Calm and condition for a good doer?

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My cob mare is a very good doer and puts weights on well, but shes very forward and can be quite spooky. Shes currently on basic hifi chaff and magnesium (the only thing that takes a bit of an edge off). Now her workload is increasing after a year off with her old owner my instructor has advised to put her on something to help build her muscle and stamina up and to give her feed a little bit more substance. I've been advised calm and condition but all the reviews I see boast about how good it is for putting weight on - which I dont want. Shes also flighty and is very forward so need to make sure this is kept in check. Any advice or recommendations? ?

Thank you!
 
If she is a good doer I'd just give her a low calorie balancer - muscle and stamina will come from a good schooling and fitness programme rather than food. Obviously if you do find that she loses too much weight once in full work you can look at increasing or changing the feed, but doesn't sound like you are anywhere near that stage yet!
 
C &C wont do anything for calmness either, its high starch and sugar. A good balancer as already mentioned would be better ie spillers Lo Cal or similar.
 
Try Cool & Collected or Ride & Relax from A&P rather than the Calm & Condition. I'm not a fan of balancers myself - but then I only have horses in medium/hard work so even the best do-ers need a full feed. If you call A&P's advice line they can talk you through the range. I switched to them when we got a cereal intolerant horse (which I did not believe actually existed until I got one!) and the difference in his behaviour is massive.
 
I'd be giving her some magnesium alongisde a decent mineral balancer and a token feed to carry it. A lot of the grazing in the UK is deficient in magnesium and it can make them very reactive and silly if they are deficient
 
Agree chop/chaff (low sugar/starch one like hi fi molasses free) plus good quality balancer (top spec anti lam for example) and your mag ox, plus a tbsp salt when worked...
 
Shes already on Magnesium, and it has helped her alot. Shes just always on edge, and calmers don't do anything for her. I think shes just a naturally spooky mare.
 
She will be introduced to medium to hard work over summer to compete in very low level dressage while we work on her schooling at home. She has one 45min lesson a week where shes usually left dripping in sweat, she'll be hacked once or twice a week, lunged a couple times a week and schooled a couple times a week.

I think ill give A&P a call after work and discuss it with them. Im not looking to put her on anything over the next couple of weeks, but I want it ready for when her workload really starts to get going.
 
Hannah97 said:
She will be introduced to medium to hard work over summer to compete in very low level dressage
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She is unlikely to need to be in 'hard work' to do very low level dressage - most horses doing riding club level competitions will be in light to medium work, and should be fed accordingly. Horses in hard work generally are hunting regularly, racing or competing in high level affiliated competitions. Overestimating your horse's level of work can lead to over-feeding which in turn can lead to a whole range of problems!
 
I'd agree that doesn't sound like hard work to me, medium at a push depending on the length and speed of the hacking and certainly nothing that cannot be done off forage and good vit/min supplementation.

If she is dripping in sweat after a 45 min lesson she needs more fitness work for certain.
 
Hannah97 said:
She will be introduced to medium to hard work over summer to compete in very low level dressage while we work on her schooling at home. She has one 45min lesson a week where shes usually left dripping in sweat, she'll be hacked once or twice a week, lunged a couple times a week and schooled a couple times a week.

I think ill give A&P a call after work and discuss it with them. Im not looking to put her on anything over the next couple of weeks, but I want it ready for when her workload really starts to get going.
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This is not medium to hard work!!
I'd strongly advise you don't go down the concentrated feed route from what you advise.
I own a sports mare who was competing and travelling nationally for mid level dressage. Many overnighters. Mixed in with gallop sessions upsides the eventers and long hacks.
She was fat and fizzy and did all that off diet chaff, mineral supplement and low quality hay and grass.
 
ihatework said:
I own a sports mare who was competing and travelling nationally for mid level dressage. Many overnighters. Mixed in with gallop sessions upsides the eventers and long hacks.
She was fat and fizzy and did all that off diet chaff, mineral supplement and low quality hay and grass.
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A similar example is the little mare on the right of my signature photos. She is a very good doer and a forward going sort and has hunted, pony raced and done Pony Club and Riding Club competitions up to national championship level on plenty of forage and just a low calorie balancer!
 
Magnesium only works as calmer if they are deficient in it, I tried loads of calmers over the years not realising this fact.

The calm in calm and condition doesn't relate to calming the horse its the stomach and then obviously the condition element.

If she's a good doer I'd stick to high fibre anyway and see how she goes with the increased workload before adding anything else

Only calmer I have found to work is Stepfree from Hackup.co.uk
 
I would take this horse off the hi-fi, not only can horses be cereal intolerant but they can also be intolerant of alfalfa, which is very possibly what is causing your horse's behaviour. I think I would look for a more knowledgeable RI too.
 
just to throw another iron in the fire - too much magnesium can have the opposite effect
some feeds already contain magnesium so you may just need to check the balance is right
 
My good doer got a lot more energy and oomph on Safe and Sound! After being quite stuffy/lazy on just chaff. Plus he hasn't ever gained weight on it, it just seems to keep him fit and energetic when fed at the recommended amounts. He's in the best nick he's been in the 9 years I have had him and he's well up for schooling etc, despite his arthritis. He's always been sharp so I've had to be careful with his feed, and I always thought safe and sound had too much molasses in but it's the best I have found for him.
 
Personally I would agree with Pearlsasinger.

I wouldn't feed any concentrate feeds - especially C&C which has massive levels of starch and sugar and is certainly not calming, and nor would I feed anything with mollasses in it which includes most of the chaffs on sale - whether it is advertised as mollasses or Moglo, and that would include all the feeds recommended by the Laminitis site - most of them have whacking great amounts of sugar/starch.

I personally feed Agrobs feed - all below 10% sugar and starch collectively. Even Spillers High Fibre Cubes are 15% starch - way too high for most fizzy/native horses. I feed a forage balancer which is from ForagePlus and is balanced to the majority of UK grass and hay. He is the calmest he has ever been and he has been a challenge in a lot ways!!
 
Exercise will build both muscle and stamina. For a good-doer cob, you should be able to get her fit and slim on forage (plus balancer) alone. You will need a proper fittening regime, to slowly increase the amount and type of work you are doing - alongside your normal schooling schedule.

As an aside, very rarely do todays leisure horses do enough work to be in "hard work" which is usually restricted to race horses in training, endurance horses competing long distances and hunters who are out several times a week.

Most leisure horses are in light work, even if schooling every day and competing once a week... it takes a LOT of exercise to be in even medium work ;)
 
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