Feeding dressage horses during travel: Preparation, consistency & safety
Loading, movement of the vehicle, the excitement of a new environment and changes in routine can all add extra physical and mental stress, but this article from D&H will cover some top tips from D&H Vet, Marga Mas, and Senior Nutritionist, Louise Scott, on ways to make life on the road easier and keep horses happy and healthy throughout the competition season.
Dr Marga Mas MRCVS – D&H Head of Veterinary, Equine Health & Performance
Louise Scott RNutr – D&H Senior Nutritionist and Product Development Manager.
Preparation is key
Even short journeys require planning, before leaving home ensure you have a well-thought travel plan which factors in necessary stops along the journey (at least once every 4 hours, preferably allowing the horse to walk around if possible and safe) along with provision of forage, feed and access to water. These can be the critical factors in limiting the risk of travel-related stress and dehydration. During warm weather try to travel in the early morning or evening when it is cooler and you may need to schedule in more frequent breaks during longer trips.
Consistency
Horses thrive on routine and some can find the changes associated with travel unsettling, especially if away for multiple days during a stay away show. This can have a knock-on effect on behaviour, appetite and performance. Wherever possible keep to your horses regular feeding times for both forage and bucket feeds and avoid making sudden changes to their diet just before or during a trip as this can cause upset with the delicate hindgut microbiome. Keeping routines familiar can help reduce stress and support digestive health, if needing to make changes to the diet in preparation for competition, introduce changes gradually over a few days to allow an adjustment period for the horses digestive system to adapt.
Energy Expenditure and Muscle Support
Many horses will adopt a specific posture to maintain balance in a moving vehicle, often slightly outstretching their front and hind limbs to adopt a wider base stance, which helps with stability but can result in muscular fatigue over time. This effort to maintain balance increases the energy expenditure through muscle exertion so travel can put a large physical demand on the horse. To help mitigate this, ensure your horse is fit enough for the journey ahead and travel to the venue with enough time to settle in, rest, rehydrate and recover before competing – for longer distances, this might mean travelling the day before, or a couple of days in advance in the case of international travel. Horses travelling regularly will have a higher energy demand, so it is important to factor this in when designing their day-to-day diet.
The metabolism of glycogen leads to accumulation of lactate within the muscle, predisposing to premature fatigue and oxidative stress as a result of cell turnover. It is important that the horse’s diet supplies key essential antioxidants such as vitamin E, which support a healthy antioxidant status within the horse’s body as well as an adequate immune function – performance horses in moderate to hard work, and especially those that travel regularly, have superior daily requirements of this essential micronutrient – in the range of 1500-2500 mg per day for a 500-kg horse.
Hydration
One of the biggest challenges during travel is maintaining hydration, horses can lose up to 10-15 litres in sweat per hour during hot humid weather, so it is vital to keep horses adequately hydrated. Horses tend to sweat more during travel not only because of the ambient temperature and humidity, but also due to anxiety and excitement, and passage of watery faeces can also increase the water and electrolyte losses. Even subclinical dehydration during transport can decrease blood flow to the gut and predispose to slow motility and risk of colon impaction – a not uncommon form of colic observed during or after travel. Dehydration also impairs the horse’s natural ability to regulate their bodily temperature, which is why prevention is always key. Check your horse regularly for dehydration, especially during hot weather and during extended journeys; horses being lethargic, having dark urine or a dry mouth are all signs of dehydration, you can also pinch the skin and if it takes more than couple of seconds to return to normal your horse may be dehydrated.
Whilst dehydration is a well-known risk during travel, simple solutions can help to protect your horse. Provide plenty of clean water during stops and on arrival, for horses that are less keen to drink away from home, you may need to take enough familiar ‘home’ water with you or you can use mashes such as D&H Health Mash, which can be more palatable and encourage water uptake. Unmolassed sugar beet such as D&H Kwikbeet can also be used to create high fibre, low energy mashes to support hydration. Electrolytes are also key for hydration, helping to replace the essential salts lost in sweat. D&H Electrolytes have the correct balance of salts required for the horse and have a fruity flavour for palatability. These can be fed the morning of travel in preparation and offered after periods of heavy sweat losses. Electrolytes can be added to water or in feeds/ mashes, however clean water should always be offered in conjunction to prevent further dehydration.
An often-overlooked aspect when maintaining hydration is forage. Long stem fibre (hay or haylage) creates a fibrous matt within the gut which holds water and acts as a reservoir that the horse can draw from, so it is important that horses have adequate forage before and during travel to help maintain this.
Supporting Gastric Health
Some horses are particularly sensitive to stress and as such, might get anxious during travel, making them more prone to gastric ulcers. The good news is that there are some effective strategies that can help reduce the risk of gastric upset during travel.
Providing access to hay throughout the journey, both on stops but also whilst on the vehicle: continued forage intake can help reduce stress, stimulates the production of saliva which helps buffer the stomach environment against acid, encourages the consumption of water during breaks, and creates a fibre mat within the stomach which helps keep the pool of acid at the bottom region of the stomach, reducing the damage from acid splash across the top portion. Once in the horse’s digestive system, fibre acts as a water reservoir which the horse can tap into as required to maintain adequate hydration of their bodily tissues. Some horses may be fussy to eat during travel, particularly if they are anxious, in these cases a handful of chaff, such as D&H Fibre Fusion, can be offered before loading and during stops.
Supporting Respiratory Health
Travelling by road may also pose a risk of respiratory problems through inhalation of airborne particles and microorganisms which may cause airway inflammation or infection. Offering low-dust, steamed or soaked hay and providing good ventilation on the lorry are great starting points, as well as allowing the horses to lower their head as much as possible during breaks so that the upper airway mucus can drain out and prevent debris from travelling deeper into the lower airways and the lungs.
Travelling is an inevitable part of life for competing horses, but thoughtful preparation can make all the difference. By ensuring your horse is fit to travel, prioritising hydration and forage and maintaining familiar routines you can minimise the stress associated with travel and keep your horse happy, healthy and ready to perform.
D&H are committed to delivering excellence in nutrition for happy, healthy, horses. For free feed advice, please call the D&H helpline team on 01270 782 223 or email helplineenquiries@dodsonandhorrell.com