February 3, 2015

Feeding the Endurance Horse

There are so many things to consider when feeding your horse for endurance.  Feeding the hind gut which assures your horse has fluid reserves, feeding the need for energy which is stored as glycogen, feeding the need of a balance of electrolytes, feeding minerals, the list goes on.   It sounds so complicated.   The following are a short list of resources to assist you in understanding what to feed, and why to feed it.  Keep in mind that this information like all endurance advice depends on the horse you ride.  Like people, they are all unique.  So grab your fork and spoon and let's dive right in to feeding the endurance horse:

Article #1 How it's done in Sweden

Article #2 by Kathleen Crandell (Kentucky Equine Research)

Article #3 from The Horse

Article # 4 Kentucky Performance Products on Feeding Fats!

Article #5  Horse Nutrition from Endurance 101

Article # 6 Water the Overlooked Nutrient

Article # 7 Alfalfa for Distance Horses? (Maybe not)

Article #8 Electrolytes for the Endurance Horse 

Article # 9 Magnesium the mineral Superhero


Read, enjoy, and discuss.  Feeding the job at hand, electrolytes, and water are crucial to our horses ability to go the distance.

How do we know that perhaps we aren't getting it right?

  • Does your horse hit the wall at some point during a ride, just run out of steam?  It may not be a conditioning issue it may be a stored energy depletion.
  • Is your horse experiencing metabolic issues even though you are riding slow?  It may be a water and electroltye issue.
  • Is your horse overly hot, anxious, sweating like a fool?  It may be a mineral depletion issue.
Food for thought, eh?

No comments:

Post a Comment