I need a calmer horse!

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CatG1481

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Has anyone got any ideas? I have a 15 year old 17.2hh Warmblood who is very hard to keep weight on as he is not interested in food and gets stressed very easily. He gets a scoop of Spillers Conditioning Mix,a scoop of basic mix, a scoop of sugar beet and 1/2 scoop Alfa A (plus oils) every day.
But he is currently getting very upset, pacing up and down, in the field every day after just 2 hours out. I don't know why, but he is destroying the field! Could the feed be making him more excitable? I fed him somthing more basic last winter but he got very thin . . .is there a claming additive I should give him, as the yard manager has suggested?

Any ideas?
 
Hi, i have similar probs regarding feeding my TB shes so hard to keep the weight on.
I phoned a nutritionist from baileys and they told me what to feed her, she was having 2 scoops build up mix, 1 scoop sb and 2 scoops alfa a, they said it was far too much feed in a bucket and said i was wasting my money, thy told me to give her 1 scoop baileys conditioning cubes and 2 mugs outshine twice per day and ad lib hay, shes been on the new diet for a week and already such a difference!
I would recommened ringing them up, they give very good advice xxx
 
Is it something to do with the situation he is in that is stressing him out rather than his feed?
If his behavior has only changed being in the field it may be this, imo. Does he have a companion, has anything changed, is he in a different field, does he have enough to eat in the field etc?
 
1. How long do you ride him for, and how often?
2. How long have you owned him for?
3. Who/what is he turned out with?
4. What breeding is he?
5. Whats he like in the stable?

I would suggest riding him hard, daily, and reducing his turnout.

Some horses, especially warmbloods, just dont like it.
 
Agree with millyspaniel re ringing a nutritionist - I would personally be feeding more chaff than mix altho I would say some kind of conditioning mix/cube would be necessary to help keep weight on. You could try something like calm & condition? Winergy Equilibrium is very good too - they do a low energy product, if you give them a ring they will advise if it will help keep weight on.
How much hay/haylage are you feeding per day?
 
Is he turned out with others or on his own? The feed may not be the root cause of the problem, but is probably not helping the situation! If a horse is excitable it is usually best to opt for low sugar/low starch feeds. Most mixes are high in cereals (wheat, maize, barley or oats), and therefore starch, so best avoided. As for sugar beet, the unmolassed kind (5% sugar) is better than the normal molassed kind (20% sugar).

If he was my horse I would probably try him on Spillers Response Slow Release Cubes (which supplies calories mainly from fibre and oil) with Alfa A Oil (better than the molassed Alfa A Original) and some unmolassed beet, but there are various different options you can try (and I'm sure you will get 101 suggestions on this thread
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) and it is a bit trial and error to find what suits the individual horse.

You need to be quite canny about reading labels though as some manufacturers have very funny ideas about what is 'non-heating' and also feeds described as 'barley-free' or 'oat-free' might contain other cereals such as wheat and maize. It is worth checking the manufacturer's website for list of ingredients and starch content of feeds you are interested in - if it is not on the website then email them for details.
 
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Winergy Equilibrium is very good too - they do a low energy product, if you give them a ring they will advise if it will help keep weight on.


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This is where people start getting confused about feeding. Energy equals calories, and doesn't necessarily equal fizz or excitement! If you want a horse to put on weight you need to feed more digestible energy (ie calories) than he uses up each day. It is the form those calories take which are likely to have an effect on temperament, with fibre and oil being less likely to heat them up than starches and sugars.

So if you want weight gain you want to look for a product with a high digestible energy content, but low starch/low sugar. Winergy Low Energy is very low in calories as it has only 8.3 MJDE/kg (mega joules of digestible energy per kg) so you would have to feed an awful lot of it to put on weight. However, Winergy do produce a Condition version which has 12.4 MJDE/kg which is quite low starch, although many users on here have found it very expensive to feed long term.
 
I know what you mean - I asked about the Winergy for my boy and their nutritioists immediately asked how much work he was doing before advising which product (they then advised low energy as it was in the middle of winter when he gets less work). I therefore thought that it would be wise to advise checking with Winergy about the conditioning properties of the feed before feeding but based on personal experience suggested the low energy as a starting point for an already fizzy horse.
 
Agree with TGM - alot of horses just can't deal with mix. The only one that worked with Ty was showmix - it didn't fizz him up but kept him in great condition.

cubes/nuts can contain the same goodness but alot less starch - i've learnt this after several meetings with the mud due to over feeding mix!
 
WoW!! Thanks all, that sounds like lots of different ideas. Sounds like I should actually reduce the feed a bit as I am riding less at the moment (thanks to lots of office work!), possibly change it, keep an eye on the condition. He settled in the summer but I have changed the feed since then.

He's very picky so it is a case of trial and error! I tried the Calm & Condition which equally made him lively but was fantastic at putting weight on. Build up was not very unsuccessful either . . .next time I'm buying a good doer!
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Blue chip has made such a big difference with my mare, i didnt think as much on the first bag but DEFO on the second bag! I would feed that, chaff and sugarbeet with lots of hay/haylage!
 
Personally I'd be giving the Baileys people a ring (as others have said) - they have given me some excellent advice over the years. Their Conditioning cubes are one of the few things that put weight on my tb without making him overly lively. Years ago when I didn't know any better he was agressive, kicking his fieldmate to shreds and generally a bit psycho. I cut out the barley (so no mix and only certain cubes) and it was like a miracle cure.

There may well be other reasons why your horse is pacing but feed can definately be a factor.
 
Just bought a warmblood myself and he loves being in his stable and really dislike being turned out. Luckily I can fence off the yard and allow him to wander in and out. Could it be you just need to pop him out for an hour only. If poss, hour am then another hour pm?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone got any ideas? I have a 15 year old 17.2hh Warmblood who is very hard to keep weight on as he is not interested in food and gets stressed very easily. He gets a scoop of Spillers Conditioning Mix,a scoop of basic mix, a scoop of sugar beet and 1/2 scoop Alfa A (plus oils) every day.
But he is currently getting very upset, pacing up and down, in the field every day after just 2 hours out. I don't know why, but he is destroying the field! Could the feed be making him more excitable? I fed him somthing more basic last winter but he got very thin . . .is there a claming additive I should give him, as the yard manager has suggested?

Any ideas?

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Ditto except my warmblood is 13! Feed can def. be making him excitable, have you tried Page and Allen Calm and Condition? Mine also worked well on Bailey's no.4 but hotted up on Blue Chip. I think it can be trial and error. Calmer wise Cappy has Relax Me by horse first and he also has Coligone, not a calmer but an acid balancer, it has really chilled him out and he is a different horse, no more attacking other horses, rearing and generally unwanted behaviour!

Hope that helps.
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