Feeding a balancer?

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helenchat

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I'm aware this should probably be in feeding- but there's doesn't seem to be much traffic in there at the moment so thought I'd try here!

Basically- I have noticed my pony has been a little "flat" at the moment, feeling a bit more tired towards the end of our sessions and jumping rounds. He is still enthusiastic and seems to really enjoy his job, and I am careful to alternate his routine so he doesn't get stale or bored. Also has had the usual back/teeth/tack/physio so am confident is not a physical pain issue !

He arrived in May having not been competed regularly for a while, and over the summer I have worked hard to build up his fitness. I was told by owner he was being ridden 5 times a week, but I'm not sure how accurate that was as he was not as fit as I expected when he arrived.

He's now ridden 5 times a week ( 4 hacking sessions of 1 hours plus with lots of hill/canter work, and one schooling session of 40 mins).
Competes every other week SJ 90cm, dressage novice level and evented about once every thee weeks in the summer.

Currently fed Dengie alfa lite and Falcons oat and barley free, as he is a Connemara so am very conscious of weight gain!
I'm just concerned that this flatness may be due to him not getting the energy he needs from his feed? Has definitely been more noticeable now there is less grass in his field, and he is now stables at night. Have heard various suggestions including swapping him to a feed balancer, or trying a light completion mix. He is very forward thinking in his outlook though, so I really want to avoid over feeding him and blowing his mind!
Any thoughts ?
 
A balancer really comes into its own when you are feeding the horse hardly anything. As you are, perhaps research some supplements as no point in wasting money. One thing that can really work is Propel, but I caveat this by saying it seems to have very different results in different horses. My event mare was on it as was very run down when I first got her and this sorted her out. Made no difference to her behaviour but gave her pep and she stopped feeling flat. Friends fit horse had it and it blew her brain. Current big horse is finishing up a bottle but won't have it again. He has about 1/2 the recommended intake but is still full of beans!
 
A couple of thoughts I've had:

1. Is he definitely a roly poly Connie? I only ask because a lot of the Connies I know (including my own) are actually prone to dropping weight and getting a bit skinny during the winter so maybe you've got one of these on your hands.

2. Is he still quite young? Connies can be quite late maturing and I think they can get tired quite easily when they're younger. What you're doing doesn't sound excessive but maybe he's finding it a bit too much still if he is younger. Mine didn't reallyfinish growing up till he was eight.

I got mine in the summer when he was five, thinking he'd be a nice easy keeper. I had the shock of my life in the winter when he dropped a load of weight really quickly! He now has alfa a molasses free or oil in generous quantities in the winter along with ad lib haylage and he will still drop a bit by the end of winter. I can't really say if this would help your guy with his energy as mine fires off pure adrenaline when he's out but both the molasses free and oil are both high energy so could well help in theory.

I feed a balancer and tend to prefer them to mixes but that's personal choice. It might well help though if he is lacking in something vitamin and mineral wise. Another option might be something like sugarbeet?

A few of them do seem to be feeling flat at the moment so hopefully it's just time of year and a few tweaks to the feed will help. If not then maybe a tonic as suggested above will give him the boost he needs.
 
Just wondering whether he is actually fit for the work you are asking of him?
I know he's hacking a lot and doing a bit of schooling, but what are you doing in the sessions when he starts to feel tired? Does he do enough of that kind of work in between shows etc?

My native started to feel a bit flat at shows and lessons, but it was because she wasn't doing long enough sessions at home to have the fitness for 2 warm ups, 2 classes, travelling and to account for show nerves. I have to work her harder all the time to have the fitness we need for shows. She does some hacking, but also harder more intense sessions in the school, because that's what she needs to be fit for.

Just a thought. Perhaps trying to up his activity at the same time as making sure he's getting enough grub will help. FWIW I feed grass chaff and a balancer to mine, she's very sparky now.
 
A balancer is not designed to provide extra energy, it is supposed to fill in the gaps if the basic feed and forage is lacking in any vitamins or minerals. If you need more oomph then additional oats or other energy dense foods would give you what you need.
 
Luci07 said:
A balancer really comes into its own when you are feeding the horse hardly anything. As you are, perhaps research some supplements as no point in wasting money. One thing that can really work is Propel, but I caveat this by saying it seems to have very different results in different horses. My event mare was on it as was very run down when I first got her and this sorted her out. Made no difference to her behaviour but gave her pep and she stopped feeling flat. Friends fit horse had it and it blew her brain. Current big horse is finishing up a bottle but won't have it again. He has about 1/2 the recommended intake but is still full of beans!
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Thank you for the advice - yes I had thought that too but it was a suggestion from the Spillers feed line after I gave them a call today, and they also suggested an energy supplement- so I just thought I'd see if anyone had any experiences! Thanks for the propel tip though, I'll do some research :)
 
HelenBack said:
A couple of thoughts I've had:

1. Is he definitely a roly poly Connie? I only ask because a lot of the Connies I know (including my own) are actually prone to dropping weight and getting a bit skinny during the winter so maybe you've got one of these on your hands.

2. Is he still quite young? Connies can be quite late maturing and I think they can get tired quite easily when they're younger. What you're doing doesn't sound excessive but maybe he's finding it a bit too much still if he is younger. Mine didn't reallyfinish growing up till he was eight.

I got mine in the summer when he was five, thinking he'd be a nice easy keeper. I had the shock of my life in the winter when he dropped a load of weight really quickly! He now has alfa a molasses free or oil in generous quantities in the winter along with ad lib haylage and he will still drop a bit by the end of winter. I can't really say if this would help your guy with his energy as mine fires off pure adrenaline when he's out but both the molasses free and oil are both high energy so could well help in theory.

I feed a balancer and tend to prefer them to mixes but that's personal choice. It might well help though if he is lacking in something vitamin and mineral wise. Another option might be something like sugarbeet?

A few of them do seem to be feeling flat at the moment so hopefully it's just time of year and a few tweaks to the feed will help. If not then maybe a tonic as suggested above will give him the boost he needs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! That's a good questions actually, he was overweight when he arrived but has since really muscled up, and I've actually known his owners for a while but have seen him looking a bit chunky in the winter before, so I suppose I just assumed he'd keep his weight well! Our livery yard has excellent grass too, so any new horse tends to pack on weight, so I just wanted to be wary of overfeeding and him suddenly piling on the pounds.

He is in fact 17! So unfortunately not so youthful ;) and interesting comment on the virus, I feel he's well as he is very enthusiastic and bright in every other aspect, and is full of beans and very hardworking - it's just towards the end of our sessions he seems to be finding it hard work. Some more fitness work over the winter now, I think !
 
milliepops said:
Just wondering whether he is actually fit for the work you are asking of him?
I know he's hacking a lot and doing a bit of schooling, but what are you doing in the sessions when he starts to feel tired? Does he do enough of that kind of work in between shows etc?

My native started to feel a bit flat at shows and lessons, but it was because she wasn't doing long enough sessions at home to have the fitness for 2 warm ups, 2 classes, travelling and to account for show nerves. I have to work her harder all the time to have the fitness we need for shows. She does some hacking, but also harder more intense sessions in the school, because that's what she needs to be fit for.

Just a thought. Perhaps trying to up his activity at the same time as making sure he's getting enough grub will help. FWIW I feed grass chaff and a balancer to mine, she's very sparky now.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for the reply! I think you may be right re. harder schooling needed, he is 'jumping fit' and I have done lots of interval work to make sure he is able to cope with fast work- and at our last one day event he finished the xc very strongly within the time and recovered well afterwards. The part he seems to find most difficult is his flatwork, although he's older he has never really done much and seems to find it mentally and physically tiring, so I still tend to stick to shorter sessions to make sure we are always ending on a positive note and maintaining his enthusiasm- but I think maybe introducing a shorter second session a week could help. thanks for the idea!
 
My current horse can get a bit flat- usually when he's at the end of a stint of hard work. For example during the event season if I have a run of events close together and am working him to keep him fit in between. I always make sure I feed electrolytes when he sweats so this may be worth adding to see if it makes a difference. I have used ProPell and didn't see a huge difference, my horse is already on competition mix and topspec so I don't think there was much more that he actually needed. Some horses are just laid back when they're settled in a lot of work, I have found my horse is definitely one of these and it's usually when he's as happy as Larry! Occasionally I have given him the odd week off if there's a doubt in my mind that he needs a holiday- this always seems to do him the world of good. I have also had good effect with Naf Pink Powder which seems to add some go go juice! Hope this helps!
 
Rosesandhorses said:
My current horse can get a bit flat- usually when he's at the end of a stint of hard work. For example during the event season if I have a run of events close together and am working him to keep him fit in between. I always make sure I feed electrolytes when he sweats so this may be worth adding to see if it makes a difference. I have used ProPell and didn't see a huge difference, my horse is already on competition mix and topspec so I don't think there was much more that he actually needed. Some horses are just laid back when they're settled in a lot of work, I have found my horse is definitely one of these and it's usually when he's as happy as Larry! Occasionally I have given him the odd week off if there's a doubt in my mind that he needs a holiday- this always seems to do him the world of good. I have also had good effect with Naf Pink Powder which seems to add some go go juice! Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Ooh thanks - I think maybe a week off might be what he needs! He hasn't really done a full summer of competing for a while, so maybe some time just to chill out and relax would help him feel more enthusiastic :) thank you !
 
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