Feed Like the Pros: The Best Nutrition for Performance Horses
What do elite equestrians like Boyd Rice, Amanda Steege, Jordan Larson, and Lynn Symansky feed their performance horses to support their journey to the winner’s circle? The answer is on the feed tags and labels. In this blog series, “Feed Like the Pros,” we reveal expert advice on equine nutrition, including how to feed performance horses and what ultra-premium ingredients to include in their diet.
Keep reading to learn the best nutrition for performance horses and how to feed like the ProElite® pros.
Best Nutrition for Performance Horses
Performance horses diets require premium ingredients and reliable calorie sources. When choosing the right feed and supplements for your performance horse, it’s important to keep these key nutrients and ingredients in mind, in addition to high quality forage, so you can power the strength, energy, and stamina they need to succeed.
- Amino Acids: Performance horses need the right blend of amino acids to support muscle strength and recovery. While horses naturally make enough non-essential amino acids, they rely on diet to provide essential amino acids. These include Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, and Valine. You more commonly see nutrients like Lysine, Methionine, and Threonine on your feed tags.
- Starch and Sugar: Nonstructural Carbohydrates (NSC) also play a role in your performance horse’s diet. While low NSC is recommended for certain dietary concerns or metabolic issues, starch and sugar are also important for supporting energy needs in hard working and active horses. Glucose and glycogen are particularly important for athletic horses because they are the muscle’s main source of fuel. For this reason, many performance horse feeds have higher NSC levels, typically ranging from 15% – 45%.
- Fat: Fat is an efficient energy source, so performance horses with higher calorie requirements benefit from high fat diets. Since fat contains more than double the calories of carbohydrates and protein, high-fat feeds can help support energy intake without increasing the quantity of feed needed. Many trainers and competitors look for horse feed with at least 10% fat for their performance horses.
- Prebiotics and Probiotics: With all the stress of training, competing, and traveling that performance horses undergo, maintaining a healthy gut is crucial. That is why our pros recommend looking for feed and supplements that contain a both prebiotics and probiotics to help support optimal immune health, digestion, and beneficial bacteria.
- Glucosamine/MSM/Chondroitin: Lastly, in addition to meeting nutrient requirements with feed, you may want to consider additional supplements to support your performance horse’s joints. Without healthy joints and cartilage, a performance horse cannot do their job in the arena.
Choose the Winning Combo
Because of the high nutrient demands for performance horses, the most elite riders trust ProElite® premium products to fuel their athletes. While there are many combinations of feed and supplements that can meet your needs, here are some of the most popular for performance horses.
Feed:
- ProElite Performance (12% Protein | 18% Fiber | 12% Fat)
- ProElite Showman (12% Protein | 18% Fiber | 10% Fat)
- ProElite Sport (12% Protein | 12% Fiber | 10% Fat)
Supplements:
- ProElite Aqua Aide®
- ProElite GutBiome
- ProElite Joint
- ProElite Soothing Pink™ Xtra Strength
- ProElite Top-Line Xtreme™
Don’t wait. Choose the winning combo of ProElite feed and supplements for your performance horses.
