Feeding high strung horses

[Kawgirl]

I am looking for suggestions on what to feed a six year old gelding that is a bit high strung and a little nervous. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[icspots]

Depends on body condition, if he can stand some weight, Legacy is wonderful, high in fat and has a calming effect w/out turning them into a dead head, basically promotes "focus". But adding magnesium to the diet will achieve the same thing for a lot less $$$

 

[Jill]

About 6mos ago, we switched many of our horses from a complete senior feed to a low starch feed that is 12% protein / 6% fat / 20% fiber. We did it because many of them just got too fat on the senior pellets (which we use to replace part of their "hay"), but reading up on low carb / low starch feeds, they are supposed to be good for horses that are high strung. We've been really happy with the results in terms of body condition on our horses.

 

[Kawgirl]

Is there a magnesium supplement I can buy? How much magnesium does a mini need?

 

[icspots]

You will see Quiessence advertised as something to "calm" the horse, the great side effect is that it also helps slim the neck. Remission has almost identical properties of Quiessence at a fraction of the cost, I give my A sized horses one of the small side of the scoop twice daily, and I don't think that is any more than 1/2 teaspoon size.

 

[pepperhill]

I'm not sure what you are feeding right now, but it may be as simple as getting them off sweet feed. Those feeds that have a lot of molasses or sugars in them can make your horse run a little "hot". Switching to something with more fat and less sugar might be enough to make a difference.

 

[Kawgirl]

No, he is not on sweet feed. He is fed Platform minature horse pellets and grass hay which is soaked before feeding. Has anyone else used the Platform mini feed? If you have, how do you like it?

 

[Carolyn R]

I did use the Platform mini feed for awhile, I didn't like the fact that you needed to feed alot if you wanted to make certain they were getting the vitaminis and minerals they needed. There are alot stretchers in it. I have been using Natures Essentials enrich 32 , which was born to win, it is a ration balancer, I like it much more. I would rather give my horses hay to munch than a pelleted feed that is largely forage based.

 

[Leeana]

You will see Quiessence advertised as something to "calm" the horse, the great side effect is that it also helps slim the neck. Remission has almost identical properties of Quiessence at a fraction of the cost, I give my A sized horses one of the small side of the scoop twice daily, and I don't think that is any more than 1/2 teaspoon size.

I tend to attract hotter horses naturally it seems...guess that is just my preference...

I start feeding Quiessence to one filly about a month ago, i buy it from the Ebay store as i find it is cheaper there, i at first just bought the 5# bag to try it out and just recently ordered the bucket. But it made a 110% difference in that horse. You give one scoop per 250# 1x a day. I doubled the dose the first three days then reduced it back to the normal feeding amount...i would say it took about 4 or 5 days before i noticed a total turn around. She is naturally very nervous..jumpy...totally HOT and prancy (which i like..but to much of a good thing, is not a good thing)...after about 4 or 5 days i was leading her to the roundpen and she was just walking calmly beside me..not prancing (still alert) but more focused on me and not everything else around us. She became a total joy to work with and still alert but an easier going horse all together. I took her off it - going to wait until a bit closer to show season to start her on it agian. Its like a tan pellet and since you do not really feed much, to make sure they actually eat that and not dump it out on the floor and go to waste, i would give them the quiss plus just about a handful of grain that way i could watch them eat it and make sure they got it (i would do this just before giving them their actual breakfast).

If you have any questions feel free to PM me about the suppliment and yes....noticed a difference in the neck too, just a little, but i only had them on it about a month before i just took them off it and waiting until closer to show season to start agian. Not the cheapest suppliment to feed.

 

[Reble]

This might help

http://www.agribrands.ca/Screens/horseplus.aspx