Why is my horse falling over and so tired?

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alexshowjumper

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Hello, I would be very grateful if you could help me with my 7yo irish x cob gelding who I showjump and take XC, soon eventing hopefully!!

In the past few weeks he has become unbelievably tired, he has jumped 1.10 around 5 weeks ago and 90-1mt courses and he's been just so tired. Last week he was so tired after about 15 minutes that he fell over 2'9". This is definitely not like him- he loves his jumping and is a happy chap and still is on the ground but is just lacking that bit of 'oomph'.

I feed him:

alfa-fa with molasses DENGIE
garlic
superflex naf
apples
water
energy boost from 10 supplements (only recently)

his exercise is:
monday- lunge for 15 mins
tuesday- day off
wednesday- ride him, usually hacking or jumping
thursday- lead out on a hack on the road for about half an hour to an hour
friday-day off
saturday- ride him, either flat or hacking
sunday- sometimes competition etc, but usually flat and if i didnt jump him wednesday i will on sunday or saturday etc.

he is showing no signs of pain, he is a dream to tack up for me, get on, ride, ears forward and everything but just gets tired easily. i have not had the vet look at him. he is also perfect weight for his size, and is turned out 24/7 in a big field. he may have ME i am told, but i wanted to know whether anyone has had this experience and how to cure it/help him???

thank you for reading! :)
 
alexshowjumper said:
yes he's not built for stamina really, he has been having the same exercise for ages :) thanks xx
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Good advice, first get the vet and try to find out what his going on.

If you think he does not have stamina it will be difficult to get him fit enough to sustain a gallop safely round an xcountry course, unless you solve what is wrong.
 
Yes im more interested in bsja etc than be&odes:) and he copes fine with that i dont mind that but he does ok in untimed stuff and he has the turns in jump offs sj. Its just so not like him to be this tired and falling and tripping all the time. Thank u xx
 
I would get the vet as already advised but cut out the garlic as that can cause problems.
If nothing shows on the bloods try giving him a different feed, not all horses are suited to alfalfa, apples are just water and sugars with no real benefit and get him on a regime to increase his fitness, he is only being ridden 3 times a week, a half hour being led and 15 mins lunging is barely a warm up and I would not really count it as exercise for a competition horse of his age doing 90cm upwards, to be properly fit he requires more hacking ideally with plenty of hillwork.
 
Get vet to check nothing is wrong and then if not, increase the work. My TB who I consider in minimal work does more than yours. You also need to feed a more high fibre feed and cut the sugars out.
 
Thank you yes i wont feed him garlic and see if it makes a difference:) and yes i do hillwork with him i usually hack him twice a week and thats an hour going on hills/through bridleways.:) xxxx
 
Yes what feed do you reccomend?? He has been on alfafa for ages mainly for molasses so if hes fed different stuff he will occasionaly get diarhea, but what other feeds/supplements could i mix with this??? Thank u xxx
 
Does he have a field mate or is he alone in the field? Being alone might effect night time sleep and have a knock on effect.
 
Is he clipped? Is he growing new coat?

If he's not clipped, I'm not surprised he's sluggish in the heat. If he's in the middle of coat change that can take its toll too.

Failing that, vet for bloods and to double check his condition. If they're clear, I'd consider upping his workload as that's not much to keep him fit, and having another look at his diet.
 
He should be able to handle 40mins to an hour a day ridden work comfortably. I have an ISH and when I picked him up from the trainer I asked what sort of work he should get and this is what was indicated. My ISH is very lazy unless fit, and then he is a dream, your horse just sounds unfit. But hard to tell by just your post, if you feel there is something else going on, get it checked out. Hope all is good.
 
I agree with the others, I would consider that very light work. Not enough fitness to be out competing.
I wouldn't consider 15min lunge or 30min walk exercise at all. My horse is out of work at the moment as I'm pregnant and he gets lunged 20mins or on the horse walker 1 hour 4-5 times a week. This doesn't count as exercise in my book.

Time the amount of work he gets and write it down every day. I often find that we think we do more than we actually do. (Same with going to the gym!) When I was trying to get my horse fit and i timed it I realised I was only riding 40mins max. I then made a rule that I wasn't allowed off him until I was riding 60-75 mins 5 times a week. I wrote down in a diary every time I rode and I was shocked at how much less work he was getting than I had in my head (stormy days here and there) In addition to the riding he was getting another 30-60 mins on the horse walker daily. I would only consider this medium work.

If time is an issue midweek and you can't get out riding more then get in more lunging sessions. Do them for longer and make the work tougher. A horse trotting around leisurely is different to one doing lots of canter transitions and raised polework. Some people hate the Pessoa or JW training aid but I find it really gets them working on the lunge.
 
JFTD said:
Is he clipped? Is he growing new coat?

If he's not clipped, I'm not surprised he's sluggish in the heat. If he's in the middle of coat change that can take its toll too.

Failing that, vet for bloods and to double check his condition. If they're clear, I'd consider upping his workload as that's not much to keep him fit, and having another look at his diet.
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I am clipping him this week :) yes he is fluffy! Thank u
 
minimilton said:
I agree with the others, I would consider that very light work. Not enough fitness to be out competing.
I wouldn't consider 15min lunge or 30min walk exercise at all. My horse is out of work at the moment as I'm pregnant and he gets lunged 20mins or on the horse walker 1 hour 4-5 times a week. This doesn't count as exercise in my book.

Time the amount of work he gets and write it down every day. I often find that we think we do more than we actually do. (Same with going to the gym!) When I was trying to get my horse fit and i timed it I realised I was only riding 40mins max. I then made a rule that I wasn't allowed off him until I was riding 60-75 mins 5 times a week. I wrote down in a diary every time I rode and I was shocked at how much less work he was getting than I had in my head (stormy days here and there) In addition to the riding he was getting another 30-60 mins on the horse walker daily. I would only consider this medium work.

If time is an issue midweek and you can't get out riding more then get in more lunging sessions. Do them for longer and make the work tougher. A horse trotting around leisurely is different to one doing lots of canter transitions and raised polework. Some people hate the Pessoa or JW training aid but I find it really gets them working on the lunge.
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Yes i will try it, but he finds it difficult to work in an outline he can go round in walk. :) thanks xxx
 
He really needs the vet to asses him as a start point .
There are literally hundreds of things that could be causing what you describe from the shoes to lack of the correct type of fitness for the type of demands you are making from him and of course other more serious issues as well.
If that diet suits him I would not change it without advice from someone who has see the horses condition (although personally I don't feed garlic ) also you don't want to change things before the vet sees the horse as it could muddy the waters .
Make sure you get an equine vet ask about and find who the best person would be near you.
 
Goldenstar said:
He really needs the vet to asses him as a start point .
There are literally hundreds of things that could be causing what you describe from the shoes to lack of the correct type of fitness for the type of demands you are making from him and of course other more serious issues as well.
If that diet suits him I would not change it without advice from someone who has see the horses condition (although personally I don't feed garlic ) also you don't want to change things before the vet sees the horse as it could muddy the waters .
Make sure you get an equine vet ask about and find who the best person would be near you.
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He has been barefoot for 7 years:) never been shod. And ok i will get vet out this week.thanks xx
 
Patterdale said:
Horses don't get ME.

No one here is a vet, so if you want to know if there's a real cause for the change in your horse you'll need to get a blood test.
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Horses do get auto immune diseases like ME, I agree get the vet. Mine was lethargic and had poor recovery rates - he has an auto immune disease.
 
siennamum said:
Horses do get auto immune diseases like ME, I agree get the vet. Mine was lethargic and had poor recovery rates - he has an auto immune disease.
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ME isn't an autoimmune disease? Nobody really knows what it is. MS is an autoimmune disease.
 
Is this the same cob that was being posted about a couple of weeks ago? Jumping courses but sluggish then suddenly was up for sale and wanting a price? Sounds familiar. Different user name though. But that was a new member also.
 
Get a vet to check him out first and then once that is sorted then he needs more gentle daily exercise to get him fit and going nicely. By daily exercise I mean gradually building him up to at least 2 - 3 hours hacking per day at least 5 days per week. If you don't have the time then find yourself a sharer to hack him out daily..
 
alexshowjumper said:
Hello, I would be very grateful if you could help me with my 7yo irish x cob gelding who I showjump and take XC, soon eventing hopefully!!

In the past few weeks he has become unbelievably tired, he has jumped 1.10 around 5 weeks ago and 90-1mt courses and he's been just so tired. Last week he was so tired after about 15 minutes that he fell over 2'9". This is definitely not like him- he loves his jumping and is a happy chap and still is on the ground but is just lacking that bit of 'oomph'.

I feed him:

alfa-fa with molasses DENGIE
garlic
superflex naf
apples
water
energy boost from 10 supplements (only recently)

his exercise is:
monday- lunge for 15 mins
tuesday- day off
wednesday- ride him, usually hacking or jumping
thursday- lead out on a hack on the road for about half an hour to an hour
friday-day off
saturday- ride him, either flat or hacking
sunday- sometimes competition etc, but usually flat and if i didnt jump him wednesday i will on sunday or saturday etc.

he is showing no signs of pain, he is a dream to tack up for me, get on, ride, ears forward and everything but just gets tired easily. i have not had the vet look at him. he is also perfect weight for his size, and is turned out 24/7 in a big field. he may have ME i am told, but i wanted to know whether anyone has had this experience and how to cure it/help him???

thank you for reading! :)
Click to expand...


Not reading what others said I would

  • get a vet to check and take bloods
  • get a physio to check him over
  • check his diet with a nutritional person.

I would not :

pump him full of corn and energy feeds without the first three being checked and ruled out

There is a reason for this and its important to check everything before you change his diet.

I see all to many on here who say give him this give him that. Without knowing the horse - some you just cannot give things like mix as it blows their heads off. There are diets which are more tailored without the starch.


Do first things I said first

it could be low grade virus
infection
lami
a number of other things. As I said vet first to include bloods taken.
 
lhotse said:
Is this the same cob that was being posted about a couple of weeks ago? Jumping courses but sluggish then suddenly was up for sale and wanting a price? Sounds familiar. Different user name though. But that was a new member also.
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Why? If it is, why does it matter?

You'd think being a new member on here was a crime sometimes, I swear.
 
No, just wondered if it was the same horse, that's all. The other thread had some other symptoms if I remember, like excessive drinking. If it's not the same horse, then that's fine!
 
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