# Feeding for energy but not too many additional calories?



## sz90168 (23 April 2018)

My Connemara is currently on Saracen Shape-Up, HI FI and Speedibeet, ad lib haylage when in but he is lacking energy. Believe it or not he is looking quite lean currently but I am being careful with him being a native (he is my first native pony). Can anyone recommend a feed that will give him a bit of a boost but is not to high calories? He is ridden 5-6 days a week with a mixture of schooling, hacking and jumping. I have been recommended Top Spec Turbo Flakes but was advised to feed an hour before exercising which is not always possible.


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## nikkimariet (23 April 2018)

Handful of flaked maize?


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## BenvardenRach2 (23 April 2018)

I'm in the exact same position with my Connie X ISH some days he's great but more often than not he really lacks energy- he has the same workload as your boy.
Hope you don't mind me following your post!


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## ester (23 April 2018)

I found that if I fed my native (welsh D) oats he didn't put on any weight because he put more energy into his general work than he did before.  So I used to use that and micronised linseed for our energy needs. It took me a few years to add the oats as I was so worried/he didn't any more coverage but realistically I think he needed feeding for the work I was expecting of him.


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## milliepops (23 April 2018)

yep I feed my welsh oats too. At the moment she's working quite hard 4 days a week - 2 easy days and one day off.  She has fairly decent grazing by day, ad lib hay overnight, some grass nuts, balancer and oats- I vary the quantity of oats according to whether it's a hard or easy day. I can just about see her ribs but she's well muscled.


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## sz90168 (25 April 2018)

milliepops said:



			yep I feed my welsh oats too. At the moment she's working quite hard 4 days a week - 2 easy days and one day off.  She has fairly decent grazing by day, ad lib hay overnight, some grass nuts, balancer and oats- I vary the quantity of oats according to whether it's a hard or easy day. I can just about see her ribs but she's well muscled.
		
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I am going to buy a bag of oats today, did you find they made much of a difference? Roughly how much do you feed? Kira always looks amazing weight wise.


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## milliepops (25 April 2018)

Thanks - I definitely notice that she has more stamina than before i started feeding them, she's now competing PSG and her working days at home are very much at that level and learning stuff towards Inter1  so it's bleddy hard work for her!  She has about a stubbs scoop over 2 feeds on a quiet day and then I up them accordingly for working and show days.


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## ester (25 April 2018)

^^ same sort of quantity fed here a couple of years ago, semi retired ponies definitely don't get oats


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## tallyho! (25 April 2018)

sz90168 said:



			My Connemara is currently on Saracen Shape-Up, HI FI and Speedibeet, ad lib haylage when in but he is lacking energy. Believe it or not he is looking quite lean currently but I am being careful with him being a native (he is my first native pony). Can anyone recommend a feed that will give him a bit of a boost but is not to high calories? He is ridden 5-6 days a week with a mixture of schooling, hacking and jumping. I have been recommended Top Spec Turbo Flakes but was advised to feed an hour before exercising which is not always possible.
		
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Perhaps some added protein may help him a bit? Oil is also a good source of energy for a native type if you don't want to add grain - I would understand why you wouldn't. 

I really rate Saracen and they do a feed called Re-Leve which is high energy but low starch... worth a look?


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## supsup (26 April 2018)

A bit late to the party here... "Calorie" is a measure of energy - you can't have one without the other. Whether a horse responds to a particular type of calories/feed (e.g. from starch) with more energetic behaviour (rather than just putting on the lard) is really down to the individual. Nothing wrong with trying some oats or other starchy feed (while keeping an eye on the waistline) to see if it makes a difference. Just be prepared to find that either that it has no impact whatsoever on the behaviour, or possibly that the type of "extra energy" isn't particularly helpful (jumpy and reactive, rather than concentrating and willing). It works for some, but not for all. With my native, oats made no difference at all.
What did help was clipping him out more in the spring (he doesn't fully shed until July), getting him fitter doing things he enjoys (hacking in company), and frequently refreshing "off the leg" sessions.

Unless he is really lacking overall energy/calories in his diet, I wouldn't think that oil is likely to get you more lively behaviour though, and protein is also a poor source of energy (though needed to build muscle).

From a completely different angle: are you feeding enough salt? Not all horses lick enough salt off their stones to cover their requirements, especially if they also sweat quite a bit due to heat or work. Adding a tablespoon of salt to the feed could make a difference to performance if your horse is short on salt, and would be guaranteed not to add to the waistline! Would also do no harm, and is cheap. Plain table salt will do.


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## sbloom (26 April 2018)

I would also make sure he has enough amino acids, there was a fab share on FB recently by a vet about amino acids, most horse owners are underfeeding them, and instead, if they're feeding notionally enough protein, it's not good enough quality.  The "limiting" amino acids allow the horse to utilise the poorer quality protein.


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