Calming Feeds

Shantara

Shantara

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Hello!

So, I've been looking around for some calming feeds for Ned. I'm just doing research for the time being (I will ask his owner too, to see what she thinks)
What calming feeds are best? A friend suggested Mollichaff Calmer, is it any good?
 
TBF the best bet would be to have him on a forage only diet to start with and see where you go from there, most feeds have sugar in and if he's the sort to react to it then they will make him more buzzy. If he needs feeding when the others are fed and your worried about him being excitable just give him some unmolassed chaff and possibly unmolassed beet if he needs some more condition.
 
He doesn't really need extra food, I have only just learnt of this calming stuff and he is such a lunatic at times. Sometimes he is fine, but other times he's bouncing and leaping up the school! I know it's something I'll have to work out of him, but if there's something that can give me a helping hand, that would be ace!
 
calming feeds... don't exist.

Most feeds branded as calmers are feeds which are less "hottening" than their equivalents or are the same with added magnesium (:rolleyes:). Think about what you're giving him - molichaff calmer is mollassed chaff with added calmer (Mg I presume?) - so you're sticking a load of sugar into him, and hoping to negate it with a supplement. It's not the most logical approach!

If he needs to build condition, I'd be looking at feeding unmollassed sugar beet and maybe barley if he needs more than ad lib good quality forage. If you want to calm him, without condition, don't tackle it with feed - cut him back to only forage and address his management to relieve excess energy. :)


(crossed posts with dh :p)
 
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As for using magnesium, as far as I'm aware, Mg supplementation only works if the horse has a deficiency - additional Mg won't turn a racehorse into a dobbin.
 
He doesn't need condition at the moment really, he's looking rather well :) and he's only on haylage (Not sure if this is a good or bad thing! I plan to learn about feed before I buy him :P hence this post!)
 
As JFTD said they dont work cut him back to forage only and increase his workload and see where that gets you. We must stop posting the same thing :p. If he is still to much on hay only then soak it to get some more of the sugar out no potion or powder will make him magicly calm.

ETA if he has to much energy on haylage then put him on hay.
 
In addition to being dafthoss's yes man, I also find myself acting as rhino's too. I've just lifted this off another thread...

rhino said:
I always go by the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) concept with feeding, which works with me. Not sure whether I'm simple, or stupid though :D
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Personally, I would start with forage and see where you need to go. Haylage is fine, but if he's overweight I would soak it, or switch to hay / soaked hay or cut the haylage with straw to reduce his calorie intake. If he's hot, I'd increase his turnout and exercise. There's no magic cures, despite what feed companies might tell you - they want you to buy their products!

Obviously these are things you'll have difficulty with changing given you don't have control over Ned's management.
 
Nout I can do about it at the moment, but I shall try and get him on hay when I loan/buy :)
I think it's just down to me to put the work in then! Since his buddies who get the exact same things are nice and calm, most of the time.
Was hoping for a helping hand with calming feed, but if it doesn't exist, then that means I just get to ride him more :D
 
Nah said:
Since his buddies who get the exact same things are nice and calm, most of the time.
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That's horses for you! What works for one won't always work for another :cool:

If I fed my highlands what I feed the cob, they'd be obese psychopaths! If I fed the cob what I feed the highlands, he'd be emaciated :o

(sorry I seem to have hijacked your thread!)
 
JFTD said:
In addition to being dafthoss's yes man, I also find myself acting as rhino's too. I've just lifted this off another thread...

Personally, I would start with forage and see where you need to go. Haylage is fine, but if he's overweight I would soak it, or switch to hay / soaked hay or cut the haylage with straw to reduce his calorie intake. If he's hot, I'd increase his turnout and exercise. There's no magic cures, despite what feed companies might tell you - they want you to buy their products!

Obviously these are things you'll have difficulty with changing given you don't have control over Ned's management.
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Yep, like you said I don't have control right now, but I hope to learn as much as I can before I buy ^^
He's not over weight, he's a nice weight right now, but he certainly needs more riding (Which I shall when I finally pass my bloomin' test!!)
 
JFTD said:
That's horses for you! What works for one won't always work for another :cool:

If I fed my highlands what I feed the cob, they'd be obese psychopaths! If I fed the cob what I feed the highlands, he'd be emaciated :o

(sorry I seem to have hijacked your thread!)
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Hehe, that's alright :) I'm learnin' stuff, so it's cool :P

Even the ex racers are on the same (as far as I know) and they're lovely :O very rarely get fizzy!
I think Ned is just special XD nothin' about him is like a normal horse!
 
I realise you dont have complete control of him right now so its not a choice you can make but it might be worth asking why he is currently on haylage? if its just because every one else is then you could find he is much better on hay but there might be a reason, something to ask his current owner and consider when he is yours.

At the same time if I fed the yellow pony the same in the summer as in the winter he would be a raging loon in the winter and a dobbin in the summer :cool:.
 
Nah said:
I think Ned is just special XD nothin' about him is like a normal horse!
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define normal, eh?! :D

never met a normal horse nor owner yet!

eta, "when he is yours", dafthoss? have I missed something? Are you buying ned, AL?
 
JFTD said:
define normal, eh?! :D

never met a normal horse nor owner yet!

eta, "when he is yours", dafthoss? have I missed something? Are you buying ned, AL?
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You have :B and I am! Hopefully, if all goes to plan, he will be mine by the end of this year :D yay!

Dafthoss, I will ask :) can't hurt, I suppose!
 
Its ok I think you were SJ that night :p. Dont know if I commented but congratulations if I didnt.

You are actually in a very lucky position in that you get to ask as many questions as you want before he is yours most people buy their first horse take it home and thats it they hear minimal from the previous owner. I would ask, it might be that he has a dust problem with hay that could be solved by soaking it but there isnt the time on a busy yard to do so, so he is on haylage. She might be able to put him on hay easily if you ask then you can see if it suits him better.
 
meh, I live in my own little world, sometimes. Never mind, jolly good show and all that - as dh says, you're in a very good position to find out as much about his management as you can from his current owner - why she does what she does and what she's tried differently that doesn't work for him.

Never look a informational gift horse in the mouth (or the eye if you're watching the apprentice :confused:)
 
dafthoss said:
Its ok I think you were SJ that night :p. Dont know if I commented but congratulations if I didnt.

You are actually in a very lucky position in that you get to ask as many questions as you want before he is yours most people buy their first horse take it home and thats it they hear minimal from the previous owner. I would ask, it might be that he has a dust problem with hay that could be solved by soaking it but there isnt the time on a busy yard to do so, so he is on haylage. She might be able to put him on hay easily if you ask then you can see if it suits him better.
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Yes, I feel very lucky! And I won't be moving him unless I really have to (Parents want to move to scotland, but they've wanted to live in scotland for the past 25 years, so who knows if that'll happen!), so she'll be there after I buy too!
I think it's to do with the living arrangements more than anything, as he lives with 2 others who are fine on haylage. There's 3 who get hay (lami prone ponies!) so I might ask if he can move in with one of them (he used to live with one, but then it was all changed) she's thinking of having a re-think of living arrangements, since I think she's getting more land soon.
 
JFTD said:
calming feeds... don't exist.

Most feeds branded as calmers are feeds which are less "hottening" than their equivalents or are the same with added magnesium (:rolleyes:). Think about what you're giving him - molichaff calmer is mollassed chaff with added calmer (Mg I presume?) - so you're sticking a load of sugar into him, and hoping to negate it with a supplement. It's not the most logical approach!
:p)
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The chaff in Molichaff calmer is not molassed.
 
Forage = the main part of a horses diet eg grass/hay/haylage/straw (also things like horsehage).

Molassed = when a plain food such as chaff or sugarbeet has been "spiced up" with molasses to make it taste more palatable to the horse. It is, however, then high in sugar.
 
Molasses are a basically a by-product of sugar cane & is used to make feed more palatable for horses.

If you have a flush of spring grass at the moment this could be contributing significantly to his behaviour!
New shoots of grass are low in Magnesium so feeding mag ox at this time of year can make a significant difference. (it does to my mare & is good for her feet)
Interestingly magnesium is the main ingredient in most comercial calmers that cost a fortune :rolleyes:
Mag ox can be bought on ebay for under a tenner - worth a try :)

Agree with everyone saying a forage only diet is the way to go :)
 
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