You may be wondering what you can do to effectively manage your horse’s behaviour. It is always important to bear in mind that horses are unpredictable animals, and it often doesn’t take much to cause a change in their behaviour. When a horse becomes too sharp for the handler or rider, there’s an increased risk to safety and the ever-important fun factor to equestrianism can be lost.
How can you feed for a calmer horse?
Behaviour can be influenced by factors such as a change in routine or environment, restricted turnout and even pain. Once these triggers have been ruled out, we can look at their nutritional management as a route to supporting a calmer horse.
Compound Feeds
Nutrition can play a big role in the horse’s behaviour, so it is important to be aware of what the horse’s diet comprises of, and where changes can be made.
Feeding regimes that influence calmer behaviour in horses include:
• Feeding a fibre-based diet, high in forage
• Reducing sugar and starch (cereal) levels
• Feeding an appropriate energy (calorie) intake
Seasonal Changes
Horses can become more excitable around springtime when the grass starts to come through. If this is proving a problem, look to reduce the horse’s grass intake and provide alternative forage.
Summary
• Understand why your horse is behaving this way and rule out any pain that could be attributing to spooky or excitable behaviour.
• Choose a high fibre feed over a high starch and sugar feed and add oil for slow release energy if additional calories are needed.
• Monitor grazing, and effectively manage the horse’s grass intake to prevent a sudden increase in grass consumption (such as moving paddocks to lush summer grazing).
• Feed an effective horse calming supplement.
References
1Pearson, W & MacNicol, J. (2017) Acute Effects of a Single-Dose Nutritional Product on Stress Response and Task Completion in Horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 51:86-91
2Bellisle, F. (2004) Effects of diet on behaviour and cognition in children. British Journal of Nutrition, 92 (2): 227-232.
3Pereira, R.P., Fachinetto, R., de Souza Prestes, A., Puntel, R.L., Santos da Silva, G.N., Heinzmann, B.M., Boschetti, T.K., Athayde, M.L., Bürger, M.E., Morel, A.F., Morsch, V.M., Rocha, J.B.T. (2009) Antioxidant Effects of Different Extracts from Melissa officinalis, Matricaria recutita and Cymbopogon citratus. Neurochemical Research, 34: 973-983.
4Alsaadi, S., Muniem, A., & Aljobory, I.S. (2016) Study the Variation in Biochemical Parameters of Post Colic Surgical Horses Which Treated With Chamomile Flowers. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2 (11): 1964-1968.
5Murti, K., Panchhal, M.A., Gajera, V., & Solanki, J. (2012) Pharmacological Properties of Matricaria recutita: A Review. Pharmocologia, 3 (8): 348-351.