lost his sparkle.....

[flying solo]

Last year we bought a fabulous pony for my daughter (she was 6), he was fast, wizzy and at times could be sharp and spooky over the most stupidest of things! He was perfect, had his moments but always looked after her her no matter where they were or what they were doing, most of the times she fell off was down to rider error and lack of experience as any child would! In a year he has taken her from poles on the ground to flying flat out around 70's, common rides and 20k fun rides, a true Saint.

Lately he has lost his sparkle and his lust for speed. All checks have been done, teeth, vacs, saddle and he has chiropractic every 3 weeks! I have spoken to various feed specialists who all obviously promote their own brands but was wondering if anyone else had any options? He's currently fed 2 scoops of beet, 1 scoop of bruised oats, 2 scoops of cool mix, top spec lite balancer and 2 scoops of chaff per day. He lives in with adlib hay which I will change to haylage at the end of the week. He is jumped 3/4 times a month, schools and hacks out so is in no way stale, even on hacks when she's racing her friends he's not as 'keen' as he was.

Any ideas, sorry for the essay

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Get vet to take bloods and run routine tests to see if there is anything out of the ordinary going on would be my next step.
hope you get to the bottom of it

 

[be positive]

I agree with running bloods as they will give a good idea if anything is going on but I would also question why he requires chiro every 3 weeks as there should be no reason to need this, if he responds correctly to treatment then it should not need to be ongoing, if not there may be an underlying issue, if neither of those then your chiro is either ineffective or dishonest, I have never known a sound horse require such regular treatment except possibly an older serious competition horse that has the need to be tweaked to keep it right.
My other thought would be why is he living in on all that feed, he may not appear stale with the work but that is a huge quantity of feed and a very boring life if the only time he gets out is to be ridden, possibly a short break and turned out with less feed may be a way of freshening him up, I would also consider a metabolic issue with all the sugar and starch in his diet having the opposite effect to what you would expect, making him feel sluggish rather than pepping him up, most horses would be jumping out of their skins on all that grub and living in.

 

[flying solo]

He lives in because our fields are either pony starvation / leg stretch paddocks or 25/30 acre cattle grazing fields. I can't pen a area off in the better field as he jumps 4 ft high and 2/3 ft wide from a stand still (jumped bs before we had him) and grazes less than 1mtr away from the penned off area! ! He's had a lot of physio lately due to saddles that have been sold to me as fitted that didn't, he has continued to change shape the last 4 months and I've wasted more money than I care to think about between two local saddlers. Would love to go m2m for him but not feeling like I trust anyone at the minute after the hassle I have at the moment. Would love to get some more top line and shape on him then take things from there, this pony is with me for the for see able so in no hurry to find a cheap quick fix.

 

[flying solo]

P's he's out for 7 hrs a day at least and if the weather allows he stays out all night with hay on the ground, he's a wimp who would genuinely rather be in if it's cold or wet

 

[be positive]

Fair enough about the physio it was worth asking as we all know of people who have been having treatments when they were not needed or when there was an underlying condition that required treating, the turnout situation though is probably why he is not the bright pony he was, if he is with you long term could you not find some way he could get at least some time out, I do know how difficult it is having a houdini pony myself who goes through. over or under most fences to get where he wants but still gets out most days for some time.
I haven't tried it yet but someone suggested a way of fixing something to the headcollar so they cannot see directly in front of them as a way of stopping them jumping out, that may work with yours if he is really determined and jumps a double fence.

Just seen he does get out so not living in as your OP suggested.

 

[flying solo]

Be positive: I turn him out on my lawn for a few hours and we take him out in hand most days for 1hr in the long lush grass I'd happily stick him out if it meant he was his zippy, cheeky self but last year he was obese and I think he deserves better care, he's in harder faster work now which helps and I'd love to know I'm doing the best I can by him so want to make sure I cover every angle I can so I haven't stupidly over looked anything. Paranoid owner....

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

What age is he? I agree about the bloods as they can show a lot. If he is lethargic I would maybe look to stopping the mix and beet and feed something like power and performance from Allen and page or if you are a traditional straights person as some maize to his diet, this I have always found to perk up an equine.

However there is usually an underlying cause for a pony that's perky normally to go lethargic, my old boy has gone this way and I've tweaked his diet (he can't have cereals) and changed a few things as well as him now having the grass grow through and he has perked up. He has had blood tests done for cushings etc and was fine levels wise.

Some people feed milk thistle to ensure no free radicals and help the system perk up. I fed it when my guy had a really bad allergic reaction and it certainly helped him through that.

A friend has been told to give her big warmblood red cell to help him but he has dropped a lot of weight. Seems to be helping him a lot though.

 

[philamena]

A metabolic issue? Or low grade lami?

 

[JoClark]

I would look at the feed and just have the balancer and forage. Hay better than haylege for their belly. Global herbs restore tonic gives them a clear out and boost. I definitely agree bloods should be done, if he has a sore belly can cause these issues to.

 

[DD265]

Could he have sore feet?

Lots of lami (low grade and full blown) about at the moment plus the ground has been on the hard side and may have caused bruising.

 

[splashgirl45]

I have found this thread rather confusing....why can he not go out for longer in the pony starvation paddock and give him hay if necessary. then he can mooch about and do his own thing. you may find he is getting too much feed, think how we feel if we eat too much, sluggish and want to sleep(or is that just me!!) seems a lot of feed for a pony , lots of horses in work don't get that much....and remember feed companies have a vested interest so may not give you the best advice... why not gradually cut out most of the feed and just give him a balancer and see if he perks up, and if not just increase feed till he does....good luck

 

[EventingMum]

I think bloods would be a good starting point. I've had success will Global Herbs Restore when a horse has been a bit flat so it wouldn't do any harm.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Get his bloods done first, but I would also suspect low-grade lami. My boy used to have episodes like this where he was lethargic but still sound. We assumed he'd had a virus so took it easy for a while, but we now think they were minor lami episodes. Perhaps put him on a lami diet for a few days and see if he improves.

 

[ycbm]

Be positive: I turn him out on my lawn for a few hours and we take him out in hand most days for 1hr in the long lush grass I'd happily stick him out if it meant he was his zippy, cheeky self but last year he was obese and I think he deserves better care, he's in harder faster work now which helps and I'd love to know I'm doing the best I can by him so want to make sure I cover every angle I can so I haven't stupidly over looked anything. Paranoid owner....

I'm very confused. He's in harder faster work now and is better than he was last year? But he's worse than when? Is he actually lethargic, or just quieter than when he was slim and not in as much work, which would be normal for many ponies?

How much does his food weigh? I have one scoop which contains a kilo and a half of nuts and one which contains half a kilo.