Those hunting barefoot cobs - extra feed?

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snowstormII

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I am preparing my cob to try barefoot again next April once this hunting season is over. I know that he should be on no sugar if possible, but what would you all feed to meet the increased demands of hunting once or twice a week? I currently feed him 2x day and each meal consists of half a mug micronised linseed, one scoop of Benevit Advance vits and mins, 1 heaped tablespoon turmeric, 20 twists black pepper, approx 5ml spoonful of brewers yeast, a single handful of oatstraw chaff and a heaped mug of soaked Speedibeet. He also has adlib hay throughout the day and night from a small holed haynet and access to a muddy field during the day with grass trying its hardest to rot off in this wet weather! I would like him not to lose too much weight over the hunting season, but am aware I don't want to be stuffing him with sugary carbs. Any suggestions?
 
What's his weight like now and what work is he doing? I am not an expert, but I would be feeding my cob that only if he was working hard six days a week, he is 4 yrs old and only in light work, never been shod, but on a bf diet with the rest, he literally gets a handful of easibeet with celery and hay, just so he doesn't feel left out, as stated I'm no expert, just go by my horses weight and condition, 3 good doers/1 poor doer (tb), I will watch this thread with interest, I've never had a cob before
 
My cob types are fed a forage based feed that's similar to Happy Hoof, a handful of alfalfa pellets and sugar beet with no added molasses. I use an oil that's got Vits A, E added because we don't see grass here from December through to the end of Marchand they get I fluid ounce of Flax (linseed) oil. If I was hunting twice a week I might add a few micronized oats to that.
Why the black pepper and turmeric?
 
Oats are fine for barefoot, my barefoot hunter isn't a cob but I do use oats for extra weight/energy without any problems. I add them to speedibeet and chaff with linseed salt and FP balancer. I also soak the oats to make them more digestible.

You may find that he is less sugar sensitive in harder work.
 
Mine doesn't hunt that often but I do feed for energy and can get away with putting a bit more into him than I used to when he was younger.

Currently he gets twice a day a scoop of dry speedibeet (my scoop is about 3 mugs I think!, quite small, have weighed it all before but can't remember). 1.5/2 of oats and 1.5/2 of just grass and 1 mug of linseed.

Essentially I just use more of 'safe feed' I used to feed fast fibre but this is v low in energy whereas speedibeet is reasonable so switched to that. The just grass is a new addition- mostly because he is better with something more to chew/gets him to eat his minerals better so will be checking he tolerates that ok but others seem to have had reasonable results. The other go to although not used it for him is copra coolstance.
 
I have been hunting weekly and riding daily and my good doer gets exactly the same as she does when not hunting- haylage and a handful of speedibeet with minerals and a small scoop (25g) of linseed, after hunting she gets a handful of oats. Horses really do not need hard feeds unless they are in really hard work such as continuous competitions and racing. Haylage/grass/hay ad lib should be plenty- I use a small quantity of feed just to add to the minerals and vitamins!
 
Thank you all so much. Some great input there. My cob is 15.2, 7yo, and hunting twice a week over open downland (he thinks he can race the pointers up the hills but actually runs out of petrol halfway up!!). We also hack or school 2 times a week. He currently weighs on weightape 560 and has been pretty stable at that in the year I have had him. I have fed him the same throughout the year, as it really is only to get the vits in him, just upped the hay for winter. I think I like the idea of adding a small amount of oats after hunting. He gets the turmeric and pepper combo as an anti-inflammatory as he has a slightly clicky hip and on that rationale is probably a bit nice for him after a day's hard work.

How did you achieve the transition to barefoot hunter? Did it just take the 6 months or did you have to miss the next season?
 
My chap was lame so we took it slowly, I didn't think for a minute I'd get him back hunting again a couple of years down the line!
 
snowstormII said:
How did you achieve the transition to barefoot hunter? Did it just take the 6 months or did you have to miss the next season?
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I've taken a few from shod to either eventing or hunting. The worst was nine months but he had terrible feet and probable navicular syndrome. None have missed a season hunting/eventing so I would not expect to unless the timing was shoe removal right at the start of the season and the horse was a difficult case.

I feed oil in horse and pony cubes. Anecdotally, there seems to be a lot less of a problem for horses with cubes than with muesli mixes. Hard work also makes them much easier to manage their carb intake :)

I'm hoping to hunt my cob in the new year, but he's not quite as strong as I want him to be yet. There's lots of time for him, he's only four. Have fun when you get there!
 
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