Cutting out hard food -will it help

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Simbacat

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My girl was like riding a bomb today, she's always hot but her field is now full of rich green grass covered by a thick layer of yummy looking buttercups and I think its all gone to her head. She is still getting a bucket of chop with nuts and sugar beet, twice a day. (she is on livery) I have said absolutely no additional food for a while. Does anyone know if this will make a difference and if so how long will it before the edge comes off her energy.
 
especially cutting out sugar beet you should notice a difference quite quickly. personally, if there is a lot of grass and they don't need supplements I don't see the necessity for hard feed, unless the grass is poor quality, but if she is looking and feeling good that's fine.
 
Cutting out hard feed is always the first thing I suggest for anyone whose horse is exhibiting behaviour problems. I can't see why your YO is still feeding so much when there is grass available, anyway.
 
I just think folks here in the UK generally overfeed, spoil them a bit I think. I guess I let it go on as I always think they know more than me.
 
Simbacat said:
My girl was like riding a bomb today, she's always hot but her field is now full of rich green grass covered by a thick layer of yummy looking buttercups and I think its all gone to her head. She is still getting a bucket of chop with nuts and sugar beet, twice a day. (she is on livery) I have said absolutely no additional food for a while. Does anyone know if this will make a difference and if so how long will it before the edge comes off her energy.
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Buttercups = yummy ??.:eek:


http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/poison.htm#Buttercups
 
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having come back from the copenhaghen nations cup where several top show jumpers were on ad lib haylage and grass and NO bucket food yes I would cut out the bucket food. buttercups are not yummy and a sign of poor paddock management!
 
Hey thanks for pointing out about the buttercups, a quick google reveals they can be irritating even poisonous and her field is literally covered in them, I will esquire now with the YO about it
 
Hi- One of the liveries in your field did an analysis of the grazing a couple of years ago and I think that it is low in magnesium. This makes horses more on edge so you may want to consider a supplement. Check with the livery that did the analysis as she is knows agout minerals.

Buttercups are a pain- my cob with his pink skin has buttercup burn.
 
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Not just the high sugar hard feed!! The sugar levels in fresh green grass are deadly as well!! The easiest way to get rid of buttercups, which are very bad if there are so many, is to throw a lot of lime around!! They are a sign of sour ground.....in the meantime do groundwork, take her for walks and ask her to move sideways, backwards to get her brain engaged!! Lots of changes of direction.....perhaps create a track around the edge of her paddock....'balancer' feeds are good to make sure they are getting the right minerals and vitamins in their diet, but do check the sugar levels.....sugar makes the ponies ADD!!
 
Add this mix to some feed - and give around 1hour before you ride

1 Tablespoon each, Epsom Salts, Baking Soda, Yeast & Dried Thyme.

If you have masses of grass she is probably low in Magnesium.

To be honest - if you have grass you don't need to be feeding ANY hard food - absolutely no need for it.
 
There has to be a positive reason for giving feed, not just because it is habit or the other liveries are. If she does need feed, consider switching to Simple Systems. It is a basic feeding system, no cereals. Mine have followed the cereal free regeime for years, & have never looked better. I also feed grass nuts (standard protein - blue bag for most, high protein - red bag for oldie) all year, so in the spring they don't get a sudden surge hitting their system when the grass starts to come through.

SS basically works by feeding e.g. grass, alfa alfa, lucerne, forage high in fibre, no cereals with it tailored to your horses needs (great helpline to get you sorted). It's not a cheap alternative, but gives a very natural feeding regieme for those that need feeding. Personally I find it needs a little forward thought, as some of the products need soaking first.
 
Thank you everyone! I will definitely look into the supplement for low magnesium, thx for that Teasel! She was a horse transformed today! :D I took for a 10 mile ride yesterday and again today, and this time no rushing, no prancing or head tossing - I rode her back on the buckle. I think all the rain last week made the grass just go crazy and with the other food it blew her head a bit. Just shows that too much food and not enough exercise = a mad horse!
 
pip6 said:
There has to be a positive reason for giving feed, not just because it is habit or the other liveries are. If she does need feed, consider switching to Simple Systems. It is a basic feeding system, no cereals. Mine have followed the cereal free regeime for years, & have never looked better. I also feed grass nuts (standard protein - blue bag for most, high protein - red bag for oldie) all year, so in the spring they don't get a sudden surge hitting their system when the grass starts to come through.

SS basically works by feeding e.g. grass, alfa alfa, lucerne, forage high in fibre, no cereals with it tailored to your horses needs (great helpline to get you sorted). It's not a cheap alternative, but gives a very natural feeding regieme for those that need feeding. Personally I find it needs a little forward thought, as some of the products need soaking first.
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There is no positive reason unless you are a feed manufacturer! The majority of horses and ponies ridden a few times a week will do absolutely fine on grass alone with a mineral block.

SS feeds are as you say basic feeds - so why not STOP feeding them and let the grass do it's job as all you are feeding at great expense is grass and Lucerne hay! Save yourself an absolute fortune.

Folks :) - try and take on board what us oldies tell you! We rarely ever fed our horse/ponies unless they were in serious hard work or losing condition. I'm going back 45 years now. My pony had hay on the stalk in winter - our paddock was so big that they never ate it right down during the rest of the year. They didn't get laminitis because we allowed them the freedom to move around and play. They got worked! In summer everyday after school. At weekends we rode for hours.

We didn't give them every supplement under the sun - and they rarely ever went lame!

My four year old is 17.1hh and has only had hard feed for a few weeks over winter when my grass got low - she is strong, healthy and enormous!

Feeding and overfeeding is the biggest problem you face yourselves with. Try it - wean your horse off the hard feed and let nature do the job instead
 
Tnavas said:
There is no positive reason unless you are a feed manufacturer! The majority of horses and ponies ridden a few times a week will do absolutely fine on grass alone with a mineral block.

SS feeds are as you say basic feeds - so why not STOP feeding them and let the grass do it's job as all you are feeding at great expense is grass and Lucerne hay! Save yourself an absolute fortune.

Folks :) - try and take on board what us oldies tell you! We rarely ever fed our horse/ponies unless they were in serious hard work or losing condition. I'm going back 45 years now. My pony had hay on the stalk in winter - our paddock was so big that they never ate it right down during the rest of the year. They didn't get laminitis because we allowed them the freedom to move around and play. They got worked! In summer everyday after school. At weekends we rode for hours.

We didn't give them every supplement under the sun - and they rarely ever went lame!

My four year old is 17.1hh and has only had hard feed for a few weeks over winter when my grass got low - she is strong, healthy and enormous!

Feeding and overfeeding is the biggest problem you face yourselves with. Try it - wean your horse off the hard feed and let nature do the job instead
Click to expand...

This, this, this! Dr Green every time! Most people grossly over estimate their horse's workload. Mine get good forage and a little high fibre nuts and sugar beet, and, by the way, there ain't no sugar in sugar beet pulp, it's excellent source of digestible fibre.
 
I don't stop feeding because my horses work & burn off more calories than grass alone supplies them! Very simple reason. Have you an idea how much an arab burns off in endurance training? But then that is why they are supplemented with a natural feeding system as possible, because I wish they could just work on what they graze (live out btw).
 
pip6 said:
I don't stop feeding because my horses work & burn off more calories than grass alone supplies them! Very simple reason. Have you an idea how much an arab burns off in endurance training? But then that is why they are supplemented with a natural feeding system as possible, because I wish they could just work on what they graze (live out btw).
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An endurance horse works hard and is one that is an exception - but the majority of pleasure horses just don't need food.

Just heard the news that the Anglo Arab I bred is aiming to qualify for the World's in France - really thrilled.
 
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