Tournament Feeding Practices

Feeding During A Tournament

Do not feed concentrate closer than 4 hours before a game
Horse will drink more from a bucket than a bowl drinker so make certain plenty of deep buckets of water are available prior to and after the game
Ideally a horse should be fed on the ground to assist with clearing of airways
Horse should be accustomed to consuming hay that has been dampened to reduce dust and it also assists with rehydration.

Strategic Feeding before and after a Tournament

Adapt horses to reduce or nil grazing time over several days before travel to the event. Replace grass with hay
Train horses to drink water readily after a game to replace sweat losses. This may involve adding molasses to water or working out the preferred temperature or shape of the water bucket
Offer several choices of water after a game
Boost vitamin E blood levels to enhance anti-oxidant protection with high doses of natural vitamin E e.g. KERx Nano E for 4 days before and 2 days after tournament
If horse goes off feed related to travel to the tournament, supplement with oral B Vitamins and antacids eg KER Hemabuild and KER Neigh-Lox
Top up electrolyte levels before a game. If past experience tells you this horse doesn’t like electrolytes in the feed, use pastes or salines or drips
After a game you need to replace energy, some electrolytes losses and also water
Reduce normal chaff and fat content (oil or rice bran) in grain feed after intense exercise to enhance replacement of muscle glycogen
Give horse time to eat soon after cooling down
Use of carrots, bran and other aids to palatability may be useful
Damp feeds may help increase water intake
A B Vitamin paste may help boost appetite
Never give concentrated oral electrolytes until a horse has started drinking
Offer both lucerne hay and grass hay – Lucerne can help replace calcium losses in sweat and protein breakdown in muscles. Hay will encourage drinking

Feeding prior to Travel

If horse is used to prolonged grazing, reduce grazing time and grass intake in 2 –3 d before travel
To increase amount of water in hindgut – allow free access to grassy hay at least 2-3 days prior to travel.
Reduce protein content of feed to reduce the ammonia output in urine and to improve fluid balance. Try to avoid lucerne (high protein) as this will increase the amount of ammonia excreted and compromise air quality during the time the horses are confined in the truck.
Reduce the amount of concentrate fed to at least below 50% normal levels and increase fibre accordingly.
Reduce exposure to dust by damping down all feeds, hay.
Add electrolytes to feed in the days ahead of travel.

General Principles Governing Supplement Use

The need for general vitamin and mineral supplements depends upon the use of premixed feeds vs home grain mixing
Extra supplementation may be needed if a premixed feed is poorly fortified with key nutrients e.g. selenium, vitamin E, copper
Extra supplementation may also be needed if less than recommended amounts of premixed feeds are used. For example, use of only 1 – 2 kg of a feed designed for use at 4 – 5 kg will require additional supplements
In that case, use a more concentrated feed that is designed for that level of intake to eliminate the need for extra supplementation
Diet analysis and calculations of nutrient intake will determine the need for general vitamin and mineral supplements. Contact Barastoc or KER for a diet analysis.
The ‘average’ horse gets no extra benefit out of 2 scoops of a well formulated supplements that is designed for 1 scoop per day
Performance horses will require extra salt and electrolytes, on top of those in premixed feeds
Liquid electrolytes are usually ineffective
Neveruse alkaline electrolytes or bicarbonate in performance horses
Electrolyte pastes are variable – some supply good quantities whereas others contain more vitamins than electrolytes

Horses with special needs may require supplements to: