For many years Gain Horse Feeds has worked with Alltech by including many of the Alltech technologies in its range of horse feed.

The demands of performance places stress on the horse’s body that would not normally occur if the horse was in light or moderate exercise. The energy requirements of a horse increase according to their workload. The body of the horse is well adapted to storing and mobilising energy from various types of nutrients such as fibre, sugar, starch and fat. There is a significant increase in energy requirement for horses in intense versus moderate exercise.

In addition to the energy provided by good quality pasture, hay or haylage, a horse at competition level will require energy from trace minerals and antioxidant support from a concentrate diet.

Starch, found mainly in grains such as oats, barley, wheat and maize, are one of the most common sources of energy for horses. Toasting, flaking and micronising of these cereals improves their digestibility. However, feeding excessive high starch and sugars can lead to complications in the digestive system. The inclusion of live yeast in the form of Yea-Sacc has been shown to minimise the negative impact of high starch diets on caecal pH. Modern equine diets contain a combination of energy sources, including dietary fat, in the form of oil, and super fibres such as soya hulls and beet pulp. The advantages of adding fats and fibres to the diet include the slower release of energy over a period of time. Yea-Sacc allows for more digestion of fibre, which helps to ensure your equine athlete is maximising the nutritional value of the forage in its diet.

The harder a horse works and the more testing the performance, the more vitamins and minerals the horse requires. Good quality antioxidants in the diet are essential to protect the muscle membranes from free radicals that are produced during exercise. Gain Horse Feeds performance products contain high levels of vitamin E, Proviox, a natural plant antioxidant, and Sel-plex, a natural form of selenium, all of which work to help the horse perform consistently at a high level. This is crucial when horses are being asked to compete at international level with events a number of days in succession.

The stress of intense exercise on bones may slightly increase the need for calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and zinc. Concentrates designed for performance horses take these requirements into consideration. Gain 14% Equine Cooked Mix, Hi-Grade Horse and Pony Cubes and Elite 10 cubes are all targeted at horses with a high energy requirement and contain excellent sources of trace minerals and vitamins to ensure optimum performance. The inclusion of Bioplex organic trace minerals gives the feed superior sources of copper, zinc and manganese, which allow the horse to cope with oxidative stress.

Rehydration post-exercise and electrolyte balance is critical when competing at intense levels, particularly in a warm environment, as horses are losing salts in their sweat. Dehydrated horses have a slow replacement rate of muscle glycogen so it is critical that horses are rehydrated properly and have access to an energy-rich diet in order to compete at the highest level day after day.

Joanne Hurley is a nutrition specialist with Gain Horse Feeds. She holds a masters in animal nutrition and production from UCD. She is based in Kilkenny and can be contacted on 087-7958573 or by email at jhurley@glanbia.ie