Feeding for more ooomph!

M

Mellymoo1

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Hi guys

I am having problems getting my horse going in the school and I'm wondering if its a feed thing.

Hes 15, 17 hands and not really built for speed! He's currently on 1 scoop Hi-fi Good Doer, quarter of a scoop of Baileys Senior no 15 and half a scoop of bran twice daily. He's also out all day and in at night with soaked hay. I cut his feed back last spring as he was getting quite fat and he's looking much sleeker these days, but hes such a slug in the school. Out hacking hes not too bad but can anyone recommend anything to give him more energy without making him nuts? Hes quite a spooky horse out hacking so I could do with something which doesn't make him fizzy but gives him enough to make him more forward in the school.

Hes in light work at the moment, mainly hacking, schooling or lunging and is worked about 5 times a week.

Thankies

M
x
 
It varies, weekends I ride him straight from the stable but during the week he comes in from the field and I ride. Doesn't make a great deal of difference really!! There isn't much grass in the paddocks anyhow...
 
You don't have much choice here - if you want energy feed oats, but should make him fizzy

Sounds like you just need to teach him tomove off your leg if he is ok doing other activities.

Unless he is a slug doing everything, I wouldn't feed him more.
 
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Hifi Good Doer is for weight management, and the Senior Mix and the bran because thats what his old owners had him on!

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OK, I would have thought that they may be conflicting feeds.

Senior mixes quite often have a high calorie spec - which helps keep them fat. The bran is a diorehtic (sp), and the chaff is low in calories.

Why not just try good old fashioned pony nuts, hi fi and a good vit suppliement.

The fitter he gets, the more umph he'll have, helped by the fact that you;ll be able to feed him more.

If he's ok hacking out - maybe he just finds schooling boring, and you need to make it more exiting, rather than heat him up food wise......
 
If you feel that you need to change your feed, you could try feeding a smaller amount, however you could try Alfalfa and a slow release energy cube/mix to provide longer lasting energy, together with a drop of oil. If your horse is on less than the recommended amount you could just add a general supplement to the diet. If you feed too much of a higher energy feed though though the horse will just convert it to fat.

Also maybe you could try to vary the schooling routine to make sure your horse isn't getting bored.
 
if he has enuf energy to be spooky on hacks, that wud tell me is he being lazy in the school/and finds it hard work/or doesnt quite understand wat u r asking him so i wud try - making schooling more fun, going back a level to reinforce the basics and get him moving off from a lighter aid( carry a schooling whip and consontrate on getting him moving forward the moment hes asked), always ending on a good note doing sumthing he enjoys and keep it short!
 
Thanks for all your replies,

I think the problem is he's a lazy old plank, and he won't do anything which requires any effort! He seems to do the very minimum required and I have to keep constantly asking just to prevent him from stopping! We do lots of fun things in our lessons but hes still a big dufus so not sure where to go from here. Is there any hope for him?? He's got beautiful paces when he can be bothered!
 
i understand completely - my big dufus gelding is 16:3 and he used to be a lazy bugger in the school - but it was bcos he found the work hard, i have slowly built up the correct muscles on him, whilst tryting to get him going from the lightest aids - used to ride him with 2 schooling whips - now just werar spurs to get him that bit sharper but dont rely onh them at all. i will say tho i did start feeding my boy spillers instant energy mix which def helped give him that extra sparkle - but has made him b more spooky hacking but that doesnt worry me 2 much
 
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