Does Starch cause fizziness

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Louby

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My horse is a quirky stressy type and normally has HiFi and Hi Fibre cubes and is as level headed as I think I can expect him to be :confused: but the shop didnt have any last time so I bought Spillers Horse and Pony Cubes instead.
He has been totally on edge and it started about 2 days after I started these. Ive just checked the starch level and its 16 in the pony nuts and 10 in the hi fibre.
Could this be the reason why hes turned into a total stress head? Nothing else has changed.
 
totally yes!!! my tb was on chaff and beet and adlib haylage and as quiet as you can imagine- lovely ride ,then added some hard feed and two weeks later he is now a bucking idiot!! totally nearly killed me yesterday spinning and bucking on the road! needless to say no hardfeed anymore -i want my lovely quiet boy back!!!!:D
 
I find the basic lack of nutritional knowledge by horse owners quite amazing sometimes. I really wanted to be a nutritionist when i was younger but decided to go down the instructor route instead for some reason!

Anyways, yes starch can cause excitability its because starch is found in cereals (oats, barley etc) 16% starch is very low but if your horse is very sensitive it could have caused a change. If you need a calorie feed use feed that contains fibre and oil rather than cereal starch as they are a safe energy source for those who can be excitable.

P.S Although against popular belief feed companies do not add in sugar to their feed. The sugar content in them is natural sugar as everything horses eat contain sugar, grass being the most sugared ingredient horses eat! Sugar doesnt cause excitable behaviour especially if their is only 6% in the feed!

I wish everyone would go and do a mill tour at a feed company, really opens your mind to the whole process and would also help stop some of those old myths from going on and on.

Can i just ask why you changed your feed to the H & P cubes?
 
Molasses is always added sugar and lots of feeds have added molasses. Sugars like pectin that is in beet is totally different and safe and isn't added, as you say. I always aim for combined starch and sugar under 10% total.
 
Molasses is actually less sugar than actual sugar and most feed companies use a low sugar alternative to molasses these days called molglo. The feed has to be coated to ensure it has a shelf life that us consumers demand. If it didnt we wouldnt be abe to buy and use feed as we do. Also it is their to encourage the horse to eat the feed but it isnt actually pure sugar. As i said grass contains far more sugar than any hardfeed does.

Most of the time most owners do not know the basic principles of feeding and feed their horse something unsuitble and thus have a problem. One of my clients was feeding her laminitic prone pony a comp mix as it was a bit lazy! I explained to her why that was wrong and urged her to feed a low calorie high fibre cubes which thankfully she did. Horse was lazy because she only rode it 4 times a week! It makes me cringe every time i hear someone say i am going to feed a high energy feed because my horse is lazy and i want it fit. Feeding does not make your horse energised and fit, exercise does!
 
Can i just ask why you changed your feed to the H & P cubes?
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I asked a friend to pick my feed up when she got hers and they didnt have any high fibre cubes so she got me these instead.

He doesnt need energy or condition and his feed is a token feed as all the horses get fed at the same time, so I want him to have something.

I didnt believe it could make so much difference given the amounts I feed, hence the question. My horse cannot have Cool Mix or any type of sugar beet mollassed or unmollassed as they make a difference to him.

I wouldnt dream of feeding him anything silly but I honestly didnt think a horse and pony cube would make so much difference, more fool me.

Thanks for all your replies :)
 
If he is only having a token feed and isnt getting more than 1kg of cubes it probably isnt the starch as that amount is very low. Its not like you are feeding him racehorse cubes. It may be the weather, has he had a rest or change in exercise routine, been clipped, change at yard, new field, or he could just be feeling well.

If you are only feeding him a token feed a balancer would be the best option as he needs vits, mins and protein that he will be lacking if not getting a full ration. Balancers are low in starch too. :D
 
I read somewhere (can't remember where) that horses consume about 2 kilos of sugar PER DAY in the summer on good grazing. If this is true, then they should be able to handle a reasonable level of starch in their feed.

Having said that, I feed low starch feed cos I do find it can tip my fizzy horse over the edge. Some feed manufacturers are better than others. A&P are high as are Baileys. Spillers I found to be the lowest.
 
You are absolutely right Jenni999. Most people dont know/understand that. Sugar is necessary for horses and all living creatures, we need it to make our brain function but it is natural sugar not cane sugar ( the stuff we put in our coffee) But when you hear the word sugar you imagine the cane stuff.
 
My horse has gone even more lunatic since the weather changed. When the wind gets up or the temp drops a few degrees, he's a nightmare. And each time I clip, well, I have to really concentrate on riding well to stop him flipping inside out at every little thing.....

Could be anything that's making your horse different. I wouldn't have said Spillers H&P cubes were a very likely cause to be honest. They're by no means high in starch or energy.
 
Confession :) Im guilty of not weighing my feed, runs off to hide :)
He gets 3/4 of a stubbs round scoop between 2 feeds with Hi Fi, less in the midst of Summer (they are stabled at night)
Grass spurts do affect his temperament.
I have seen a change this last week or so, since the feed. I am going to get some HF cubes tomorrow and see if he calms down. Nothing else has changed.

He cant tolerate Baileys low cal for some reason?? but was fine on Top Spec, I found he seemed to thrive on it ... a bit too much. He is a good doer
 
Starch (and sugar) def send my girl into total knobber mode. Both are at v low levels in her current diet, but if they are raised then she is a proper arse (even if still within low levels). Even if it shouldn't be enough to make a difference it still does - she hasn't read the rule book!
 
I feed low sugar and starch as a matter off course for their bare foot work as well as their temps. I find balancers are expensive so I add naf general purpose supplement to their feeds which consists off Allen and page L mix which is only 3.75% starch and the good doers love it with their vits, mag and brewers yeast :)
 
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