what to do...at a bit of a loss...

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bex1984

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I've got myself in a bit of a flap worrying about Murphy.

He has always been a bit lazy, and has always been a bit of a kick along pony, but when he puts the effort in and when I can motivate him, he really is brilliant - he jumps well, schools nicely.

This summer, however, things have gone a bit wrong. He is just so behind my leg and seems so uninterested, and all I seem to be doing is kicking and flapping and if I'm totally honest (and it really does upset me to admit this) I am not enjoying riding him much. When he has a good day he is fab, last week for example he got all excited because the kids at the yard were bombing around and we joined in and it was great. Sometimes I feel like he'd be happiest going on lots of long off road hacks - and I have no access to decent off road hacking, and very limited road hacking.

I do get so frustrated with him because he can just switch off completely and ignore me, and he is doing this a lot at the moment. I love him to bits and I don't want our ridden time together to be a battle. He literally just ignores me completely if he doesn't feel like doing something.

I just don't know what to do for the best. I just want him to be happy and us to both enjoy our rides, and I want to be able to do a variety of things (schooling, jumping, bit of hacking etc). Things are going to get more difficult in the winter too, when I only have the school to ride in in the dark after work.

So I'm wondering about whether I can change his management/feed? or anything else I can do?

any thoughts/ideas? I could really use some advice :( sorry for the essay! I'm not explaining myself very well i don't think.
 
Providing there is no other reason for him being like this, for example any discomfort, fitness, feeling tired after exercise for some other reason, it may be a good idea to look at his current diet, how much work is he doing at the moment and what's he eating?
 
Changing his feed may help but if he is naturally laid back it won't turn him into a forward going pony. I have the opposite problem. My mare goes everywhere at warp speed! What feed is he on now? Try varying his schooling. If you can, add obstacles, do games, anything to give him a bit of interest.
 
I don't think he is in any discomfort etc, because if he is interested in what we're doing he is fine.

He is currently being ridden 3 or 4 days a week, a mixture of jumping, and just basically playing out in the field, with the occasional schooling session and some road hacking.

He has one evening meal:
1/2 scoop Mollichop Lite
1/3 scoop Super Mollichop (molassed - this has helped)
1/3 scoop leisure mix
little bit of garlic
apples
Equibites (for all his vits and mins)
Glug of Propell Plus (this has helped - he was really, really flat before I started feeding this)

I'm wondering about changing the mix to competition cubes, or feeding oats, and/or giving him breakfast too.
He is currently out 24/7 on very (very!) sparse grazing, and is the slimmest he's ever been.
 
Perhaps its in his make up. Can't make something out of something thats not, if you get my drift. You sound like you have done as much as you can but perhaps you have under horsed yourself.

He sounds a lovely boy but probably, like you say, wants a quiet life, ambling along enjoying a sedate hack.

He sounds like my Archie, loves nothing better than my company, some fussing, poodling along taking in the scenery and taking life slowly.

Sorry, can't give you any advice except you either accept him for what he is or perhaps find him a lovely home and get yourself a horse which fulfils you completely.

I apologise if I have totally misunderstood your post and its just a diet thing.

Best wishes x
 
It could be something as simple as just giving him a month or so off. Just to give him a chance to be a horse without having to worry about coming in and being ridden/fussed etc. If this is not possible could you try doing something different with him to make life a bit more interesting?
 
Well from looking what he's getting at the moment he's more of less getting the diet of say a retired/good doer/horse in light work and if his grazing isn't up to much, which to be fair this time of the year it's not anyway, having said that he's a cob (probably lives on fresh air:D) but he just might not be getting a good fibre to create the energy for what your doing with him, probably explains why some day's he just can't bothered, or he's just burning himself out.

My advise would be to ring a few different feed companies up and have a good chat to them about it, they will be able to help you put together a new diet for him, that way you will have a better understanding of what their feeds offer and then you can choose who to go with depeding on what feeds are available at your local supplier.

He's obvioulsy getting his vit and mins but he'll also require a daily source of slow release energy without adding the extra pounds and protein to help repaire and maintain his muscles.
 
Have you tried feeding him up? Tiger oats, turbo, sparkle, equijewel....plus supplements like energy boosters, red cell, etc? The ones available on the market now are endless!

How about seeing about taking him out hunting this season? Cubbing has started now, how about going along for a couple of days on a ticket with him? Get his blood up a bit.

Have you had blood tests done at all?

Tried spurs? How is his schooling....can he lift his front end and really work etc?

Sorry, just a string of ideas :)
 
I had this with my cob, so I had a method of getting him off my leg. First I would nudge him, if that didn't work I would kick him, if that didn't work he got a smack with the whip. After a few weeks he went off the nudge!
I also fed him on Oat and Barley free from Falcon, it's a high fibre feed but with a bit more energy for the oomph - it also has all the recommended vits/mins so no need to feed these on top, that with a bit of sugarbeet was enough to give him all he needed.
 
Perhaps you could change his chop from the one you use now to Alfa A Oil, this will not only add a lovely bloom to his coat, but provide slow release energy as well as acting as a natural antioxidant.

Another favourite of mine which both my horses get on well with is Bailey's No.6 endurance mix, again slow release energy due to the higher oil content than other competition mixes, with this mix you’re getting the required protein for a working horse or pony but not over doing it on the starch, also this a mix that touch wood doesn't fizz them up....I wouldn't be feed my lad on it otherwise trust me, but you get a nice constant flow of controlled energy.

Carrots, yes the are full of suger but it is a good way of giving them a bit of sparkle without paying for bags of hard feed, carrots work wonders on cobs for a bit added energy.

You could also try Naff Pink Powerder, could be that he's needs a bit of help , healthy gut = healthy horse and he needs to be digesting and getting the best out of what your feeding, otherwise your throwing money down the drain, personally I use it all the time, but it can certainly perk them up a bit once you first start using it, but it's only because the horse is then utilising his food properly...save money over winter too.
 
Hi Bex

He sounds bored to me (mine is exactly the same). Have you thought about giving him a holiday? This winter is going to be yuk apparently so perhaps a month off in Jan/Feb may do the trick. It certainly worked for me. I don't think the heating feed will help, just make him more frustrated and better at evading. Failing that endurance (16km) is good for getting them forward too.
 
Binky01 - I ride him in spurs and with a schooling whip. He is on Propell Plus, thinking of trying oats though.

Sanolly - I have tried nudging, kicking then using my whip, but to no avail :( He doesn't really care if I use my whip on him TBH.
 
Kenzo - just bought a bag of carrots :) will have a look at the feeds you suggest, thank you. He could do with being fizzed up really ;)

Ginadrummand, he's just had 2 weeks off, which is almost unheard of and seems to have enjoyed it a bit too much as he has been lazier since then :( I would love to do something like a long distance ride, but don't have transport.
 
It sounds as though he is bored. As above, explore different feeds but is there any chance you can box him to a stubble field/beach with some friends for a good blast. If you can club together with friends to hire a box, you could all blow away a few cobwebs and have a great day out to set you up for winter
 
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