noise

Question
Hi, i have a 7 year old appendix quarter horse. We do eventing. He has trouble with noise. He is not great when i ride him, but he is really bad when he is in his stall. He is also very jumpy. He spooks at things that he has herd for years. I don't know why he is doing this but if you have any suggestions about what i need to do please say.

Answer
Carson,

Sounds like you've got a horse that's wound up about as tight as he can be and is ready to jump out of his skin.  I have a couple of suggestions.  

Change his diet.  I suspect he is getting way too much in the line of carbohydrates and not nearly enough fiber.  Check the feed he's getting.  He will not have nearly so much nervous energy if you put him on a low carb/high fat/high fiber diet.  Replace some of his grain with beet pulp and make sure he's getting a lot of hay.  I don't know how much grain you are feeding but I suspect at least 3 lbs. or more twice a day.  Replace his grain with an equal amount of dry beet pulp, I would go 1.5 lb. of grain and an equal amt. of beet pulp to start.  Mix the grain and beet pulp and dump a couple of gallons of water on it and let it soak for several hours before feeding it to him.  I would also add 5 oz. of aloe vera juice and 5 oz. of papaya juice to each feed also because I suspect he also has ulcers.  

Once you quit subjecting  him to carbo highs and get his stomach settled I think you'll see a different horse.  I would also suggest you not only ride him in the ring but take him out for a mental break once a week on a trail ride.  

There are a number of high fiber/low carb/high fat commercial feed mixes out there.  Pennfield's makes one, Purina does also and I think Nutrena has one as well.  Look for something that's got 10% fat and is a 10-12% protein  content.  Give him all the hay he'll eat.  Given that he's high strung and stressed I would also almost guarantee he has ulcers which is why I suggested the aloe vera/papaya juices.  Or, you could go the more expensive route and use something like Nutrient Buffer, Gastro-Guard or other similar ulcer med.  The juices just taste good, can be dumped right in the feed, or syringed with no problems and are a lot less expensive and produce excellent results in every case I've used them in.  

These are my immediate thoughts on your email.  Give this a try and in about a month you should see a real difference if not sooner.

Lyn