Fitness & Recovery With Kbis

TRAIN EFFECTIVELY

Some horses start to back off their hard feed once work levels start to increase, especially during a fittening campaign. Horses that do not eat their full intake of hard feed will struggle to develop and maintain fitness levels and are likely to lack topline and muscle. Feeding a balanced diet that contains quality protein sources in conjunction with a suitable exercise regime will not only help to support topline and muscle development, but the essential amino acids will also support cell renewal, tissue and muscle repair.

For good doers and fussy feeders balancers are a great way of providing optimal nutrient intake whilst keeping the meal sizes small. Think of the balancer as the base layer of your horse’s diet proving the essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals and quality proteins in a condensed low-calorie base which can then be topped up with a performance feed if required for competition.

Horse Insurance Top Tip - Make sure the Class of Use your horse is in covers the level you are training at as well as the activities he is participating in.

COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY

Horses carrying too much weight or with an excitable temperament in the lead up to and through an event, could benefit from a two-part feeding plan.

WHAT IS A TWO-PART FEEDING PLAN?

Pairing a performance feed with a balancer in a two part feeding plan provides flexibility in your feeding regime ensuring that you can compete successfully by creating the optimum balance between readily available energy and a trainable temperament.

When using a two-part feeding system, you can half the recommended feeding rate of both the balancer and the performance feed to provide a balanced diet and to give the extra oomph or sparkle needed to finish with fuel in the tank. Not all performance feeds provide the same type of energy for example RE-LEVE MIX provides slow-release energy through fibre and oils sources. The low starch, low sugar mix is also suitable for performance horses & ponies prone to Gastric Ulcers. ENDURO-PERFORMANCE provides stamina with a small inclusion of cereals to give a little bit of sparkle, whilst the COMPETITION-FIT-MIX provides instant energy with a high cereal inclusion ensuring that glycogen stores maintain topped up when competing.

For a 500kg sports horse that is holding its weight well and is slightly behind the leg and requires instant energy 250g of Essential Balancer can be paired with 1-1.5kg of Competition Fit Mix to top up the energy requirement without the additional calories whilst providing a balanced diet.

Top Tip - When travelling and competing allow your horse to regularly graze or pick at a haynet to stimulate saliva production. Alfalfa is a natural antacid, so frequent bites of alfalfa-chaff will help to neutralize excess stomach, especially if fed 15 minutes before riding and is recommended for horses and ponies prone to gastric ulcers.

Horse Insurance Top Tip: Trying something new? Contact your insurers and see whether you can increase the Class of Use for a day initially. This allows you to try the new activity with peace of mind your horse is still covered, without having to commit to increasing it for the remainder of the policy period if you may not need to.

If your horse is reluctant to drink while travelling and competing feeding a sloppy bucket of RE-COVERY Mash will help increase fluid intake and stimulate the natural thirst response, reducing the risk of poor recovery rates due to dehydration.

Once at home the best option is to turn your horse out onto some good grass and let them unwind before feeding etc. Time in the paddock after a long journey not only helps to relax tense muscles but also encourages better water intake and appetite stimulation. If your horse is going to have some time off then remember to reduce his concentrate feed, if you are using a two-part feeding system you can maintain your horse or pony on the full intake of the balancer to ensure they are getting all the essential vitamins and nutrients on a daily basis.

Horse Insurance Top Tip: If your horse is having a holiday for a long period of time, give your insurers a call and see if you can reduce your horse’s Class of Use for this period – doing this may save you money.

NEED GUIDANCE

If you would like further information on feeding your performance horse or pony to ensure that they can train, compete and recover throughout the season then please do get in contact with our nutritional team by calling 01622 718487 or filling out the FEED ADVICE FORM.