Some of our equine friends can be a little bit more sensitive and excitable than others. Whilst feeding cannot completely change a horse’s personality, selecting the appropriate feeding stuffs can certainly help make life easier for everyone.

Think fibre first

Every horse should have an adequate supply of forage in the form of grass and/or hay but for the fizzy horse it absolutely has to form the main-stay of the diet. If your horse is stabled or on reduced grazing, ensure that he has hay/haylage ad-lib. Extra feeding can then be supplemented over the top of this as appropriate. If you happen to possess that oddity of a fizzy, good doer then still ensure that they have plenty of forage but limit intake by the use of slow feeding type haynets and/or soaking the hay to cut down the amount of calories per mouthful.

Be aware of grass growth flushes

Whilst it is great to have a horse that can be out at grass all day and not get fat, this doesn’t mean that it is always the best for their digestive health or their general demeanour. This has been an odd year for grass growth with the usual pattern of growth somewhat disrupted. Be assured that when we have any spells of sunshine and heat the grass will start to “flush” and this can often mean that your horse’s sugar intake increases whilst at the same time potentially causing digestive upset. Both of these factors can result in unwanted behaviour. If your horse is a sensitive soul it is certainly worth restricting grazing a bit when the sun is out. Strip grazing can work well for these types with supplemental hay to keep the gut healthy.

Avoid high cereal content feeds

I cannot emphasise too much how detrimental the inappropriate feeding of cereals and/or high cereal content feeds can be to some horse’s behaviour. As mentioned in previous articles; cereals are considered to be fast release energy and as such should only be fed to horses requiring explosive energy (higher level show jumpers/eventers or race horses) or those struggling to keep condition without (lactating mares, very poor doers etc). If your horse is excessively spooky or hard to control in general, it is well worth cutting out the cereal grains as your first port of call instead of grasping for the calmer.

Make good use of slow release feeds

Slow release energy feeds contain high levels of highly digestible fibre and oil. These are definitely the feeds of choice for your fizzy partner. There are many feeds on the market that fall in to this category and you should look out for the following raw materials; alfalfa (or Lucerne), grass, sugarbeet, soya hulls and various different types of oil, preferably linseed or hemp with higher omega-3 fatty acids than say for instance soya oil. As above; avoid feeds with barley or wheat mentioned at the top of the list of raw materials. It is also possible and sometimes preferable with a highly sensitive sort to base your bucket feed on an alfalfa based chop. Alfalfa has a reasonably good energy (likened to cool mix type energy level) and protein level and is non-heating. Sugar beet is also a great non-heating feed especially if you select a non-molassed version. The greatest amount of energy can be provided by feeding oil. It is energy dense and therefore a relatively small amount will provide lots of energy.

Make good use of balancers and minerals

In order to make a success of a high fibre and high oil diet there needs to be some provision of vitamins, minerals and very often also quality protein. If you are feeding a nut or coarse-mix at the recommended feeding level then you have provided your horse with all the vitamins and minerals it requires.

If, however, you are feeding below the daily recommended amount or you are feeding an Alfalfa chop plus oil and sugarbeet, then your horse’s vitamin and mineral requirements will not be met. This is where a balancer feed is invaluable. Generally fed at a rate of 100g per 100kg bodyweight it will provide all the vitamins and minerals that your horse requires. It also provides quality protein, which is crucial for building and repairing muscles and for various functions within the body, especially crucial if your horse is working.

I haven’t mentioned calmers, as different types work for different horses and it is a matter of trial and error to find which one suits. In general the spring and autumn flushes of grass are when magnesium based calmers come into their own as lush grass is low in magnesium and a top up of magnesium will often help some horse and rider combinations at these times. Sticking to the above feeding tips will see a massive improvement in behaviour in some horses and you may even save yourself the expense of a calmer.