SEASONAL ADVICE - Springtime Feeding

If spring signals the start of your competitive season, now’s the time to take a look at your horse’s condition and fitness and make plans for the season ahead

Horses carry different proportions of muscle and body fat according to their type and level of fitness or training. It is our aim to ensure that these proportions are appropriate to the work we are expecting of the horse and adjust his diet and workload accordingly. Body condition scoring, using a numerical scale, can be a useful way of objectively assessing condition by looking at the horse’s neck, ribs and rump. Whatever method you use, it should be both visual and “hands-on” – you need to feel through a thick coat in the winter, which can cover the true picture, whilst a good step back in the daylight will allow an overall assessment. 

 

Having established your horse’s current condition, the next step is to decide whether that is how you would like him to stay or whether you need to make changes in order to help change his condition. For this you will also need to consider the work the horse is expected to undertake and the level of fitness he needs to attain. Whether you are looking to have a leaner fitter horse or a more rounded one carrying a little more condition, the aim should be for a well-muscled one that is fit for his job and not fat. Monitoring a horse or pony’s bodyweight using a weightape is particularly useful in assessing progress, especially when you are hoping to make considerable changes to your horse’s condition.  

 

A horse needs food (energy) both for maintenance and to carry out the work we require of him. If he needs to lose weight, the amount of energy provided should meet little more than his maintenance requirements, so that his body is encouraged to use its fat stores to fuel his work. For a horse to gain weight, we must provide more calories than he needs for both maintenance and work, without overloading his system. The limited capacity of a horse’s stomach means we must avoid feeding large volumes of compound feed, so swapping to a concentrated conditioning feed is preferable to simply feeding more of a lower energy mix or cube.

 

Trying to promote weight loss by under-feeding a compound feed, formulated to be fed in greater quantities, will be depriving your horse of vitamins and minerals whilst still providing some calories that he probably doesn’t need. For the real good doer a balancer is an ideal option as you can provide all the protein, vitamins and minerals he needs but with minimal calories. The aim is to keep things fully balanced - choose a feed that you can feed at the manufacturer’s recommended levels and if that provides too many, or too few calories, then swap to a feed that you can feed at the recommended level. Most reputable manufacturers will print full feeding guidelines on their sacks but if you are in any doubt at all, do use their Helpline service and talk to a qualified nutritionist.

 

As your horse gets fitter and workload increases so will his nutritional demands, not just for energy but for protein, to build muscle, and vitamins and minerals, to support metabolism. Check that your feed is formulated to support the level of work you expect of your horse and be prepared to change, or top up, if necessary. It may be that a lower energy feed provides all the calories your horse needs but, if it is only formulated for light work, it could fall short of other nutrients. “Top dressing” with a balancer will provide the extra nutrients to support the work but without the additional calories of a higher energy feed.

 

Your horse’s temperament will also influence the type of compound feed you select as a laid back type will allow you to choose faster release energy sources, including oats, whilst a fizzier type would be better suited to non-heating energy sources, such as oil and fibre. Remember too that cubes tend to be less “heating” than mixes as they are generally lower in starch than a mix equivalent. 

 

If your chosen discipline requires particular stamina or you simply find your horse struggling to last through lessons or competition days, consider including oil in his diet. Providing 2 ¼ times more calories than carbohydrates from cereals, it is an energy dense source of slow release energy which is used when the horse is working at low intensities. This spares the glycogen in the muscles for times of more intense work, thus promoting stamina. A horse’s system takes a little while to adjust to digesting oil so introduce it gradually and remember that additional antioxidants, such as selenium and vitamin E, may be necessary to ensure its efficient utilisation.

 

Dehydration can also affect a horse’s stamina, and ability to recover from work, due to the loss of electrolytes in sweat. Consider using an electrolyte supplement on a regular basis whenever your horse sweats, whether at home or in competition, to help replace those lost during work and help your horse recover. Most are formulated to be administered in the water but you may find it easier to mix them with feed, as long as it is wet and slushy and the horse has access to drinking water. Regular use will also get your horse used them as part of his daily diet, so he will be more willing to take them when it counts, during or after a hard day’s competition. 

 

Once you have achieved a level of fitness and condition that suits your horse and the work required, careful monitoring will help you make the adjustments necessary to keep him that way. The odd hiccup is inevitable during a season, so if workload is reduced again, take this into account when feeding. Watch too how your horse reacts to the rigours of regular competition and if he finds it stressful and loses condition, consider using a digestive enhancer to help promote gut efficiency and keep his system in balance. Keep a watchful eye and, above all, be prepared to alter your regime accordingly to ensure your horse remains on a balanced diet and is fit and healthy to perform.