FEEDING THE RACEHORSE

Nutrition to support the demands of training, racing and recovery.

Racehorses are elite athletes, and the demands placed on them throughout training can be significant. From the early stages of conditioning through to faster work and race day, their workload is constantly evolving, and their nutritional requirements change with it.

Getting the feeding programme right is an important part of helping horses maintain condition, build and support muscle, meet the energy demands of their work and recover effectively between training sessions.

But feeding the racehorse isn’t simply about providing more feed or more energy.

The aim is to provide a well-balanced diet that delivers the energy and nutrients required for performance while still supporting the health and wellbeing of the horse, and, importantly, that diet needs to work for the individual.

Body condition, appetite, temperament, metabolism, workload and stage of preparation can all influence what a horse needs. Understanding those differences is at the heart of good racehorse nutrition.

 

FUEL FOR THE WORK

As training intensity increases, so does the horse’s requirement for energy.

During the earlier stages of training, requirements will be less than as horses progress into faster and more demanding work. As workload and intensity increases, the amount of energy required to maintain condition and support performance can increase considerably.

The challenge is providing enough fuel without simply increasing the amount of concentrate being fed. This is where the type and source of energy within the diet becomes important.

Traditionally, cereal grains have played a significant role in racehorse feeding for their ability to provide concentrated fast releasing energy. However, modern feeding programmes can draw energy from a combination of sources, including highly digestible fibre and fats, allowing the diet to be tailored more closely to the individual horse (Jansson and Lindberg, 2012).

Some horses maintain condition easily and require relatively little additional energy. Others can lose condition quickly as their workload increases and may benefit from a more energy-dense ration.

Temperament matters too. A feeding programme that works well for one horse may not necessarily suit another, even when they are completing similar work.

Regularly assessing body condition, behaviour, appetite and performance can help determine whether the current feeding programme is still meeting the horse’s needs as their training progresses.

 

KEEP FORAGE AT THE FOUNDATION

With so much focus on energy and performance, it can be easy to overlook one of the most important parts of the racehorse’s diet: roughage.

Good-quality roughage should remain the foundation of the feeding programme, even for horses in intensive training. Horses have evolved to consume fibre throughout the day, and providing adequate roughage supports normal digestive function while also contributing valuable energy and nutrients to the overall diet (Vokes, Lovett and Sykes, 2023).

For horses in training, management can sometimes make this more challenging. Early starts, travel, training schedules and stable routines can all influence when and how horses are fed. Wherever practical, providing regular access to suitable roughage and avoiding unnecessarily long periods without feed can help support the horse’s natural digestive processes.

The quality of roughage matters as well. Knowing what your hay or pasture is contributing to the diet can make it easier to determine what additional nutrition needs to be supplied through concentrate feeds and supplements. Ultimately, concentrate feed should complement a good roughage base rather than replace it.

 

SUPPORTING MUSCLE THROUGH TRAINING

Developing and maintaining muscle is an important part of training a racehorse, and nutrition has an important role to play alongside an appropriate training programme.

Protein provides the amino acids required for the development, maintenance and repair of muscle tissues. As workload progresses, ensuring the diet supplies adequate high-quality protein becomes particularly important (Graham-Thiers and Kronfeld, 2005).

However, more protein isn’t automatically better. The quality of the protein and the amino acids the diet provides are just as important as the overall crude protein percentage of the diet. Providing the right balance helps ensure the horse has access to the building blocks required to support lean muscle without simply supplying unnecessary excess.

Energy intake also plays a part. If the overall diet doesn’t provide enough energy to meet the demands of training, the horse may struggle to maintain condition regardless of how much protein is being supplied.

A well-designed feeding programme therefore needs to consider energy and protein together, alongside the vitamins and minerals required to support the horse through training.

 

HYDRATION STARTS BEFORE RACE DAY

Racehorses can lose considerable amounts of fluid through sweat during training, racing and transport, particularly in warmer conditions.

Along with water, sweat contains important electrolytes including sodium, chloride and potassium. When sweat losses increase, those nutrients need to be replaced through the diet. This makes hydration an everyday consideration for horses in training (Kingston, Geor and McCutcheon, 1997; Lindinger, 2022).

Fresh, clean water should be readily available at all times, and horses experiencing regular or significant sweat losses will require additional electrolyte supplementation.

It is also worth paying attention to individual drinking habits. Travel, changes in environment and the excitement of race day can sometimes affect how readily a horse drinks. Knowing what is normal for each horse can make it easier to identify changes and manage their hydration appropriately.

The best approach is to make good hydration part of the horse’s normal routine throughout their preparation, rather than trying to address it at the last minute.

 

APPETITE MATTERS

One of the practical challenges of feeding racehorses is making sure the horse actually eats enough to meet their requirements.

Hard training, travel, changes in routine and individual temperament can all influence appetite. For horses with particularly high energy requirements, trying to provide enough nutrition through increasingly large meals isn’t always the best solution.

Smaller, more manageable meals and an appropriately energy-dense ration can help provide the required nutrition without unnecessarily increasing meal size.

Monitoring what is left behind in the feed bucket is useful too. A change in appetite can provide valuable information about how a horse is coping with their work, environment or feeding programme. Rather than simply adding more feed when condition begins to drop, it is worth looking at the whole picture and considering whether the current diet remains appropriate.

 

DON’T FORGET ABOUT RECOVERY

A great deal of attention is given to fuelling horses for training and race day, but what happens after the work is just as important.

Hard exercise places considerable demands on the body. Energy stores need to be replenished, fluid and electrolyte losses need to be addressed and muscles need the appropriate nutrients to support repair and recovery.

Hard exercise increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can contribute to oxidative stress when the balance between oxidants and the horse’s antioxidant defence systems is disrupted (Williams, 2016). Antioxidants form an important part of the horse’s natural defence against oxidative stress, which is why Mitavite® race feeds are fortified with natural vitamin E to help support antioxidant status and recovery following exercise.

For horses in training or racing frequently, this becomes an ongoing cycle. Good recovery begins with a feeding programme that consistently meets the horse’s requirements, rather than relying on one particular meal or supplement after a hard piece of work. It is also another reason why maintaining appetite and hydration throughout the training process is so important. A horse that is already eating and drinking well is in a much better position to receive the nutrients they need between training sessions.

 

CONSISTENCY COUNTS

Racehorses tend to thrive on routine, and that applies to their feeding programme too.

Where possible, feeds should be offered at relatively consistent times, and significant dietary changes should be introduced gradually.

As workload changes throughout a preparation, the ration will often need to change with it. Making those adjustments progressively allows the horse’s digestive system time to adapt and gives trainers an opportunity to monitor how the horse responds.

Regularly reassessing the diet is important as well. The feeding programme that was right at the beginning of training may no longer be appropriate once a horse is in full work. Equally, requirements can reduce when workload decreases.

The aim is to keep nutrition aligned with what the horse is actually doing, rather than continuing to feed the same ration simply because it has always been fed.

 

FEED THE HORSE, NOT JUST THE WORKLOAD

There is no perfect feeding programme that will suit every racehorse. Two horses can be in the same stable, completing the same work and heading towards the same race, yet have very different nutritional requirements.

One may be naturally forward and maintain condition easily. Another may have a quieter temperament but require significantly more energy to hold condition. Some horses will clean up every feed put in front of them, while others become more selective as training progresses. That is why successful racehorse nutrition starts with looking at the individual.

Monitor body condition, pay attention to appetite, consider temperament and workload. Look at how the horse is recovering and how they are progressing through their training, then adjust the feeding programme accordingly.

For more than 35 years, Mitavite® has worked alongside the racing and breeding industries, developing scientifically formulated nutrition for horses at every stage of their journey.

That experience continues to shape the way we approach racehorse nutrition today, bringing together nutritional science, quality ingredients and an understanding of the practical realities of feeding horses in training. Because ultimately, good racehorse nutrition isn’t about one feed, one meal or one race.

It’s about supporting the horse, every day, through every stage of the journey.

 

NEED HELP WITH YOUR FEEDING PROGRAMME?

Whether you’re bringing a horse back into work, stepping up their training, preparing to race or looking for a better way to maintain condition throughout training, the Mitavite® nutrition team is here to help.

We can help you look at the whole diet and find a feeding programme suited to your horse, their workload and their individual requirements.

 

References:

Fagan, M.M., Harris, P., Adams, A., Pazdro, R., Krotky, A., Call, J. and Duberstein, K.J. (2020) 'Form of vitamin E supplementation affects oxidative and inflammatory response in exercising horses', Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 91, 103103. doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103103.

Graham-Thiers, P.M. and Kronfeld, D.S. (2005) 'Amino acid supplementation improves muscle mass in aged and young horses', Journal of Animal Science, 83(12), pp. 2783-2788. doi:10.2527/2005.83122783x.

Jansson, A. and Lindberg, J.E. (2012) 'A forage-only diet alters the metabolic response of horses in training', Animal, 6(12), pp. 1939-1946. doi:10.1017/S1751731112000948.

Kingston, J.K., Geor, R.J. and McCutcheon, L.J. (1997) 'Rate and composition of sweat fluid losses are unaltered by hypohydration during prolonged exercise in horses', Journal of Applied Physiology, 83(4), pp. 1133-1143. doi:10.1152/jappl.1997.83.4.1133.

Lindinger, M.I. (2022) 'Oral electrolyte and water supplementation in horses', Veterinary Sciences, 9(11), 626. doi:10.3390/vetsci9110626.

Vokes, J., Lovett, A. and Sykes, B. (2023) 'Equine gastric ulcer syndrome: an update on current knowledge', Animals, 13(7), 1261. doi:10.3390/ani13071261.

Williams, C.A. (2016) ‘The effect of oxidative stress during exercise in the horse’, Journal of Animal Science, 94(10), pp. 4067–4075. doi:10.2527/jas.2015-9988.