A celebrity diet
Keeping competition horses in peak condition through the winter can be a challenge. Stephanie Bateman delves into the diets of three top horses to see how they are fed
the eventer
horse: Ballaghmor Class (Thomas) rider: Oliver Townend
Key stats: 10-year-old 16.2hh grey Irish sport horse gelding (by Courage II) owned by
Angela Hislop, Karyn Shuter, Val Ryan and Peter Ryan.
Career résumé: winner of Burghley Horse Trials 2017, member of the British Nations
Cup gold-medal winning team in Aachen 2017, fourth at Tattersalls CCI3* 2017 and 11th at Burnham Market CIC3* 2017.
Winter routine: “Thomas is currently enjoying a well-deserved holiday, which consists of daily turnout in his own grass paddock for approximately six to eight weeks,” says Oliver Townend’s head girl Rebecca
Evans. “He goes out after his first feed at 6.30am and comes back in at 4pm. When his holiday finishes, he is then steadily brought back into work, with the introduction of light roadwork, followed by schooling in the arena as well as jump days, fitness work on the lunge and gallop work. He is turned out every day, weather permitting.” feeding plan: “Thomas’ feeding regime consists of a tailored diet formulated by Gain Equine Nutrition. His feeds are split up into three feeds a day — 6.30am, 1pm and 5pm — fed in a rubber feed bucket on the floor.
“Each feed is made up of Opti-Care Balancer, Freedom Cubes, Infinity Stabilised Rice
Bran, chaff (to increase chew time and the production of saliva to help maintain a healthy gut environment) and soaked sugar beet.
“Thomas’ weight and condition are closely monitored by both Oliver and the staff, particularly during the event season and the build-up to a big event. When he is in full competition work, he receives a fourth feed in the evening, which is made up of the same ingredients as his regular feeds.
“In addition, all the supplements he receives, such as Stride, GNF (Gut Nutrition Formula), Isopro and linseed oil are all provided by TRM to ensure gastrointestinal health and healthy joints.
“Thomas also receives ad-lib haylage in a haynet both day and night.” the quirks: “Due to Thomas’ hot character, his feeds are low in starch to reduce the chance of any heated behaviour, and all dietary changes are overseen by Oliver to ensure he is getting the right nutrients for his workload.
“He is a good eater and knows exactly when it is feeding time as he is usually always first to be fed and he doesn’t let any food go to waste.”
The showjumper
horse: Golvers Hill (Ricky) rider: Nigel Coupe
Key stats: 14-year-old, 16.2hh bay Irish sport horse gelding (Ricardo Z x Clover Hill) owned by Susan Simmons.
Career résumé: Hickstead CSI4* Derby second in 2015, fifth in 2016 and won in 2017. Hamburg Derby Trial win 2017. Placings on various Nations Cup teams, including Abu Dhabi, Aachen and Calgary. Won the £20,000 grand prix at Arena UK in 2016, and leading showjumper at Horse of the Year Show 2017. winter routine: “Being my main horse, Ricky doesn’t have big blocks of time off — he has little breaks between work through the year,” says Nigel Coupe. “He is ridden once a day for 45 minutes to an hour and walked out in-hand in the afternoon for half an hour to graze and stretch his legs. His ridden work consists of either schooling or being hacked.
“I try and get him out in the paddock at least once a day for an hour, but our paddocks get very wet here in the winter, so turnout is restricted unfortunately. We do have a turnout pen that he can go in to stretch his legs. He’ll do one or two shows in succession and then have a week or so off. During a holiday, he’ll still be in light work, going on the odd hack and out in the pen.”
Feeding plan: “Ricky is fed at 7am, then again at lunchtime, around 12.30pm, and at 5.30pm. He has MolliChaff, Dodson & Horrell Competition Cubes and, when he’s in hard work, he has Dodson & Horrell Competition Mix as well to ensure he has the right energy. He also has sugar beet to moisten the feed. We then add supplements, which include Farnam Red Cell, electrolytes, Cortaflex and oil. If he is travelling, we add an ulcer supplement, such as Gastroguard, to protect his digestive system. He’s fed from the floor with a bucket.
“We grow our own haylage, of which he has three lots a day — he has a haynet in the morning, another at lunch and then a bigger net for the night, which is topped up if necessary at 10pm. We ensure the haylage is good quality and on the drier side.”
The quirks: “Ricky is a good doer so keeping weight on him isn’t an issue. The trick with him is ensuring he has the energy without making him too fat. He absolutely loves his food and we don’t have any trouble with him eating or being fussy. Overall, he’s a reasonably easy horse to manage as regards food.”
The dressage horse
horse: Supernova II (Neville)
The rider: Spencer Wilton
Key stats: 14-year-old, 17.1hh bay Hanoverian gelding (Donnerhall x Weltmeyer) owned by Jen Goodman.
Career résumé: this year alone he won the grand prix special and was third in the grand prix at Darmstadt-Kranichstein CDI4*, 13th in the grand prix freestyle, sixth in the grand prix special and team fourth at the European Championships in Gothenburg, won the grand prix and grand prix special at Hartpury CDI3*, won the grand prix, grand prix special and Nations Cup at Compiègne CDIO5*. winter routine: “Neville is the master of quirkiness,” says his groom Claire Hinton.
“He doesn’t have any complete blocks of time off because he gets bored and he doesn’t get turned out because of his previous injuries.
“His routine consists of being fed at 7am, having his hay and then being hand-walked for 20 minutes. Spencer will ride him mid-morning and then he’ll have a lunch feed before being groomed and hand-walked again for 40 minutes at 4pm. He’ll have his dinner about 5pm and then a late-night feed and more hay at 9.30pm.”
Feeding plan: “He has the four feeds because he can be quite fussy and, if I give him two big feeds, he’ll only eat half of it. When he is in lighter work, I do cut the amount of feed down, but he still has four feeds.
“He’s fed Saracen Super Fibre Mix all the time, and Saracen Re-leve Mix and Saracen Competition-Fit Balancer when he’s in work. It is a high-energy diet without cereals, so he has his energy from the fibre and oil, which is great for him because he can be quite hot-headed and excitable.
He also has sugar beet, NAF Superflex Senior and the NAF
Soya Oil. When he’s competing, he also has NAF Liquid
Electro Lytes.
“He has ad-lib haylage, which is a second-cut ryegrass haylage that isn’t too potent, fed from a net during the day to stop him walking it around his stable, and from the floor at night.”
The quirks: “The first day at a competition, he’ll pick through his morning and lunch feeds and not eat all of it, so I make sure he has the balancer and all his supplements in his night feed, which he always finishes — that way I know he is getting everything he needs.
“He is fed in a manger in his stable because he likes to pick up the bucket, tip the food on the floor and then doesn’t want to eat it.
“He can also be naughty about banging on his door if I’m a bit late feeding him.”