Performance Horse and Their Energy

In the horses diet they convert chemical energy into mechanical energy. You can think of your horse like a car. The car engine converts the chemical energy of gasoline to mechanical energy that moves the wheels. The horse's muscles convert the chemical energy stored in the body (fat) or energy from feed and converts it to mechanical energy (walk, trot, canter, jump, bite, kick, etc). Also like a car the further and faster it goes the more energy is needed. A horse "fills their tank" with energy from what they consume. Thus, the more the horse works the more energy they need to consume. While many inactive horses can consume enough feed to meet their daily energy requirements from hay or pasture alone, hardworking horses are unable to eat enough roughage in a day to meet their needs. This is when a concentrate (grain) is added to help aid energy that is needed for performance. Now, going back to the car analogy, lets say you drive a basic car. When you go to the gas station you buy the regular fuel and your car runs great. Now, you decide to upgrade to an awesome sports car. Well when you go to the gas station  and you put regular gasoline in it. Well that sports car is not going to run properly, your sports car needs premium. The same works for the horse, the more performance required the more high quality the feed needs are.

The two most important dietary energy components are carbohydrates and fat. Carbohydrates can be used for immediate energy and also used in the synthesis of fat which can be used as stored energy. The easiest way to determine whether the horse's energy needs are being met is to monitor the horse's weight. If the horse is losing weight then they are not consuming enough energy to meet their requirements.

Next, if a horse receives a diet deficient in one or more nutrient requirements it may be supplemented. Once the requirement is met for a nutrient there is little evidence that further supplementation will enhance performance. In fact, excess intake of certain nutrients could be detrimental to performance as deficient intake. Therefore, it is important that the horses diet is adequate in energy and balanced in nutrients.