ADVICE FROM THE VET
COMPETITIONHORSE MANAGEMENT
By ClaireMaher BVetMed MSc Cert AVP(ESO)MRCVS
that canbedone to ensureyou have a successful competition season with the best chanceofgoodresults. Within this article,weare going to look at some basic management strategiestohelp your horse get and stay competition ready.
D FITNESS
Whether youevent at 4* or do local leveldressage your horse needs to be fitenough forwhichever discipline youare working in. Fitness canonlybe gained slowly,and requires time and dedication, thereare no shortcuts. Horsesshould be worked regularly –ideally5timesper week and in avarietyofways. Schooling is important to maintain suppleness,but it is important not to use schoolwork as the mainstay of
exercise.Working on asurface, on aconstant circle putsstrain on
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uring the spring and summer months alot of horsesare out competing at all levels. Thereare anumberofthings
different structures compared to working on the road in astraight line,compared to cantering across fields. So,ifyou do anyone of these solely yourisk creating a‘repetitivestrain’ type injury. All horsesshould ideally work on all surfaces and settings to maintain balanceintheir workload. In an ideal world horsesshould have acouple of days schooling, aday hacking, aday jumping or doing pole work and perhaps aday of groundwork each
week.For eventers it is useful to add in some gallop work tooand potentially swimming as another means of increasing aerobic fitness.
FEEDING
Traditionally oats, cereals and high sugar feeds have been fedtoimprove performanceand give
energy.Although these feedsdogiveanenergy boost, theyare noteasily digested, and canlead to gastric ulceration, obesityand laminitis. An alternativeapproach is to ensurethatyour horse is the correctweight, then offer ad lib good quality forage alongside ahigh oil diet. Fat(oil) is much
moreeasily digested, gives agood energy boost and doesnot pose alaminitic risk. Competition horseswho areoverweight will not perform well, but rather than giving them extrafood to giveanenergy boost, youare better off putting them on adiet. The same as humans, horses will struggle to perform well if theyare carrying extraweight, so be critical of your horse –do theyneedtolose weight to be able to perform? It is also acommon misconception that horses
should not be fedjustbeforetheycompete because of arisk of colic. This is true forcereals and concentratefeeds, but horsesare well evolved grazerswho should be eating grass and forage moreorlesscontinually.Wenow recommend that horsesare offered grass, chaff or haybeforetheyare ridden and certainly whilst out at competition. It is important that they haveamat of fibreintheir stomach to prevent acid splashing and reducethe risk of gastric ulceration. This said, it is not agood ideato allowyour horse to graze the lorry park, sotaking haynetsand chaff feeds to competition is best.
JUNE/JULY2021For
thelatestnewsvisitwww.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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