what would you feed this horse?

[noodle_]

15.2, very prone to weight gain (99% of the time on a diet ) warmblood x cob

Lightish work (bringing her back into heavier work) but is lazy/green and even when fitter/working well still lacks the "go" factor....

lovely temprament so dont want to send her off her trolley..... or have a raving loonatic on my hands....

shes on a handful of chaff, vitamin b supplement (vets orders) nothing else.

she costs 5 quid every 3 months to feed so far thats been fine but now im debating whether to change her feed or to carry 10 whips when im riding

any suggestions??????

 

[joeanne]

You may well find that getting those extra lb's off her do more good for her energy levels than upping her food intake.
Lots of active walking will help shift the pounds, fitten her up and very likely to see an increase in "va va voom!"

 

[noodle_]

ok thanks

i agree this may be the case but its just bugging me that im sweating buckets at the end of a schooling sesh and feel like ive done all the work lol!.... shes utterly lazy and i thought it could be lack of energy tbh.....!?

 

[BigRed]

Put a pair of spurs on and I'm sure you will find she has more energy for schooling. You don't have to punish her with the spurs, some horses just switch off in the school. My old TB used to. You would never need a stick or spurs out hacking, but in the school, sometimes you got a quicker reaction if she knew I was wearing spurs.

 

[caterpillar]

I would feed nothing extra.

Gradually build up her fitness and they you will generally find that she'll be more forward when you ride.

 

[jsr]

My wizzy weeee cob is a bag of spanners in the school, I've even put my 2 year old neice on him inside because he just turns into RDA pony!! Outside he's bouncing and forwards so I just don't school inside unless I absolutely have to. I prefer to school him in the fields or do some 'work' while hacking. Makes life alot easier and stops me getting frustrated.

 

[frustrated]

I agree with the other posts that with the loss of weight your horse will become more forward going.
But saying that i have all three of mine are on topspec light and im delighted with the results.
More hoof /mane and more energy, eg more in front of the leg during dressage tests highly recommend a try

 

[Maesfen]

I wouldn't change feed but I would change her exercise levels and get her out hacking at a good marching walk, it will shed pounds and she'll probably be a bit more reactive outside to being in a school which is a boring place to be for them.
Not getting at you but I don't blame horses one bit for being dull in a school if that is all they do; it must be so damn boring for them even if you do do circles, serpentines, change pace and so on, it's still in a boring old school, why not take them out and school them as you go, far more pleasant for them.