sugar intolerance?? also in CR

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kez1001

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so i am starting to think alot of my pony's quirks could be down to sugar intolerance. Though i openly admit to guessing a lot of this but wondered if anyone else has similar experience??

So every year around may/june she has a personality change, hot to ride, spooky and quite grumpy? Droppings very loose also.
Had teeth saddle back etc checked this year and got lots of advice from people on here (thanks wisee HHO'ers!) that advised getting her off the grass and starting magnesium supplement.

So we moved yard, for several reasons but she now only out during the day and massixe improvement in behaviour although still grumpy but put that down to being a chesnut TB mare!

Feet are a huge issue with her as in hers are terrible but we usually (touch wood) manage to keep them on through the winter its the summer real problems starts, which i always put down to scottish weather but i'm starting to think i see a pattern? summer more sugar poor feet??? as winter is real wet here so maybe its not the weather??

This week she has been a bit of a pest in the arena at home,, which i put down to after being xc and feeling full of herself til i seen her droppings this am- big cow pats again? second sugar rush in grass at this time of year perhaps? also i had slowly reduced magnesium supplement as behaviour was a lot better and think it is maybe required again? have thought about a gut balancer as used one last year on advice of trainer but again really didnt need it over winter?

she is on winergy senior 2kg, on their advice she is only 10. think i will phone them tomorrow.She is also on pro feet at reccommended amount for her.

so for those who got this far, i am rambling again!, does anyone have any similar experience? it appears the sugar really doesnt agree with her as research on sugar and laminitics and porr foot quality etc tie in with this too so now i'm hunting for solutions

for anyone with wise words please have some strawberries and cream

thanks for reading
 
Well a way to find out would be to restrict her grazing and put her on a sugar free diet for a few days and see what changes you notice, although from your experiences it sounds as if she certainly is sensitive to sugar.

I would personally stick with the magnesium and restrict her grazing. Veteran feeds tend to be quite high in sugars, so I would certainly switch that to something more suitable.

Good luck!
 
My mare (a TBx) was just like this and she is sugar intolerant.

I have solved her problems with a diet of Happy Hoof and Cool Condition Cubes as there is no molasses content. Also, I have had to cut out all carrots/apples/mints/lickits and absolutely no haylage - just hay. She is on a very poor paddock and is in at night.

These changes have brought about a significant improvement in my mare and her feet are now almost perfect.

I think we forget that horses are meant to be foragers and have, historically, survived on poor pickings. I don't believe that we are doing them any favours by giving them a diet that is too rich but every horse is different and it's a case of trying different ideas to see which is successful for your animal.

Hope you find an answer soon!:)
 
thanks for the replies :)

touchstone - started the loading dose of the mg supplement again and will see, she is only out from 9 til 2 and is a bit of a worrier so will maybe put a grazing muzzle on. definately will review the winergy tomorrow and take it from there, though i believe their foods are supposed to be low sugar/starch etc so will see how we go

keep trying - i think you are right about the feeding, it is very tricky and i had the vet out to see her when i had had her around 6 months as she wasnt putting on much weight despite worming etc and when trying to give her high calorie feeds it blew her brains out! nothing seemed to not cause heating :rolleyes: the joys of a chesnut mare! and the vet looked at her and said it was just the way she was made, very athletic little mare who had muscle coverage over hip bones etc and that i was actually feeding too much?! lol he said she would get fat when she slowed down and not a day before!

thanks again
 
Hi....you might want to PM Domane on here....her horse has a sugar intolerance (can't have apples, carrots etc). He also reacts strangely to magnesium, I believe it makes him hyperactive. Might be worth getting in touch with her?
 
starbar - i think domane was one of the ones who gave me advice the last time will PM her! thanks

cotswoldSJ - she only gets out for 5 hours! i previously have her out 24/7 and it was awful!
 
starbar - i think domane was one of the ones who gave me advice before, i will PM her, thanks
cotswoldsj - she is only out for 6hours a day as when out 24/7 she was a nightmare at start of summer and the yard i was at was horrible so we moved and unfortunately we only have limited turnout at yard i'm at now, however this seemed to make a huge improvement in her behaviour!
 
Interesting, a little OT (sorry) but I am thinking when I win the lottery (of course) that large paddocks with strips of bark and gravel and very little grass then supplemented hay as needed would be required.
 
Have not read all of the replies due to needing my lunch but have you tried Allen and Page Sugar and Cereal Intolerance diet? I am currently using it on my stallion because of something that happened earlier this year - and it may be that he is getting older and wiser (he is 6) but he does seem to be a happier horse and he loves it. Feed it with fibre such as Readi-Grass. Good luck.
 
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