what to feed cob?urgent help needed please

A

almrc

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 March 2007
Messages
846
Visit site
Well, I took my gorgeous cob out sj at the weekend and was very sluggish, very unlike her (I have not jumped for 2 weeks, but the past 2 times before this we jumped she was really forward going. Actually she is generally forward going, so its not to do with the jumping, just its winter and shes started to do a bit more!)

She lives out, and we had a couple days of snow the other week so shes basically been eating lots of hay. I think her nutrients may be low. At the min, she is currently on half scoop alfa, half scoop hifi lite (was using it up!) and handful of cool mix. She has garlic and seaweed/rosehip supplements and formula 4 feet as feet were bad, I just feed half the dose now to keep her feet tip top.

Pic:
DSC02432.jpg


My question is, what do i do? my friend suggested equilibrum, but then theres happy hooves, TopSpec Comprehensive balancer etc. I am happy to cut out supplements if its all in feed. Shes a good doer obv, need bit more energy but not putting lots of weight on. we jump every other week and hack hard sat/sun and once in week, but soon will be doing a lot more. Its obviously taking toll on her so wondered if a balancer would be the answer?Help please!! Thanks
 
Maybe more alfa, that has more energy than the happy hoof etc. There is alfa oil, which the oil will give slow release energy. Its hard isnt it to feed a good doer!
Maybe bit instant energy mix (spillers do it) for when you are going to jump.
 
If you are using F4F you do not need any other supplements - it contains everything they need so I would go back to a full measure daily and loose the seaweed. If you look at Happy Hoof it not only conatins vits and mins but garlic and mint - so you could leave out the garlic (will save you some money too in unnecessary supplements). I would use up what you have whilst you are considering what else you use - but maybe she just needs a bit more (maybe whole scoopfuls) especially if it has been cold and snowy where you are so she has been burning up energy to keep warm so didn't have anything left in the tank to get you over jumps! She looks lovely - and you are lucky she tolerates a mix - my cob goes crackers on any sort of mix and exists purely on Happy Hoof and Speedibeet and F4F - is ridden nearly 6 days a week most weeks - is schooled for at least an hour and weekend hacks can last for up to 4 hours and she never runs out of steam.
 
First thing is to check there is nothing physically wrong - sudden sluggishness may be down to a virus, sub-clinical lameness/back problems etc.

If everything is OK physically, then the obvious thing would be to ensure she is getting all her nutrients. Formula 4 Feet contains a wide range of vit/mins and amino acids, as well as the specific ones for hoof quality, so would be sensible to return to full dose of this, or alternatively feed a balancer. (You won't need the garlic/seaweed as well). At the rate of a handful, the Cool Mix won't do much to supply many vit/mins, so might be sensible to drop this. If you still need more energy you could add oil (either straight oil or change to Alfa A Oil). Some people might suggest adding oats, but looking at her pic she is a rather cresty type, and these sort of horses can be prone to laminitis, which can be triggered by the starch content of cereals, so perhaps best avoided in her case.
 
she is lovely,just my type.
mine gets a whole scoop.
i think half a scoop is only .5 of a kilo.on the bag of my alfa-a it sayes 2 kgs a day i think but check it.
 
its starting to make sense, sorry i am the first to admit i am not very knowledgable on feeding! so do you not recomend things like equilibrum or the top spec? these were the things i was thinking of then cutting fully out all the supplements as they wouldnt be needed.

funny enough, i have been suggested oats!!

I have recently had out a mctimoney lady, so I know she is physically fine.
 
As TGM says she is a big girl and with a cresty neck like that I would be concerned about her getting laminitis so definately not oats! I would just up the quantity for now - it is only really a few weeks until the grass comes through so just watch her weight and start to cut down when the grass really comes through. A big cob with lammi is not a good thing.
 
She is gorgeous!!

I would go with what slinky unicorn says, its almost like she has taken the words out of my mouth. If she is still a bit lethargic, consider oats/tiger oats.
 
[ QUOTE ]
so do you not recomend things like equilibrum or the top spec?


[/ QUOTE ] Do you mean Equilibra or Winergy Equilibrium? They are two rather different feeds - Equilibra is a balancer, similar to Top Spec, Blue Chip etc., whereas Winergy Equilibrium is a fibre-based complete feed.

As you will see from my post above, Formula 4 Feet is quite similar to balancers like Top Spec, Blue Chip, Equilibra etc., in that is supplies protein, vit/mins etc. It is your choice whether you want to return to a full dose of F4F or feed a balancer like Top Spec or Equilibra instead.
 
My laminitic cob is hunting and i fed him D&H Country cubes last winter- 1 1/2 scoops a day with no problems- they are high in protein but low in starch & barley free! This winter i have fed him 1 scoop of A&P power & performance cubes and he has had so much more energy without being a carty nutter!
 
Well I wouldn't be giving extra energy for weight gain but would look for the right type of energy (slow-release), which can be found in the likes of speedibeet. I would also check she is getting the nutrients she needs, and F4F can give her that without any other supplement.

As she has a cresty neck I would be careful with the feed side of things - low sugar and starch.
 
Personally I swear by blue chip. I feed it to both of mine(tb and welsh d) and they always feel amd look well . Feeding a balancer with a digestive enhancer at the recommended rate means that they should be getting a balanced diet and the best out of whatever else they eat. It also means that you aren't feeding as many calories so less likely to put on weight.

Also my friend gave her new forest the blue chip lamilight 2 summers ago and its the most lively she has known him be- he is usually a right donkey he has reverted to donkey type since then all year round.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top