Horse losing wieght in Barn?

[Somby]

Okay so I have two horses I keep in a barn to control their weight while training and competing etc... and I had their feed set a certain way for the longest time with no problems. Both of them had full energy the next day and their weight stayed at Moderate as I wanted.

Then all of a sudden every time I progressed the time, I get alerted that they aren't eating enough to fill their energy and they both start losing weight immediately. I've messed around with their feed making sure their daily energy will reach 100% and still they lose weight and won't gain full energy the next day. I've had the daily energy go way above 100% but it has no affect.

I switched them to the pasture and they start gaining weight and energy again like normal. Put them back in the barn, make sure their feed is 100% and they lose weight and energy again. Any idea what is causing this? Still kinda new to the game so maybe it's an obvious answer but I'm at a loss

[BlackOak2]

Okay so I have two horses I keep in a barn to control their weight while training and competing etc... and I had their feed set a certain way for the longest time with no problems. Both of them had full energy the next day and their weight stayed at Moderate as I wanted.

Then all of a sudden every time I progressed the time, I get alerted that they aren't eating enough to fill their energy and they both start losing weight immediately. I've messed around with their feed making sure their daily energy will reach 100% and still they lose weight and won't gain full energy the next day. I've had the daily energy go way above 100% but it has no affect.

I switched them to the pasture and they start gaining weight and energy again like normal. Put them back in the barn, make sure their feed is 100% and they lose weight and energy again. Any idea what is causing this? Still kinda new to the game so maybe it's an obvious answer but I'm at a loss

Don't forget, that if you're having specific problems with specific horses, it does help the community to see and look at them.

However, I think you're problem is very simply that you're still in-training. If you suddenly have problems with a horse not earning enough energy each day, put them on something like straight corn, by doing this, you 'max out' their sugar intake. Okay, you don't really max out sugar, but you offer them as much sugar as we can on the highest sugar diet we have.
What this does, is it fills their sugar requirements first. On 'most' horses, you can even use this technique to make them loose weight will still in training.
Sometimes, some horses (especially pregnant mares) require more feed than they can eat in a barn, so keeping them out at pasture is the only way to maintain them. This may also affect very tall horses and hard keeping horses.
100% fill is the gauge to help us see if they're meeting their daily requirements, but sometimes it's the max feed we have to pay attention to.

Does this fit your fix?

[Somby]

Oh wow, yes it worked. Thank you! I would have stayed totally lost.
And oops, should have linked the horse:




So I'll be sure to keep them on the corn diet while training then since that's the only thing working atm. I guess I'm just confused as to why it happed suddenly when I was training them for a good long while on a separate diet and they had no issue with it.

Also keeping them on the high sugar diet changes their temperament as well correct? This horse was bombproof and is slowing changing to high strung. Is there a way to counter this or should I just deal with it while in training? Thanks again for the help!

[BlackOak2]

Oh wow, yes it worked. Thank you! I would have stayed totally lost.
And oops, should have linked the horse:


So I'll be sure to keep them on the corn diet while training then since that's the only thing working atm. I guess I'm just confused as to why it happed suddenly when I was training them for a good long while on a separate diet and they had no issue with it.

Also keeping them on the high sugar diet changes their temperament as well correct? This horse was bombproof and is slowing changing to high strung. Is there a way to counter this or should I just deal with it while in training? Thanks again for the help!

The same with us happens when we begin to exercise a lot. Our energy requirements increase drastically for us to maintain our weight. The game is set up trying to mimic a lot of real life, so if it's possible to program a 'copy' of real life into the game, our admins attempt to program it realistically. So it makes a bit of sense that your horse's will suddenly start to demand a bit more requirements to maintain their fitness level.

The corn diet works best for weanlings and yearlings, pretty much up through about 2 to 2 and a half years. But that first year, it's easiest to make them grow and gain weight while in training, to keep them in their pasture.

It's all about learning to balance the needs of your training with the needs of maintaining (gaining or loosing) weight with the requirements and max feed.
The basic rule of thumb for feed:
High sugar will fulfill energy first and increase temperament, if the horse has the ability to increase (some horses born at bombproof level will never change). Also keep in mind that horses will change temperament quicker or slower (some it takes literally years of the horse's life to move from one temperament to the next).
High fiber will fulfill (nominally) growth 'potential' as in weight and will drop temperament. Be aware that unless energy is fulfilled completely, weight gain will not occur. (I could be wrong with that, but from my experience, that's what happens)
Balancing protein and sugar to their requirements helps to maintain temperament, for the most part. You'll probably see some climb or fall. Some horses are much easier to maintain then others.

Sand has a decently large capacity to eat, you should be able to maintain him with a 60/40 mix of performance and alpha cubes. The cubes are for fiber, which will drop his temperament and the performance is a more balanced sugar food that will raise temperament. Play with it a little until you find a good fit.

To drop his temperament 'quick', switch him over to the cubes and keep an eye every turn you take. Once his temperament is where you want, switch him over to the 60/40 mix and see if he suddenly maintains, ups or lowers his temperament.
Just keep an eye on that max feed. If his max feed turns red, it means he can't eat everything you're offering. Also keep in mind that the feed is given from the top down, which means he'll fill up on the hay before the performance.
Using this suggestion will keep his weight maintained at moderately thin, like you have him.


Reminder:
Giving him more than 100% will increase weight, less will decrease. During training, high sugar will fulfill energy requirements and can be used to drop weight on a fat horse.