# Does he need hard feed?



## Shady (Mar 7, 2011)

I've noticed that my horse has been lacking in energy a little over these past few weeks. He is a 13 year old gypsy cob, and I ride him probably 4-5 times a week. Sometimes for 1/2 hour, sometimes longer. I generally do a little of everything, so walk, trot, canter, and jumping if there's something to jump. He IS overweight. He is also a typical cob as in he only has to look at food and he puts on weight. A couple of weeks ago I gave him a week off, then started to train for hunter trials next month. I've reduced his hay intake, and of course I'm doing lots of fittening work with him. I was just wondering if you think he should be fed hard foods or not. I've had several opinions, and personally I've been reluctant because of how easily he gains weight. I mean, he still does the work I ask of him willingly, sometimes he finds it harder than others, but he'll never point blank refuse to do something. I was thinking that if he lost weight he would feel fitter anyway? Opinions would be appreciated here


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## toffee44 (Oct 21, 2011)

Is he lazy?

Not going fowards?

Napping?

Do you have lessons?

From experience with cobs its normally a training issue rather than a nutrition one. I did once give my cob some oats and sugarbeet a few days prior to going cross country which fired him up a bit (read no brakes) but it was fun. However I don't think I could have fed him that regulary and kept on top of his weight.


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## Shady (Mar 7, 2011)

I must admit, I'm inclined to agree with you toffee. As stated before, he is a typical cob in the fact that he can be lazy at times, he's napped ever since I got him, but that's something that has greatly diminished over the past year. (when I first had him he would spin and bolt for home. Now he just pulls a little in the direction of home but soon gives up when he knows I'm being serious). I don't have lessons now (I went lessons every week before I had Puzzle).

But honestly, point him at a jump and he finds a whole new gear. And he can be puffing badly and STILL be up for jumping the round again. (Obviously I don't push him too hard after this point lol).

And talking to others, I also think that it is a training issue. But because I've had mixed feedback I thought I'd ask people that were completely away from the situation. So, thanks toffee  Much appreciated. And just kinda confirms that what I'm doing is the right course.


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## emmaluvsmango (Jul 10, 2008)

I'd doubt he needs hard feed, id say try and vary the work you do with him as much as possible. Do you hack him out? its a fab way to build up thier fitness, and keeps them intrested in the work they are doing. vary your routes and do a bit of scooling while your out. Working on transitions wake them up. Do you slow feed him the hay or does he go for periods without, what is his turnout like? 

If you do decide to feed him a hard feed id think the only thing he would possibly need is a vit and min suppliment, the fast fibre is a good one to feed a suppliment in, you can use a tiny amount of feed with a powder suppliment, i started feeding this to my boy as he was licking the soil. 

If he is on the podgy side he has all the energy needed to work, if his metabolism is slow which is common in cobs, he will feel more sluggish, exercise is the key to speeding it up


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## Shady (Mar 7, 2011)

Yeah, we hack several times a week. But I do go in the field to flat school or jump, or in the indoor if the weather is bad. I must admit I've been concentrating on getting him.... canter fit if that makes sense. Basically I want to do a local hunter trials next month and obviously want him to be fit enough to be able to do a lot of cantering. So over the past few weeks we have been going into the nearby fields where we've had lots of canters, uphill work etc. I try to vary the rout as best as I can, and do different things with him because he does get bored easily.


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## crawfordstuart (Mar 15, 2013)

Feeding your horse is one of the most important things you will do as his caretaker. Overfeeding a horse can bring on big problems, as some horses will continue to eat longer after their hunger has been satiated and this leads to obesity.


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## Baileys Blind (Jan 23, 2012)

If he's as intelligent as my cob maybe he's just bored, I have to totally mix up what I do with him if I do the same thing too often he just switches off and goes into zombie mode


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## flosskins (Jan 27, 2010)

I would suggest a balancer to make sure he is getting all the vitamins/minerals he needs.


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## RachJeremy (Sep 14, 2012)

Since he's a cob, i'd doubt it's diet related. As said above, cobs don't usually need a feed... And if he's already overweight... My horse is a cob technically, he's a Clydie X, but classed as a cob on his passport. He gets a 16lb haynet at night, he's out at grass all day, unless the weather is bad, then if he's in about 8lb during the day. He gets two feeds a day of Dodsen and Horrell Safe and Sound, one scoop in each feed and a Devils Claw supplement, two scoops a day, with added little treats like carrots, parsnips ect. But Boycie isn't fat, if anything i gets a bit skinny sometimes. It depends on the horse... Best bet, like we done with Boycie, phone up a feed company or several and see what they think. If you think you want a bit more energy in him (which may even help with weight loss), they can probably suggest something that won't add on weight. As the way i see if, you can give him a bit of something to spark him up, and the more you get him moving the more weight you'll lose. I've known cobs to be on feeds to make them a little bit more forward. But i wouldn't suggest feeding a big bucket, and maybe just one feed a day. But speak to someone who knows what goes into each feed. Dodsen and Horrell are very good with what they suggest and have been extremely helpful when it comes to feeding Boycie.


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## Shady (Mar 7, 2011)

Thank you all for your advice. I really do appreciate it. Since posting this we have obviously done our hunter trials and he coped with it absolutely fine. He was no more out of breath than the other horses who I thought were fitter. He even got his breath back just as quick. The grass intake this year has been terrible.... the fields have had nothing in them for months now  so he's had more haylage to compensate. He HAS lost some weight, but unfortunately I had an accident which meant I couldn't ride as much as I wanted. But he's doing fine. It was definitely a training problem as he's much more forwards going now. Plus, he's stopped his napping and we can ride out and about with no real problems. (Took him to the nearby fields alone last night and it was howling wind. He still cantered around the fields with no mind to the major rustling that would have usually sent him bolting for home).


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## Ponies78 (Aug 24, 2013)

Glad you had a good hunter trial! It is just some horses personality to be sluggish. Worth their weight in gold in certain circumstances! Keep up the weight loss. Can you lunge while out of the saddle? Would help with activity too.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

Even if we have horses slightly over weight, they always get some form of food even if its only a token cos of weight etc once they come back from a ride.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I wouldn't feed a cob haylage - I'd feed him soaked hay.


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