Feeding a lazy competition pony with lack of stamina!

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tessa1965

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We have a 7 year old pure connie event pony. He is fit and well and very spoilt, has two feeds a day, unlimited hone grown hay and daily turn out. He is not over worked and has variety in his life. He is quite lazy during flatwork and lacks stamina BUT can be sharp so I need to up his energy/stamina without killing my daughter. Suggestions please!
 
He is eventing fit weight so not too fat and not poor. He is on Chestnut Horse Feed Easy Mix which is a complete mix with vits, mins and added chaff. He is ridden or horse walked 6 days a week. He has two scoops a day.
 
Don`t get me wrong.

Ridden is a very very wide range. Eventing fit also, you have every thing from pre novice up to 4*.

Weight, is he 17 hands or bigger, weight is in KG???

Complete mix does not mean that his supply is sufficient, the requirement are in regard of bodyweight, and work.

It is never about what is on a bag, requirement is individual meassured by the facts of nutrition / medicine science and not about what is advertised on the bag.

So I am affraid I can`t answer your question
 
I know that chestnut feeds you are giving him and I think that is for horses in quite light work!
I would give staypower cubes a go as well, they are low in starch but high in slow release sources of energy like oil. Spillers do one and dodson and horrell.A stubbs scoop of those morning and night mixed with a double hanful of alfa a might work.. if you ring the feed companies they can advise you exactly.
Saracen re-leve is also a brilliant low starch performance feed. They are high in slow release energy though so they may put weight on if you drop down the workload so something to bare in mind :).
 
My first thought when reading this is not to change feed immediately, but to change the way he's worked.

If he's lacking stamina then do slow steady hill work over longer distances. Once he can do this, then at a slow steady sped, do the same distance at a faster speed.

What fast work /interval training is he doing, how regularly?

Maybe some flat lessons, either with daughter riding, or with instructor riding, to improve his reactions for transitions. If a horse is more off the leg, it makes it very much easier for the rider.
 
Fintan- thanks for your comment - as I said he is a pony (14.1)

He is intro fit and has interval training, hill hacking and regular lessons and is ridden by a very qualified 18 year old daughter who has ridden 1* so I don't think it is the training. He is a very laid back character.

I think that I will look at Firewell, tinap and Black Beastie's suggestion's

Thanks all.
 
I have used a supplement from NAF called EnerG which has helped give my boy a bit of extra sparkle when hes needed it but i guess a gradual diet overhaul or maybe a change to his exercise regime might be other areas to look at?

Hope you find the answer.
 
If you are looking for staying power you need to be feeding an oil based feed. You could try Baileys Endurance Mix. I have a very laid back Arab and recently I have given him some o he Baileys Conditioning cubes a couple of days before an event and that has worked.

I also added some liquid molasses to his feeds the night before and the day of competition.

Since working him less in the week and going out for a fun ride he has become fitter and mor lively at an event.
 
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