What Feed to Wake Up Little Cob?

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

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Little Cob is wonderful. Anyone can ride him. When he messes about it just makes me laugh as he feels so safe (I know, a slight contradiction in terms lol).

Anyhoo, Daughter1 wants to compete him this year. He can jump and he seems to like cross-country type courses, though he's only been round one Working Hunter course (it's the closest we've got so far).

The problem is, he can get very flat and can't-be-bothered. D1 is now having regular lessons with a very good instructor and they can both get some good work out of him, but he is not consistant. I thought that, if we get him very fit, and feed him something that will fizz him up and make him want to burn off the energy, things will be okay. I got some Instant Response (Spillers), but I'm not sure if that is going to be the right one. He puts on weight easily (he's a cob!) and we're constantly battling with keeping him just right.

This is a cracking pony and he does enjoy being out and about. I really want to help to get him going and full of life! Oh, he reacts to the sugar in sugarbeet with molasses, can get quite fizzy on that, but we need something that will sustain him for a day at a show/one day event, type things
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They do say most foods will only exacerbate the original problem, so for instance high energy feed fed to the lazy warmblood might make him more lazy (is this true?)

The only thing I have found which really energgses my lazy ISH is keeping him in... even my Instructor commented on how much more forward he was.
 
Personally I would be grateful to have a sensible little cob for your children to ride. I would concentrate on keeping him slim and fit, which ought to make him more active. If your daughter is having lessons with a good instructor, there are plenty of exercises to get him more responsive to her leg. Google Wilton Spencer and Carl Hesters methods for this.
 
Can you try him on the instant response and see how it goes?

I was looking into a similar problem with my mare at the end of last season, as she is a cob x good doer and we were preparing for our first 3 day event. I spoke to Allen & Page as I usually use their feeds, and they suggested adding tiger oats to her normal feed if she needed more sparkle. I never needed it in the end but that could work.

My mare doesn't react badly to oats, but I have fed them in the past to add a bit more buzz. Apparently tiger oats are like high octane fuel but you could just add them in as required and drop right down in between times.
 
Remember any feed change will take about 4-6 weeks to start making a considerable long term difference too . so if it doesn't necessarily seem to make a difference straight away, you'll need to stick with it for a while to see a difference over time to see if it'd working
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believe it or not i have this problem with my TB! i know a lazy TB! i even had a full MOT done on him to make sure there was nothing wrong with him as i couldnt believe it! i had bloods took the lot, and its just him....he is a lazy TB! (an ex racer as well!) my instructor took the stance that he needed to learn how to go off the leg properly, as the feed he is on provides him with the energy he needs, so lots of lessons later, he is now forward off the leg which makes a huge difference, and he is now forward going and i havent changed the feed. so it might be worth trying a bit off schooling to get him going off the leg, as this sounds like what your instructor is doing.
all else fails and he gets fizzy on mollases, then you can buy it in liquid form.
good luck with the competing.
 
Its a difficult one, isn't it? Lovely to have a sane one. The only food I can think of would be a bit of competition mix the day before and the morning of a "hard work day" but the spring grass will be coming through soon.....
 
I wouldn't pep him up with feed - the spring is coming, aswell as the spring grass and to be honest he's going to get hotter then!

The fitter he gets the better aswell.....I'd just keep him as is.
 
oats- dont work as everyone thinks they do

can daughter use spurs?
thats the best thing ive found

my cob was on ALOT of oats im talking a bag every 2weeks

he was gettin 2 scoops at night and one for breakfast
didnt do much just made him spookier

i found spurs worked better

x
 
my MW cob x is on hi fi light, competition mix and oats when he needs them... in between shows he has no oats.. and i just feed him a few in the week(s) leading up to an event or lesson when i know he needs a bit more ummph... i have also found spurs just add a bit more energy into the mix. works for me...

This was all coupled with lessons from a great instructor who helped me ride for a more forward feeling...
feed + lessons worked for me and my cob (Who was like you describe.. a good doer but struggling to find the energy... ) these days i sometimes struggle to hold him! : P
 
My Dexter cob is doing very well on Allen & Page's Power and Performance cubes. They help keep him fit for hunting but he doesnt "boil over" either. Dex had laminitis with his previous owner so i have to be VERY careful with feed and weight and this seems ideal. Its also Barley and molasses free.
 
He sounds a lot like my Murphy! Murphy was on plenty of slow-release competition cubes which gave him plenty of stamina, but no sparkle, until I discovered molasses which are the only thing I've ever found that actually gives him a bit more bounce. He then has some leisure mix too, to give him some back-up energy for stamina. Of course, this is going to ahve to change when the spring grass comes through or he'll be a heffalump
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I'd be really inetersted to hear if the instant response stuff makes a difference Mrs M, please can you let me know?
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Oh, he reacts to the sugar in sugarbeet with molasses, can get quite fizzy on that, but we need something that will sustain him for a day at a show/one day event, type thing

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Perfect you have your answer - and the sugar beet will help sustain his energy throughout the day (which is why so many hunters are fed it
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TBH, fitness and schooling would be my first port of call before trying to fizz him up with feed.

If you're looking for something to give him extra stamina then you need slow release type feeds, ie something fibre and/or oil based. Maybe something like fibrebeet?
 
Wow, so many responses
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Thank you all very, very much
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Trying to remember all the points...

Will look at Red Cell and the suggested alternative
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Will talk to the feed manufacturers and see what they all say, definately including Allan and Page.

Daughter rides my DWB and is more capable than me these days, so no issue on the being able to handle front, but thank you for the thought/concern
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Daughter can't wear spurs at the local shows as she's under sixteen. He does respond better when she may wear them
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Working hard on the fitness and schooling! She's trying hard with the off-the-leg work
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He's just such an ignorant little oik at times
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He'll be an absolute hoot out hunting
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. She's going to let me take him (after she's been lol). And how the heck are you doing m'duck?

Forgot to add: he has sugarbeet, but at the moment it's just a token handful. When the Spring grass comes in we'll have enough on trying to stop him piling the pounds on!
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He's just such an ignorant little oik at times

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Then she needs to be very quick to back up the leg with a sharp smack if he ignores her. Niggling away will only turn him off to the whole schooling lark.
Getting him going forwards from the leg isn't going to be an instantaneous thing, it's hard work, and it takes time. There are very rarely shortcuts to this kind of situation.
 
HB - thank you, I'll go look
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S - I think he'd love it! Got a feeling that he won't be going until next season now though - he's just not fit enough! D1 is working on it, but he's so damn hard to get fit.

SD10 - you are so very right
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. She uses a stick, not that he takes much notice(!), but the idea is there. He gets a lot of variety as we've found he gets bored if he's in the school each day. I don't expect a shortcut miracle, just want to make sure we're doing all we can and not barking up the wrong tree with our endeavours - and I use 'our' advisedly lol. He has done this once before - he went from being so off the leg it was almost funny to being almost totally dead to it, but he's been through various stages and we are assuming that this is another one, which, with the right management/schooling/work we will work through and come out the other side smiling
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Lol!
Ponies are funny creatures, and I get where you're coming from. They can be frustrating eh? I would just rather go down the schooling route personally, than the feed route
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