What are olympic horses fed

[Equi]

Just curious. Assuming they all get hay but what hard feed is general for a horse working at the very top of the elite being worked more than a 30min hack on a sunday. Do they get more intricate feed regimes than a bog standard horse or just what ever suits? Are there any who don't get any hard feed? I suppose my main question is if the energy and oomph these amazing horses have comes from training/personality or if a lot of it comes from feed?

 

[bubblensqueak]

i would imagine the get very intricate feeds, with hundreds of supplements, and its probably weighed out, and very carefully monitored, and tracked. lots of top riders tend to be sponsored my supplement companies, and feed companies, so they nearly always use fancy stuff

 

[Equi]

Well see thats what my basic mind would think too. I would love someone to come back and say "well actually valegro is fed half a cup of lo-cal daily" hahaha

 

[ester]

Definitely tracked, Harry Meade had scales on a yard visit that they used weekly albeit I don't remember anything being particularly intricate (sponsored by D+H), certainly no more than Frank's lol.

One did seem particularly hard done by in the feed room - that was the kids section A

 

[Auslander]

I've worked for a couple of reasonably well known riders, and both fed straights, rather than compounds - chaff oats and sugar beet mostly, with a dollop of oil.
I suspect most will be sponsored/supported by feed companies, but I don't think for a minute that they get anything complicated, or hundred of supplements, as it's so easy to fall foul of doping regs with supplements. Professional yards don't faff around nearly as much as one-horse owners - in my experience, privately owned leisure horses have a lot more attention paid to their diet/supplementation, than top level competition horses.

 

[TGM]

Well see thats what my basic mind would think too. I would love someone to come back and say "well actually valegro is fed half a cup of lo-cal daily" hahaha

Well Charlotte is sponsored by Saracen Horse Feeds and according to them Valegro is fed their Enduro Performance ... sorry to disappoint!

 

[ihatework]

The ones I have known are generally sponsored/supported by a feed company and will feed from that range of compound feeds. They get regularly condition scored and weighed. In general would only look outside that feed range if a horse wasn’t doing well for a particular reason. Some will have supplements, but not all. It is actually less detailed than you might think!!

 

[HashRouge]

I used to work for a rider who was shortlisted for the 2012 Olympics before the ride on his best horse was given to the Saudis (and the horse was then part of their bronze medal winning team). He fed everything Allen and Page competition mix and alfa a, whether it was a 4 year old or one of his top horses. So nothing over complicated!

 

[Scarlett]

I had lessons with an Olympic event rider for a while, and did the odd shift for him when they needed cover both during comp season and off season. Rider was sponsored by a big feed company and did use their feed. Feeds were simple - beet pulp, competition balancer and a cube/mix that was chosen according to work load. No chaff. A couple got supplements but only if required, fed am and pm and as much turn out as possible, inc 2 top level horses who won big events whilst kept out 24/7 because they were happier that way. Horses always had haylage, was 100% ad-lib. Horses all out competing full event season, most old 2* and above, travelling to Europe etc a lot. It was all kept as simple as possible.

 

[{97702}]

They get fed whatever product their rider is sponsored by ?

When I was on an Olympic eventing yard they were fed Pure Feeds - and I changed to those products because I was so impressed by it, I certainly didn’t get it for free as a livery! Feed depended on the horse, the work routine etc obviously