Feeding the low energy horse

NiamhB

NiamhB

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Im looking for some feeding advice, i have a 15 year old Connemara x Irish Draught who i compete in prelim dressage and 80cm showjumping.

She is a very good doer, however is very lacking in energy and spark, she is fit and healthy and i have been working with a trainer to improve her response she is improving but i feel some correct feeding could help

She is currently on grass 24/7 as well as 2 scoops of red mills cool and cooked mix a day
She is ridden 5 times a week for around an hour

Many thanks
 
You are giving a good doer non blood type 2 scoops of a performance type mix?
Honestly, the best thing you can do is get her slimmer and fitter, then add straight oats to a handful of Alfa when she is at the right weight & fitness.
 
I feel your pain - I have a 3/4 TB, 1/4 Clydie and she also has a very laid back approach to life. She would much prefer to snooze in the corner, while being served the odd pear and doesn't see the point of cantering when a walk will get you there in time for dinner.

I have played around with some "hot" feeds, but in the end it has been fitness and schooling her to be sharper off the leg, which have worked. I got sick of instructors telling me she needed to be more forward and give her a whack (or a kick) and finally found an instructor who helped me with a solution to the underlying issue. So, with her, I accept that she is slow to warm up - there is a lot of snorting and nose clearing and you can't hurry it. Once she is warmed up, and we have had a decent canter, then I can ask for quicker responses. Squeeze, if no response, back up with spurs. Get three strides of whatever I asked for, downwards, ask with a squeeze again.

As long as I let her warm up properly (the first 5-10 minutes looks terrible!), she is pretty good now. But I have found it has been about figuring her out, and then being consistent. The nice thing is, that after getting dumped by super quick Arabians for years, being on something that takes life a bit more leisurely has been easier on the body!

Edited to add: Feed wise I just feed Lucerne chaff and oats (I'm in NZ so easily available) and she is on grass 24/7. Also a good doer!
 
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I'm another one with a horse that takes a good long warm up and hates being rushed (has PSSM, but generally is a mare who likes to do things her way). As her fitness has improved so has her responsiveness - so that I know now that if she's still not off the leg after about 20 mins then she's probably a bit sore.

I can't feed any cereals because of the PSSM so the usual heating up foods weren't available to me. Oil for energy instead of oats in our case.

I also find variety in her work helps.
 
Fitness is the key. You are feeding a fairly high energy feed for a horse with a relatively low workload. Is there anyway you can increase her workload within your ride time to build fitness? Hard in the winter I know.
 
Might be going off on a tangent here but my 14 yr WB was lacking in energy, tried pepping him up with different feeds but eventually a blood test revealed he had Cushings. Now on the right medication and it has made a huge difference.
 
I suspect that mix is high in starch, but its very annoying when feed companies don't state the sugar and starch ratios.

Fitness is the key to energy, but that's not something you can fix quickly, its a slow steady process.
 
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