Feed for 'bouncy' 5yr old...

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Tinkle

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Hello all,

Just after some feeding advice for my 5yr old Rocco. He's a TB x Quarter Horse in good weight/condition getting light regular work. At the moment he's stabled at night and has a large trug full of haylage (it's quite dry this year though so more like very good hay). He also has a medium trug of Hi-Fi Original (about 1kg) overnight with a bit of Graze On added for variety. He was maintaining his condition on this but due to his somewhat laid back nature I felt he was struggling to have enough energy for his work. I couldn't get to the feed place due to work so I started giving him a large handful of Alfabeet in his AM and PM feed along with Top Spec balancer. This seemed to give him a bit more oomph so we continued with that. Due to my work at the moment he often only gets ridden at weekends.

He's now fitter, more muscle and is starting to move more correctly. However, it seems his new found skills in the movement department have gone to his head - he decided we had to go everywhere at medium trot (including, for a while, to and from the field - thankfully nipped that one in the bud!) and his cheeky little bouncy bucks have turned into huge bronco displays. He chucked me off three weeks ago and stood on me so wasn't ridden for a while, then it snowed and our arena was frozen so basically I've only been back on him this weekend. Anyway popped him on the lunge first yesterday and he went round without his feet barely touching the floor. But 10mins later he was back to laid back and we had a nice quiet ride round the school. Due to time constraints he was just lunged this morning - slightly less bucking but still a little over enthusiastic.

I think part of this is just a little bit of getting too big for his boots but I wonder whether I should re-assess what I'm feeding him. He's quite lazy and laid back but can quickly become 'lit up' at the slightest thing. So what could I feed him that will give him enough energy and perhaps focus for his work but won't make him nutty? I was wondering about Ride and Relax as I had my mare on it a couple of years ago and she always loved it but any thoughts?

Thanks all.

xx
 
I would suggest using a basic mix or cubes, i feed my three horses on this all the time even when they are competing, i just up the amount when in full time competition work, other than that when in light work they get 1 scoop of hifi, 1/2 non molassed sugar beet, 1/2 Basic Mix and 1/2 Basic cubes. They have the occasional buck but nothing more and they have 18kg of haylage every night, when they are competing they get 1 scoop or mix and 1 scoop of cubes. Two are warmbloods and one is a cob x.
 
i have a horse that goes a bit bouncy depending on what she is fed. i now feed her chaff and fibre not with some juice from the sugar beet she also gets adlib haylage and is a good doer
 
Why don't you just stick him back on the HiFi for a while, perhaps with a broad spectrum vit/min supplement, and see how he goes on that. Are there other circumstances other than feed that have changed? For example, is he getting less turnout because of the recent bad weather?
 
Hi, try hi fi with a few maintenance nuts or ride & relax but the main thing is his work/turnout. Haylage too can often be quite high protein which is fine if they are working hard (competing/hunting) but can often be a bit too much for some in light work. If he's working 5-6 days a week and getting turned out he should be fine, but the minute you can't do this his feed needs cutting right down. There is no substitute for regular work and exercise/play in the field to keep the brain calm.
 
That'll be the TS if my experience, and some other people's, are anything to go by, can be Jungle Juice for some of them.
 
Just go back to your basic fibres. Basic chaff, sb water if you want it damp, a bog standard vit and min supplement and basic haylage. Theres no point putting in extra calories no matter what name they come under...ride and relax still has calories in it and a calorie is a unit of energy whcih you dont need!

For this type of breeding you really dont need to add nuts, cubes, mix or a pellet balancer.
 
I'm afraid that every mammal neeeds calories to survive, but do not feed them in the form of high proteins or starches to this type of horse. hay, grass, hi fi etc all have calories but are of a type more easily digestible and non-heating.
 
Thanks all. I'm basically happy with his vitamin provision - his feet weren't in the best shape when I bought him and Top Spec provides the recommended levels of biotin for optimum hoof growth in a horse of his size. I should have said actually he's on the Lite Balancer - I swapped to it because it's cheaper and I actually don't feed a balancer for calories anyway. They (he and my older mare) both look in good condition so I'm happy to stay with that.

Both of mine are on high fibre diets and my intention was to try not to feed a mix as I like to have them on lots of fibre...more natural for them and their digestion etc. He was on just Hi-Fi Original (at the rate for light work) but I felt that didn't give him enough energy and working him was turning into a bit of a battle. Hence the need for a change - but I just sort of fell into giving him a small amount of Alfabeet and hence wondered if there might be something which suited him more.

Hmmm.

x
 
But was he getting more turnout and more work when he was on the HiFi? If he is now getting less turnout and less work due to bad weather, then the HiFi may be all he needs at the moment. When his workload increases again, then you can assess his energy levels again and decide whether to alter the feeding regime.
 
Well he hasn't had any work for the last three weeks (until the weekend) due to me being out of action after him standing on me, snow and my work. But when the bounciness started he was on the same, if not harder, work than when he was on only the HiFi. And his turnout hasn't changed - the odd day in here and there but no more than previously.

x
 
hi, My friend has a very fiesty 5 yr mare who this time last year was in such a pickle on what to do, she called spillers and they advised to try WINERGY Equilibrium growth for the condition. The mare has been nothhing but perfect since, looks amazing and behaves really well too, so it might be worth some investgation for you!
Good luck
 
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