Fuelling the equine athlete *Promotion*

Promotional Feature with Dengie Performance Fibres

Often undervalued, fibre can provide a significant amount of energy for the working horse. The amount of energy supplied depends on the digestibility of the fibre source, which is influenced by plant type, environmental conditions and, most significantly, maturity at harvest. The more mature a plant, the less digestible it will be and therefore the less energy it will provide. Straw is a particularly low energy fibre for this reason making it fantastic for good do-ers, but not as useful for the performance horse that has a higher energy requirement.

It is well documented that fibre is vital for the digestive health of the horse. Low fibre diets, combined with higher starch rations are linked to loose droppings, an increased risk of colic and gastric ulcers. When it comes to ulcers not all fibre is the same and research has shown that alfalfa as a fibre source is a superior buffer to acidity in the digestive tract^1,2. Feeding a double handful of a chopped alfalfa-based fibre feed in the 20-25 minutes before you ride is recommended to help prevent ‘acid splash’ in the non-glandular region of your horse’s stomach. The fibre makes sure the stomach isn’t empty and suppresses the movement of the acidic contents when the horse moves.

Dengie Performance Fibre combines high temperature dried grasses and alfalfa with a light molasses and oil coating with added spearmint oil. As both the grasses and alfalfa are high temperature dried, Performance Fibre provides an exceptionally clean fibre source for the performance horse and can also be used as a partial forage replacer. Performance Fibre is a highly palatable fibre feed which is really useful for helping to tempt the fussy feeder which can be a particular problem in the fit horse, regularly travelling away from home.

Having sufficient protein in the diet is important for building muscle and it’s not just the amount of protein, but the quality as well, that matters. Protein is made up of building blocks called amino acids. Some of these must come from the diet and these are called essential amino acids and described as “quality” protein. Of these, lysine is particularly important as it is a limiting amino acid – if the horse has insufficient lysine then protein synthesis and therefore muscle development would be limited.

Your horse will obtain protein from a variety of sources in the diet including grass, forage and the bucket feed. Some ingredients such as alfalfa are particularly abundant sources of protein. Alfalfa typically supplies 1.8x more lysine than average hay making it a valuable addition to the ration to help promote muscle development. All of Dengie’s Alfa-A range of fibre feeds are based on pure alfalfa and up to 500g per 100kg bodyweight can be fed daily.

Hydration is key for health and performance. Both water and electrolytes are required to keep your horse hydrated and an electrolyte supplement should be a daily addition to the ration throughout training, travel and competition. Using a fibre mash such as Dengie Alfa-Beet, which combines alfalfa and unmolassed sugar beet, can be helpful for two reasons. Firstly, as a soaked feed, Alfa-Beet carries water into the digestive tract and, as it is so highly digestible, releases it readily to aid hydration. Secondly, as Alfa-Beet is a very palatable fibre mash it is useful for masking the taste of electrolytes or water when travelling and competing away from home.

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