Trouble with TB, trying to gain weight without the fizz!

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cobface

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Well the normally placid 4yr TB has once again flipped - see previous post regarding sunflower oil - shes been on it 7 days and shes gone nuts!!
Was due to ride her this afternoon for the first time after 10 days rest after removal of wolf teeth, but after bringing her in she went mad, trying to rear over the stable door, kicking it, knocked her water everywhere and generally going mad. I turned her back out and decided to cut the oil and try riding her Wednesday/ Thursday till its hopefully out of system.
She very thin still
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so have decided to strip her bucket feed back, 1.5 lrg scoops of very plain speedi-beet and a handful of hi-fi light (alfa-a sends her mad) and 1 scoop barley rings (these very surprisingly don't have an effect on her behaviour) twice per day. Absoloutly NO oil or anything else liable to turn her.
I just dont feel confident riding her when shes hyped up, she rears and broncs
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and thats in the menage!
She has ad-lib hay of a night and now i will put a bale out during the day for her and the ponies so shes getting a good constant supply of quality forage.
I want to start work with her as we have a dressage comp at the end of may so i really really want to get her going again.
Sorry about the rant
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Anyone else have a crazy skinny TB which you cant feed??
 
Have you tried just high fibre cubes? I had a tb years ago that dropped weight terribly and got fizzy on the slightest bit of food, and was recommended by my vet at the time to put him on 6-9lbs of these only a day split over as many meals as possible. Within a month he was a different horse, was already looking much better and no fizz, joy to ride. Might be worth a try if you havent already.
 
Allan and Paige Calm and condition is the best thing i have found for putting weight on but to be honest the one thing that has sustained my horses weight this year (for the first time in 6 years) is brilliant haylage. I know some horses go a bit mad on it but mine hasn’t, if you could feed it i think it would really help.
 
I haven't had any behaviour probs with my TB and he has kept weight on really well over winter. I feed him 1 scoop D&H Fibregy 3/4 scoop D&H High Fibre Nuts am & pm with 3/4 scoop Allen & Paige Fast fibre as a sugar beet replacement (Divided between both feeds) as well as a couple of carrots/parsnips. He also has a huge haynet over night and 1 with breakfast then turnout all day. You could try something similar for your mare. The other TB on my yard has pretty much the same diet as mine and he's a sharper ride than my horse but he's absolutely sane/manageble on this type of high fibre diet.
 
So would you recommend i cut the barley totally and add high fibre cubes to her bucket feed and just give her this and the speedi-beet?
I have been offered some lovely haylage baled a day before the hay but have a sneaky suspicion it may send her over the edge....
 
I would say that swapping the barley rings for high fibre cubes would be a good place to start. I would probably just change 1 thing at a time and give the haylage a miss for the time being. The other TB at my yard does have haylage and is ok temprement wise with it but he doesn't hold weight quite as well as mine so I'm not sure it would make that much difference. If you are happy that she is getting easier to manage on the high fibre nuts you could then try a conditioning cube like baileys no4 and introduce it gradually to help her build condition.
 
I would try to give your horse something simple like a conditioning balancer, such as TopSpec or Dynamic Pro. They are specifically designed to put weight and condition on poor doers. Your horse is very young, so she will still be growing which is probably why she is not fat, you cannot grow fat while still building bones. Stop feeding her barley rings. Give her plenty of quality fibre. Try to start a routine of exercise. Each day the same routine, if you can lunge her, do that before you ride, but you cannot really blame a 4 year old who has had 10 days off after a tooth extraction for being silly.
 
Thanks Nickles, TBH the barley rings TBH dont seem to be putting on weight.......just bought a bag this morning so hopefully the feed store will let me swop them for high fibre cubes!

So hard trying to see what works for her, sick of buying a sack of feed only for it to be wasted as its heated her up!
 
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I would try to give your horse something simple like a conditioning balancer, such as TopSpec or Dynamic Pro. They are specifically designed to put weight and condition on poor doers. Your horse is very young, so she will still be growing which is probably why she is not fat, you cannot grow fat while still building bones. Stop feeding her barley rings. Give her plenty of quality fibre. Try to start a routine of exercise. Each day the same routine, if you can lunge her, do that before you ride, but you cannot really blame a 4 year old who has had 10 days off after a tooth extraction for being silly.

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Yeah it hasn't helped that she hasn't been ridden
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She was getting in a nice routine before the snow and cold weather, end of last summer she was looking really well, up to weight etc and was being hacked 4 times per week and 1 schooling session with instructer one day per week and she was going lovely the problems started when the cold came and the grass went
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I ahve found the only thing that has helped my TB nutter is Winergy Equilibrum Groth, i have to watch starch contents with her. She is fed this with speedi beet & good quality haylage and so far this winter she's been the best ever both weight & behaviour wise
 
I have an 8yr old TB who is skinny and can be fizzy. We feed her food from 'Simple Systems Feed' which is great! It gives the horse the nutrients he needs but over a longer period of time that generic feeds. This stops the horse having a sugar high, thus stops them being fizzy.

My mare has been on it for a few weeks now and we are already noticing weight gain and a more sensible approach to schooling and hacking.

If you go on the website the nutritionist will discuss your horse's problems with you and suggest suitable feeds; she's really helpful and it's free of charge
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Hope this helps.
 
My madam is a complete loon on occasions, to the point she was on nothing but ad lib hay for about a month as I couldnt stay on her
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She is mainly TB

However, she is now on Equilibrium Low, and just good quality hay, is putting weight on beautifully, and is looking fab on it, she is definitely filling out
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Her temperament is fab, she still spooks but doesnt have the same "silliness" about it, and is eager to work instead of being sour all the time. Definitely worth a try. It does seem expensive, but when you consider you dont need to feed anything else, it isnt bad. She is on 3kg a day
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I had the same problem with my girl. The behaviour wasn't to the extent you describe but still not the usual laid back mare I know.
I switched her from a cereal based diet to simple systems grass nuts alfa a oil and a linseed based feed balancer. She puits on weight in just a matter of weeks and is now back to her usual self.
Its worth a try and I will never put her back on a cereal diet again!
 
Here's my recipe for weight gain without fizz for TB:

1 feed = half Calm and Condition, half speedibeet, and half scoop of Ride and Relax, add Linseed meal, veg oil, garlic, mint and a mag based calmer, plus a handful of chaff (Dengie original) and some carrots

3 - 4 feeds per day
I also add a strengthening hoof supplement into the feed (personal choice)

Adlib hay day and night
2 apples per day in water bucket if stabled
Access to a lick - low sugar.
 
strange that the oil was making her excitable, as its not supposed to be posible (its very high in calories, but very slow release). could it have been something else?

maybe try something like brewers yeast to make sure she is getting the best out of her feed? and a vit/min supplement.

if you can afford it, blue chip has never failed for mine!
 
It seems to be anything with either molasses or oil that sends her loopy. When she was on the outshine she was awful! just the same and same with alfa-a. Going to cut out the barley rings too and try a high fibre cube as suggested and just feed her this with the speedi-beet and a handful of hi-fi with some carrots and up the hay of a day time
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Keeping it really simple. I may add a mare supplement too as she gets stressy when she has seasons too.
 
After reading some of the replies just a small warning my lad goes mad on carrots. Just thought i would share that incase you feed them and it could be the problem.
 
I have a TB that was really underweight, he doesn't get fizzed up that easily but sugar beet will do it to him and not enough work.

When I first got him I fed him topspec fibre plus cubes, I also gave him equivite body builder, its a milk protein pellet and packs weight on. Over winter I have fed him baileys outshine on top of his usual feed (spillers conditioning mix, fibre beet and alfa a oil) and he has gained weight, I have had to cut his feed down now as he has rather a large belly! Friends with youngsters swear by the winergy equilibrium feeds, as do friends with TBs.

Have you tried free schooling to burn excess energy, I have found that my lad has responded really well to it, he has a really good tear around and gets it all out of his system before I ride although now he is fine so I just get on him. He seems to really enjoy it and its much easier on him because I'm not working him in a circle on the lunge, he has muscle wastage so finds it too hard at the moment.

I find routine works well with my lad and any break to it will cause him to freak out, if I bring him in an hour early and just put him in his stable instead of riding him he will throw a huge strop. Have you had her long, it can take some quite a long time to bond with you and trust you, do you have a good instructor that can help you? I have just started with lessons, they are very focussed on my horses fitness but they are to correct me as well.
 
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