A racehorse just like any other athlete in training for a tournament, game or match, be it the Olympics or a friendly encounter at school level, requires a dietary plan that supplies the horse’s physicality with the essential nutrients, and then some. That being said, a racehorse requires other fundamental needs, let alone its wants, like a good enclosure that’s spacious, and will promote a positive mental well-being and help in its overall health, and ultimately enhance its physical attributes and propel its performance level by leaps and bounds. If you’re a racehorse enthusiast, or are involved in any horse syndications here’s a look at a few of a racehorse’s dietary needs.

Fiber for a healthy gut

A hitherto underestimated source of nutrition, fiber, is quite a useful source of energy in the daily life of an equine as these wondrously athletic creatures have quite a highly developed hind-gut, compared to other creatures of the animal kingdom. A gut that acts as a breeding ground for billions of bacteria and protozoa capable of fermenting large quantities of fiber. And as the digestive process of fermentation continues long after a meal has been eaten in a horses system, this aspect of nutrition should be taken full advantage of, if you’re involved in any horse racing TV or the likes. Racehorses should be fed 7-9 kg of clean grass hay spanning from timothy hay to oaten hay, on a daily basis.

To chew the fat

If a truly healthy horse in the most wholesome of forms is what you’re looking to raise and breed then it must be fed a sufficient amount of fat in the way of vegetable oil at a rate of 2 to 2.5 cups a day. The horses’ digestive system is capable of tackling fat in an approach equivalent to a fierce onslaught from an army on the attack. Of course an animal of this stature, though quite a beastly yet beautiful creature, should primarily be fed vegetable oil or any fat of its kind in small amounts that should thereafter be increased gradually. And as vegetable oil’s energy density is, on average, 2.25 times that of starch the source of fat in question will suffice in the efficient digestion of your thoroughbred horse search food.

Protein that’ll pack a punch

Every powerhouse racehorse needs to consume a sufficient amount of protein, however in excess it’ll act as a deterrent rather than a positive addition to the diet of the creature in question. With the increase in a racehorse’s protein intake, its need for water will also increase at a relative pace. Thus resulting in its urea levels in the blood and potentially causing the disruption of the equines intestinal flow in the likes of enterotoxaemia. This could eventually lead to the dilapidation of carbohydrate metabolism in the animals’ body.