 or 5) and only 2 have taken a few days to settle. The rest just moved in to their new homes and were good from day 1. The stallion he is by was SO laidback it was unbelievable. And his mother I had from just backed - at 3. She was very laidback too - and very food dominated! Her only naughtiness was refusing to load for my husband at the end of a day's hunting - if I was there she walked straight on.
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There could be many factors influencing his behaviour, feed included.
Never underestimate how traumatic it can be moving a horse to a new yard, esp as you say he has lived in the same yard all his life (10 years) he has been taken away from all he knows and all that is familiar to him, including long term companions both horse and human.

Imagine if you had lived somewhere your whole life and all of a sudden you were taken on a long stressful journey and had to start a new life where everything was different, routines, new people, no-one familiar to you. Most humans cannot adapt that quickly and that is with the knowledge of what is happening, all the horse knows is that all of a sudden he is in an unfamilar place where everything is different and he is separated from his herd.
You havent said what it is he is doing other than he is "being an idiot" or that "he left his brain in England"
Getting the vet out is a good idea but not for sedation, once the sedation wears off he will still have the same issues, getting the vet out to check for pain/ill health i would suggest is a better suggestion, maybe he injured himself en route.
Perhaps the huge stress of it all has caused ulcers. Definitely check out his feed.

Why not ask his new owner to involve a qualified horse behaviourist? A list of registered consultants can be found here.

http://www.societyofequinebehaviourconsultants.org.uk/find-a-consultant/
 
lol, most of my horses IKE it when they move. From being one of many, looked after and ridden by different people to being the centre of attention with one dedicated slave suits them fine. He's having his chaff (alfalfa - molasses coated!!) withdrawn immediately - we'll see if that helps.

But it might be something in Scotland, lol. JUST had an e-mail about a 4 year old mare who went up a week later (different yard!) I've sold 6 full sisters and brothers and NONE of them has been a prat! Maybe it's the air! Thankfully, she's not being as barmy as Lofty so will come good quicker.
 
JanetGeorge said:
lol, most of my horses IKE it when they move. From being one of many, looked after and ridden by different people to being the centre of attention with one dedicated slave suits them fine. He's having his chaff (alfalfa - molasses coated!!) withdrawn immediately - we'll see if that helps.

But it might be something in Scotland, lol. JUST had an e-mail about a 4 year old mare who went up a week later (different yard!) I've sold 6 full sisters and brothers and NONE of them has been a prat! Maybe it's the air! Thankfully, she's not being as barmy as Lofty so will come good quicker.
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Yes I believe that Scotland is to blame! its so remote and different! I sent my calm ISH up to my sister. He changed to a really spooky horse that would not hack out. She also purchased a 15.2 coloured cob as a happy hacker for OH. He was a kick along but also became ridiculously spooky! He had to go back. Gilles are fab they would have just fed nuts and chaff.
 
If it is the feed, I think they should see an improvement fairly quickly.
My tb couldn't cope with alfalfa, was extremely spooky and unpredictable, but it was almost like he realized he was being a pratt and couldn't help himself.
Once I realized it was the feed making him daft, and cut it out, it only took a couple of days to see improvement, and a week for him to be back to normal.
Kx
 
Circe said:
If it is the feed, I think they should see an improvement fairly quickly.
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Sadly, no improvement! 5 days later and he's even worse so I'm having him back! (Goodness knows what he'll do to a lorry on the way home!) I just hope he reverts to Mr. Laidback when he does get home (the staff may not be in a hurry to repeat this, otherwise!)

Lofty%20resting.jpg
 
JanetGeorge said:
Sadly, no improvement! 5 days later and he's even worse so I'm having him back! (Goodness knows what he'll do to a lorry on the way home!) I just hope he reverts to Mr. Laidback when he does get home (the staff may not be in a hurry to repeat this, otherwise!)

Lofty%20resting.jpg
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oh what a fab picture,he obviously wants to stay with you...
 
There is a horse on the yard I'm on, owned by the YO, he has been sold and taken back twice, due to turning from a laid back easy ride, to a spooky, badly behaved idiot when sold, once home he returns to his old self.
 
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