Pandapal
Member
Hi! I moved my 11 year old thoroughbred gelding onto Pure Feed Fibre Balance a month ago. I transitioned him onto it very slowly, and he’s been on a full amount for a week and a half. This is half a Stubbs scoop in the morning and half in the evening, along with a large handful of Speedibeet, all soaked for over 10 minutes. He loves it and hoovers it all up.
About two months ago he moved into a new field. Same horses with him but at my livery yard they move into winter fields. This is a new field for him. His turnout routine has been quite disrupted since they only go out when the weather is good. When he first went out he was okay. He’d be happy for a couple of hours then stand at the gate wanting to come in. But in the last two weeks he starts to panic after about ten minutes. He’ll race up and down the fence line, stopping and turning at the gate, and running off again. He’s managed to pull a shoe doing this and will come in drenched in sweat even though I’ll get him out ASAP after he starts this behaviour.
He’s never in the field alone, he’s close to the yard, there are generally other horses around in other fields.
His previous feed was speedibeet and Baileys Topline Condition Cubes.
It’s quite possible he’s getting too much energy, especially since he’s in a lot at the moment. But could behaviour this dramatic just be due to feed? Or could it be something else? He’s still wired even when he gets to come in to his stable and takes about 15/20 minutes to calm down. This is very out of character for him.
I switched his feed because I wanted him to be on something that was lower sugar and starch. The topline cubes seemed very high in starch especially. But he didn’t display this behaviour on that diet.
Has anyone else had a horse display this behaviour in the field? It’s like he has a high energy panic attack and desperately wants to come in. Yet he’s always excited to go out…
I’m currently thinking I should just take him off his dry feed for a couple of days then slowly reintroduce his old diet. He’s also going to be moving to a yard with everyday turnout (fields don’t get as muddy) in a couple of weeks and I know the consistent routine will help him, but I can’t be having him keep doing this there, because he will definitely injure himself if he keeps going.
Any thoughts or similar experiences? If you did take a horse off a feed you felt was giving them too much energy, how long did it take for them to stop displaying the high energy behaviour?
About two months ago he moved into a new field. Same horses with him but at my livery yard they move into winter fields. This is a new field for him. His turnout routine has been quite disrupted since they only go out when the weather is good. When he first went out he was okay. He’d be happy for a couple of hours then stand at the gate wanting to come in. But in the last two weeks he starts to panic after about ten minutes. He’ll race up and down the fence line, stopping and turning at the gate, and running off again. He’s managed to pull a shoe doing this and will come in drenched in sweat even though I’ll get him out ASAP after he starts this behaviour.
He’s never in the field alone, he’s close to the yard, there are generally other horses around in other fields.
His previous feed was speedibeet and Baileys Topline Condition Cubes.
It’s quite possible he’s getting too much energy, especially since he’s in a lot at the moment. But could behaviour this dramatic just be due to feed? Or could it be something else? He’s still wired even when he gets to come in to his stable and takes about 15/20 minutes to calm down. This is very out of character for him.
I switched his feed because I wanted him to be on something that was lower sugar and starch. The topline cubes seemed very high in starch especially. But he didn’t display this behaviour on that diet.
Has anyone else had a horse display this behaviour in the field? It’s like he has a high energy panic attack and desperately wants to come in. Yet he’s always excited to go out…
I’m currently thinking I should just take him off his dry feed for a couple of days then slowly reintroduce his old diet. He’s also going to be moving to a yard with everyday turnout (fields don’t get as muddy) in a couple of weeks and I know the consistent routine will help him, but I can’t be having him keep doing this there, because he will definitely injure himself if he keeps going.
Any thoughts or similar experiences? If you did take a horse off a feed you felt was giving them too much energy, how long did it take for them to stop displaying the high energy behaviour?
