feeding for a bit more energy?

[penny3]

Have our first SJ comp ever this weekend with my pony. She's a very good doer and currently carrying a tiny bit more weight than i'd like, but condition wise is ok. She's 5 yrs old and gets ridden around 5+ times a week with a mixture of hacking jumping and flatwork. Some days jumping she'll be very enthusiastic and seems to really enjoy herself- but some days feels like she has no energy whatsoever, and will be hard work to jump- but not naughty, just seems to find it harder than usual. Its not that she's un fit as we hack out for 3-4 hours 2 or 3 times a week and she is still willing by the end. She's currently on no feed whatsoever, just the odd carrot or apple, and 24/7 turnout on lush grass. The comp is only very small jumps to get some expereince, but should i be feeding her something, or give her a handful of something to give her a bit more energy? and if so what? or just leave it?
Sorry for a numpty post Although owning my first horse for over half a year, i still am completley clueless with this kind of thing
Thankyou

 

[Miss L Toe]

Difficult to know where to start.
You say she is a bit fat, that can be the same as too much condition, when I say a horse is in good condition, I mean it is carrying a light covering and showing no muscular wastage
You may also be using the term [correctly] to indicate that she is fit enough for the work she gets, eg doing a bit of jumping.
The powers that be condition score horses on a 1 to 5 or a 1 to 10 scale, so most horses which are not overweight or underweight would be 2.5 to 3 , or 5.
Now horses have a simple digestive system, they are not designed to eat lush grass, as they can be greedy, and gorge themselves, leading to colic. Alternatively the grass is loaded with sugars which inflames the lamellae of the feet this can lead to Laminitis, this is also a serious condition. So control and management of grazing is important.
Horses need good nutrition, if they are doing work, that is to say we are asking them to do jumping and so on, they may need minerals and vitamins, and they may also need hard feed, with ponies it is best to avoid anything with mollasses [including lickits], and to stick to a plain feed like Fast Fibre.
Grass itself provides a quick fix of energy, but sometimes we need to add fibre for a slow release type of energy.
Really you could get a lot of information from magazines and books, but also it helps if you have an experienced person to help you out with particular questions.
Nutrition is a very big subject, and takes a bit of understanding, once you have a basic understanding you then have to apply it to each individual horse or pony.
Re the pony lacking energy sometimes, it may be she is getting fed up, perhaps the sessions are too long or too hard, or if she has been out on a 4 hour hack the day before, she needs a day off [I would]. Alternatively she needs her diet tweaked.

 

[penny3]

thanks for the reply Miss L Toe. Sorry to be unclear before - by saying lush grass i have probably used the wrong terminology, been brought up by saying that is what it is, but what i meant is now the grass is coming through so quickly she has put on a little bit of weight, not a lot, but a bit i'd like her too loose She is quite muscular, and until a month or so ago she has been on a scoop of pony mix and some chaff, which was slowly reduced. She does always have 1 or 2 days off after a hard workout, but as some days she has that 'cant be bothered' feeling, i feel that she's may be lacking in something or she needs a more consistant diet to keep her energy levels more consistent all around. I have had oppinions from close experienced friends, and still keep in contact with who i got her off, and have spoke to these who both agree that she is coping well with the workload and not to give her much hard feed as she is ok without it. Just thought id see what other peoples oppinions were to put my mind at ease

 

[be positive]

4 hours exercise is a fair amount for a 5 year old that is still maturing, I would put her onto a vit/ min supplement and make sure she has access to salt or that she gets some in a small daily feed. A token amount of Fast Fibre each day would enable you to give her the supplements without her gaining weight.
I would not be feeding for energy as she probably would just store it as extra fat.

 

[Natch]

A good quality balancer which includes protein (eg baileys) and ease off the regularity of work. At 5 she is still developing, and all horses need time off to recover, otherwise you can actually train them to be less and less fit by working too hard too frequently.