Keeping Competition Horse Stabled

Not a lot - very good doer!

Meadow grass haylage (coughs on hay)
readi grass or similar
token amount of mix
linseed
sugar beet
carrots
high fibre cubes in snak-a- ball


He is not silly all the time, in fact 99% of the time is very quiet in the field, just has a magic moment every now and then but totally loses the plot when he does.
 
Personally i wouldnt want to be keeping him stabled 24/7 unless he could be walked and given grass a couple of times a day and exercised daily on top of that. Also i dont think i would be having him injected in his back, when he obviously has underlying issues, just so that i could possibly compete at the regionals.

i missed the elementary regionals last year on my mare as i was having problems with my new horse at the time and didnt have time to prepare her. its not the end of the world if you miss them - and you have to look at it honestly aswell, do you actually have a chance of getting placed and getting to the Winters? I knew i had no chance of qualifying so it didnt matter so much. I ended up getting a wild card for the novice open petplan which i actually won instead - so that made up for it
grin.gif
 
Many competition horses are stabled, and either go ont he walker or in the Pen.
Dol used to have a couple of hours in the morning, unless it was pissing it down, then she just went on walker. But was ridden everyday! However she was a top comp horse and this routine worked for her, it doesnt necesarily work for others!

If he is hooning around in the field i would think he has extra energy to burn. How much is he worked? Is he sluggish after he's been out?
As for the injection in the back, i know horses that have injections into their hocks monthly to keep them "right". I would look at what further damage it may cause if you inject and then compete. You need to watch as well what is in the injection, the last thing you want is to have given illegal drugs.
Id weigh it up, is it going to cost more (not nec financially but take everything into account) to inject and run, or get to the root of it and qualify again next year. Or for the summers.
I think however in your heart of hearts you know what you want to do. Discuss it with your vet and your trainer and go from there.

Good luck, let us know what you decide.

K x
 
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