Where do I start??? Feeding advice?

MaisieMoo

MaisieMoo

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2007
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Currently, Mr C is fed a tiny amount of hifi good doer and a couple of pony nuts mixed in with his vitamins, seaweed and magox.

My RI has suggested that I need to start feeding him something that will give him a little more spark.

There seem to be so many options - oats, energy cubes, soya oil and I really don't know where to start!!!:confused::confused::confused:

I want him to have more energy when being schooled but don't want him to become hyper as he can be a bit energetic on hacks and I sometimes struggle to control him so need to find the right balance.

So what should I use? And how much? Should I change his daily feed or just give him a little something more when I know I'm going to school him?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!:)


ETA - I need to avoid anything that will cause him to gain too much weight - he is already slightly overweight so I need to keep it under control!
 
What about trying a general feed balancer? I did have Arnie on Blue Chip but I found it fizzed him up a bit (I know its strange because I loved Blue Chip for Skippy and I found it actually calmed him). I've now got him on Top Spec Anti Lam and he's looking and feeling amazing. Its for overweight and laminitic horses so shouldnt cause problems in that department. I've also stopped using my calmer since he went onto this and I dont need any other vitamin supplements. He gets it with a handful of happy hoof. He's got just as much energy as I can deal with and he looks great in himself - all shiny and healthy looking (just to prove it, here's a gratuitous photo from Sunday:eek:)
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change the chaff. good doer is the lowest energy chaff dengie have. i'd swap him to something like alfa-a lite. alfa-a is like rocket fuel to mine ;)
 
maybe if you reduce ** other feeds and give him something like soaked oats, or a handful of musli so he has the energy but not too much weight gain. mine get's hyper on flaked barley but that puts a lot of weight on her (she needs it so it's ok but maybe not for ** fatty :p )

or changing the chaff like eventerbabe said, adding a handfull of lucerne would give a lot of energy but could also put on weight
 
Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm trying to work out what would be easier -taking him off the good doer and replacing it with with alpha a but I've got a massive bag of good doer left and don't want to waste it.

Skippy's mum - how much balancer do you feed? I tried him on Baileys lo cal balancer before but all it did was put weight on him and I didn't see any improvement in condition at all.

I'm thinking I may try and get a hold of some oats or some kind of competition mix and see if that makes a difference.
 
i've got half a feed bins worth of mix you can have - its allen & page quiet mix so will give energy but wont fizz them up.

is the magox given to calm him?
 
Palomino Mare said:
i've got half a feed bins worth of mix you can have - its allen & page quiet mix so will give energy but wont fizz them up.

is the magox given to calm him?
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Wow thanks!!!

The magox is to prevent lami - he's never had it but he's the right type to get it!
 
ahhh! oh you might want to look into safe and sound chaff then? i dont know alot about it but the horses love it as it has pellets in it - wonder if they give energy?

the magox may be affecting his energy, im not sure though?

after jerrys little adventure to the vet school and subsequent problems i'm going to try a high oil diet during winter time - although that will prob put weight on him so i may have to resort to something else!! so you are more than welcome to try the mix out, i found it worked well and would still use it if i wasnt going to experiment with oil and i dont want it to go waste so its yours if you want it:)
 
Unfortunately anything you feed for energy is going to have more calories in it. Yes something with higher starch will give a quicker release of energy & so may make him buzzier short term but unless you're feeding not long before you ride that won't help much. If he's already overweight then probably your best starting point is to get the weight off him & see if that gives him more energy! I assume when you say he gets vitamins you're talking about a good broad spectrum supplement? If so then I wouldn't worry about what ypu feed him.

The other thing you said was that he can be energetic on hacks & you sometimes struggle to control him - if that's the case then please don't increase his feed :eek:. I'd bet you that he'd be hyper hacking but still lack spark in the school! What I'd work on is making school work exciting & fun while also insisting on responsiveness - think pony club games, never staying in the same pace for long, lots & lots of changes of direction, plenty of praise for trying, excited "YeeHa!" rider attitude, one polite ask then kick &/or shout to get a reaction NOW. The fact that he's got the energy when hacking suggests to me that the problem is his attitude &/or obedience so that's what I'd be working on before I altered his feed.

By the way I've been feeding AntiLam for nearly two months now & I'm very impressed with it. It's helped with weight loss but hasn't fizzed Jim up at all & he's a horse who can get very sharp & silly if his feed is wrong, particularly when he's off work.
 
He gets 2 half pint mugs a day in a handful of happy hoof:)

My vet didnt seem to think much of magox and tbh it didnt help my little laminitics at all. I think the Anti Lam does have some magnesium in it though as it can help with calming too (I would go and check but I dont have a bag lying around - for once in my life I tidied up:eek:). It is designed to help either prevent laminitis or help horses and ponies that have had it.

Oh, and I've just been hacking and had an "energetic" canter to say the least:eek:
 
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