Feeding And Travelling

Many people start to worry as the start of the season approaches, how the inevitable increase in transport duration and overnight stays affects feeding. Travelling itself disrupts the normal feeding routine of the horse, however feeding at the venue can also pose a challenge.

The Research:

Even a 2hr journey can change the horse's faecal biota (Faubladier et al., 2013). Research has shown that 2hrs after arriving at a venue following a 1hr journey (50km) the cortisol levels of horses were still higher than when they left home. They also ate their concentrates more quickly than at home, but hay took longer. The same horses when travelled for longer (4hrs) were thirstier on arrival, (Tateo et al.,2012).

It is important to remember that travel requires energy, and it is important that the horse does not arrive at the competition with depleted muscle glycogen stores. Horses tend to eat less food when travelling (hay or feed) on the lorry as opposed to during rest periods, which is likely as a result of spending their time trying to maintain balance (Warren et al., 1996). This has also been associated with severity of gastric ulceration (Padalino and Radial, 2020; Padalino et al., 2020). Long journeys will likely result in weight loss from dehydration and fat loss. Thoroughbred horses transported for 4000km over 4 days were found to have lost weight, had compromised immune systems in terms of increased neutrophil numbers and oxidative stress, as well as increased heart rates compared to horses that were not transported (controls) (Padalino et al., 2017). Those travelling for 6hrs but offered food lost 2.5% BW.

TOP TIPS FOR TRAVELLING

• Ensure adequate rest periods at times that reflect normal routine for feeding and watering.

• Smaller, wetter meals are often advisable.

• Some horses may benefit from leading out in hand once arriving at a venue to help settle them enough to eat and allow them to urinate.

• Consider changing to feeding haylage before travelling to reduce dust on the lorry.

• Flavour water and accustom horses to drinking from buckets before leaving home, OR use Saracen RECOVERY MASH