# best feed to give spark and energy to a lazy horse



## chilworth23 (15 August 2010)

THIS IS NOT FOR MY MARE BEFORE ANYONE ASKS WHY I WANT THIS

I am asking for a horsey friend, who has asked me!


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## Squeak (15 August 2010)

Have you tried a competition mix?


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## LadyRascasse (16 August 2010)

whats it being fed on currently? without that information it would be hard to give advice


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## Paint it Lucky (16 August 2010)

Depends on horse, workload, what they're being fed now etc.  If you could give us some more info that would be great. 

As an example, my last horse was quite lazy/lacked sparkle, he also worked very hard so hardly surprising!  (Despite being a heavyweight cob I made him do dressage, showjumping, cross country, endurance and hunting and he was ridden six days a week often for more than an hour, sometimes twice daily and went for long endurance type hacks at weekends!  (Yes I was a very mean over-enthusiastic owner!)

I tried loads of different things to give him energy, most, eg. oats, comp mix etc made no difference.  In the end the diet I found that gave him energy was pure alfalfa, cooked barley rings, D&H staypower mix (an endurance mix) and Propell plus by Equine America which is an iron rich supplement.  My boy was quite an extreme case as I did work him very hard, I think most horses would go loopy if they were fed like this!  Also don't forget plenty of forage (eg.hay/haylage) and also grass.

And don't forget that sometimes horses lack energy/enthusiasm because they are bored (or even knackered from too much work).  Check the horse is getting a varied workload to keep them interested and that it gets to do things it enjoys.  And also make sure it gets sufficient rest time after hard work/competitions/when needed.

Hope this helps!


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## chilworth23 (16 August 2010)

He is currently on cherry show shine chaff, and these slow release spillers energy nuts, he is schooled about twice a week, for 1 - 1 1/2 and hacked twice a week for about hours and now n then some lunging / free schooling and jumping.


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## zoelouisem (16 August 2010)

How is his weight i often find that horses are lazy and sluggish because they are overweight and not fit enough, maybe get some good cantering in and then she could feed a higher energy mix or hard feed to match, to be honest on that exercise i wouldnt want to give any more feed.


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## chilworth23 (16 August 2010)

i think she is more thinking of changing his feed to be honest, he isnt over weight at all, and has had regulard exercise, he is fairly fit, but just lazy! lol


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## JoJo_ (16 August 2010)

Sorry to hijack the post but I am having a similar problem with my new boy. I knew he was lazy from when I tried him and I would rather have a lazy horse than a really sharp one but I want to give him feed which will energise him more.

Currently feed scoop of hifi and scoop of pasture mix twice a day along with a splash of sunflower oil, biotin and garlic.

I was advised to try Spillers slow release energy nuts instead of the pasture mix.

I do a mixture of 45mins schooling, 1 - 1 and half hour hacks and lunging and he is worked 5-6days a week. He doesnt find the work difficult but when schooling he is just sluggish and he's very backward thinking. By that I mean downwards transitions are sharp! Almost too sharp as he thinks going from canter to trot means canter-trot-walk very quickly bless him.

ETA: Cooper isnt overweight and he is reasonably fit. Pics in my sig are 2weeks-month old.


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## chilworth23 (18 August 2010)

She has seen spillers instant energy comp mix, do u think if fed once a day (in the eve) this would give him enough of a boost to give him more energy?


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## immoralorchid (18 August 2010)

well my dales mare can be really lazy so when showing i feed her alpha a, dodson and horrel conditioning cubes, spillers instant responce mix and some extra oats and maize

maize is really high energy so be careful and if too much is fed then can also cause impation colic 

also is she was worked 7 days for about 2 hours to make sure she doesnt get fat/ lami

that combo is sure to get almost any lazy horse going with a bit or sparkly tee hee


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## immoralorchid (18 August 2010)

oh and i find blue chip a real pick me up with a bit of linseed oil dont know why but really works and gives them a boost and a nice shine on their coat


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## chilworth23 (18 August 2010)

i think she'd find that to much for him, from what we've discussed, she just whats something she can add a scoop of to his feed, or replace his hacking mix with, to just give him a bit more get up and go, if that makes sense?


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## immoralorchid (18 August 2010)

then to be honest why not some oats lots of horses do well on them just introduce slowly nothing to lose if starting with just a handful in each feed and slowly building up till they find a nice balence


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## trendybraincell (18 August 2010)

immoralchild, whilst your dales is stunning could you please resize the sig...its rather huge


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## chilworth23 (18 August 2010)

think we'll try spillers comp mix, with her current chaff, as she is currently on a spiller hacking/pasture mix with chaff, thank guys x


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