Quarter Horse Diet
Contributed By Dave "Daily Double" WildermuthPosted on 5/26/15 3:45 PM
The top athletes in the world have strict diets which help him/her perform at the top level. Horses are no different and require a healthy diet to perform at an optimum level. While physically training is important to a horses overall success, a well balanced diet is a key factor in creating a championship horse. Today, we are going to focus on a Quarter Horse diet.
One of the main factors of a Quarter Horses diet is to maintain weight. Horses will tend to loose weight when they are running hard and racing. Oates is a staple in the race horses diet consisting of high energy and high carbohydrates. Race horses are also fed supplements and electrolytes to help retain moisture. An oral gel consisting of electrolytes is usually given right after a race to prevent dehydration. A combination of dry vitamins and several liquid vitamins are important to a race horses overall health. Hay and alfalfa are a common food for the horses. In fact, Hay is in front of the horse to eat for just about 24 hours a day. The only time that the hay is taken away from the horse is right before race time. The percentage of the combination consisting of Hay and Alfalfa may vary depending on the horses condition. For example, if a horse is a little bit low on weight, a higher percentage of alfalfa, like 5565%, will be used to gain weight.
Most race horses, like most humans, are fed three times per day. Breakfast of course is the first meal of the day which gets the horse up and ready to go for AM exercise. Lunch is given to the horse as a reward for the work which was achieved during the AM workout session. Dinner for a race horse is the largest meal as it will be 1012 hours until that particular horse will eat again. Race horses do receive treats such as apple bites to encourage strong skills and to reward behavior.
Similar to humans, horses require a large volume of water. When temperatures increase, watering buckets can be filled up 56 times a day! Its especially important at night to be sure that all watering buckets are topped up for Quarter Horses. Making sure a horse is properly hydrated is a top priority for every trainer!
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