Feeding for Show Day

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I am looking for feeding suggestions for the day before and day of a show. I have an all around performance horse that will be in quite a few jumping, obstacle, and driving classes. What is a good feeding plan the day before and day of to make sure she has enough energy, but also doesn't get the heavy feeling from eating too much? Is it okay to let her nibble some hay inbetween classes or grain only to make sure her belly doesn't bloat?

Thanks

 

[JMS Miniatures]

IMO I think its important to allow them to nibble on hay as much as they can. Sure mine don't last all day but I still give it and mine have a slow feeder hay net. Give grain an hour or two before you show if you show in the morning and I would say an hour after you show to feed in PM. For traveling give grain at least 3 hours before you travel or no grain at all but still feed your hay and its perfectly fine to allow them to eat hay during the ride. Of course its hard sometimes to manage at shows but try to keep it consistent that you normally would feed at home.

 

[targetsmom]

We have to be extra careful because our all around show mare that goes in all the Pinto performance classes - sometimes both Ammy & Open - is insulin resistant so is on a low carb/low starch diet. Finding the right grain was key but we also feed her small handfuls of that between classes. She also colicked soon after arrival at one show after a two hour trailer ride, so we don't give her all her grain before trailering the day of the show. She recovered fine, which is most important, but we had to scratch all her classes and rent a stall for her. We considered giving her Ulcergard before shows and will do that for any overnight ones, but for day shows we just make sure we have it with us, plus Maalox, Stomach Soother, and Tums. We also feed her lunch hay, which she would get at home, and/or she nibbles in a slow feeder while on the trailer between classes. Nothing special the day before in terms of feed.

 

[Riverrose28]

The day before is usually a travel day for us, so I try to feed them breakfast at least two hours befor loading and still give them the usual including hay. I put hay in the trailer for them to nibble on while traveling and stop every two to three hours and offer water and give them a chance to relieve themselves. The day of the show I feed hours early and since I show halter I only feed half ration, and a little hay. This is why, I want them a little hungry so they will want the bait and show! I let them have the rest of that breakfast ration at lunch/break time, and some alfalfa. I try to feed dinner at their usual time, but sometimes at shows you can't do that. I try not to have to travel the same evening as show day so they can rest, but one year there were storms coming so I did travel at night, horses and us were exhausted and starving when we got home. Some of you might remember the fierce storms that came through NC Spring Fling that year, I went home and missed the rest of the weekend as I don't do storms well at all.

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

Some of you might remember the fierce storms that came through NC Spring Fling that year, I went home and missed the rest of the weekend as I don't do storms well at all.

I remember that! My friend and I had been waiting around forever for costume class and they ended up delaying it because of the store. And we ended up having the pizza party in the bathroom..I guess that was the safest place to be.

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I am looking for feeding suggestions for the day before and day of a show. I have an all around performance horse that will be in quite a few jumping, obstacle, and driving classes. What is a good feeding plan the day before and day of to make sure she has enough energy, but also doesn't get the heavy feeling from eating too much? Is it okay to let her nibble some hay inbetween classes or grain only to make sure her belly doesn't bloat?

Thankfully the show is only an hour away which makes things a lot easier.

 

[Riverrose28]

OOPS! Didn't see that the show was only an hour away, then disregard some of what I put in a response before. We do day shows at 4-h they are only an hour away, like I said before I feed them half breakfast the day of the show, two hours before loading, give them hay to nibble in the trailer, and we do hang hay nets for after their classes and let them eat a while before loading up to come home.

 

[Miniv]

When we showed it was a whole weekend event. We'd feed them several small meals of hay throughout the day.

If a horse had a morning class, we didn't grain them until after the class. If they were in a P.M. class,

we fed them their morning grain, but didn't give them grain again until just before leaving them for the night.

Keeping some hay in front of them constantly, kept them from getting bored in their stall(s).

We also brought small chunks of mineral/salt blocks for each feed dish. This was especially important during

the summer as it encouraged them to drink water.

 

[dannigirl]

One thing we do long before the show even gets here is feed at various times of the morning and various times of the evening--varying as much as 3 or 4 hours sometimes. I found that if my horses are expecting to eat at a certain time and we need to be in the ring or getting ready at that time, it upsets them. They can be thinking that they will never get to eat because they don't understand that they will be fed---eventually. We give just a handful of hay periodically throughout the day but that is not on a regular schedule either. Since horse shows are so different with the times of classes and such, your horse needs to understand that they will get fed and they will enjoy whenever it is. Even if you choose to give them a portion 4 or 5 times a day or all at once, they will not feel ignored. That helps with travel as well. We try to feed a minimum of and hour before we leave on a trip or if the trip is 3 hours or less and we leave at daybreak or before, we will usually wait till we get to the show and then feed some hay to start and then a bit of their morning grain. This--in my opinion--makes them feel a bit more 'at home' in a strange place.