Feeding advice for 15.1 skinny but spooky cob

[squidsin]

Please could I have some advice - my mare has dropped quite a bit of weight in the last week and is looking too skinny now. She's narrow for a cob anyway but her ribs and pelvis are bit too prominent (to my admittedly untrained eye). She's also got really jumpy in the last week which I think might be because she's too thin? Nervous energy and all that. I've had her a month and on the advice of her former owner have been feeding her on as much hay as she wants, plus a scoop of Hi-Fi Lite in the morning and evening. The ex owner said she's a good doer but I think she needs something else to bulk her up a bit. I don't want her getting hot though as she's a bit spooky as it is. I was thinking of changing her from the Hi-Fi Lite to Alpha-A plus speedibeet. Plus I am going to feed her her hay from the ground as apparently this is what she was used to in her old home so maybe the haynet is slowing her down? Any advice would be appreciated. She's in light work - currently ridden 3 times a week, will hopefully be more as the evenings get lighter (I have two preschool kids and a day job.) I am new to horse ownership and trying to do the right thing by my much-loved mare so please be gentle with me!

 

[NeverSayNever]

dont worry too much - my Sec D mare is a good dooer in summer but looks like you describe yours just now. My saddle fitter was out yesterday and said every horse she is seeing just now is lacking condition , she reckons its something to do with the poor year we have had.

Also, your horse has just moved so that stress wont have helped and there is every chance she has lost muscle rather than weight depending on how much youve been doing with her?

It is coming into spring so really I would not add anything else to her feed at all. I would also certainly not be adding anything with alf alfa in it as it can make some horses, particularly mares, more spooky and hyper! If she was mine, i wouldnt be giving her HiFI lite even as it has alfalfa in it

The last thing you want to do with a new horse is give it more feed , more feed will = more energy and is a road to loss of confidence. It happens over and over again.

My advice would be stick with adlib hay and rather than get more feed, give her an all round vitamin supplement, something like Naf Pink Powder would be excellent as it acts a 'pick me up' if they have been through some stress and helps them to utilise the nutrients in their diet. You could mix this into a little fastfibre or an alfalfa free chaff.

eta - a lot of people with good dooers want their horses a bit under at this time of year anyway to help with keeping weight off coming into spring.

 

[squidsin]

dont worry too much - my Sec D mare is a good dooer in summer but looks like you describe yours just now. My saddle fitter was out yesterday and said every horse she is seeing just now is lacking condition , she reckons its something to do with the poor year we have had.

Also, your horse has just moved so that stress wont have helped and there is every chance she has lost muscle rather than weight depending on how much youve been doing with her?

It is coming into spring so really I would not add anything else to her feed at all. I would also certainly not be adding anything with alf alfa in it as it can make some horses, particularly mares, more spooky and hyper! If she was mine, i wouldnt be giving her HiFI lite even as it has alfalfa in it

The last thing you want to do with a new horse is give it more feed , more feed will = more energy and is a road to loss of confidence. It happens over and over again.

My advice would be stick with adlib hay and rather than get more feed, give her an all round vitamin supplement, something like Naf Pink Powder would be excellent as it acts a 'pick me up' if they have been through some stress and helps them to utilise the nutrients in their diet. You could mix this into a little fastfibre or an alfalfa free chaff.

eta - a lot of people with good dooers want their horses a bit under at this time of year anyway to help with keeping weight off coming into spring.

That's really interesting, thanks! I will try the Pink Powder as someone else suggested this to me. Really interesting about the alfalfa - I put a lot of her nerviness down to the move (new yard/owner - got to be a bit freaky for the calmest of horses) but perhaps the HiFi Lite has something to do with it? What's fastfibre (I will google too)?

She may well have lost muscle as she was hunted before - I don't really know how much or how regularly though - and is in light work now.

 

[NeverSayNever]

That's really interesting, thanks! I will try the Pink Powder as someone else suggested this to me. Really interesting about the alfalfa - I put a lot of her nerviness down to the move (new yard/owner - got to be a bit freaky for the calmest of horses) but perhaps the HiFi Lite has something to do with it? What's fastfibre (I will google too)?

She may well have lost muscle as she was hunted before - I don't really know how much or how regularly though - and is in light work now.

you're welcome - honestly as someone who has learned the hard way (on more than one occasion) dont give her any more feed just now Fast Fibre is great stuff, its a pellet you add water to that is ready in minutes and is a great 'carrier' for vits and mins. Good luck!

 

[squidsin]

you're welcome - honestly as someone who has learned the hard way (on more than one occasion) dont give her any more feed just now Fast Fibre is great stuff, its a pellet you add water to that is ready in minutes and is a great 'carrier' for vits and mins. Good luck!

Thanks! I do worry about her spookiness - she was the most rock steady horse I've ever ridden when I tried her before buying, but she's seemed to freak a bit since I got her. I worry even more because I don't really know what I'm doing - I'm a mum and a pet-owner so it shouldn't be THAT hard but horse ownership feels like I've been chucked in the deep end! My yard owner is lovely but you know how it is when you're a first-time horse owner, you get told lots of different things and given all sorts of different advice - plus there are the head-shakers who love to foresee all sorts of troubles ahead - and it's REALLY confusing to sort through it all and work out what's actually important!

 

[NeverSayNever]

Thanks! I do worry about her spookiness - she was the most rock steady horse I've ever ridden when I tried her before buying, but she's seemed to freak a bit since I got her. I worry even more because I don't really know what I'm doing - I'm a mum and a pet-owner so it shouldn't be THAT hard but horse ownership feels like I've been chucked in the deep end! My yard owner is lovely but you know how it is when you're a first-time horse owner, you get told lots of different things and given all sorts of different advice - plus there are the head-shakers who love to foresee all sorts of troubles ahead - and it's REALLY confusing to sort through it all and work out what's actually important!

hey we've all been there. Its really normal for a new horse to be unsettled and a bit spooky, just limit the feed and make sure you've got a good instructor coming to give you lessons.

also - when i had my first horse in the situation you are in, i put him on NAF magic for a while. Its a calmer and whether it actually worked or not Ive no idea lol but it seemed to, even if its was just psychological for me