What Should You Feed a Barrel Horse Before a Competition?

Barrel racing horses are like any athlete--they need to be in peak physical condition to compete. Getting to that pinnacle takes proper training and nutrition. While all horses have the same basic needs of shelter, food and water, it's a horse's discipline that dictates specialized dietary requirements.

  1. Basics

    • Every horse should be fed a top quality feed. Many feed companies offer performance feeds intended for horses who compete. Provided they're fed properly following label directions, these can help maintain a balanced diet. Feed containing high levels of fat and soluble fiber seem to be better for performance horses, according to Dr. Richard Godbee.

      Clean, fresh, open water is important all year. Horses shouldn't have to paw through ice to find their water.

      It's also imperative to provide the highest quality hay and/or pasture grass available. Horses were meant to forage, providing their systems with nutrients and generating warmth from plant fermentation in their gut. Charmayne James, 11-time world champion barrel racer, attributes the success of her horse, Scamper, to his feeding program. She insists that green grass is the best feed you can provide a horse, but advises feeding the individual.

    Other Nutritional Needs

    • Once the optimum feed, forage and watering conditions are provided for the barrel racing horse, five more nutrient needs of an equine athlete must be met. Those include protein, energy, vitamins and major and trace minerals, according to Godbee. Also important is making sure the barrel racing horse and other performance horses get the right amount of essential fatty acids and antioxidants.

    Feeding and Behavior

    • Behavior and performance in horses is directly affected by diet. In some cases, according to Winergy.com, unwanted behavior can simply be the result of eating too much energy-inducing food. Cereals are the typical source of performance horse energy. Too much cereal is likely to result in a hot or excitable horse, an undesirable predicament before a competition. Some research supports feed with a compound of fiber and oil rather than starch to further reduce performance horse stress. Hall of Fame cowgirl Martha Josey even advises some owners to take their horses off high-energy grain supplements, as long as nutritional needs are otherwise met.

    Magic Bullet

    • None of the experts, in or out of the saddle, can recommend a miracle tonic, injection or supplement to give to a barrel horse before a competition. They all agree that nothing increases your chances for success like a well-balanced diet that meets a horse's individual nutritional needs.