Aside from the stresses of a longer journey and stabling in a new environment, the dietary disruption that comes with staying away from home with your horse, means you need to be meticulous with your management to minimise the risk of upsets.
Forage/Grazing
- Most horses and ponies will be used to some daily turnout so being stabled 24/7 can be a challenge. Plan periods of hand grazing and walking into your horse’s days, to mimic that turnout time.
- If grass availability is limited, offer plenty of their normal forage (hay/haylage) and consider alternatives, like Alfalfa Blend and Fibre-Beet, in the stable, to encourage natural foraging behaviour and fibre intake.
- Hand walking or gentle hacking is good, in between competition phases, to encourage gut motility.
Hard Feed
- Stick to your normal feeds and routine as closely as possible.
- Balancers are useful for those with limited appetites as they provide important nutrients to support performance and recovery, in a small volume.
- Digest Plus prebiotic can be fed before, during and after times of stress, to support gut health.
Hydration
- Giving Aqua-Aide electrolytes, whenever your horse or pony sweats, either in water, water with a handful of chop/soaked beet or in wet sloppy feed, will help support recovery and encourage the thirst response
- Make sure your horse has access to fresh clean water at all times.
- Dunking or soaking hay will provide additional moisture. Fibre acts as a reservoir for water and electrolytes in the hindgut, so maintaining forage/fibre intake is doubly important, at a multi-day event.
- Listen to the Baileys Podcast on the use of electrolytes.
For advice on feeding your horse or pony when staying away from home, contact our Baileys Horse Feeds Nutrition Team.
