Feeding for racing p2p’ing

[Jonathan89]

Hi I’m interested on the feeding what people feed their horses regarding training for point to pointing. Every one is different and I’d like to know what methods work for healthy horses.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

You wont find many, if any pointing people on here. I work in National Hunt racing and our horses are fed:

6am 8kg of good quality haylage
7am 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
12pm 8kg haylage
12.30pm 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
3.30pm 1 or 2 scoops Spillers HDF + handful of Alfa A. The size of the horse determines 1 or 2 scoops.
8.30pm 8kg haylage & 1scoop Spillers HDF Cubes.

Those on rest or lesser work get the low protein version of the HDF cubes.

 

[Carrottom]

Depending on the horse (size and appetite) I would aim for 6 kg of quality racehorse cubes per day with chaff for a horse in full training with good quality forage/grazing depending on the time of year and how much turnout. If possible splitting the hard feed into 4 meals per day. Some fully fit horses need less, some more. You need to feed the horse in front of you for the work they are doing, some put in more effort/use more energy than others.

 

[be positive]

You wont find many, if any pointing people on here. I work in National Hunt racing and our horses are fed:

6am 8kg of good quality haylage
7am 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
12pm 8kg haylage
12.30pm 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
3.30pm 1 or 2 scoops Spillers HDF + handful of Alfa A. The size of the horse determines 1 or 2 scoops.
8.30pm 8kg haylage & 1scoop Spillers HDF Cubes.

Those on rest or lesser work get the low protein version of the HDF cubes.

That seems to be a lot of haylage, I am surprised they eat that much when fully wound up.
The horse trained from my yard a few seasons ago for p2p was on 4 scoops of Red mills with a handful of alfa a plus linseed divided into 4 meals the evening ones being 5pm and as late as I could for the final one, he had adlib haylage as he only picked at it but at a guess was probably eating less than 8kg in 24 hours but he was only tiny at around 15.2.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

That seems to be a lot of haylage, I am surprised they eat that much when fully wound up.
.

No many of them don't eat that much in a day but given the nature of their job we would rather they had enough to pick at when they wanted it to try to help prevent stomach ulcers. Some eat it all in one go, others pick and nibble, some barely touch it. Horses are horses.

All of our horses get their relevant supplements in their 7am feed. Some get stuff for feet, some get stuff for blood, some get stuff for tying up, some get added vits and mins depending on what they need.

 

[Bob notacob]

As pointers go prettymuch straight from the Hunting field ,into racing in a very short space of time ,they aregot fit in the hunting field. Even if you get your card signed at 1pm ,the horse has a long day. I would be feeding plenty of micronised linseed (didnt exist when I was pointing) for the slow release energy . Give me good top class hay (regardless of cost) rather than haylage . Far less risk of microbial toxins . Oats are still great forhorses ,particularly the Australian ones (less starch and more oils vits and protein). I like to give speedibeet to moisten the feed. Salt lick and careful and limited use of electrolytes. A hay balancer is also a good idea. The bigest danger is overdoing the protein . Protein is made up of linked amino acids of various sorts .Any given protein has a set sequence of these. If you are trying to build up muscle and are feeding protein that is largely composed of the wrong amino acids ,the body has to treat these like a toxin and break them down in the liver. This puts the body under unnecessary strain. Ultimately it is careful training and attention to detail that gets winners ,not a specific feeding regime.

 

[bonny]

As pointers go prettymuch straight from the Hunting field ,into racing in a very short space of time ,they aregot fit in the hunting field. Even if you get your card signed at 1pm ,the horse has a long day. I would be feeding plenty of micronised linseed (didnt exist when I was pointing) for the slow release energy . Give me good top class hay (regardless of cost) rather than haylage . Far less risk of microbial toxins . Oats are still great forhorses ,particularly the Australian ones (less starch and more oils vits and protein). I like to give speedibeet to moisten the feed. Salt lick and careful and limited use of electrolytes. A hay balancer is also a good idea. The bigest danger is overdoing the protein . Protein is made up of linked amino acids of various sorts .Any given protein has a set sequence of these. If you are trying to build up muscle and are feeding protein that is largely composed of the wrong amino acids ,the body has to treat these like a toxin and break them down in the liver. This puts the body under unnecessary strain. Ultimately it is careful training and attention to detail that gets winners ,not a specific feeding regime.

The days of point to pointers going hunting regularly are well in the past !

 

[Shay]

Sadly so - but from being closely involved in our hunt and the associated P2P some of the amateurs do also hunt. But the direct connection - and the requirement to get your card signed - was stopped a few years ago. Its still - I think - the best way to get a pointer fit. But I'm old fashioned. Fitness wins races rather than feed though....

 

[Jonathan89]

You wont find many, if any pointing people on here. I work in National Hunt racing and our horses are fed:

6am 8kg of good quality haylage
7am 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
12pm 8kg haylage
12.30pm 1sc Spillers HDF Cubes, handful of Alfa A
3.30pm 1 or 2 scoops Spillers HDF + handful of Alfa A. The size of the horse determines 1 or 2 scoops.
8.30pm 8kg haylage & 1scoop Spillers HDF Cubes.

Those on rest or lesser work get the low protein version of the HDF cubes.

What ulcer prevention does your yard find works best?