Feeding practice and influence on selected blood parameters in show jumping horses competing in Switzerland.
Authors: Brunner J, Liesegang A, Weiss S, Wichert B
Journal: Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Summary
# Editorial Summary Swiss show jumpers competing at medium to advanced levels consumed considerably more concentrate than many nutritional guidelines recommend, averaging 3.1 kg daily (range 2.0–6.6 kg) split across two to three meals, alongside 6.9 kg of roughage daily. Researchers collected blood samples from 27 horses across 71 competition outings, pairing metabolic analysis with detailed feeding questionnaires to examine whether field practice aligned with evidence-based recommendations and how meal timing affected post-exercise blood markers including lactate, triglycerides, insulin, free fatty acids and glucose. Timing of the final concentrate feed showed no significant effect on lactate, triglyceride or insulin concentrations, but did meaningfully influence both free fatty acid and blood glucose levels; notably, roughage consumed 2–4 hours before competition produced the most pronounced metabolic shifts during jumping efforts, whilst only 35% of horses had access to forage between rounds. These field-based observations suggest that current Swiss competition feeding practices deviate from recommended protocols in ways that measurably affect metabolism, though the authors appropriately call for controlled experimental replication to establish causation and refine pre-competition feeding guidelines for performance horses.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Current field feeding practices vary widely in timing and quantity; standardizing meal timing relative to competition may optimize metabolic stability
- •Roughage offered 2-4 hours before competition warrants closer investigation as it appears to significantly alter metabolic state during jumping effort
- •High variability in pre-competition feeding intervals (up to 12+ hours) suggests opportunity to develop evidence-based feeding schedules for competition day
Key Findings
- •Show jumping horses in Switzerland received average 3.1 kg concentrate per day divided into 2-3 meals, ranging 2.0-6.6 kg
- •Last meal before competition averaged 6 h 10 min before first turn and 7 h 30 min before second turn, with wide variation (1 h 50 min to 13 h)
- •Concentrate feeding timing significantly influenced free fatty acids and blood glucose but not lactate, triglycerides, or insulin levels
- •Roughage feeding 2-4 hours prior to exercise produced the most remarkable changes in blood metabolic parameters during show jumping