TB turned difficult in winter!

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RocknRoller

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I have an ex racer whose 10 years old. I've had him a year and a half and have loads of fun with him throughout the year. He's extremely laid back and great to hack and in school. He has however become very sharp, spooky and difficult since the weather changed. He uses any tiny thing as an excuse to react and be a complete idiot. I understand the winter is more difficult with less turnout but he's literally become a monster. He's always been fed on calm and condition and a handful if dengie Alfa-a. Loves his feed and never stops eating hay. Any advice?
 
I can't feed my TB either alfalfa or calm and condition as both alone send her off her rocker! I know he might have been on this for a while but added to the fact that you're perhaps exercising him less and turnout is reduced this might be contributing to his behaviour?
 
Mine got quite sharp when I began feeding her Alfalfa. I now feed Healthy Tummy or Mollichaff Calmer in its place alongside Top Spec Cool Balancer. Seems to have made a difference :)
 
Both those feeds would blow my ex racers mind. Coupled with the wind affecting what is in effect one of his survival senses and the cold and wet I'm not surprised he is turning into a bit of a loon!
I would steer clear of the mix and definitely the Alfa-a and maybe stick to something like speedi beat and dengie hi fi light and if you need something a bit more to keep his weight on then baileys no4 conditioning cubes have a fantastic result on my TB without the fizziness. That and more exercise ... sorry swearing at you using that word in this weather :o
 
If this is any help or comfort, I'm on a big livery yard and the four TB ex racer types there have ALL gone absolutely bonkers over the last couple of weeks. They're all on different feeds and hay/haylage so we can only conclude it's the weather. Not just the TB's though, I've noticed over the years that the winter affects all horses and makes them a lot sharper, even the little natives.
 
gala said:
If this is any help or comfort, I'm on a big livery yard and the four TB ex racer types there have ALL gone absolutely bonkers over the last couple of weeks. They're all on different feeds and hay/haylage so we can only conclude it's the weather. Not just the TB's though, I've noticed over the years that the winter affects all horses and makes them a lot sharper, even the little natives.
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Agree with this! My little haffy has gone from being a complete donkey to speed demon in 2 months. Am currently recovering from a fall - worse than any I had ever had from my TBs!
 
Mollichaff contains molasses so even the calmer will effect some horses adversely.
My tb can become sharp in winter even now he's retired (he's 12)
I feed as much hay as he will eat and find very little need for a lot else if fed ad lib.
I like hifi molasses free. Maybe a feed balancer or high fibre nuts if it's not enough alone.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Mollichaff contains molasses so even the calmer will effect some horses adversely.
My tb can become sharp in winter even now he's retired (he's 12)
I feed as much hay as he will eat and find very little need for a lot else if fed ad lib.
I like hifi molasses free. Maybe a feed balancer or high fibre nuts if it's not enough alone.
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Hifi molasses free contains alfalfa. Its a real mine field this feed thing :/
 
gala said:
I've noticed over the years that the winter affects all horses and makes them a lot sharper, even the little natives.
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Snap! For the first time since I've had him (7 years!) I thought mine was actually going to bronc today - some very interesting canter transitions! Bear in mind he's thought to be welsh x shire so very cobby!
 
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