Is pasture mix suitable for my needs ?

[Oliviabuttons98]

I have found that my 11 year old is struggling to keep up and lacking in energy on our hacks he is riden about 4 times a week in summer however recently it's been about 2 times a week due to it getting darker sooner. I have recently put him on fiber performance as I wanted something to help his gut too and something with fiber in. However I have found this has heated him up abit too much he's normally very laid back and I want something to give him abit more energy but not so he is bolting everywhere as I have found fiber performance is starting to do even tho he is only on an introducing scoop !

 

[Pinkvboots]

The thing is you have halved his work so his fitness will have dropped hence why his struggling when you do ride, if you feed high energy food but only ride twice a week you just end up with a fizzy horse to ride, when you say his hacking twice a week for how long and how much work, if it's hours of fast work his going to struggle because his not fit enough regardless of what you feed, can you not ride a few more times a week?

I am not a fan of mix for horses anyway most are covered in molasses which is no good for them, if you really want to feed for slow release energy micronised linseed can work but it can also add weight and condition especially if your not riding much.

 

[PolarSkye]

I have found that my 11 year old is struggling to keep up and lacking in energy on our hacks he is riden about 4 times a week in summer however recently it's been about 2 times a week due to it getting darker sooner. I have recently put him on fiber performance as I wanted something to help his gut too and something with fiber in. However I have found this has heated him up abit too much he's normally very laid back and I want something to give him abit more energy but not so he is bolting everywhere as I have found fiber performance is starting to do even tho he is only on an introducing scoop !

Not a massive fan of mixes, but I do have some other questions . . .

1) What breed is he?
2) What else is he fed?
3) Does he live in or out?
4) What's the quality of his grazing?
5) If he's in at night, does he get hay and/or haylage - is it this year's or last year's?
6) Is he clipped and, if so, what sort of clip?
7) Is he rugged and, if so, how/what weights?
8) What's his workload? In addition to hacking twice a week (are they fast or slow hacks?), what else does he do?

Honestly, if his workload has dropped, I'm not sure why you felt you needed to up his feed . . . unless he's a poor doer. If he's got access to half decent grass with supplemental hay if needed that ought to be plenty of fibre for him. Lacking energy could be attributed to many things - including fitness (or lack thereof). Check the ingredients of anything you give him - a natural diet for horses is high in fibre and low in starch and sugar . . . I know many ridden/leisure horses who cope just on decent grass, good quality hay/haylage and (if needed) supplements.

P

P.S. I must admit that I much prefer to keep feed simple . . .

 

[nationaldressagepony]

I use Alfa A on my fizzy dressage horse, it gives her energy but she doesn't go mental, and I use happy hoof on my strong new forest x cob, low molasses, he misbehaves on oats and competition mix over winter when I am riding slightly less. Low cal balancer is also v good. Hope this helps.

 

[mirabela123]

I use Alfa A on my fizzy dressage horse, it gives her energy but she doesn't go mental, and I use happy hoof on my strong new forest x cob, low molasses, he misbehaves on oats and competition mix over winter when I am riding slightly less. Low cal balancer is also v good. Hope this helps.

Thanks for advice