So my horse just turned 5, he is super lazy, wondering if anyone has used any kind of supplement to ad a bit of spark, without making them stupid or spooky? He’s super healthy, eats a ration balancer and outlast, along w some supplements, and hay 24/7
We need alot more information. In general no there is no supplement that gives energy like you want.
Things to check
All his vitamins and minerals. What’s he getting fed?
Saddle fit bit feet etc.
Will he run and play at liberty or is he pokey there too?
Workload. How many days off is he getting? Schooling. Is he burned out on drills? Does he wake up on trails? Riding style. Are you on such strong contact he won’t move forward? Weather, is it super hot where you are?
And what do you mean by low energy? Can you give an example or video?
What does your trainer say?
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How long have you been riding him? Is he lazy when turned out or is it just when riding? Are your rides always the same ( in an arena… etc).
There was an older lady at our boarding barn who unknowingly, continually, bumped her horses sides while riding. The horse eventually stopped acknowledging any leg and appeared slow and lazy. She was a calm horse by nature anyways but this made it worse.
So may things can make a horse hesitant to go forward. Saddle fit, confusion of your cues, extreme boredom or an underlying health reason. Take him out of the everyday riding situation( on trail, down the road) and see if he perks up? It is a place to start.
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Well he just turned 5 so he is ridden 4 times a week, never all in a row. Trainer is more than capable and is working on stretching all the time, he is a dressage horse, saddle fit is checked twice a yr, he gets vita e, joint supplement, and a probiotic supplement, I mentioned his feed above, he’s worked on the best footing he can be on, same on trails as in the ring, will play, sometimes rough, does run and buck when he’s in t/o, when he wants. Just a lazy bones. We are hoping as he ages and gets stronger he will be more responsive, he’s just not a forward thinking horse! 
If he will run in turnout he has energy.
If a horse won’t go forward under saddle it is either a training issue or a comfort issue or both. He is still young and growing so he may feel unbalanced.
IME going out galloping on trails does a lot to get a horse thinking forward if it is safe to do so and you can let him move out on soft contact.
How does his laziness manifest itself? Does he balk? Does he refuse to listen to an upward transition? Is he prompt with transitions but just gives you blah gaits? Is he better on trails but just cautious about moving out on circles in arena?
What does he do if you ask for transitions within gaits?
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You have a lack of forward not laziness, this has to do with training.
He will not go forward until he has the confidence to go forward.
He will get the confidence to go forward with correct training.
If he is not going forward for your trainer that is a red flag.
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I’d suspect an issue if he really is just always lazy with no impulsion or stamina. I mean some horses need more go than whoa but when they truly struggle with impulsion and stamina, there’s probably something going on.
I’ve had quite a few WBs who seem lazy in their younger years. None of them had anything wrong it was more of a disconnection in training. They would rather be hanging with their friends and weren’t respecting leg cues, etc.
Obviously, rule out any physical issues but I do find that young horses can generally be pretty sticky to ride.
“lazy” is much too subjective. Is he interested in life and engages with you and others and is happy in his work but just has no Go? If so, that’s a training and conditioning issue that may have been trained into him by treating him like a kind, “safe” horse and him going along pleasantly. Ask me how I know LOL
That said, 5 is around the time when PSSM issues often pop up, and he’s the right breed, so I would start ruling that out.
A way to see if this is training or physical is to find someone who is willing to be the unattached 3rd party, treat this like a training issue, and go about working on instilling very hot Go buttons. The right trainer can do this well without pissing off the horse, and will start to get a good idea whether he can but is just avoiding work, or if he really can’t.
There are so many reasons why a horse isn’t going happily and energetically forward when asked - training, sore feet (they can be unsound without looking lame), saddle fit, rider error, and then yes, PSSM, Lyme, and others.
Start with the easier things to rule out.
But diet isn’t the issue here unless he has PSSM of some variety and you’re not feeding him properly for that. If he’s well-muscled, then it’s unlikely to be Type 2, so start with hair analysis for Type 1 at UC Davis or Animal Genetics (pretty sure both do this test).
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Is he going forward willingly when asked but is just plodding along? Or do you have to kick or repeatedly ask ( or use a whip etc… ) to even get him to pick up a walk or more?
What kind of hay? Some horses have more energy on a higher protein hay like alfalfa, some with a higher sugar hay like orchard grass.
That’s young for a WB so maybe he’ll grow out of it, or maybe he’s (don’t shoot the messenger here) not an upper level horse.
Have you tried jumping him?
If he’s allowed to give a “lazy” response in his early training, he will provide a lazy response throughout his training. If “lazy” isn’t what you want from him, don’t accept it as an adequate response… ever. The response you want is either acceptable, or not acceptable… you choose which it is. If the response he gives you is not acceptable, require MORE. If you accept less, you will get less.
We can speed up a pokey horse and see what happens, but need to be aware that maybe he is naturally a more pokey type horse and should honor that not pushing it into resistances.
I have been looking for those pokey horses the past decade, getting old makes you appreciate a nicely forward but less naturally reactive horse.
There is a place for all out there.
The right breeding can make a horse more up, sometimes resulting on hot and in need of a pro ride at one extreme.
Then, regardless of the breeding, some may just not be as predicted also.
Have two such horses right now, bred to be more athletic and active, but some old gene came thru to make them more quiet and, still forward as needed, preferring the slow lane in life.
Good advice in the post quoted, do try to ask for more, hope more is there for the asking.
If not, maybe rethink what we want from and for that horse.
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If other, physical causes have been ruled out, try repeated trot-canter transitions, using the momentum from the canter to energize the trot. I once rode a super-pokey 4 yo TB–which I previously tried to energize using repeated touches of the whip, with minimal effectiveness–in a clinic, when the clinician had us do the trot-canter transitions–the difference in <1/2 hour was amazing–like a different horse, much more forward without “nagging.”
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I would add that the OP wants forward without stupid.
If you wake a horse up, there’s no predicting what you will get. My horse is Paint x Appendix. So there’s 1/4 TB in there. Every ride she starts out pokey and needs a good 20 minute warmup at a marching walk and then transitions walk/crap Paint trot. Some days she’s tired or the weather is hot and we never get forward, we stay Paint sleepy.
Other days we get forward and then some. Her inner green eventer wakes up and she wants to hand gallop everywhere. It’s a complete personality change. I really like this now. We trust each other that she can stay in balance, will slow down at selected places, will half halt on voice commands, and she trusts that I won’t freak out and haul on her face or slam on her back.
When I started riding her she was 6, green, and would throw in a buck sometimes, and this was 11 years ago when I was getting back into horses. I let her hootenany in turnout and was happy for a quiet ride.
So while I think yes, riding the horse more forward will make him more forward, at 5 it may also uncover his stupid side.
The conundrum is that many ammies want a safe sane quieter horse. If they end up with a hotter horse they spend a lot of time getting the horse quiet. But you need forward to get anywhere in any English or Western performance discipline.
So if you have a young healthy horse that’s pokey under saddle, you do need to ask in your secret heart: if he woke up and got stupid, could I handle that? Or am I keeping him slow because I actually prefer and need slow right now?
Forward and polite and light to the aids is a finished quality horse, not a 5 year old.
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A 1yo, 2yo, 3yo, 4yo, can 100% be forward, polite, and light to the aids. Everything else is a matter of the level of training. One shouldn’t ride a 3yo with a bit until that 3yo has learned to be polite and light to the aid of the bit. The first ride on a 3yo can have him very light to leg and seat aids very quickly if he’s been taught good voice cues first.
A 6 month old can learn to be very forward, polite, and light to the pressure of the lead rope on his halter, a finger on his side.
Getting a horse more forward is not the same as making him go faster, and shouldn’t make any horse stupid. Speed isn’t forward. Many times you have to slow down, to help the horse balance, so he stops rushing because he’s on his forehand, so he can use his hind end to be forward.
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