Nutritional Considerations for Performance Horses

Karen E. Davison, Ph.D., Purina Mills, LLC

Winning in today's competitive environment requires good genetics, good health care, good training, good nutrition and a dose of good luck. The more attention paid to the first four items on this list, the less dependence there is on luck to succeed. There are times when someone who does not have the best-bred horse, is not a particularly good hand and does not care properly for his horse gets into the winner's circle. However, competitors who are consistently at the top of their game are constantly working to cover these bases in the best possible manner.

When it comes to good nutrition, the goal is to meet the athlete's requirements for energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. There is no magic compound that will make a slow horse run fast, but sound nutrition practices coupled with good management can allow a horse to reach his genetic potential. While all nutrient requirements change with increases in level of work, the requirement for energy changes the most dramatically.

A non-working horse needs approximately 16,000 calories per day to maintain his weight. As exercise is increased, in intensity and/or duration, energy needs increase as well. A moderate work level, which would include most arena performance horses and some race horses, moves the calorie needs up to around 24,000 calories per day. An intense work level, which would include endurance racing and polo playing, doubles energy requirements over maintenance levels to 32,000 calories per day.

An inactive horse can meet his energy requirements with forages, such as good pasture or good quality hay. However, more concentrated feeds must be used to meet the needs of performance horses. Grains, such as corn, oats and barley, are higher in energy per pound than are forages and can help meet the higher energy demands. In addition, fats and oils can be used in diets for horses and are higher in energy per pound than grains. For example, one pound of vegetable oil has the same amount of energy as 2.5 pounds of corn or 3 pounds of oats. The inclusion of fat allows the high-energy demands of intense levels of performance to be met in a smaller amount of total feed. This is an important consideration due to limitations of the horse's digestive system to safely handle large quantities of grain at one feeding. A general rule of thumb is to not feed over 6 - 7 pounds of grain per feeding. If a horse requires more grain than this, then feedings should be split and offered twice and maybe even three times a day.

To determine if energy needs are being met requires evaluation of the horse's body condition or fat cover. A fat horse carries excessive weight that adds stress on bones and joints and will have trouble cooling the body in hot, humid weather. On the other hand, a thin horse will not have all the energy reserves he needs to perform at high levels and recover to be ready to go again. He will also be breaking down muscle tissue to help meet energy needs at some point. A performance horse should have enough fat cover such that the ribs are not visible, but they can easily be felt by palpating the rib area. Therefore, a performance horse must be fed a concentrate feed, from a grain mix or pellets that will provide enough energy to support the level of work and keep the horses' ribs covered.

Protein requirements rise slightly at higher levels of performance, but the increase is not as dramatic as with energy needs. Protein quality, or amino acid content, is also a consideration, especially in young horses that are working and still growing as well. Dietary protein is digested and absorbed as amino acids, which are transported in the blood to tissues and reassembled into the appropriate tissue, such as muscle. If protein in the diet exceeds the horse's requirements, the extra protein will be broken down in the body, with part of it used for energy and the other part excreted in the urine as ammonia. There is no evidence that high levels of protein in the diet will cause kidney damage in the horse, but, there is an energy cost and an increase in water intake needed to eliminate the excess nitrogen.

A good recommended range in protein content for a performance horse feed is 10% to 14% crude protein. The actual level of protein needed will depend on the age of the horse, amount of work and the type, quality and quantity of forage provided. The amount of protein needed in the feed is also influenced by the energy content of the feed and how much has to be fed to keep the horse in good condition. For example, a horse eating oats, which are 11.5% protein, may require 10 pounds of oats to keep his ribs covered. This horse would be eating 1.15 pounds of protein per day. The same horse eating a more energy dense 14% protein feed may require 7 pounds to stay in the same body condition. With this diet, the horse would be eating 0.98 pounds of protein per day. So, in this case, the horse eating the higher percent protein feed is actually eating less total protein per day and it may deliver a higher quality protein as well. It is important to consider the quantity of protein in the feed, the amount of feed needed to keep the horse in condition and the quality of protein provided when choosing a performance horse feed.

Vitamins and minerals are necessary for various metabolic processes in the body. As the level of work increases, the need for some vitamins and minerals may go up as well. Also, stress level has an effect on the body's ability to synthesize many of the vitamins it normally produces. Therefore, a performance horse has higher requirements for many vitamins and minerals than would an inactive horse. Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can hurt performance, but adding these nutrients in excessive amounts will, at least, cost a great deal of money and, at worst, be detrimental to the horse. Many vitamins and minerals, including electrolytes and B vitamins, are not stored in the body and must be provided daily in the diet. However, oversupplementation of these nutrients is of no value since the horse will simply slow down the absorption rate and excrete the excesses in the urine. Other vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins A, D, E and minerals like calcium, can be stored in the body and the animals may draw on the reserves when needed. Oversupplementation of these nutrients over an extended period of time can lead to toxic levels, which will be detrimental to the horse. Because of this, it is important the vitamins and minerals be supplied in adequate amounts and balanced with each other, without going into excess amounts, in order to support optimum performance in the horse.

A diet consisting of straight grain and hay is often deficient in one or more of the nutrients needed by the performance horse. Many supplements are available to help fill the gaps left by grains and hay. However, it is difficult to determine how wide those gaps are and exactly when they have been filled. Therefore, it is a better approach to find a completely balanced grain-mix or pelleted feed, designed for performance horses, and to provide that feed in the amounts necessary to maintain adequate body condition. This approach combined with good genetics and management will provide the highest success rate for top performance.