Nutritional Supplements for Sport Horses

We know horse owners love nutritional supplements, and the industry reciprocates by offering hundreds of joint, coat, hoof, calming, and other products to pamper horses. Owners often chose supplements through word-of-mouth endorsement or veterinary recommendation based on the existence of a specific health problem, such as osteoarthritis. But how much supplementation is enough and, perhaps more importantly, how much is too much?

Researchers from the United Kingdom recently found that both dressage and eventing horses received an average of two nutritional supplements daily, but that value actually ranged from none to 12. Eventing horse owners tended to use more supplements than dressage owners.

Main types of nutritional supplements offered to horses were for managing:

• Energy and behavioral issues;
• Lameness (joint problems, osteoarthritis, and tendon, ligament, soft tissue support);
• Back and muscle;
• Gastrointestinal issues (colic, gastric ulcers, digestive problems);
• Hoof conditions;
• Respiratory problems;
• Dehydration and electrolyte balance; and
• Stamina.

“Of those, owners considered joint supplements the most important, followed by electrolytes during the cross-country phase of eventing and behavioral supplements for calming dressage horses,” explained Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., a Kentucky Equine Research (KER) nutritionist.

This study identified important differences between eventing and dressage owners when it comes to nutritional supplements, and highlights the importance of consulting with an equine nutritionist to avoid the perils of oversupplementation and creating vitamin and mineral imbalances. For example, vitamin E supplements like Nano•E are commonly administered to eventing horses. Research conducted by Williams and colleagues* found that eventing horses were fed 2.1-5 times the National Research Council’s recommended allowance. Excess intake of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium were also identified.

“All of the ingredients in all of the feeds and supplements need to be considered when designing a horse’s diet,” Crandell emphasized.

*Williams, C.A., and A. Burke. 2010. Feeding management of the three-day event horse. In: Proc. Kentucky Equine Research Nutrition Conference. Lexington, Ky. pp. 120-126.

**Agar, C., R. Gemmill, T. Hollands, et al. 2016. The use of nutritional supplements in dressage and eventing horses. Veterinary Record Open. 3:e000154.