There is nothing quite as unnerving or unenjoyable as riding a horse that is completely full of itself and constantly reacting before thinking. On a more subtle level a horse that won't concentrate or continually overreacts to aids is frustrating. While education plays a major role in determining a horse's behaviour under saddle, feeding can also have an impact. What you feed, how much you feed and when you feed it can make a big difference. Here are some tips for feeding to assist your horse to maintain a calm and responsive attitude under saddle.

Tip #1—Don't feed too much
Horses that are fed more than they need for the work they do can become hyperactiveand difficult to control. When feeding your horse, be careful to define your horse'sworkload carefully and feed it accordingly. FeedXL defines light, moderate and heavywork as follows:

Light Work: 1 to 3 hours per week of walking (40%), trotting (50%) and cantering(10%).

Moderate Work: 3 to 5 hours per week of walking (30%), trotting (55%), cantering(10%) and skill work such as low grade jumping, dressage or cutting (5%).

Heavy Work: 4 to 5 hours per week of walking (20%), trotting (50%), cantering (15%)and galloping or skill work such as high level jumping, dressage or cutting (15%).

So not only does the total number of hours of work need to be considered, but thetype and speed of work must be taken into account as well. Classifying your horse ina workload higher than they actually are and overfeeding is possibly the most commoncause of hyperactivity (and equine obesity). Once you classify your horse's workloadcorrectly, use the Digestible Energy requirement calculated by FeedXL as a guide tohow much you need to feed.

Tip #2—Alter feeding according to daily workload
If your horse tends to become hyperactive, especially following a day off, reducingthe amount you feed from a working ration back to a maintenance ration on days offcan help to solve this issue. Developing one diet for days your horse is ridden andanother with similar ingredients but smaller portions for days off means your horseis only being fed what he needs on any given day.

To take this one step further, if you work your horse at varying intensities ondifferent days you may develop a couple of different working diets. For example, ifyou lunge your horse for 30 minutes two days a week (light work), trail ride for 1.5hours mainly at the walk and trot with some cantering 2 days per week (moderate work)and have dressage and show jump lessons or competitions 2 days per week for 1.5 to 2hours each with mostly trotting and cantering as well as skill work (heavy work) andyour horse has 1 day off you could have a maintenance diet for the day off, a lightwork diet for the lunging days, a moderate work diet for the trail days and a heavywork ration for the lesson and competition days. That way you are constantlyadjusting feeding to suit workload and avoiding overfeeding.

Tip #3—Feed 'cool' feeds
Fibrous feeds that are fermented in the hindgut to release energy are the mostnatural and also the 'coolest' sources of energy for horses. Using forages likepasture, hay, and chaff to provide the majority of the energy in your horse's dietwill help to keep your horse calm and responsive.

Horses in light work should be able to happily exist on a diet made up almostentirely of forages with supplements added if and when needed (use FeedXL todetermine when supplements are needed and which fit the diet best). So if your horseis in light work, don't be too quick to reach for 'hard feeds', stick with forages,especially if your horse's temperament is an issue.

However, horses in moderate to heavy work often need higher energy feeds added totheir diet as most physically can't eat enough forage to meet energy requirements. Inthese situations where energy requirements can't be met by forage alone, cool energysources such as high energy fibres (sugarbeet pulp, soybean hulls, lupin hulls andcopra meal), oils and high oil feeds like rice bran can be used to boost energyintake without impacting on a horse's behaviour (though there is no guarantee).

Tip #4—Avoid 'hot' feeds
Grains and grain based feeds, molasses and forages like alfalfa/lucerne hay tend tobe commonly blamed for making horses 'hot'. Whether this is because they do actuallymake horses hyperactive, or because they are energy dense feeds that are easy tooverfeed and therefore by default make horses hot is hard to determine. In any case,if your horse reacts to grains, grain based feeds or forages like alfalfa, avoidusing these in the diet.

To make it easy to avoid any feeds that contain grains or molasses, simply tick the'Grain Intolerant' box when entering your horse's details in FeedXL and any feeds orsupplements containing grain, grain by- product or molasses will be marked in RED.

Tip #5—Feed a balanced diet
Some deficiencies like vitamin B1 (thiamine) and magnesium can have an impact on yourhorse's behaviour. Use FeedXL to make sure your horse's requirements for these andother important nutrients are met and avoid nutrient deficiencies that can alter yourhorse's behaviour.

A note on calming supplements
There are a plethora of 'calming' supplements on the market aimed at helping to calma hyperactive horse. Whether these supplements work or not is difficult to establish.Many studies have been conducted to assess their effectiveness with contradictingresults. Most however are safe supplements, commonly containing large amounts of thewater soluble (and hence virtually non-toxic) vitamin B1. Some also contain magnesiumand an amino acid called tryptophan.

If you are finetuning your horse's feeding regime to ensure you are not overfeeding,adjusting feeding according to daily workload, feeding a diet based on forage, usingcool energy sources when needed and feeding a balanced diet PLUS have your horse welleducated and its behaviour is still a problem, then trying calming supplements to seeif they have a positive impact is a feasible option. If they work, keep using yourchosen supplement. If they don't, keep adjusting the diet and working on educationuntil the right balance is struck.

Dr. Nerida Richards (PhD) is Australia's foremost expert in Horse Nutrition. Thisarticle is courtesy of FeedXL DIYDiet Planner for Horses. If you would like be among the first to receiveFeedXL newsletters then please consider subscribing to FeedXL.

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