CC please on Beau and our jumping

Sounds a much better feeding plan. Couple this with more haylage and get himself working a bit better he should soon pile on the topline
 
Afa A oil is good - but it is very light weight so weigh a scoop and check your recommended amounts. You can get alfalfa pellets which are a lot cheaper and more efficient as are compresed (if you contact dengie they can give you the translation but it is something like 1 scoop of pellets = about 3 or 4 scoops of their chaffs). Obviously it doesn't have the oil, or any added vits, which you would need to then add separately.

Alfabeet is speedybeet with alfalfa added, so as you are already feeding alfalfa in the alfa-A there seems little point in using this rather than plain speedybeet.

I have heard good things about linseed, particularly as his coat looks a bit flat.

No experience of the conditioning mix.
 
Erm, feeding advice is all very helpful and all that, but I think the only way you are going to put any muscle on this fellas top is by riding him correctly. He needs to go more forward (NOT faster), with his hind legs pushing underneath him, and you need to be connected front and back. He's a young Irish horse you say? Then he may never have actually been properly ridden, just jumped a lot. Can you get some more help with the way of going on the flat before you jump him - he's going totally flat and unconnected to, over and away from his fences, and if you continue to ride him like that he'll end up being sore. He is already looking cheesed off; you need to help him more.
 
I have a horse a lot like him. Irish, 16.3h and chestnut! He tends to rush him jumping and pull himself along on front. I feed Alfa A oil and Topline no 4. Even with this and lots of hills and correct schooling (3 times a week by someone who knows what they are doing) not me, i still struggled with his top line. He got stronger and much more balanced thou. He's 9 now and think I've finally found the reason why. He has an issue with his right hock and perhaps this was why he never truly powered from the back end and always used speed to jump. Hopefully now I've had this treated the top line will improve.
 
I think he has changed shape just a little for the better. I swear by feedmark benevit advance supplement which seems to help ours get the best out of their feed and gives them lovely coats and skin. We alter the amount of halage they get rather than giving loads of feed ( they do get fed small feeds to suit each individual horse if they need it with the advance vits ) People have said they don't believe how little hard feed they get and yet look so good. So perhaps you could try him on advance with his feeds or look into it anyway. Feedmark have a web site,and are great at giving advice if you want it.
If you haven't already got a good instructor I can highly recommend one that is good with ground work and jumping, she explains everything well and has you and horse working hard and also laughing, and is very down to earth. Pm me for her details if interested as I don't want to put her name on here without her permission.
Beau looks a nice horse and you are going in the right direction so will get there.
So lucky to go to beach on Sat, daughter wants to get hers there eventually, but worried she may never see him again!! LOL
 
Cortez said:
Erm, feeding advice is all very helpful and all that, but I think the only way you are going to put any muscle on this fellas top is by riding him correctly. He needs to go more forward (NOT faster), with his hind legs pushing underneath him, and you need to be connected front and back. He's a young Irish horse you say? Then he may never have actually been properly ridden, just jumped a lot. Can you get some more help with the way of going on the flat before you jump him - he's going totally flat and unconnected to, over and away from his fences, and if you continue to ride him like that he'll end up being sore. He is already looking cheesed off; you need to help him more.
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Yes, he's Irish and we do suspect that he's not had a lot of schooling. I am having lessons - I was supposed to have a jumping lesson on the day I posted but it was cancelled.
I will be concentrating on his flatwork over the winter with regular lessons. He's very different to my other horses and I'm struggling a bit trying to find the right buttons.
I have considered sending him away to be schooled properly but I didn't hear back from the person I contacted. I do want to get it right from the beginning and I realise that improving his flatwork is going to help his jumping no-end.
 
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Alfalfa pellets wont do much good - they have a DE of 9mj, alfa-a oil is 12.5mj and therefore will give more calories per feed.
 
I'm not in a position to give advice but just wanted to say how nice it is to see someone ask for critisism/advice and then actually listen to it without getting offended. I look forwards to seeing photos 6months down the line!
 
It WILL come, it's always harder when they're bigger because they need to grow in to themselves and learn how to hold their big frames. The most important thing is you've got a good temperament to work with.

Feed wise I swear by winergy condition. By far the best feed I've ever used. I also like alfa oil for poor doers.

I know someone didn't like the sound of a Pessoa but my physio really likes them. It's good as they don't have a riders weight and when put on the low setting it is useful for building muscle. Maybe just walk to begin then introduce trot then do transitions.

I don't know if you read my post about the things I noticed after watching the video but I think if you help him more, soften with your hands over the fence and don't drive with your seat so much he may sweeten up some.

Also because he young try and make jumping a bit more structured. I would have smaller fences, maybe just crosses but a shorter distance. That stride was allowing him to continue in a flat frame with no impulsion. A good exercise is a pole on the floor then keep adding one at The standard stride you would find jumping. When he's stronger and more balanced you can shorten and lengthen the distances.
 
Countrychic said:
It WILL come, it's always harder when they're bigger because they need to grow in to themselves and learn how to hold their big frames. The most important thing is you've got a good temperament to work with.

Feed wise I swear by winergy condition. By far the best feed I've ever used. I also like alfa oil for poor doers.

I know someone didn't like the sound of a Pessoa but my physio really likes them. It's good as they don't have a riders weight and when put on the low setting it is useful for building muscle. Maybe just walk to begin then introduce trot then do transitions.

I don't know if you read my post about the things I noticed after watching the video but I think if you help him more, soften with your hands over the fence and don't drive with your seat so much he may sweeten up some.

Also because he young try and make jumping a bit more structured. I would have smaller fences, maybe just crosses but a shorter distance. That stride was allowing him to continue in a flat frame with no impulsion. A good exercise is a pole on the floor then keep adding one at The standard stride you would find jumping. When he's stronger and more balanced you can shorten and lengthen the distances.
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sorry, yes I did read your comment about my hands and it's been taken on board. :) I think that by shortening my stirrups, I won't find myself bracing over the fence and I'd be able to give with my hands more.
I'll try the canter poles tomorrow when I do flatwork and I'll make sure I don't let him go flat.
 
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:)Hiya, could i cc on your riding?
one thing i would suggest is dont push so much, your knocking out his and your rythm. Just try and sit a little quieter and give with your hands a little. but other than that your riding isnt too at fault.
Other that his condition and topline he isnt doing too bad :)
 
I dont tend to comment on cc as im really not in a position to give it however he reminds me very much of mine, except the irish bit although mine looks it :rolleyes:
In the vid he is cantering very flat, cantering round like that does him no favours at all which is why the striding got worse near the end. Transitions are your friends, back to trot, canter, walk, up to canter etc so he is sitting and forward off your leg, you can then sit quieter to the fence and dont drive him through your seat like you are doing at the moment. Same should be done on the flat, transitions in the pace and direct ones. He isnt very strong so i would start with easy ones before doing things like walk to canter.
As he is long and strung out i bet you feel like he is towing you into the bottom of the fence? If he is again lots of transitions but make sure you keep the contact, at the moment your reins are a bit long and your setting your hands on his neck, lift your hands a touch and you will be able shorten the reins better, allowing your hands to go forwards and have a softer elbow to give over a fence. It might also help you stop over folding as you can move your butt back and hands forward as you wont be able to rest them on his neck.

Shorter stirrups will help get your weight into you heel a bit more and try pushing your butt back, over fences like that you dont need to do to much really.
I found lunging in draw reins worked for mine but worth trying a passoa.

Feed wise hi fibre and oil worked better than conditioning cubes, ive got him on hi fibre cubes, Fibergy chaff, linseed oil and with speedibeet in the winter, lots of good quality hay and he was on straw at the last yard so always had something to nibble on if on the odd occasion he ran out and got hungry.
I think its trial and error with feeding thou but its a good place to start.

It took me a long time to work out the buttons for my boy and involved me taking apart my riding and putting it back together again, unfortunately he is now off games. I will say he would swish his tail alot when doing transitions as something was hurting and he was finding it hard, i would def get your boy checked out just in case.

Hope that helps but like i said im not really good with cc really. Good luck, he is lovely and he will be fab when it all comes together :)
 
If he were mine.......I'd have him on Topspec balancer....with linseed oil maybe (?), and would rest him until he starts to pick up a bit better - the second pic looks like he is going down rather than up.
 
We bought a 5 yo last year who had originally come out of Ireland in a very poor state and although improved still had a long way to go when he came to us.

It took a good while to get condition on him and get his coat looking better. He was very immature (could have passed as a 3-4yo), lacked muscle and tired quickly. As well as worm counts we had his bloods checked just to be on the safe side (all ok) and like you have regular saddle and dental checks. We feed him Calm and Condition, Alpha A Oil, Top Spec Balancer and micronized linseed and initially he had two courses of Equitop Myoplast. This has worked wonders and he looks great now.

He is still not as mature as some 6 yo horses and has definitely grown in the time we have had him but things are going in the right direction. All his work is geared towards laying the correct foundations for the future and not pushing him beyond his physical or mental limitations. I strongly suspect his initial education was rushed and aimed at getting him ready for the sales rather than his long term development and we still have some tension when jumping due to this (homework for the winter before next year's event season!). That said we now get complimented on his condition and he has had the strength and stamina to happily compete at BE90 during the second half of this season.

My advice would be to feed to improve your boys condition and don't rush the jumping - patience now will pay dividends in the future. From your previous posts he has plenty of scope so I would let the jumping take a back seat and focus on the flatwork untill he develops a bit more and can engage and carry himself better. He looks like, as others have said, a horse that's going to take time to mature. Re checking his back etc I have recently started using a very good person. PM if you want details (you may already know her - I'm very impressed so far).
 
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