WEG 2018: Feeding Reining Horses

Having eight disciplines together on one venue provides a look at the marvelous variety of high-performance horses! From the light endurance horses to stocky reiners and draft-type vaulting horses, each of these groups have different feeding approaches for optimal performance.

Body style must be taken into account when discussing the feeding programs for performance horses, since nutrition plays such a large role in the perceived frame that these horses go in.

Reiners definitely stand out on the venue. While these horses display explosive power and speed, their energy requirements typically fall into the “moderate” category. A good place to start feed management planning for reining horses is the suggestion that 50% of the diet of horses doing moderate work may be comprised of forage and 50% of grain.

Horses in training for or being shown in high-performance western events are typically housed in stalls with limited (if any) turnout, so most will require some grain to meet energy needs. Assuming that 50% of the digestible energy (DE) requirements can be met by hay, the average-sized horse doing moderate work would need 17 lb (7.7 kg), 12 lb (5.5 kg), and 10 lb (4.5 kg) of grass, mixed grass/legume, or legume hays respectively. These figures would represent 1.7, 1.1, and 0.9 % of body weight per day respectively for the 1100-lb (500 kg) horse. These kinds of hay intakes are certainly well within a horse’s ability to consume. At WEG in 2010, nearly all of the reining teams used some alfalfa for their horses with an average timothy to alfalfa ratio of about 2:1.

Grain intake for horses doing moderate work would need to be in the neighborhood of 9 to 10 lb/day (4.1 to 4.5 kg/day) to make up the rest of the energy requirement. The above intakes are modified to reflect training intensity, stage of training (maintenance of training level takes less work than getting to the peak), individual response to training, and feed efficiency differences between horses. Additionally, if more than 50% of the DE requirements are met by forage, then grain intake can be reduced. A fully fortified pelleted or textured feed (12 to 14% protein) or a supplement pellet plus straight grain fed at levels which meet energy requirements will ensure that other nutrient needs are met.

Unlike horses doing light work, there is a considerable risk for horses at moderate work intensities to develop muscle problems. It is critical for horses to be ridden every day, to be worked within their metabolic means, and to have feed intakes reduced on light work days if tying-up and other types of muscle pathology are to be prevented. For horses at risk, maximizing the role of forage in the diet, adding fat and beet pulp to the diet to replace some of the starch calories, and providing adequate electrolyte intake all help to prevent muscle problems from occurring. These measures also apply to the maintenance of horses that have tied-up in the past. Oil or fat intakes of 12 oz/day (1.5 cups) can easily be tolerated by these horses and concentrate rations with as high as 25% beet pulp are excellent for horses at higher intensities of work. It is also good to remember that a strictly aerobic, stress-free warm-up period is effective in helping to promote normal metabolism (besides being good for the horse’s brain).