SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Sidelines MagazineSidelines Magazine

  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Flipbook
    • Subscribe Options
    • Order Individual & Back Issues
  • Podcast
  • Marketplace
    • Business Ads
    • Directories
      • Barns, Farms, Trainers & Clubs
      • Equestrian Services
      • Real Estate
      • Tack & Feed Stores
    • Equestrian Gallery
      • Stallions
      • Horses & Ponies for Sale
  • Advertise
  • Blogs
    • Show World
    • What’s Happenin’
  • Partners
  • Contacts
    • Contacts
    • Employment
0
Tuesday, June 12 2012 / Published in Tucker The Wunderkind, Z-Blogs

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

After a week of relatively relaxed rides at the new-old barn. . . we had another not-so-great ride yesterday.  As you recall, I suspected a few weeks ago that Tucker may have been having a mid-life crisis .  Yesterday I had to get off and lunge the poor beast (on a really hot day, which I really hated doing to him), because he was spooking (at something that shouldn’t have been quite that scary) so badly that he was becoming unsafe, for both of us.  ( Read:  I do not trust my big clumsy horse to stand on his hind legs and not kill us both .) As you know, these situations cause an immediate morph into Rider-Scientist Extraordinaire.  I’ll walk you through my varied list of hypotheses as to the possible causes of this errant behavior, and show you where the Process of Elimination has gotten me so far. 1.  I went with the easiest solution first — maybe it’s just a little extra-special Spring Fever, and maybe he just needs a few pro rides.  Limited success there, I know the pro I was using had one very good ride on him.  Since he was spooking and occasionally acting like a moron (sorry Tucker, but it’s true dear) even with the pro, though, I don’t think that was the solution. 2.  Next guess was the grain, and this hypothesis definitely had merit.  When I switched barns, we also switched feeds.  He has been on Omelene 400 , which is a grain that I love, for about 3 1/2 years now (he also gets beet pulp, but that didn’t change).  It’s low sugar, low protein (12%), and high fiber, and it’s forage-based (beet pulp), not grain-based, which seems to be better for Tucker.  It also has the Amplify nugget built right in, which is a weight-gain supplement I had looked into even before I started this feed.  When we moved, we switched him to Triple Crown Complete , which was the preferred feed of the barn manager there, who is very knowledgeable about nutrition and feeding.  It’s also beet pulp-based, and it’s the same 12% protein level, so I figured it was comparable.  It is, however, higher in sugar and lower in fiber, and anyone who has ever been on a diet will know immediately that means more calories.  Since Tucker was high as a kite, I thought maybe the change in feed was making him fresh.  Long story short, he’s back on the O-400 (has been for several weeks now), but the issue still isn’t resolved.  So, the grain-switch may not have helped matters, but the buck (haha, pun intended) does not stop here.

Read more at the source: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from Tucker The Wunderkind.

Share this page:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Tagged under: bridge-farms, entries, farms, freshness, hatchaway-bridge-farms, tucker, tucker the wunderkind, ulcers

What you can read next

Barn Building 101: Special Needs – New Horses and Foals
Congratulations to the Sidelines “Who’s Your Daddy” Foal Photo Winners
Abigail McArdle Leads Zone Five to USEF Prix de States Team Championship

Download Sidelines Digital now from your favorite app store!

Sidelines Magazine - Apple store   Sidelines Magazine - Google Play store   Sidelines Magazine - Amazon store
Update iOS app. Re-download Google Play and Amazon app.

Stallion Gallery

Visit Stallion Gallery

From Our Classifieds Ads

  • Blades International Sporthorses
    Hunters-Jumpers-Equitation-Sales Melissa Blades 7346498069 Pittsboro NC melissa.blades@aol.com www.bladesinternationalsporthorses.com

    [Read more]

  • Patti Howard
    Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker Specializes in all properties, including barns and horse farms, throughout Westchester and Putnam Counties Compass 914.391.2593 | patti.howard@compass.com pattijhoward.com

    [Read more]

RSS Sidelines Blogs: What’s Happenin’

  • “Jump for the Children” Benefit Horse Show Celebrates 40 Years & Over $3 Million to Duke Children’s
  • Woodside Recognizes the Best in the West
  • Get More for Your Money with an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage

RSS Sidelines Blogs: Show World

  • Isabel McGovern: Walking On, Despite the Odds
  • Eva Paliouras: Jumping for and Empowering Peru
  • Emilie Goddard: A Heart for Haflingers and a Passion for Corgis

Category

Recent Posts

  • Isabel McGovern: Walking On, Despite the Odds

    By Jessica Grutkowski Portraits by Lauren Ann W...
  • Eva Paliouras: Jumping for and Empowering Peru

    By Laura Scaletti Portraits by Melissa Fuller A...
  • Emilie Goddard: A Heart for Haflingers and a Passion for Corgis

    By Jessica Grutkowski Portraits by Sara Farrell...
  • From Wild to World Equestrian Center: Chincoteague Ponies Make a Splash, Delight Fans Ahead of Centennial Pony Swim

    Story by Susan Friedland Photos by Carolyn Rikj...
  • Madison Tsakanikas: Turning Heart Horses Into Timeless Art

    By Shya Beth There are so many things about bei...

Copyright © 1987 - 2025  Sidelines Magazine
Privacy Policy · Returns & Refunds Policy · Hosting by Lucian Web Service
· Login

TOP
Get the Sidelines Scoop — your weekly look behind the scenes.Sign me up!