feeding and condition advice

[yph]

Hi all,
could do with a bit of advice.
I have a HW cob gelding, 12 yrs. He is ridden 3 or 4 times a week, 2 hacks, one 45 mins one 2 hrs, one lunging session and one schooling session. He was fairly overweight and unfit and have brought him slowly to this level over the last 6 months, he has only been having a handful of pony nuts when ridden and chaff, superflex, garlic, apple, carrot twice a day - he is on excellent grass all day and is overnight with adlib hay. He is still fairly chunky, but most cobs are! He seems to be a bit lacklustre, and lacking energy at times, too much food in the past has made him aggressive, so Im wary but feel he needs more now maybe or some sort of balancer, supplelment.
Has anyone got any sugesstions of what i should be feeding him, I guess I want sparkle but without the fizz, and may be upping the exercise a little. Possible adding another hack.

any advice will help!

[noumenon]

Spillers do a feed called Response and you can get it in either Instant Energy or Slow Release Energy. Just started our loan pony on the Instant Energy, adding a handful in to gauge his response and then will increase if he doesn't go loopy (no signs of that so far!) and still needs a bit of sparkle. Might be worth phoning the help line, or one of the other feed companies? They always seem happy to offer feeding advice.

[molly34]

I'm far from an expert but TBH I think you're feeding too much at the moment. You say he's chunky.... but does that mean big boned & lean, or podgy?

If he's getting good quality grass and hay 24/7, he probably doesn't need much else at the moment. I'd knock the carrots and apples on the head straight away as they're quite high in sugar, and rethink the whole diet.

My Dales/cob cross is in similar work to yours, but 5 or 6 days a week. She's out 24/7 and not currently having any additional hard feed or supplements except a handful of safe & sound when I've ridden.... she's getting fitter, but also fatter because the grass is so good! The drawback is I can't get any supplements (garlic & magox) down her without hard feed, but I decided a slightly fizzier pony with a few fly bites is better than worrying about weight and the risk of laminitis all the time.

[cathUK]

Is it possible he feels like he is lacking in energy because of the recent hot weather? My friends cob has just turned incredibly lazy atm.

You could aways put a salt/mineral lick out for him if you feel he might be lacking in something.

[Henrietta1]

Hi all,
could do with a bit of advice.
I have a HW cob gelding, 12 yrs. He is ridden 3 or 4 times a week, 2 hacks, one 45 mins one 2 hrs, one lunging session and one schooling session. He was fairly overweight and unfit and have brought him slowly to this level over the last 6 months, he has only been having a handful of pony nuts when ridden and chaff, superflex, garlic, apple, carrot twice a day - he is on excellent grass all day and is overnight with adlib hay. He is still fairly chunky, but most cobs are! He seems to be a bit lacklustre, and lacking energy at times, too much food in the past has made him aggressive, so Im wary but feel he needs more now maybe or some sort of balancer, supplelment.
Has anyone got any sugesstions of what i should be feeding him, I guess I want sparkle but without the fizz, and may be upping the exercise a little. Possible adding another hack.

any advice will help!
It's worth getting on to one of the major feed manufacturers (Spillers, Dengie, Baileys) who have equine nutritianists working for them. They will advise you over the phone or by letter or (in the case of Baileys) will come out to see you and the horse.

[Liz1949]

TBH it sounds to me as if he is STILL overweight AND unfit - and we all know how lethargic that makes us humans feel.

More food is NOT the answer - despite what cobs and native ponies will do their best to tell you! Good grass all day and ad-lib hay overnight should be far more than enough for a healthy hardy type, although a balancer or vit/min supplement may well be advisable, even for the animal who is not working at all.

What does he weigh? What SHOULD he weigh? Then work out the diet from there - with the aid of a nutritionist if you are unsure. It may well be that you are advised to restrict his forage intake at this time of year, and replace it with a smaller amount of something of higher feed value.

Keep a close eye on his weight with the aid of a weight tape or measurements and a nomogram, and increase the duration/speed of his exercise routine gradually, as his weight approaches the ideal.

Soon enough you will begin to see how a balance arises between the trio of fitness, weight and energy, and how the quality and quantity of both the food and the exercise which is available or provided, affects the trio.

[montys helper]

imo i dont think he need feed at all, if your grass is good and he has hay when in then that should be enough, or just a small token feed when ridden

[bevy]

He is getting far more than my TB and Warmblood! They are only on grass at the moment and they are more than happy.

[dulcis_amaritud]

he should be having 2.5% of his body weight a day and then you need to decide what kind of feed it right for him and how much (due to workload etc.) i would probably suggest feeding him 70% forage and 30% concentrate

if hes a good doer i would suggest feeding him maybe a feed for good doers such as a low-cal nut or mix

i think the best idea would be to speak to a equine nutritionist because they ll be able to discuss the types of feed that ll benefit you and the horse

[HorseManiac]

tack fit???

if he has changed chap his saddle wont fit him.

:)

[Oddysowner]

I too have HW gypsy cob gelding. 2 years ago he was severely overweight. Increased his work load to 6 days a week with the aid of a sharer, made sure he didn't have too much grass and when he was in gave him hay that had been soaked for about an hour or more so that he could quite happily munch all day long, but there were no calories in it (wish it was that easy for us!). You should never starve a horse otherwise they get stereotypies, because their guts are made to take a small trickle of food all day long. I also spoke to some one who breeds gypsy cobs about feed and she said oats! So that is what Oddy gets. A scoop of oats, scoop of alfalfa chaff, chopped apples and carrots, all mixed with a small jug of sugar beet. When I first started doing this I was worried that he wouldn't get the vit/mins he needed, but he manages brilliantly on it, you only have to look at the photos in my album for proof of how well it suits him. The other thing I was told by someone that works at the local equine hospital is that you should never give more than a rugby ball sized amount at any one feed as horses have small stomachs and if you feed any more than this undigested food gets pushed into the gut. Oddy used to have very loose pooh's but since I have made sure his feed is only as large as a rugby ball he's fine. Forgot to say that he gets a feed twice a day 1 in morning and 1 in eve.

[Mimi + Me]

I’d recommend Bailey’s Lo-Cal - it’s basically a low calorie feed balancer. Then you can be sure he’s getting the right amount of nutrients and vitamins etc which might be missing from his forage.

Mimi is a good doer too and she’s been on it for a while now, two mugs each feed, morning and evening, together with a handful of Hi-Fi Lite. She looks much better physically now, in fact lots of people have commented on how well she looks.

Although it hasn’t completely changed her way of going, she can still be quite lazy at times, at least I know that it’s not because she’s missing anything from her diet.