Hey everyone,

Gettting ready to start getting my horse in shape for this season...last year I noticed he seemed to run out of steam on the run home. I unfortunately don't have a good place to do sprints at home besides our pasture and the ground isn't super even out there. What can I do for him? Supplements? Other exercises?

I can't say for sure that he isn't having joint issues, but I do know that the rest of his pattern goes just fine. I feel like it's more of a conditioning issue but I need some tips for what kinds of things would help him out.

He's a super easy keeper so he's on a ration balancer feed (Nutrena Empower Topline Balance) and gets a quality mixed hay. 

Thanks in advance!

How old is this horse? Regardless, the first thing I would do is have a lameness exam done. That way you can rule out any soreness issues. Once you've determined he isnt sore, then you need to look at your exercise routine. How many times a week are you riding? When you ride, what exactly are you asking him to do? The best way to build stamina is flat work - walking, trotting, loping for 30-45 minutes at least three times a week. Long trotting is really great for their lungs and it builds muscle fast. Try long trotting 5-10 minutes every ride (side note - it will also help you build leg muscles LOL). Hill work can be beneficial as well if you have access to it. I would also take a real good look at what your feeding him. Their energy comes from what they eat so do some research to determine if he is getting the proper nutrition. I would look at your feed before considering supplements but I'm sure some others will have supplement suggestions that you could try. 

He's 11. When we get shots done here in a few weeks I am going to have a lameness exam done too. The problem with the feed is he gains weight just looking at food. Ugh. He gets ridden 3-5 times a week depending on weather. We do a lot of long trotting. I don't have access to hills. We live in the middle of a corn field lol. Workouts consist of a 10 minute walk and then various trotting/loping depending on what we are doing for the day with a 10 min walk cool down. I have doubts about his nutrition too but I don't know what else to give him so he doesn't gain weight. I realize more exercise can combat the weight gain, but only to a certain extent, which is why I wondered about a supplement. I think I am going to have blood work done on him too just to make sure. 

I've had easy keepers my whole life so I understand where you are coming from. I've done a lot of research on nutrition to be sure my horses are getting the necessary nutrients since I dont actually feed them much grain. I've tried ration balancers in the past but was never too impresed by those. I have learned that forage is the best source of energy so I make sure mine have good quality hay in front of them during the winter and good grass in the summer. As long as your horse is not overweight, then forage intake should be free choice. Horses get their energy from carbs, fats and proteins.  A lot of people will pay for expensive high protein feeds when the same nutrients can come from carbs and fats. It really comes down to a balance of all the energy sources. I think a good overall vitamin/mineral supplement is a good idea for easy keepers who may not be getting all of their requirements from their grain. There are a lot of articles online about horse nutrients...you could read for days lol. I actually had to swtich feeds recently and I called Purina and spoke to one of their nutrition experts which was very helpful. 

Yeah when he had full forage he turned into a balloon lol. I like the idea of calling a feed rep. And that was my thought on the supplements too, so that he's getting what he needs without the added grain. The ration balancer has put some pep in his step, but I will keep digging. :) 

You might also want to check and see if he is a bleeder. My mare did this for a long time before we found out she was bleeding. I would long trot her for probably 10-15 miles twice a week. And lope her probably another 5-10 with 1/4 mile sprints, before we found out. 

Agree above check for bleeding and your thought on blood work. 

I'd also add you cant expect a horse to be race fit if you dont do race conditioning. You cant condition for a gallop with a long trot and lope you just can't, opening up a horse that is expected to run full speed is a really important part of the condition that gets over looked a lot. 

Check for bleeding & find a spot somewhere that you can do sprints, even just 1x a week. Even if it's just a 100 foot stretch, make multiple passes on it. Make sure your whoa is good enough for it though. Or if you have an arena or access to one, sprint the long sides & reel him in on the short. You mentioned being in the middle of cornfields, I would imagine theres a flat area on the edge of one somewhere close. Chances are good whoever farms it won't care. Ours around us lets us use them as much as we want after harvest until they're planted. When it's planted I just use my arena which is only about 70-100 and I can get good sprints in there. If there's a place close that has trails you can haul to then go long trot some trails & you can usually find short areas to get a little sprint in. 

If bleeding is also ruled out & nutrition isn't the issue, you could try a pre-run paste when you run like Breath O2 

Yeah the farmers around our place are kind of a pain lol. But one of our neighbors has a huge cattle pasture. I might see if they have a good place for sprints. I've tried it in our arena. The problem with him is if it isn't game day, he's not super interested in running. He knows we're going to slow up soon in the arena so he doesn't give full speed. But I will try my best to find somewhere to do sprints. I know that's a part of what he needs. :) 

Right, and I am going to try to find a place to do sprints. I know that's a part of what he needs. :) 

Did your horse give any other signs other than running out of steam during their run?

Bump

All the horses that I knew that would bleed would cough a bit or alot after their run, thats a sign of a bleeder.

Not really till the day she actually bled out of her nose. She would cough once in a while but I would always chalk it up to all the dust, some of the arenas we ran in were really dusty, and the areas i worked her in were also. 

Yeah, he never coughs or has had a bleeding issue. His breathing doesn't sound "off" to me either. 

Gotcha. Yeah, he coughs very rarely. Like maybe a few times a year when I'm riding him. My gut tells me that's not it. But if it continues I will definitely look into it!

Mine's never coughed or sneezed after or during a run. I didn't know until he actually bled out once either and he never bled out again. He does run harder when on something for the bleeding though. 

Neither of mine ever coughed or sneezed or dropped their heads after a run. One is hotter and she started to be weird about the gate, and she would gas out mid run. The other never had an issue on the pattern or at the gate, but she was actually getting harder to get STOPPED after a run. I had both scoped after a run, and they both were mild bleeders. 

After following the vets protocol, I no longer have gate issues with the one, and she can finish the pattern without losing steam. 

The other stops easily as soon as you pull her up. 

I guess my point is, it doesn't look the same in all horses. It's relatively cheap to look into. ($100 each to scope them) And if they are bleeding, even mildly (which I suspect more are than we think) it's worth it to me to do the preventatives so that they can breathe and not feel like they're drowning in their own blood. And if they're not bleeding, then you have peace of mind for $100 ish. 

Yep, they are all different in how they act when a bleeder, two I knew of would drop their heads and cough and cough, this was way back befor we really knew about bleeding and another one would have just a tiny bit of blood coming out of one side of nose without the coughing. No one really payed much attention to one of the coughing horses untill he bleed out really bad one night. Now adays its not that hard to find out if a bleeder or now, Its always best to have them scoped so you can have at least have that part ruled out and to be on the safe side.