Horse that appears to need a stupid amount of exercise

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toomanyhorses26

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Right long story short - purchased a 16hh mare back in March who was on her way to the meat man. Checked out saddle,teeth etc passed all checks nothing major found so we started her ridden work. Had the odd blip - awesome bronc and spin :D - got her through that (should probably mention she had been out of work for 4-6 months before I purchased her because she had basically terrified the owners daughter ) she started to come good took her to a couple of local shows - lovely behaviour thought we had really turned a corner. I have no option but to stable at night through the winter so she came in approx 4-5 weeks ago and the behaviour has taken a bit of a nose dive again when being ridden - still an absolute angel on the ground to handle so doesnt appear to be a typical energy build up as such. She is a TB but holds her weight pretty well so has only ever been on a horse and pony cube and alfa a (literally1/2 scoop of each just to get the vits and mins down )with a vit and min supplement and 12kg of haylage (average energy type stuff) over night with turnout for approx 8-10 hrs on okish grazing. She is a forward going ride and loves her hacking/cross country etc but the only way I have found to get a productive schooling session (ie she concentrates,works in a controlled way,takes a proper contact etc ) is to hack for 2 hrs previous - I dont really know what to do tbh - I havent got the time and think it isnt really that fair on her to do this on a consistent basis. She will lunge but I still get the feeling of an unexploded bomb where as if I have hacked she is lovely and chilled and just swings and bounces along as happy as larry - would you change food,lifestyle,forget the schooling this winter and just hack ??? answers on a postcard :)
 
I don't really like them (always think they are accidents waiting to happen) but is there a horse walker she could go on before you ride?

Others will be in a better position to advise re: diet.

TBH a winter of hacking sounds quite nice :-)
 
Unfortunately not :( she absolutely loves it - which is weird as when she came to me I was told she is crap to hack dont even attempt it on your own etc etc but she is ace :) she is just a bit special me thinks
 
I would try to incorporate most of what you want to achieve in the school into your hacking. I don't have access to a school so any schooling i need to do has to happen while out, I can't say I do a lot, but do what I can!
 
I would switch to hay if you can and also drop the alfa a and use normal hi to to see if that makes a difference. My horse went nuts when I first put him on haylage, until we got to know each other better. Can you lunge for 15 - 20 mins before you school to get her to settle? I would try that a couple times a week and hack the rest of the time, so you are still doing what you want to do, and not 'giving UN's to her. Hopefully she should settle in a few weeks.
 
my lass is like that, tonnes of energy, never seems to tire type :( i found i need to keep her feed really basic. Alfalfa sends her nuts and so does haylage :(
so shes on just grass and soya oil instead of alfalfa and gets good quality hay instead of haylage.
Failing a change in diet i would suggest lunge first then school out on a hack and as much turnout as is possible. Some horses just need loads of exercise no matter what their fed :(
 
My TB is like this too, great to hack but silly in the school. Lunging just makes him motorbike so I tend to long-rein before riding instead, and when we school i do lots of transitions and changes of direction - no endless trotting in circles - to keep him listening. i've found that I have to make a real afford to keep his attention on me (i've found rewarding good work with treats helps) we do lots of lateral work to help engage the brain and we've recently started to do in-hand work which he's really taken too. He just gets bored and distracted quite easily so I have to make it interesting for him.

ETA - its not a case of tiring out the body before you school it more about getting the brain focused.
 
Sounds like my horse... Still giddy after a lunge but fine after a hack :confused:

I just ride him through it as it's too dark to hack before/after work... :(

Hacking all winter sounds like a great idea! Mine schools better on a hack as he is more alert and forward going... He HATES the school! :p
 
I refer to mine as the "Duracell bunny" as she just goes and goes and goes, great for XC but for dressage schooling is not so great, everyone thinks she has TB in her but she dosen't. I find that keeping her in work at least 6 days a week is good, I can only hack at the weekends as work during the day so she does that both days and then schools 4 days during the week. I need to do at least an hour in the school to get anything decient out of her and even then have to keep moving her about doing lots and lots movements and lateral work trying not to go round the whole arena without doing soemthing and that works for.

I'd also second swapping hayledge for hay.
 
toomanyhorses26 said:
...the only way I have found to get a productive schooling session (ie she concentrates,works in a controlled way,takes a proper contact etc ) is to hack for 2 hrs previous - I dont really know what to do tbh - I havent got the time and think it isnt really that fair on her to do this on a consistent basis. She will lunge but I still get the feeling of an unexploded bomb...
I had a horse that I had to lunge at canter and over jumps before I could ride him. Lots of people disagree with cantering on the lunge but walk a big circle and hold on tight for the explosions. I'd rather lunge them out than ride them out!!
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option A)I would gradually cut out the food and stick with grass and a bit of hay. if you must feed i would feed the blue hi fi litrally a hand full and some magnesium and a little pink powder. I would provide 24 hour turnout and a field shelter.(If possible)

option B) If you need to keep weight on/ need more advise then maybe call a equine specialist in food. most feed companys have dietitions you can speak to for free who can advise you such as Allen and Page or the people who make speedi beet.
 
I wonder if you are over doing the haylage? Do you know how much she weighs?

A horse requires approx 2.5 % of its body weight in forage, which includes grass/hard feed/hay or haylage.

Therefore a average size horse weighing 500 kg would need approx 10 kg forage a day, and if you horse is out at grass for 8hrs a day, then getting 12 kgs of haylage on top plus hard feed, I would say it may be being over fed resulting in excess this energy.

Good luck!
 
I use to have a flashy anglo Arab, had to sell him after a couple of years as I was working Mon - Fri, 9 - 6pm and horse was kept at parents 15 miles away!! To cut a long story short, gave him to a MFH of local hunt as I couldn't give him the work he needed, he needed to go out for at least a couple of hours every day. He spent several seasons as a hunt horse and loved it before he met an early end due to an accident. I like to think he had several years of a happy horse, far more suited to the hunting field than to a hacking, showing, dressage home
 
TB's, born to have stamina and run! Do you ride her straight from the stable? I find that turning my horses out first before I do anything with them helps allthough I appreciate it's not always possible.

I agree with what others have said re:- diet. Keep it as simple as possible with low starch feeds. Dodson and Horrell safe and sound is what I feed plus hight fibre cubes. I do feed low protein, high fibre haylage grown locally. My horses still have plenty of sparkle without the fizz ( and one is a TB x )

Do you know why she was sold? If you and your horse are happy hacking, I would do that through the winter and school on your hacks. You dont really want to get your horse too fit or you will only be adding to the problem.
 
The turnout is a bit of a dubious point as I currently teach at the yard that she is at livery at so swap my teching for the rent for the pair of them so I would be really hard pushed to first afford to move them anywhere else as I would lose my sunday slot (typical horsey people shall we say) and secondly finding anywhere to take them - livery around my area is ridiculously hard to find. She is a bit special I am not going to lie as she will not eat out of a haynet as I would like to reduce the speed at which she eats her hay - there is never any left in the morning but equally I know I am over doing the haylage slightly shall we say - she is covered,good coat,shiny probably a body score of 3-3.5 .Weighed for worming in Oct and she came in as 560kg .Very rarely ride staright from the stable as normally ride in the evening. We do school out on hcks as such but I have to get out of the mind set of the hack being a break as such (schooling= work, hack =funtimes :) ) I dont know whether it gets her in a better mind set having a good canter and stretch or me as I feel I can put my leg on more and without the threat of death :P She was sold as basically she had terrified the owners daughter - 13 year old girl and a 6 year old TB who is a green as grass isnt an amazing combo - so I do try not to lose sight of the fact that she still has alot to learn. She seems to get stressed by being restricted -I may be putting human feelings onto her here but in a school,indoor or outdoor even in a field showjumping for example she is stressed out and bolshy and generally a bit of a witch but take her hacking,cross country etc and she is an absolute dream - maybe a change of career is needed :S
 
It's early days with her isn't it I would defiantly cut back the food and take the long view time will sort lots of things,you could also try a magnesium based calmer I have never had much success with them but a friends horse was defiantly better on nupafeed.
 
I had a cleveland bay x TB mare that was a handful, I kept her in at night and out in the day, as normal, and she didn't get much hard feed.

When I was on holiday I took her to a livery yard where the guy was eventing all the time, he was keeping her fit for an event when I got back. He said that if he owned her he wouldn't feed her any hard food and keep her out all the time!

Maybe your horse just needs to be out more? Very hard if you have to fit in with a livery yard policy.
 
Definitely too much too rich food. You should feed no more than 2% of total body weight per day. Example: My 650kg IDx was calculated to need between 12-13kg of food a day (6.5 x 2 kg =13). If the horse is grazing then the quantity needs to be cut back to account for that as well. I would feed him slightly less than 1kg of hard feed and 10-12kg of hay.
IMHO most horses are overfed and will do very well on less, not so much the quantity but the richness. Good luck!
 
From owning TB's as pleasure horses and as horses in my riding school I've found that they do best if turned out year round. When you can't do this then you need to feed accordingly.

In winter - (where I was living had frosts nightly and snow) Mine including the school horses were fed ordinary meadow hay and some lucerne hay twice daily, no hard feed unless they were worked - feed was crushed barley and meadow chaff.

Most TB's get a bit sharper in the winter - the cold seems to fire them up! Check whats in the pony cubes as they can have some very hyper stuff in them, feed them with meadow chaff and water to damp. Supply her with a magnesium salt block both in the stable and the field. Magnesium needs to be available 24/7 to be any good at calming the horse.

I'd be inclined to school her on your hacks - though this doesn't help with lateral suppleness. What does she actually do when schooling? Is she just moving rapidly or exploding? I've found using my body to slow trot works, rising higher and sitting longer. Lots of changes of direction and pace so she really has to concentrate hard. Never going around the arena more than once without changing the subject.

I see that you have had saddle & teeth checked- have you had her back checked at all - many racehorses come off the track with injuries they have acquired from fooling around or from decking themselves in the field. Some are so sensitive that any little pain makes them silly.

It's great that you rescued her from the meat man and given her a second chance, it is surprising how many horses and ponies end up their because they have been owned by people who couldn't cope with them. I used to get loads of really good ponies from the meat man all with history. Only one went back with a DO NOT RECYCLE instruction. Kids here in NZ generally go from a pony to a TB as these are the most easily accesable hacks to go on to. They make great equine athletes.
 
Rosie041390 said:
Sounds like my horse... Still giddy after a lunge but fine after a hack :confused:

I just ride him through it as it's too dark to hack before/after work... :(

Hacking all winter sounds like a great idea! Mine schools better on a hack as he is more alert and forward going... He HATES the school! :p
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Snap my mare hates the school with a passion just plants herself and is a pain in the bum but wonderfull to hack out so if i was you i would just hack at least its some form of exercise
 
She isnt an ex racer so no racing history to deal with as such :) My issue with feeding less forage is that at present it isnt ad lib and if I reduce any further she is going to be without food for quite a while as such - I feed haylage as primarily through past exp the quality of hay is pretty ropy with the occasional good batch - it has basically been tested as average quality with average energy content. If take her straight into the school we get jogging,the feeling of an unexploded bomb,over reactiveness to both hand and leg and ust generally bleugh. If I hack and then school - she is more relaxed,no jogging,more accepting basically a nicer animal.I have tried a calmer which had no effect at all and in all honest was possibly worse.She was given the all clear by the vet,physio and dentist and generally seems in great health. I have a feeling some of this is previous handling as she is awesome on the ground - quiet,accomodating,accepting - just basically an absolute babe to deal with. I would love to take her hunting or for her to go hunting shall I say - I have no transport and work six days a week so no real spare time unfortunately - but she is up for offer if anyone fancies it :)
 
Basically if you are on foot/hacking/cross country and( showjumping/showing/ dressage)in certain situations ie a wide open space she is an absolute dreamboat and worth every penny of the £50 and maybe a little more :D but in a school she is just a big stressball 99% of the time if I go straight into the school ut is massively improved if we have hacked/cross countried etc before. She is lovely on the ground - can clip with no headcollar,polite to handle and in noway bolshy. She has the odd skit in the field like all horses but generally calm and polite.
 
I've got a fizzy TB mare who is currently off work until at least Spring with problems. She is out during the day and in at night. Strangely she is uber calm!! I am giving her speedibeet with a few Spillers high fibre cubes (literally a single handful) and adding brewers yeast and magnesium oxide. She isn't weaving or box walking like she normally does...she is also overweight, so the feed is obviously keeping the weight on. I won't feed alfa to either of mine as I don't like it and feel it fizzes them up. The Magnesium oxide is a powder and is really cheap to buy on line - much cheaper than the so called calmers which are marketed for horses...might be worth a try?
 
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