I have my stallion in training right now and he is toned up but just seems to be lacking energy. Is there something I can be feeding him that isn't going to break the bank and be safe to up his energy level?
I have been told to up his fat intake. I was told about a high dollar feed that I should feed him that is 12% protien protien and 23% fat and cost $30 for a 50 lb bag. Wouldn't adding a vegetable oil to his 12% grain do the same for alot less?
Thanks
Cathy C

Yes, you need protien but it is not where you get your energy from. Fat is your energy source. Changing the protien level 2% isn't going to make a difference. Using veggie oils (corn, veggie) has been known to cause increased inflammation in performance horses and is not recommended. Soybean is better if you are going to use an oil.

You should probably evaluate his diet. He should be gettting 1.5-2% of his body weight per day in food. The majority should be in some type of forage wether that is hay, hay pellets. It also is important that his feed is weighed and if you are feeding a supplement (grain) that it is also fed properly.

There are numerous products that can be feed to your horse to add fat/energy to the diet. Oils, rice bran, commercially made products. I have used a number of these and found that my favorite product is made by Purina and is called Amplify. It is a top dressing to your feed (extruded high fat nugget). It's fat content is 30% which is higher than any other product on the market.

What is his training schedule like, How often is he rode and for how long? What do you feed him and how much?

Thanks for your input. I looked up the Amplify and it does sound good, I'm going to go this weekend and get some.
I'm not real sure what his work scedual is? I have had the same trainer before but this is my Stallion and I just feel he needs more to keep up his energy level. I have watched her work him and he just seems to be trying to hard and having to put alot of effort into it.
I was thinking it while watching her work him and then she brought it up and confirmed my thoughts.
He is in good weight and gaining mussle mass where I didn't know he had it so he's being fed enough but he lacks that spark and energy and seems to tire to quickly.
So from what I've read I think I will try the Amplifier.
Thanks, any more thoughts I'm wide open.
Cathy C

It really is a great product. My girlfriend uses it on an Appendix bred horse that she has that is a real hard keeper in the summer. He can easily drop 2-300 lbs. But this year she has had him on this and he has done great. The best thing is it does not make him hot at all, and since you don't feed a lot of it, it makes it affordable. Good Luck and I hope it help give him the spark he needs.

Hi,
I have pleasure McCurdy horse, well behaved and is very gentle. The only problem I have is getting him to load in a two horse trailer. He puts his two front feet in the trailer and stops; then he backs out and repeats the procedure. Eventually he will load but most of the time it takes about 20 minutes to get him to give in and load. Once he decides to go in, he is not scared or rebellious; he just loads when he gets ready.

I would get some blood work done before just adding supplements. Its cheap enough and if there is a problem you can get that addressed. A few things, some horses are lazy by nature. Whats his age, if he is young and under a heavy workload or if hes a pleasure horse being asked to shift his body weight to an unnatural position would should up as straining and lack of energy. Also if he is on any Gamma oryzanol products they can impact work effort and any muscle diseases such as HYPP or Azotoria there are many stress induced deficiences.