Competition Day Feeding

Changes in routine are inevitable when travelling to training sessions and competitions and the resultant stresses can take their toll on the horse’s digestive health with potential subsequent loss of performance. The aim is to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum, even for the seasoned campaigner who seems to take competing in his stride.

Any working or performance horse must consume an absolute minimum of the equivalent of 1.5% of his body weight in forage (on a dry matter basis) per day, although ad lib access is preferable. This ensures a steady flow of fibre through the digestive system, while the fibre also acts as a sponge creating a reservoir for water in the hindgut. Ad lib forage satisfies the horse’s physiological need to chew and the saliva produced as a result helps buffer stomach acids, while fibre in the stomach helps protect against acid splash.

Restricting the horse’s access to forage (hay or haylage) at any time on a competition day or when travelling, should therefore be avoided, unless the horse will be working at high intensities less than an hour after arrival. Ideally haylage, or soaked hay, should be fed in the lorry or trailer, to reduce dust and to provide some additional moisture to aid hydration levels.

Stress and excitement result in the release of adrenaline which, among other things, speeds up the passage of food through the digestive system resulting in more, often loose, droppings. Apart from making a mess, this causes an increased loss of bacteria from the hindgut which can result in an imbalance that could allow pathogenic species to proliferate.

Whilst things should right themselves once the excitement has passed, regular “flushing out” of bacteria could ultimately take its toll with potential for digestive upsets, crabby behaviour and weight loss due to a reduction in gut efficiency. It is therefore worth considering feeding a gut supplement, either on a daily basis or before, during and after competition days, as this will support the gut microbiome in maintaining a healthy balance.

If routine dictates that the horse gets a compound feed before travelling, he should ideally have 1 – 1½ hours to digest it before travelling. A horse that becomes excited as soon as he senses it is competition day is best left to finish his feed before the lorry is moved or his mane is plaited. He will digest his feed much more efficiently if he is relaxed and calm and he should ideally eat all his feed to prepare him for the day ahead.

Water should always be available to the horse before travelling and giving an electrolyte supplement may be worthwhile as, whilst the body cannot store electrolytes, ensuring he is not starting the day with a deficit can help maintain hydration levels and delay fatigue. Indeed, travelling alone can lead to dehydration, with the potential for horses to lose up to 0.5% of their bodyweight (2.5kg for a 500kg horse) as sweat per hour.

Water should be offered throughout competition days, and electrolytes can be given in a separate water bucket, water with a handful of chaff or soaked beet/mash added – or in a very wet sloppy mash - and ideally within one hour of the horse stopping sweating, to help the horse rehydrate, aiding recovery.

If the timetable at the competition allows, there is no reason why a horse should not receive a small routine mid-day compound feed, providing he has the time to digest it before any strenuous work or the journey home. As a general rule, aim for the horse to be cooled down with normal resting pulse and respiratory rates before giving a compound feed; depending on how hard the horse has worked this could be anything from 20 minutes to an hour after work.

Most of us will wait until we get the horses home before giving further compound feed but, if the journey is likely to be long or, if the horse is staying at the venue overnight, it is worthwhile giving a compound feed once the horse is cool and dry, to help replenish energy stores. This is of particular importance to those who have to perform again the next day and those prone to dropping condition rapidly, when away from home.

On returning home, normal feeding routine should also be maintained; feeding a bran mash in anticipation of a horse’s day off is the kind of sudden change to the diet that a horse’s gut bacteria will not appreciate. Giving the horse’s normal compound feed is ideal and an electrolyte supplement can be added if none has been given during the day.

As long as the feed is wet and sloppy, and plenty of fresh drinking water is available, this approach will help both replenish salts lost through sweat as well as energy reserves. The traditional approach to cutting back feed should not be necessary, if the horse is to be turned out or exercised the day after a competition but, when this is preferred, topping up the feed with a balancer will ensure levels of essential nutrients are maintained, without additional calories.