Research in the past several years has provided a great deal of information on meeting energy requirements of performance horses. However, there is still an element of art to balancing the various fuel sources to meet an individual horse’s needs. Depending on the workload, type of work and individual metabolic differences, the type of feeding program can look quite different even among horses with similar lifestyles.
As a horse’s level of performance effort increases, higher energy requirement is the most obvious change in his nutrient needs. Energy is the fuel used by the horse for all functions, including performance and maintenance of body tissues. Energy itself cannot be measured, but it can be converted to heat, which can be measured. We measure the energy stored in feed in megacalories (Mcal)…