What to feed thoroughbred horses
| Feed type | Early training | Full work | Purpose in ration |
| Oaten chaff | 400g | 400g | Roughage |
| Lucerne chaff | 400g | 400g | Roughage |
| 1 Whole Oats | 2kg | 4kg | Energy |
What do race horses eat during a race?
During a race, muscle glycogen is the major fuel used by the racehorse, but fat is important to supply calories for lower intensity training and to meet the racehorse’s maintenance energy requirement. Dietary energy is usually expressed in terms of megacalories (Mcal) digestible energy.
What to feed a Standardbred horse?
What to feed standardbred horses Feed type Early training Full work Purpose in ration Oaten chaff 400g 400g Roughage Lucerne chaff 400g 400g Roughage 1 Whole Oats 2kg 3kg Energy 14 more rows ...
How much hay to feed a racehorse?
Racehorses should be fed 15-20 lb (7-9 kg) per day of clean grass hay such as timothy or oaten hay. Smaller quantities of alfalfa hay (2-4 lb or 0.9 to 1.8 kg per day) may also be offered. This level of hay intake will meet the racehorse’s maintenance DE requirement and help protect against gastric ulcers and colic.
How do you feed a horse with RER?
In a feeding trial, Thoroughbred horses with RER were exercised on a treadmill for five days a week while they consumed hay and a variety of energy supplements.
What food do racehorses eat?
Their typical diet consists of two to three meals a day of grains. The traditional grain for horses is oats. Racehorses consume recleaned oats from our northern climates and Canada. Other grains can be added to the diet such as corn or barley.
What do you feed horses in hard work?
Most horses doing light or medium work, like hacking and schooling, just need good pasture or hay, made up of a variety of different grasses. Only horses in really hard and fast work, breeding stock or very underweight horses will need high energy concentrate feeds.
What should I feed my horse performance?
The horse will be eating more to meet their energy needs, thereby taking in more protein. Feeds which are high (above 14%) in protein include alfalfa or clover, soybean meal, brewers' grains and milk by-products. If a mature performance horse is fed alfalfa or clover hay, it will not need a protein supplement.
How often do you feed a racehorse?
As the foundation of a healthy feeding programme, racehorses should be fed around 1.5% to 2.5% of their body weight in forage a day. It also helps protect against gastric ulcers and colic. Starch – To complement such slow energy release feeds, racehorses also need additional quick release energy sources.
What gives horses more energy?
Starch is a carbohydrate found in cereal grains such as barley, maize and oats and provides a good source of fast release energy, particularly useful for horses working hard for short periods.
Do horses prefer grass or hay?
While most horses do well and thrive on a grass hay diet, other horses with different needs and medical conditions are better suited to being fed a diet of grass/alfalfa mix, or an exclusively all alfalfa.
Whats the best feed for a race horse?
Racehorses should be fed 15-20 lb (7-9 kg) per day of clean grass hay such as timothy or oaten hay. Smaller quantities of alfalfa hay (2-4 lb or 0.9 to 1.8 kg per day) may also be offered. This level of hay intake will meet the racehorse's maintenance DE requirement and help protect against gastric ulcers and colic.
Do working horses need grain?
Many pleasure and trail horses don't need grain: good-quality hay or pasture is sufficient. If hay isn't enough, grain can be added, but the bulk of a horse's calories should always come from roughage. Horses are meant to eat roughage, and their digestive system is designed to use the nutrition in grassy stalks.
What in horse feed makes a horse hot?
Feed ingredients such as oats, corn, barley, alfalfa and molasses have been identified by horse owners as causing “hyper”, “fizzy” or “hot” horses. Grains contain starch and sugar that may result in large fluctuations in blood sugar and result in mood or behavior changes.
Do race horses need oats?
Racehorses eat oats from our northern states and Canada, blended commercially and sold by a local supplier, also known as the feed man. A daily ration of 12 to 14 quarts a day is typical, and a few horses here and there will need as much as 16 quarts a day.
What does raw eggs do for horses?
Answer. Eggs are an excellent source of protein, as we all know. Protein quality is exceptional because eggs have an ideal balance of amino acids. Remember, the yolk is the sole source of food for a developing chick.
When should you feed a racehorse?
There are no established recommendations for feeding horses on race day. Generally, to limit added gut weight by consumption of food, a horse should be given its last grain based feed 6-8 hours before the start of a race.
What are the sources of energy for horses?
Sources of energy. The traditional sources of energy are provided by whole oats, with varying amounts of cracked corn or rolled barley, whole sunflower seeds, and occasionally cracked lupins and beans, depending on availability. Whole oats are normally well tolerated by most racehorses and are normally provided at feeding rates ...
What is needed for a 2-3 year old horse?
In young and growing 2-3 year old horses, additional energy, protein, calcium and trace minerals must be provided for performance and growth, as well as enable bone modelling and development of muscle. The ration must provide all the essential requirements, whilst catering for a horse’s individual needs according to its weight and stage ...
What is ration in horse training?
The ration must provide all the essential requirements, whilst catering for a horse’s individual needs according to its weight and stage of training, age, exercise demand and temperament. Adjustments to the feed mix, type of additives, and reduction in bulk of feed may need to be made during a horse’s preparation to maintain vitality and ensure ...
Why do horses need front cannon bones?
The front cannon bones of young horses in particular, must thicken and strengthen to adapt to increased loading forces imposed by all-out galloping around corners on a race track . Equally important is an adequate supply of phosphorus as phosphorus deficiency can result in retarded bone formation and poor appetite.
Why is 500kg of protein needed?
This increased protein requirement is needed for increased muscle development and mass with increased physical condition; an increased muscle protein content and also to replenish nitrogen lost in sweat.
How does energy affect a horse?
Once a horse comes into training, the energy requirement to fuel muscle activity and body functions increases in proportion to the intensity and duration of exercise. By the time the horse is fit and ready to race, its energy intake is double that required to maintain it when at rest and grazing, although the horse may not be able to eat a larger volume of feed. In young, growing 2 year olds, adequate energy must be provided for growth, development and performance. An inadequate intake of energy will reduce growth and response to training and will result in weight loss and less than optimal performance.
Can you add barley to horse feed?
It is recommended that any new feed ingredient be added to the diet in a gradual and step-wise fashion to reduce the risk of digestive upset. 1 The amount of barley may be increased, and oats reduced for excitable horses and for horses prone to tying up.
Why are bulky foods not recommended for racehorses?
Bulky foods are avoided for racehorses because they fill the gastrointestinal tract, create a thermal load and are thought to compromise lung volume and racing performance.
How does feeding affect horses?
Feeding regimes affect not just performance but also health and welfare. Racehorse rations may meet the horse’s nutritional needs but may leave it with more than a little frustration. To understand why, we need to consider how horses have evolved to feed themselves.
What is the function of saliva in horses?
Saliva is a natural buffer to excess gastric acidity, but in horses, its production depends on pressure on the parotid salivary gland during chewing. If too little time is spent grazing or chewing forage, not enough saliva may be produced to buffer the stomach contents.
How long do horses graze?
Free range. Free-ranging horses graze for up to 17 hours per day, and are able to move about, selecting habitat that allows them to maximise their intake of high-quality food. Similarly, in domestic contexts, horses at pasture can enjoy tremendous variability in the shape and quality of paddocks they are offered, ...
Can we change the gastro-intestinal structure of horses?
We cannot change the horse’s gastro-intestinal structure and function but we can feed horses in ways that promote their health and welfare while still racing them. Those who sponsor racing may soon need to show that the costs horses pay for the sport are mitigated and justified.
Racehorses Are Usually Stabled and Not Free Range Feeders
With a horse that’s free to roam huge paddocks, it’s impossible to control their diet. That’s why thoroughbreds and racehorses are usually stabled so owners, trainers and staff can strictly control what they eat and when. Especially on the lead up to a big race like Aintree.
Basic Nutritional Requirements for Thoroughbreds and Racehorses
Basically a well fed racehorse will require the following four essential food groups to maintain health, develop strength, endurance and enhance performance:
What are the nutritional requirements of a racehorse?
When it comes to nutritional requirements, racehorses are in a class of their own. Broodmares need large quantities of high-quality protein and minerals to grow a large healthy foal during gestation and to produce gallons of nutrient-rich milk daily through lactation. Likewise, young horses require plenty of protein and minerals to add hundreds of pounds of muscle and bone during their first year of life. Racehorses must produce one thing–performance–and it requires heaps of energy. While racehorses certainly have a requirement for other nutrients, diet formulation for them usually begins and ends with energy.
Why is fat important for a racehorse?
During a race, muscle glycogen is the major fuel used by the racehorse, but fat is important to supply calories for lower intensity training and to meet the racehorse’s maintenance energy requirement.
Why is fiber important for horses?
The end products of fiber fermentation can be used as energy sources throughout the day because fermentation continues long after a meal has been eaten.
How much hay should a horse eat?
Racehorses should be fed 15-20 lb (7-9 kg) per day of clean grass hay such as timothy or oaten hay.
What is the ATP used in horse exercise?
When a horse exercises, its muscles use small molecules called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to stimulate muscle contraction. Horse muscle has very little stored ATP, but it has numerous metabolic pathways that can produce ATP as quickly as it is used. These pathways use several fuels to produce ATP, and one objective of feeding a racehorse is ...
How did horses survive?
In the wild, horses survived by grazing relatively poor-quality grasslands. Their digestive system evolved to efficiently utilize this type of diet, but their nutrient requirements were also fairly low. Today’s racehorse has energy requirements that cannot be met by forage alone.
Where is glycogen stored in a horse?
The most important fuels for the racehorse are glycogen (a string of glucose molecules), which is stored predominantly in the muscle and to a lesser degree in the liver, and fat, which is stored mostly in adipose tissue and to a lesser degree in the muscle. During a race, muscle glycogen is the major fuel used by the racehorse, ...
What is the main source of energy for race diets?
Sources of energy. Oats is typically the major energy source used in race diets. Oats is generally regarded as a “safe” grain as it has a relatively high crude fibre content and a higher starch digestibility.
What percentage of a horse's ration should be protein?
Although the requirement of protein as a percentage of the total ration does not increase significantly with extra exercise, in hard-worked horses such as standardbreds, a ration containing 12-14% good quality crude protein is considered beneficial to maintain muscle mass, bone strength and blood counts.
Why should you avoid protein intake in racing?
Excess protein intake must be avoided in racing standardbreds as it increases fermentation heat in the hindgut, increasing body temperature in already hard worked and heavily sweating horses, and elevates heart and respiratory rates.
How hard is it to work a standardbred?
Standardbreds work 12 times harder than thoroughbreds in preparation for racing. Read our guide to feeding for optimum performance. Racing standardbreds have different nutritional needs to gallopers or sprint horses. Pacers and trotters are traditionally worked a lot harder than gallopers. Studies have shown that standardbreds exert about 12 times ...
How much energy does a standardbred need?
Standardbreds require almost 2½ times their resting energy intake once they commence hobble-up and regular fast work-outs after conditioning training of long slow distance exercise.
What is the best calcium supplement for a standard breed dog?
Although 3 kg or more of lucerne hay (about 1½ biscuits) daily can provide the major part of the calcium need, a daily supplement of readily available calcium, with Vitamin D to aid its uptake, will provide a more reliable intake of calcium to meet extra requirements.
Why do horses blow off after exercise?
This leads to symptoms of thick windedness during recovery as the horses “blow off“ excess heat, which may add to the risk of blowing after exercise due to dehydration and electrolyte depletion in heavily sweating horses. As such, this can negatively impact overall speed and performance.
What is the best feed for a horse?
The nutrient requirements of a horse vary with its age, weight and the amount of work it performs. Good quality hay is sufficient feed for a mature horse that is ridden very little. With an increase in work, grain should be added to its diet.
What are the minerals needed for horses?
Small amounts of minerals usually are needed. Iron, copper, phosphorous, calcium and magnesium are examples of minerals that are important for a horse's body. Without iron, blood cannot carry oxygen to the body's cells. Without calci um and phosphorous, bones and teeth will not form properly.
What is a complete feed?
A complete feed is a grain mix that is high in fiber because it contains a forage or high-fiber byproducts feed such as hulls. Complete feeds are held together, usually by extrusion (puffed up like dog food) or by forming into pellets. If you are feeding a commercial complete feed, you will not need to feed hay (follow the label for feeding recommendations). There are also feeds for specific classes of horses. Some feeds are specially formulated for young, growing horses (weanlings and yearlings); and for geriatric (aged) horses that are old and have specific nutritional needs. Some commercial feed companies make pre-mixed, convenient, easy-to-use formulated feeds for horses that are on different hay diets such as grass or alfalfa. You should not need to add any other supplements to the diet. These feeds may be more expensive than developing your own ration, but they are good for the owner who does not want to spend time to research their horse's diet.
How much roughage should a horse eat?
For example, a 1,100 pound horse requires at least 11 pounds of roughage.
Why is it important to know how to feed a horse?
Understanding the function of the horse's gastrointestinal (GI) tract is critical for maintaining its health and preventing conditions such laminitis.
How much water does a horse drink?
A horse drinks about 10 to 12 gallons of water daily depending on the work it is doing. In hot weather, a horse may drink up to 15 to 20 gallons of water. In very cold weather, water heaters may be needed to prevent the water from freezing. Energy in feeds is measured in Mega calories (Mcal) of digestible energy (DE).
What are the parts of a horse made of?
Proteins eventually become muscle, internal organs, bone and blood. Skin, hair, hooves and many other parts of a horse also are made of protein. Protein not needed to maintain or build a horse's body is either converted into energy or passed through the digestive system.
Electrolytes
The most common thing we get asked is “should I give an electrolyte supplement”.
Antioxidants
Second in importance to electrolytes are antioxidant supplements. These incredible substances work to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are produced as part of just about all physiological processes, leading to what we commonly call oxidative stress. This can cause damage to cell membranes and especially muscle tissue.
Copper supplementation
Location often determines the need for copper supplementation, or at least the location of where your forage is made! Copper, along with zinc, is generally present in low levels in forages, largely due to poor concentration in the soils. Some areas of the UK and Ireland have higher levels than others, but many are very low.
Bone health supplements
The skeletal system is integral to the racehorse’s ability to perform; from birth to maturity it is key to support this system comprehensively. Again, commercial feeds should be supplying all that the bone needs to thrive, however, in some circumstances a supplement can become essential.
Omega 3 fatty acids
These have increased in popularity over the last few years and are present at varying levels in feeds depending on their source of oil. Whether we can be certain that additional omega 3 is essential in the racehorse’s diet may be open to debate; but it is more than worthy of consideration.
Slow-Speed Conditioning
Slow-speed, long-distance conditioning, or endurance training, is used in the first weeks of all conditioning programs. This method usually precedes fast exercise in some conditioning programs, such as cardiac conditioning.
High-Speed Conditioning
High-speed conditioning is used to improve the anaerobic capacity of a horse and is generally interspersed with slow-speed, long-distance days. This conditioning method varies with the horse and the event. Some trainers increase the speed for very short distances until near maximum speed is reached, then increase the distance.
Interval Horse Training
Interval training is the use of multiple workouts on the same day separated by short rest periods. Some trainers will use this conditioning method as the horse’s high-speed program. Limited research has shown that interval training may alter muscle fiber type, something that has not been shown to occur with strictly high-speed conditioning.
Over Training of Horses
To maintain peak fitness of an athletic horse, the conditioning program must always be evaluated and adjusted.
Detraining Horses
Detraining is the sudden cessation of a conditioning program for reasons such as sickness or injury. During this time, the horse experiences a rapid loss of physiological training adaptations. Changes in muscle occur in two to four weeks, followed by cardiovascular and bone changes.
