Low calorie feeds to boost energy levels?

[BabyBear]

I'd posted the other day about how sluggish my boy seems to be the last couple of weeks.

Despite being in for up to 8 hours during the day, often when I come to ride him in the evening he is still half asleep and last night for example, I had to work quite hard to get him going which is quite unusual.

He's out in a field with limited grazing as he is a very good doer and come in for a hay net and small feed consisting of a small handful of hifi good doer and some pony nuts.

He's not finishing his hay so I know he's not that hungry and there isn't enough grass to gorge on but I'm beginning to wonder if I now need to start either upping his feed slightly to give him more energy or changing feeds to one that will give him more energy although I'm worried about weight gain.

He currently weight tapes at 468kg and is 14.3h - he originally weight taped at 550kg when I got him.

He is pretty fit and is worked 5/6 times a week for a minimum of 45 minutues.

Any suggestions on how to boost his energy levels?:)

k x

[BabyBear]

Anyone?:)

[eml]

Just a thought, by turning him out at night and bringing him in during the day you may have altered his normal sleeping/eating pattern. I have horses that are really hard to work in the morning but sparkle in the evening. What happens if you ride in the morning?

[Soot]

In summer, Lucy is fab to work in the morning but then kind of eclipses throughout the day. By evening she really can't be bothered and needs constant encouragement.

Luckily most shows for me are in the morning so energy levels + excitement = good impulsion and work ethic!

[BabyBear]

Just a thought, by turning him out at night and bringing him in during the day you may have altered his normal sleeping/eating pattern. I have horses that are really hard to work in the morning but sparkle in the evening. What happens if you ride in the morning?

He's been on this routine for almost 2 months now and was fine for the first month or so - alert and waiting for me to arrive in the evenings and it's really just the last few weeks that he's gotten like this.

I can only really ride in the evenings during the week but ride in the morning at the weekend and he is better in the morning although I would have expected him to be better after he'd been in snoozing all day!

[Back2Black]

Dodson & Horrell do a feed called Stay Power Muesli which is designe for good doers who need more spark

[BabyBear]

Dodson & Horrell do a feed called Stay Power Muesli which is designe for good doers who need more spark

Thanks - sounds like exactly what I'll need. I'll go have a look!:)

[Sexy Sietske]

As you have had him on a diet are you still using the same food/routine? If he doesn't need to lose anymore weight then his diet needs changing to maintain it rather than lose more.

Maybe try phoning a couple of feed places like dengie or DH for advise.

I really like dengies products, maybe try swapping to hifi lite/alfa-a lite as it has more digestable engergy and feeding more of this and dropping his pony nuts (handful is a bit pointless :p) and adding a broad spec vit/min supplement to make sure he is getting everything he needs.

Or if you are wanting to splash out try a balancer such as lami light.

[mogadoga]

Without the right vitamins and minerals, it doent matter how much he eats he wont have the right energy. Like humans, if i ive on mcdonalds for two weeks, i wont have enough energy, if i have proper cooked meals, fruit/veg i can eat less and have more enegry.

Ive tried using quick response mixes in the past for more oomph with no luck! After having a bad year myself not not eing able to ride, Alex piled on the lbs, i now feed baileys low cal, hes not as fit as he was but has alot more enegry and go in him! Simply because he is getting enough of the right vitamin and minerals!

You would only need to feed about 1lb a day :)