Maintaining Energy in the Good-Doer

Coming into spring and summer, we frequently receive the question: “How do I give my horse more energy without gaining weight?” As access to high quality, calorie-dense grass increases, many good-doers begin to gain weight more easily. When paired with rising temperatures, this can also cause energy levels to drop. Supporting the good-doer performance horse can therefore become a fine balancing act, with the aim of supporting energy levels without oversupplying calories. In many cases, there are also several contributing factors beyond the bucket feed alone.

Body Fat Score

Maintaining an optimal body fat score is crucial not only for overall health, but also for performance and stamina. Horses carrying excess fat are more likely to fatigue quickly, so ensuring body fat coverage is appropriate for the individual horse and their discipline should always take priority over simply increasing energy intake.

Calories and energy are the same thing, meaning maintaining energy whilst managing weight can be challenging. It is important to account for all calories being consumed from feed and forage, including grass, and work with a nutritionist to determine which areas of the diet can be adjusted safely. Regular body fat scoring, weight taping, and taking progress photos are all excellent ways to monitor subtle changes that may otherwise go unnoticed. Click here to learn more about horse weight management, weight taping, and body fat coring.

Fitness

Gradually building fitness and conditioning work is another key factor in supporting energy levels. Your horse must be fit enough for the work they are being asked to do in order to perform efficiently and maintain stamina. For example, preparing a horse for eventing can take 8–10 weeks of structured training, depending on the competition level and the horse’s previous workload. Download our Horse Exercise Tracker to monitor your horse’s training and activities.

Sometimes what appears to be a lack of energy can actually be boredom or mental fatigue, so introducing variety into your training programme can help keep both horse and rider motivated and engaged. A well-structured fitness plan is essential for improving horse stamina and energy levels while supporting long-term performance.

Hydration

Dehydration is one of the greatest risk factors for early fatigue. The average 500kg horse requires between 25–55 litres of water per day, equating to at least 5 litres per 100kg of body weight. This requirement can increase significantly for horses in hard work or during hot and humid weather.

Monitoring water intake can be difficult for horses at turnout, but you can check hydration levels by ensuring the gums are moist and by pinching a small area of skin on the neck to ensure it quickly bounces back to normal.

For horses in work or travelling regularly, it can be beneficial to increase water intake by feeding a sloppy, palatable mash such as Re-Covery Mash®. This can be offered after exercise, during travel, or even at pit stops on long journeys to help maintain both fluid and fibre intake. Whilst Re-Covery Mash® contains a small electrolyte inclusion to encourage drinking, horses should still receive additional daily salt or an electrolyte supplement after extended sweating. We suggest feeding approximately 30g of table salt daily to the average 500kg horse to help meet maintenance salt requirements. Access to a salt block is also recommended. Maintaining good equine hydration is essential for supporting recovery, stamina, and overall performance.

Forage

When managing both energy and weight in the good-doer performance horse, understanding forage intake is essential. All horses should consume at least 1.5% of their body weight in forage daily on a dry matter basis. Feeding less forage than this increases the risk of digestive disturbances such as gastric ulcers or hindgut imbalance, both of which can negatively impact health and performance. Good-doers may benefit from lower energy mature hay or soaked hay to help control calorie intake and prevent excess weight gain. Consider having your forage analysed to better understand its nutritional value and suitability for your horse.

Adjusting the Bucket Feed

The hard feed is often the first area owners want to focus on when trying to improve energy levels in their good-doer, but dietary changes will only be effective if the management factors mentioned above are already under control. Since maintaining a healthy body fat score is vital for both health and performance, simply feeding large quantities of high energy feed is not recommended.

Instead, we typically begin with a balancer as the foundation of the diet and build from there. Balancers are nutrient-dense, meaning they can be fed in much smaller amounts than traditional mixes or cubes. This allows horses to receive essential vitamins, minerals, and quality protein without excess calories. Whilst some horses maintain excellent natural energy levels on a typical pelleted balancer, others may benefit from additional support. For this reason, Saracen offers a range of balancers, including options in mix form or with slightly higher feeding rates to provide the next step up in energy for the performance horse.

In some cases, a further energy boost may still be required. This is where a two-part feeding system can work well, using a balancer as the foundation before adding a small amount, for example 500g per day, of a high energy performance feed. Ahead of competition or harder training days, the quantity of performance feed can be increased the day before and on the morning of competition to provide targeted energy release without feeding large amounts daily. Feeding a small amount daily is crucial to ensure the digestive tract is adapted to digesting and absorbing the ingredients for energy rather than just storing them as fat or excreting them. This feeding approach can be highly effective for improving horse energy without weight gain.

Monitor Health Status

We always recommend discussing your horse’s diet with a nutritionist when trying to manage both weight and energy levels. If the management strategies above have been implemented and your horse continues to struggle with low energy, it is important to consult your vet to rule out any underlying health issues that may be contributing to a drop in energy.