FEED ADVICE – DISCIPLINES
Feeding Dressage Horses: The Ultimate Guide
Feeding dressage horses requires a specialised approach that focuses on building strength, flexibility, and stamina. Dressage demands precision, controlled energy, and excellent muscle development to perform the intricate movements required in the arena. In this guide, we will explore the best feeding practices to support your dressage horse’s physical and mental wellbeing, helping them achieve balance, power, and grace in their work.
What is Dressage?
Dressage is a discipline in which horse and rider perform a series of predetermined movements with precision and elegance.
These movements range from basic walk, trot, and canter to more advanced movements like piaffe, passage, and pirouette.
These movements range from basic walk, trot, and canter to more advanced movements like piaffe, passage, and pirouette.
A balanced and nutritious diet is essential to fuel their performance and help them maintain the topline and condition.
Understanding the Nutritional Needs of Dressage Horses
Dressage horses have unique nutritional requirements driven by the sustained and controlled nature of the sport. Their diet must provide:
Slow-Release Energy:
Dressage requires controlled power and endurance, best supported by a diet rich in slow-release energy sources such as fibre and fats.
Muscle Development and Recovery:
High-quality protein is essential for muscle tone and repair, as dressage horses rely heavily on strength and flexibility.
Joint and Bone Health:
Supporting long-term joint and hoof health is crucial, especially for advanced dressage movements that put additional strain on these areas.
Mental Focus and Calmness:
Dressage demands focus and calmness, so the diet should avoid feeds that create spikes in energy or excitability.
Metabolic Requirements of Dressage Horses
Dressage horses have increased metabolic needs due to the strength and control required in the sport. Their diet should focus on:
Fibre: A high-fibre diet supports slow-release energy, allowing horses to maintain the stamina required for long schooling sessions and competitions.
Fats: Offer a concentrated source of slow-release energy that supports endurance and helps maintain a calm temperament.
Protein: High-quality protein is essential for building and maintaining the muscle mass needed for strength and flexibility in dressage movements.
Key Components of a Dressage Horse’s Diet
Forage
High-Quality Hay: Forage should make up the majority of the dressage horse’s diet. Good-quality hay, such as timothy or meadow hay, provides fibre for slow-release energy and supports digestive health. Alfalfa can also be included for additional protein.
Grass: Access to good-quality grass provides natural fibre and can be a valuable source of nutrients, but the intake must be monitored to avoid weight gain or fluctuations in energy levels.
Hard Feed
Low-Starch, High-Fibre Feeds: Dressage horses perform best on feeds that provide slow-release energy without causing spikes in energy. Choose feeds high in fibre and low in cereals to support steady energy levels and calmness during training and competition. All of our feeds use superfibres to provide your horse slow release energy without fizz!
Balancers: A balancer can help ensure your horse gets the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids without excessive calories. This is especially important for maintaining muscle health, coat condition, and hoof strength.
Key Components of a Dressage Horse’s Diet
Energy Sources
Fats: Vegetable oils such as linseed or soya oil are ideal for providing slow-release energy that supports endurance without making the horse excitable. Fats are also helpful for maintaining a healthy coat and promoting calmness.
Fibre: High-fibre sources such as beet pulp, chaff, and soaked hay are excellent for slow-release energy and maintaining digestive health.
Cereals: While cereals like oats and barley provide quick-release energy, they should be limited in a dressage horse’s diet to prevent excessive energy spikes or excitability.
Protein Sources
Alfalfa: Alfalfa is an excellent source of both protein and fibre, supporting muscle tone, strength, and digestive health.
Soybean Meal: Rich in essential amino acids, soybean meal supports muscle development and recovery, crucial for the physically demanding movements required in dressage.
Linseed: In addition to being a source of healthy fats, linseed provides high-quality protein to support muscle repair and overall conditioning.
Key Components of a Dressage Horse’s Diet
Supplements:
Joint Support: Supplements containing glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM are essential for supporting joint health, particularly as dressage places strain on the joints due to movements like piaffe, passage, and pirouette.
Hoof Supplements: Biotin, zinc, and methionine can help support strong, healthy hooves, which are crucial for maintaining balance and control in dressage movements. Did you know all our complete feeds already contain biotin?
Electrolytes: While dressage horses may not sweat as heavily as those in more intense disciplines, electrolytes can still be useful after long training sessions or competitions, particularly in hot weather.
Digestive Supplements: Probiotics and prebiotics can help maintain gut health, especially
.
Hydration:
Fresh Water: Constant access to fresh, clean water is essential to keep your dressage horse hydrated, especially during long training sessions and warm weather. Soaked feeds or hay can also help promote hydration.
Feeding Tips for Dressage Horses
Energy for Control and Precision: Focus on providing slow-release energy from fibre and fats to fuel your horse’s work without creating excess energy or excitability.
Monitor Body Condition: Regularly assess your horse’s body condition score (BCS) and adjust their diet accordingly. Dressage horses should maintain a healthy weight to optimise their movement without becoming overweight or undernourished.
Post-Exercise Nutrition: After intense training sessions, provide high-quality protein to support muscle recovery and maintain your horse’s condition.
Consistency in Feeding: Feed your horse at the same times each day to maintain digestive health and ensure steady energy levels. Avoid large meals just before or after exercise.
Tailoring the Diet to Different Stages of Dressage
The dietary needs of a dressage horse will change between training, competition days, and rest periods. Adjusting the diet to these different stages will help ensure optimal performance and recovery:
Training Periods: During intense training phases, provide slow-release energy from fibre and fats, along with high-quality protein to support muscle development. Avoid quick-release energy sources that could make the horse excitable during precision work.
Competition Days: Ensure your horse has access to light, high-fibre feeds before and after the competition to maintain energy levels and promote digestion without causing excitability. Hydration is crucial, so make sure your horse has plenty of fresh water and consider using electrolytes during warm weather.
Rest Days: On rest days, adjust the amount of hard feed to reflect the reduced energy requirements, focusing on high-quality forage to maintain digestive health and prevent weight gain.
Conclusion
Feeding a dressage horse requires a careful balance of energy, muscle support, and recovery. A diet rich in high-quality forage, balanced hard feed, and targeted supplements will help ensure your horse performs at their best, maintaining the strength, flexibility, and focus needed for the intricate movements of dressage. By tailoring the diet to the specific demands of the discipline and the individual needs of your horse, you can help them reach their full potential.
Hear from the Brand Ambassador– Sarah Stewart
Sarah Stewart’s early career saw her working with top event riders and managing prestigious equestrian centres, including Gleneagles Equestrian Centre and Hartpury College. After transitioning from eventing and show jumping to dressage, Sarah achieved her dream of competing at Grand Prix level with her horse Polly, overcoming significant challenges along the way. In her approach to dressage, Sarah understands that the right nutrition is crucial for maintaining her horses’ performance and well-being. Her focus is on providing a balanced diet that supports the specific needs of dressage horses, who require both energy and endurance without excess excitability.
What we Recommend for Dressage Horses
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Horse owners spend a lot of time trying to fill nutritional gaps:
✅ A supplement for this.
✅ A powder for that.
✅ An extra scoop of something else.
But what if there weren`t any gaps to fill?
At Pure Feed, every complete feed is formulated to provide the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fibre, gut support and slow-release energy your horse needs, all in one feed 🩵
Most performance feeds rely on one energy source.
Pure Performance uses two.
⚡ Bruised oats provide readily available energy for horses that need power, responsiveness and athletic output.
🌱 Oil and superfibres provide slower-release energy to help support stamina, condition and endurance throughout the session.
The result?
Energy for the jump-off.
Stamina for the last fence.
Condition to keep going all season.
That`s why Pure Performance is the only feed in our range to contain cereals; carefully combined with fibre, oil, prebiotics, probiotics and live yeast to support digestive health alongside performance 🩵
Horse nutrition has become surprisingly complicated, and somehow we`re still left wondering if we`ve missed something.
At Pure Feed, we started with a different question:
**What if one feed could do the whole job?**
Every complete feed is built around the fundamentals of equine nutrition:
🌱 A high-fibre foundation for digestive health
🧬 Quality protein to support topline and muscle function
⚖️ Balanced vitamins and minerals for everyday health
⚡ Premium oil sources for slow-release energy
🦠 Gut and hoof support built in as standard
No nutritional gaps.
No complicated feeding plans.
No guesswork.
Just confidence that every feed is helping your horse get what they need 🩵
Most horse owners think about gut health when there`s a problem, but a healthy hindgut influences far more than digestion alone.
In fact, around 80% of the immune system is associated with the gut, and the hindgut is home to trillions of microorganisms that help break down fibre, produce energy and support normal immune function.
That`s why gut health can have a knock-on effect on:
🛡️ Immunity
🥕 Nutrient absorption
🌱 Condition
⚡ Performance
💪 Recovery
🧠 Behaviour
The challenge is that modern horses face plenty of pressures that can disrupt the hindgut environment; from travel and competition schedules to changes in grazing, forage quality and routine.
That`s why gut support isn`t an add-on at Pure Feed, it`s built into every complete feed through:
✔️ Prebiotics
✔️ Probiotics
✔️ Live yeast
✔️ High-quality fibre sources
Want to start feeding Pure, but not sure where to start? Comment down below to recieve a link to our diet plan service 🔗🩵
The biggest summer feeding mistake? 👉 Assuming that because a horse is gaining weight, they`re getting everything they need. 🌱
Grass is brilliant at supplying calories, but calories aren`t the same as nutrition.
In fact, summer grazing can often be:
☀️ High in energy
⚖️ Low in certain minerals
🧬 Variable in quality protein
🦠 Missing the gut support that many horses benefit from
That`s why it`s not unusual to see horses carrying plenty of condition whilst still struggling with things like topline, hoof quality, recovery or overall performance.
The goal isn`t necessarily to feed *more*, it`s to make sure what`s missing gets replaced.
That`s why every Pure Feed complete feed contains vitamins & minerals, amino acids, pre & probiotics, fibre, salt and oil-based slow-release energy, all in one feed!
Me during the heatwave: "Drink."
My horse: "No."
Me: "DRINK."
My horse: "No."
Me: makes a bucket of Refuel
My horse: "Well, why didn`t you say so " 🍒
"I can`t believe how good my horse feels."
Not sharper.
Not stronger.
Not more explosive.
Just more consistent.
More consistent energy.
More consistent focus.
More consistent condition.
Because for most horses, performance isn`t limited by a lack of energy 👉 it`s limited by how efficiently that energy is supplied and utilised.
That`s why Pure Feed uses fibre and oil as the foundation of its feeding philosophy, supporting horses that can work, perform and recover without the highs and lows often associated with traditional high-starch diets 🩵
Most feed rooms get more and more complicated.
A balancer, chaff, nuts, supplements, gut products, a hoof supplement, oils, and even more!
Before long, you`re feeding half a dozen products just to create a balanced diet.
At Pure Feed, we took a different approach.
What if the feed already contained everything most horses need?
That`s why every Pure Feed complete feed contains:
✔️ Vitamins & minerals
✔️ Pre & probiotics
✔️ Amino acids
✔️ Biotin
✔️ Salt
✔️ Fibre
✔️ Oil for slow-release energy
All combined into one simple feeding system.
And because we believe horses thrive on fibre-based nutrition, our feeds are free from:
✖️ Molasses
✖️ Alfalfa
✖️ Soya
✖️ Wholegrain cereals
✖️ Artificial mould inhibitors
The result?
Less time worrying about what`s missing from the diet. More time enjoying your horse 🩵
"He`s living out on good grass, so he doesn`t need any feed."
It`s one of the most common things we hear this time of year.
The challenge? Grass provides calories. It doesn`t always provide balanced nutrition.
Even good doers can benefit from additional vitamins, minerals, amino acids and gut support! That`s why many owners choose a balancer or low-calorie complete feed during the summer months.
🌱 Pure Balance – concentrated nutrition with minimal calories
🌱 Fibre Balance – ideal for horses needing a little more fibre in the bucket
🌱 Pure Easy – higher in slow release energy and fibre, still low calorie
Not sure where to start? Comment diet plan below to recieve your FREE diet plan 👇
The Pure Feed range is built around one simple principle: work with the horse’s digestive system, not against it.
That’s why our range is cereal-free (with the exception of Pure Performance).
Instead of relying on traditional cereal grains as a primary energy source, we prioritise highly digestible fibre and superfibres. These ingredients provide a more natural route to energy production in the hindgut, supporting a steadier release of fuel rather than the rapid spikes often associated with starch-heavy diets.
Cereals have long been used in horse feeds for energy density, but they can place a greater digestive load on a system that is fundamentally designed for forage fermentation. By reducing reliance on them, we aim to support a more stable gut environment and more consistent overall condition.
The result is a range designed to be suitable for a wide variety of horses, from leisure horses to performance types, without compromising digestive health or nutritional balance.
Want to learn more about our cereal-free feeds? Tap the link in bio to learn more 🩵
“Mine lives out 24/7 on good grass… do they really still need a balancer?” 👀🌱
Short answer: very often, yes.
Because grass supplies calories brilliantly… but it doesn’t always supply nutrients in the right balance for modern horses, especially those in work, restricted grazing, poor doers or horses with higher nutritional demands.
The tricky bit?
Grass quality changes constantly depending on:
☀️ Sunshine
🌧️ Rainfall
🌱 Growth stage
🧪 Soil mineral levels
🐴 Grazing pressure
So while your field may look rich and healthy, key nutrients like copper, zinc, selenium, amino acids and vitamin E can still be lacking.
That’s where a balancer or complete feed comes in 🩵
At Pure Feed, our feeds are designed to help fill the nutritional gaps that forage and grazing alone may not cover, without unnecessary sugar, molasses or feeding huge bucket feeds.
Why that matters 👇
✔️ Supports hoof quality & skin condition
✔️ Helps maintain topline & muscle function
✔️ Supports immunity & recovery
✔️ Helps balance forage-based diets
✔️ Supports gut health & fibre digestion
Think of grass as the base of the diet…
and balanced nutrition as the part that helps everything function properly around it 🌾🧬
Hoof supplements are one of the most commonly purchased products in the horse world.
But what if the nutrients that support hoof growth were already in your feed? 👀
Every Pure Feed complete feed contains added biotin as standard, alongside the amino acids, vitamins and minerals needed to support hoof growth and horn quality.
Because whilst hoof oils, dressings and supplements all have their place, hooves are built from the inside out.
✔️ Added biotin in every feed
✔️ Essential amino acids
✔️ Balanced vitamins & minerals
✔️ Complete nutrition in every bucket
Your horse can stand in a field full of grass…and still be missing key nutrients 👀🌱
Because while grazing looks “natural”, modern pasture isn’t always nutritionally complete, especially for horses in work, restricted grazing, mixed grazing systems or poorer-quality field conditions.
Grass nutrient levels constantly change depending on:
☀️ Weather
🌱 Growth stage
🌧️ Rainfall
🐴 Grazing pressure
🧪 Soil mineral content
Which means the same field can provide very different nutrition throughout the year.
That’s why many horses can still benefit from targeted vitamin & mineral support, even when the grass looks lush or if they`re a good doer 🩵
At Pure Feed, we believe forage should always come first… but it shouldn’t have to do all the heavy lifting alone.
A well-balanced diet helps support:
✔️ Hoof quality
✔️ Muscle function
✔️ Energy metabolism
✔️ Immune health
✔️ Skin & coat condition
✔️ Gut health and fibre digestion
Need help figuring out which feed would suit your horse? Check out our diet plan service, link in bio 🩵
If you turned your horse’s feed label over… would you actually know what you’re looking at? 👀
A lot of feeds focus on calories first. At Pure Feed, we focus on what those calories are bringing with them 🌱
Because a horse’s bucket should support far more than just weight maintenance ⬇️
🧬 Amino acids to help support muscle repair, topline and recovery
🦠 Pre & probiotics to support a healthy hindgut microbiome
⚡ Oil-based slow-release energy for stamina without the starch spikes
💧 Salt & hydration support to help maintain fluid balance during work and warmer weather
🌾 Highly digestible fibre sources to support gut function and digestive health
🦄 Vitamins & minerals balanced to support normal bodily function, immunity and performance
🐴 Added biotin to support hoof quality and skin condition
And the best bit?
It’s all already built into the feed 🩵
Just complete, fibre-focused nutrition designed around what horses actually need to thrive.
Halfway through the season and suddenly your horse feels… flat? 👀
By mid-summer, many competition horses are working harder, travelling more, sweating more and burning through energy reserves faster, but simply throwing more starch at the problem isn’t always the answer. ⚡
At Pure Feed, we focus on controlled, fibre-based energy to support horses through the busiest part of the season without the unnecessary fizz. 🌱
Why fibre-first refuelling matters 👇
✔️ Slow-release energy supports stamina and consistency
✔️ Added oils provide safe calories without huge starch spikes
✔️ Essential amino acids help support muscle recovery and topline
✔️ Electrolytes & gut support become increasingly important as workloads and temperatures rise
✔️ Highly digestible formulations help horses maintain condition even during intense competition periods
The goal isn’t just more energy 👉 It’s usable energy, sustainable condition and horses that recover well enough to go again next weekend 💪
Most horse feeds are built around adding things in. At Pure Feed, we built ours around taking the confusion out 🩵
No separate chaff.
No balancing products.
No complicated feed charts stuck to the tack room wall.
Just scientifically balanced, fibre-based nutrition designed to support the horse as a whole 👉 from gut health and energy metabolism to muscle recovery and condition.
What makes us different? 👇
✔️ Complete nutrition in every feed
So every mouthful contributes towards a balanced diet; not just calories.
✔️ Low sugar & starch, no molasses, no alfalfa
Carefully formulated to support horses needing a more controlled, fibre-focused diet.
✔️ Gut-first formulation
With high fibre levels, pre & probiotics, and highly digestible ingredients to support the hindgut microbiome.
✔️ Real-world feeding that actually works
From happy hackers to top-level competition horses, we create feeds that are practical, consistent and easy to feed correctly.
Because feeding well shouldn’t mean feeding more products 👀
🏇 Worked hard. Sweated hard. Recovered properly?
When your horse exercises, they don`t just lose water. They also lose electrolytes, burn through nutrients and create muscle fatigue that needs supporting before the next ride.
That`s why we created Pure Refuel 🩵
Refuel combines:
⚡ Electrolytes to replace what`s lost through sweat
💪 Essential amino acids to support muscle recovery
🦠 Live yeast to support gut health
🍒 Cherry for to tempt the fussiest of horses
🌱 Low sugar & starch formulation
💧 Quick-soaking mash to encourage fluid intake
Whether you`ve just finished a competition, a training session, a fun ride or a long day travelling, Refuel helps support recovery from the inside out 🩵
🚨 Good doers need nutrients too 🚨
One of the biggest feeding myths we see? 👀
"My horse gains weight easily, so they don`t need hard feed."
The reality is that calories and nutrition aren`t the same thing.
A horse can be carrying plenty of condition while still falling short on important nutrients needed for healthy hooves, muscle function, immunity, coat quality and overall wellbeing 🌱
That`s where a feed balancer comes in 🩵
Designed to provide concentrated nutrition without unnecessary calories, a balancer helps support your horse`s diet when they don`t need large bucket feeds.
Why do owners choose Pure Balance? 👇
✔️ Low calorie, nutrient-dense formulation
✔️ Vitamins & minerals to help balance forage and grazing
✔️ Added amino acids to support topline and muscle maintenance
✔️ Pre & probiotics for digestive support
✔️ Biotin for healthy hooves
✔️ No molasses or added sugar
Think of it like this...
Your horse may not need more feed 👉 they may just need more nutrition. 🧬
Perfect for good doers, native types, horses on restricted grazing, and anyone looking to support a balanced diet without adding unnecessary calories 🩵
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