Feed for condition and energy

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catherine22

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I'm after some advise, my horse is currently on Pure Feeds conditioning which he was doing well on but he seems to have levelled off, his energy levels seem to also have dropped recently. Hes on ad lib haylage, out 24/7 on ok grass. I was looking at changing him to Winergy Conditioning but it has a slightly lower DE MJ than the Pure feeds so now I'm not sure. Any other options?
Hes also on Micronised linseed and veg oil
 
It depends really what you are doing with a horse and how much energy he actually needs. It can be difficult to balance a healthy diet with one which provides that extra spark of energy without overloading on sugar. I feed a general conditioning feed with linseed to my showjumpers and they just get a small scoop of power and performance (for quick release energy) if they seem to genuinely be lacking the energy to do their job. One responds well to a very small amount of alf alfa pellets for his conditioning and energy instead, so has no need for the power and performance.

My youngster is very good at conning me into thinking he has no energy when he can be just being a bit lazy! Sometimes it can be a schooling issue and general work avoidance rather than pure lack of energy, so I'd think carefully before making any changes to a good healthy diet and ensure it is necessary.
 
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I recently bought saracen sports horse pencils to give more oomph. I currently add a handful per day and have done for the last 3 days and today to ride we had much more energy and no fizz. I am hoping this continues, as it is just what I want.
 
Having the same problem with my tb, he's starting to put weight on since moving 3 weeks ago but is just really dopey? Don't get me wrong this is great but schooling wise it's really hard work! I don't want to blow his brains and turn him into a lunatic but just a little more oomph would be nice
 
I've no idea how good the levels of vits/mins are in this feed. Does it say on the pack how much selenium there is in there per kg feed, and what type of selenium it is? It may, or may not be, that he isn't receiving enough of certain minerals.

So how much oil is your horse receiving in total each day? I think the feed you are giving is meant to have quite a lot of oil in it, so depending on the amount fed you may be adding too much extra oil. Worth checking out to make sure you are not going above a total of 500g oil per day at the absolute most. And if you are anywhere near that level, you'll need to be adding extra vitamin E (and probably selenium) in any case.

Those are the 2 things I'd check before anything else.

Sarah
 
What about the winergy high energy? Mine is on the winergy condition as needs no extra fizz, but does need all the calories.

My sisters horse is a poor doer and idle by nature. The havens slobbermash combined with the winergy condition has got him in great condition and moving with a definite bounce in his toes!!!!

The Pure Feeds didn't work for either of ours in both respects; they lost weight, mine went fizzy and sisters went really lethargic.
 
Thanks all,
Cyberhorse - we do mostly hacking, but also go to clincs, SJ, huntr trials and the odd dressage comp and sponsored ride (generally we're out once a week at the most)
Nannon - thats exactly what he feels like
Sarah - I'll have a look a the vits and minerals levels. I only add a glug of veg oil so I'm pretty sure I'm not exceding the oil limit, In fact the litre bottle lasted a week so we're well short of the maximum
NMT-The high energy could be a good suggestion, I looked at the winergy condition on your recommendation, as Fig looks amazing, but I think mine needs a little more so I'll have a look into their high energy one. Dont think he needs quite as much as CS and the slobbermash tho!
Definitely given me some more avenues to explore :-)
 
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