I could try a good ole gallop with him!
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They are, and they arenât. An ex racehorse needs to learn to slow down. Speed is not the same as impulsion. Speedy horses need to slow down to learn to be properly forward, not just fast. My OTTB mare had to learn to slow down, learn to balance in a way that normal riding requires, not just speed up to not fall on her face.
A horse like yours - like mine was - GREATLY benefits from actual speed so they learn what it feels like to GO with energy.
and they MUST learn the proper response to a Go aid, which is to GO, and go NOW, however it looks, donât even think about touching their mouth yet, and then eventually you can shape that GO NOW into the type of impulsion thatâs needed for this work.
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Do it. And not just once but on a schedule once or twice a week until he gets the idea that GOING is fun and acceptable.
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Yep! And then any time he gets âstuckâ in the ring, go for a quick gallop in a field and then come back or, if thatâs just a drawn out process that would add an hour to your time, get a good hand gallop going in your ring for a lap or 2
I know that this is not considered âsexyâ any more but have you tried feeding him straight oats? I am talking about nice, bright Western oats with minimal dust and nice shiny hulls. Back in the dark ages oats and timothy hay were the preferred diet for horses who were just not that much into moving out.
Of course if you introduce straight oats start off slow, one handful a day, adding more gradually until you get the feeling that he has âgas in his tankâ. You may find out that your horse improves with a few pounds of oats a day in his feed ration.
When I had my horses at home I found out that they had much more energy when I fed them the appropriate amount of oats, alfalfa pellets, grass hay (mostly fescue, I live in the South) with some corn in the colder months. My riding horses had more energy on this type ration than they did on the sweet feeds no matter what the feed companies promised. Good flesh, good muscle development with sane training, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and always ready to move out and conquer distance. My riding horses always felt like they had gas in their tank when I fed them GOOD oats.
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Mine lives out 24/7 so has constant access to grass but gets hay 3x a day as well.
Additionally he eats a pound of Tribute Kalm n EZ, a pound & a half of Essential K, 2 cups of Purina Outlast, a cup of Max E Glo, and Equithriveâs Original Joint. In the late fall/winter I add their Vitamin E supplement as well.
Protein (complete protein) and fats are a better energy and muscle support source for these young lazy WBs for building muscle and fitness. I also donât think feeding them up changes their nature (I mean, mine was lazier when he was younger and underweight from import and eating almost 3x the concentrate that he gets now to support nutrition without gaining weight).
Signed, lazy 6yo Oldenburg owner who is slowly building good muscle.
Ps. My vet recently commented that I need to watch him becoming over conditioned (not sure exactly what that means because he is not too fat). He still thinks training level is hard work so he could be fitter.
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I think they mean watch that no slovenly weight is gained. That said, I also find that vets that are not used to warmblood dressage horses who pack a crap ton of muscle tend to see more fat than what is actually there. Iâve got one with some weird muscling on her loins (due to type of work, her x-l back, and ok, yeah, maybe some evasions and training shortfalls 
) and Iâve had a vet call her fat because of that. âFat pads.â I nearly crapped because she foundered years ago (not from being fat!) and I didnât fully settle down until my REMT said, âYeah, no, youâre right. Itâs muscle. Itâs weird muscle, but itâs muscle. It is not fat.â
Yeah she was looking at the neck in particular. And not the crest of the neck. So I didnât know what to make of it. She said he needs more booty muscle which is correct. And he can look ribby or like he has a pot belly depending on what heâs doing growth-spurt wise. This vet also told me to feed him more for more âpepâ, and I reminded her that when he looked awful and ate 9lbs of feed over 3 feedings a day plus as much hay as he wanted to eat, he was even more behind the leg.
I have another horse who is older and had a major injury and is definitely fat right now, so I do know what fat looks like!
I took the youngster to a clinic this summer with someone who trains upper level horses and he said, âThis horse is only just 6? Look at that strong neck!â SoâŠlol!
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I agree with the above. If the horse is in good flesh, not skinny, then you have a horse that might like to âcouch surfâ than be a real go-getter. Just like people some horses look to keep busy and have a good work ethic, others not.
I suggest looking at training regimen/your riding vs feeding.
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Thatâs a blast from the pastâŠI did this for a horse that needed additional calories but used to get swollen hind legs if fed a feed with lot of corn.
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I am reminded of the poster â whose name escaped me but spent a lot of time overseas (and now that I think of it, I have not seen them post in a while, I want to say their name started with an L) â who once shared that she was breaking in youngsters for a large WB yard and was told to send the horse forward, FORWARD, FORWARD and when she didnât send the horse forward enough to the trainerâs liking, had a hot coffee hurled at her and the horse. 
That image stuck with me the whole time I was breaking and starting my now 7 y/o - who is still behind the leg if water is involved, but otherwise stays in front of the leg because nagging a horse is my worst nightmare in terms of rider enjoyment. I just donât enjoy riding a dulled horse; it makes me sad for them and their rider.
I wouldnât say physical is ruled out, but he looks lovely in the photo. I do have a strong sense of correlation with the phrase âJeckyl and Hydeâ used to describe a horse - for me that has always been a red flag phrase for a horse who has undiagnosed physical complaints. I hope that is not the case with your horse, but if you donât see improvement it may be worth looking into why heâs so much better the day after his day off. Sometimes that can be an very early sign of something.
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First of all, you have to assess the quality of the hay you are feeding to know how to supplement around it. A good rule of thumb is to feed young and old horses (below 8 and above, say, 14) an overall diet of at least 12 percent protein (to start). For horses between 8 and (say) 14, you can feed 10 percent protein. You also want to make sure that they get adequate vitamin E (especially if not on pastureâI supplement 3,000 iu per day on top of my ration balancers and my horses are on seasonal pasture) and a vitamin/mineral balance. If horses get adequate protein, it helps them to recover from training (especially if they are young and building, and do not have muscle memory for the training you are presenting them), and the vitamin e makes sure that they can recover and not tie up. I then feed a ration balancer on top of my hay. I have my horses at home now and can buy premium hay, that averages 12 percent protein, and do not have to supplement with alfalfa or full fat soy. When I had a boarded gp schoolmaster, decades ago, I found the hay tested at 7 percent and I did have to supplement him with full fat soy and alfalfa. I have recently had to change my feeding program for my 5 year old who has tested allergic to oats, soy and flax. So now my barn is on orchard/brome/alfalfa hay as their base and Hygain Meta (which is soy/flax/oat free) as their ration balancer. My youngest horse (3) is going to a boarding/training situation for breaking out and I do not believe the hay will be sufficient, so I am supplementing with Hygain Munga, which provides 25% protein. Iâll figure out the hay when I get there. My grand prix horse was boarded while I was competing her and I supplemented her diet with higher protein through a ration balancer and alfalfa. She developed an excellent topline, but did struggle with vitamin e (in the days when so little was known) and I had a year where I had to give her a massive supplementation of vitamin e (10,000 iu) to get her numbers up to normal. I would recommend an annual blood panel that tests for deficiencies. Many feed stores will offer a hay testing service, but you can buy a core sampler and test yourself if the barn does not buy tested hay.
Finally, it is very easy for a young horse to get sore in a training program, just like it is for a human that is trying a new sport and doesnât have muscle memory. Make sure to check your horse regularly for training soreness (the muscles should be soft and pliable and give to the touch). My young horses get regular chiropractic and massage, and I own my own Bemer blanket and cold laser. Muscle soreness will make the gaits shorter, the toes drag, create compensatory soreness, and overall kill the forward attitudeâŠ
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Protein needs are in terms of grams, based on age, weight, and workload. < 2yo have a higher need relative to their body weight. Once they hit 2, theyâre basically an adult in terms of nutritional needs.
An average 1100lb horse in moderate work needs about 700gm of protein. If heâs eating 22lb of hay thatâs 8% protein, thatâs already 799gm, which is more than he needs. So he really doesnât need 10% or even 12% in his forage.
He doesnât even need 10% of the total diet (or 12% or whatever number). The % protein in the diet is a reverse calculation - His protein needs relative to his calorie needs. That horse above who needs 22,000 calories to be in good weight, eating 800gm of protein, is eating a 16% protein diet. If you were to force that down to 12% heâd only get 600gm protein - too little
If he needed 30,000 calories to be in good weight, he still only needs 700gm protein, and is eating 800gm, so that 700gm is only 9% of his diet, and 800gm is not quite 11%.
The 8yo is no different from the 14yo is no different from the 5yo. After 15 or so they MIGHT start neeting more protein simply as a function of a reducing digestive system, but often that doesnât even start happening until > 20 or even 25, with all the advances in health care from deworming to proper dental care.
Of course the more work a horse is in and/or the more he weighs (ideal weight, donât feed to the overweight weight), the higher the protein requirements, but itâs in terms of grams, not percentages.
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Unlimited pasture on large acreage (100 acres minimum) with wide variety of legumes/forbs/grasses 9 months of the year. Same access to movement, but unlimited hay plus additional pure alfalfa hay 2xday Jan,Feb,Mar.
I also have a 7 year old warmblood doing 1st/2nd level work. She has been historically super sticky and hard to get going under saddle. This spring I put her on a PSSM diet, although she doesnât have many of the classic symptoms (has never tied up, muscle is good). Her muscle tone seemed to improve right away (from tense to more relaxed feeling) and we still have our days where she gets stuck, but itâs much better, and she warms up faster and easier. Diet is 2/3 grass, 1/3 alfalfa, high dosage Mg and E, vitamin C, ALCAR (acetyl-L-carnitine), Tri-Amino and hempseed oil served over Renew Gold and a low NSC pellet (the pellets were just needed for palatability). I also have an Equilibrium back pad and often use that on her before riding to get her back warmed up.
YMMV - once this mare warms up, she is a machine, but it takes time, like a cold diesel engine.
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Most hay test results are given in percentages, but yes you can do the math. My numbers are rough to make it easy, and younger and older horses, and also hard working horses do require more protein. There is plenty of authority for the 12%/10%, but sure it should be tailored to the horse. All I know is that these amounts result in a horse with a nice topline and soft, pliable muscles as they are developing. Also, my baby horses have not had any issues with OCD. While I like a natural diet for my horses, I do not like feeding starch, so I donât use grains and I am now switching from flax to stabilized rice bran because one of my horses is highly allergic to flax and I also know two other horses with the same allergy. Unfortunately, flax and soy are in everything.
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saying they need even 10% protein means 22lb provides basically 1000gm, which is WELL beyond what 99% of 1100lb horses need, unless heâs in intense work (think racing), and thatâs a tiny % of horses. 12% is just even more extra and all that extra protein requires more processing to break down and eliminate. Itâs expensive pee.
The âauthorityâ for using 10%, 12%, etc is hugely outdated. Itâs based on what protein levels are in maresâ milk and sort of got extrapolated from there. It means absolutely nothing in the context of the total calories the horse needs (which includes 4cal/gm for protein) and his actual needs in grams.
Every nutrient is required in terms of grams and milligrams. Not as any %. The % is a byproduct of how many calories are providing those numbers.
rice bran is around 20% starch, which is quite high
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My âbiblesâ
I have a spreadsheet for nutrition for my horses individual needs. In general, they get bermuda morning, evening and night, and timothy at lunch. Also they get 3 lbs Ultium and 1 lb Enrich each day in 2 feedings. I supplement as needed to follow the guidelines in the Horse Nutrition Handbook.
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somewhat related aside: @JB, what supplements are currently recommended for a horse who needs addâl zinc, copper, and vitamin E? I went through this awhile ago and now canât remember what I ended up with.
My new guy is super thin skinned and I just pulled blood but I am guessing I will end up needing to supplement all 3.
