FEED ADVICE – DISCIPLINES
Feeding Eventing Horses: The Ultimate Guide
What is Eventing?
Eventing is one of the most demanding disciplines combining the precision of dressage, the endurance of cross country and the agility of showjumping.
This discipline requires horses to be in peak physical and mental condition, supported by a well-balanced and carefully planned diet.
Horses need controlled, slow-release energy from fibre and oil to stay focused and fuel long days of training or competing.
A complete diet with the right blend of fibre, vitamins, minerals, and quality protein supports overall performance and wellbeing.
Understanding the Nutritional Needs of Event Horses
Sustained Energy:
Muscle Development and Recovery:
Joint and Bone Health:
Optimal Hydration and Electrolyte Balance:
Metabolic Requirements of Event Horses
Key Components of an Eventing Horse’s Diet
Forage:
High-Quality Hay: The foundation of any horse’s diet, forage should be high in fibre and low in dust. A mix of timothy, meadow hay, and alfalfa provides both energy and protein.
Grass: Access to fresh grass, when available, can help maintain natural fibre intake and provide essential nutrients. However, grass alone is often not sufficient for an eventing horse’s needs.
Hard feed
Performance Feeds: Designed specifically for horses in intense work, these feeds provide a balanced mix of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to support energy, stamina, and recovery – did you know that Pure Feed has a high performance feed which includes a mix of slow and fast release energy!
Balancers: To ensure that all vitamins, minerals, and amino acids are provided without adding excessive calories, a feed balancer is a smart choice – did you know that all of the complete feed range already contains a balancer which means you don’t need to add anything extra in!
Feeding Tips for Event Horses
Tailoring the Diet to Different Stages of Eventing
Conclusion
Feeding an eventing horse is about balancing energy, endurance, and recovery. By providing a diet rich in high-quality forage, balanced concentrates, targeted supplements, and consistent hydration, you can ensure your horse excels in all phases of eventing. Tailoring the diet to the individual needs of your horse and the specific demands of each phase of competition will help them perform at their best.
Hear from the Sponsor rider – Millie Juleff
To support her horses in the demanding environment of top-level competition, Millie uses Condition Mix and Pellets from Pure Feed, alongside micronized linseed. This combination highlights that top-end performance horses don’t need a high-sugar diet to succeed. Instead, sugar and starch can be disruptive to the digestive system, leading to issues that may impair performance.
- Condition Mix and Pellets provide balanced nutrition, promoting muscle development and overall conditioning without relying on high sugar content.
- Micronized Linseed offers a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and oil, delivering sustained energy and supporting skin, coat, and joint health.
- By avoiding high sugar and starch, Millie ensures her horses maintain steady energy levels and optimal digestive health, crucial for peak performance.
Millie’s commitment to a balanced, low-sugar diet, supported by Pure Feed’s Condition Mix, Pellets, and micronized linseed, keeps her horses thriving at the top level of competition
Meet Millie’s Horses
What we recommend for event horses
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When it comes to youngstock and breeding horses, nutrition plays a key role in long-term development 🩵
Pure Stud provides higher levels of protein and a full balancer, while remaining low in sugar and starch, supporting a more controlled rate of growth.
Formulated without cereals, molasses, soya or alfalfa, it offers a clean, consistent approach to feeding, with a lower-risk profile for developmental concerns such as OCD.
Available in-store and online 👉 and now £5 off throughout May!
When it comes to youngstock and breeding horses, nutrition plays a key role in long-term development 🩵
Pure Stud provides higher levels of protein and a full balancer, while remaining low in sugar and starch, supporting a more controlled rate of growth.
Formulated without cereals, molasses, soya or alfalfa, it offers a clean, consistent approach to feeding, with a lower-risk profile for developmental concerns such as OCD.
Available in-store and online 👉 and now £5 off throughout May!
A complete feed is more than just a bucket of feed thrown together; it’s a carefully balanced system designed to support your horse from the inside out.
Each component plays a role: high-quality fibres for gut health and steady energy release, essential oils for slow-release fuel, and a fully balanced vitamin and mineral profile to remove the need for additional supplements. Add in digestible protein for topline and muscle repair, and you’ve got nutrition that works in harmony with the whole horse.
No gaps. No guesswork. Just everything they need, all in one place.
That’s the idea behind a Pure Feed complete feed = simplicity, balance, and performance you can see. 🐴
A complete feed is more than just a bucket of feed thrown together; it’s a carefully balanced system designed to support your horse from the inside out.
Each component plays a role: high-quality fibres for gut health and steady energy release, essential oils for slow-release fuel, and a fully balanced vitamin and mineral profile to remove the need for additional supplements. Add in digestible protein for topline and muscle repair, and you’ve got nutrition that works in harmony with the whole horse.
No gaps. No guesswork. Just everything they need, all in one place.
That’s the idea behind a Pure Feed complete feed = simplicity, balance, and performance you can see. 🐴
Vitamin C is a vital nutrient involved in a range of key physiological processes in the horse. It acts as a powerful antioxidant, helping to neutralise free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, particularly important during periods of work, growth, or recovery. It is also essential for collagen synthesis, supporting the integrity of connective tissues, including tendons, ligaments, skin, and blood vessels, all of which are under constant strain in the athletic horse. In addition, vitamin C contributes to normal hormone synthesis, supporting overall metabolic balance and physiological function.
Because of its importance across multiple systems, vitamin C is included as part of the carefully balanced formulation in our Complete feeds. This ensures horses receive consistent, appropriate levels as part of their daily nutrition, supporting health, resilience, and performance without the need for additional supplementation 🩵
Vitamin C is a vital nutrient involved in a range of key physiological processes in the horse. It acts as a powerful antioxidant, helping to neutralise free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, particularly important during periods of work, growth, or recovery. It is also essential for collagen synthesis, supporting the integrity of connective tissues, including tendons, ligaments, skin, and blood vessels, all of which are under constant strain in the athletic horse. In addition, vitamin C contributes to normal hormone synthesis, supporting overall metabolic balance and physiological function.
Because of its importance across multiple systems, vitamin C is included as part of the carefully balanced formulation in our Complete feeds. This ensures horses receive consistent, appropriate levels as part of their daily nutrition, supporting health, resilience, and performance without the need for additional supplementation 🩵
Pre-ride feeding has a real physiological impact on how the horse’s body copes once exercise starts.
A small fibre-based feed before work helps support digestion by keeping hindgut fermentation active and gut function stable, rather than asking the digestive system to switch focus while blood flow is redirected to working muscles during exercise. It also supports steady energy by encouraging slow, microbial fibre fermentation in the hindgut. This produces a gradual, sustained release of energy substrates, rather than the quick spikes and drops associated with starch digestion.
And importantly, it helps protect the stomach by creating a fibre layer within the stomach contents, which reduces acid movement and splashing onto the unprotected stomach lining when the horse is in motion and abdominal pressure increases.
The great news is that, as Pure Feed is high in fibre, you can use a small handful of your chosen feed to give to your horse before you set off 🩵
Pre-ride feeding has a real physiological impact on how the horse’s body copes once exercise starts.
A small fibre-based feed before work helps support digestion by keeping hindgut fermentation active and gut function stable, rather than asking the digestive system to switch focus while blood flow is redirected to working muscles during exercise. It also supports steady energy by encouraging slow, microbial fibre fermentation in the hindgut. This produces a gradual, sustained release of energy substrates, rather than the quick spikes and drops associated with starch digestion.
And importantly, it helps protect the stomach by creating a fibre layer within the stomach contents, which reduces acid movement and splashing onto the unprotected stomach lining when the horse is in motion and abdominal pressure increases.
The great news is that, as Pure Feed is high in fibre, you can use a small handful of your chosen feed to give to your horse before you set off 🩵
Sending @elphick.event.ponies and her stunning greys all the best over the next few days 🩵
It’s finally here!! Badminton week! We’re wishing our brand ambassador @ellah.orses the biggest luck and can’t wait to cheer her down the centreline at 14:36 today! 🍀🩵
It’s finally here!! Badminton week! We’re wishing our brand ambassador @ellah.orses the biggest luck and can’t wait to cheer her down the centreline at 14:36 today! 🍀🩵
May just got better 🌱
£5 off Pure Stud, all month long!
Complete nutrition for youngstock, mares & stallions… without the extras you don’t want.
✔ No cereals
✔ No molasses
✔ No soya or alfalfa
✔ Low sugar & starch
Available in-store & online 🩵
May just got better 🌱
£5 off Pure Stud, all month long!
Complete nutrition for youngstock, mares & stallions… without the extras you don’t want.
✔ No cereals
✔ No molasses
✔ No soya or alfalfa
✔ Low sugar & starch
Available in-store & online 🩵
Did you know the sugar in grass isn’t constant?
It rises and falls throughout the day, driven by photosynthesis and temperature. Early morning (6–10 am), photosynthesis hasn’t yet packed the grass with soluble sugars, so grazing is generally lower risk and a safer window for horses prone to laminitis or weight gain.
Between late morning and late afternoon (11–5 pm), sunlight drives sugar production. Levels climb steadily, meaning horses grazing during this period should be monitored closely, especially those with metabolic sensitivities.
By evening and overnight (18–05 am), grass sugar can peak. Cooler nights trap sugars in the plant, creating a riskier forage for susceptible horses. Grazing unmanaged during this window can overload the horse’s system and trigger laminitis.
Understanding these daily sugar fluctuations allows you to manage turnout strategically, protect gut and metabolic health.
Did you know the sugar in grass isn’t constant?
It rises and falls throughout the day, driven by photosynthesis and temperature. Early morning (6–10 am), photosynthesis hasn’t yet packed the grass with soluble sugars, so grazing is generally lower risk and a safer window for horses prone to laminitis or weight gain.
Between late morning and late afternoon (11–5 pm), sunlight drives sugar production. Levels climb steadily, meaning horses grazing during this period should be monitored closely, especially those with metabolic sensitivities.
By evening and overnight (18–05 am), grass sugar can peak. Cooler nights trap sugars in the plant, creating a riskier forage for susceptible horses. Grazing unmanaged during this window can overload the horse’s system and trigger laminitis.
Understanding these daily sugar fluctuations allows you to manage turnout strategically, protect gut and metabolic health.
Growth places specific nutritional demands on young horses, requiring a precise balance of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to support correct development.
Pure Stud is formulated to deliver this in a controlled way; high in fibre to support the digestive system, low in sugar and starch to avoid unnecessary peaks in blood glucose and insulin, and with a built-in stud balancer to provide essential vitamins, minerals and quality amino acids.
This supports steady growth rates, skeletal development, and muscle formation without relying on high-starch, high-calorie formulations.
A consistent, balanced approach to nutrition during growth is key to supporting long-term soundness and development.
Growth places specific nutritional demands on young horses, requiring a precise balance of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to support correct development.
Pure Stud is formulated to deliver this in a controlled way; high in fibre to support the digestive system, low in sugar and starch to avoid unnecessary peaks in blood glucose and insulin, and with a built-in stud balancer to provide essential vitamins, minerals and quality amino acids.
This supports steady growth rates, skeletal development, and muscle formation without relying on high-starch, high-calorie formulations.
A consistent, balanced approach to nutrition during growth is key to supporting long-term soundness and development.
One bag. No gaps. No guesswork.
Feeding shouldn’t feel like a balancing act. That’s why our feeds are built differently - truly complete, with everything your horse needs in every single mouthful:
🌱 Multiple fibre sources (grass pellets + chaff) for gut health and chew time
⚡ Slow-release energy from linseed, rapeseed oil & unmolassed sugar beet
🧬 A fully balanced vitamin & mineral package
💪 Essential amino acids for muscle support
🦶 Biotin for strong hooves
🧂 Salt for hydration and electrolyte balance
🦠 Pre & probiotics for optimal digestion
No extras. No add-ons. Just Pure Feed 🩵
One bag. No gaps. No guesswork.
Feeding shouldn’t feel like a balancing act. That’s why our feeds are built differently - truly complete, with everything your horse needs in every single mouthful:
🌱 Multiple fibre sources (grass pellets + chaff) for gut health and chew time
⚡ Slow-release energy from linseed, rapeseed oil & unmolassed sugar beet
🧬 A fully balanced vitamin & mineral package
💪 Essential amino acids for muscle support
🦶 Biotin for strong hooves
🧂 Salt for hydration and electrolyte balance
🦠 Pre & probiotics for optimal digestion
No extras. No add-ons. Just Pure Feed 🩵
If you’ve ever owned a good-doer, you’ll know… they don’t miss a meal. Not ever.
Spring grass comes through, the sun appears, and suddenly, what should be a simple turnout becomes a stressful balancing act.
For some, that starts with a muzzle. Not to restrict completely, but to slow things down – turning every bite into a more considered mouthful.
For others, it’s strip grazing. Walking the fence line forward inch by inch, controlling access to fresh grass and keeping intake steady rather than excessive.
Then there’s hay, soaked to reduce sugar levels, making it a safer, more suitable forage option when you need to take the edge off.
Some horses thrive in dry paddocks, where grass intake is minimal but movement and turnout are still part of their routine. Others benefit from a little more time stabled, where you can fully manage what goes in and when.
All of these approaches share the same underlying principle: restriction. You’re limiting intake to manage weight, sugar exposure, and overall health. But it’s easy to forget what else gets restricted at the same time. When you reduce grass, soak hay, or limit access to forage, you’re not just cutting calories and sugars, you’re also reducing the intake of essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that your horse would naturally pick up throughout the day.
Over time, that gap can start to show. Hoof quality, coat condition, muscle maintenance, even energy levels and recovery, they’re all influenced by those nutrients that are no longer consistently coming in. This is where a low calorie balancer, like Pure Balance comes in. It`s job is to fill in these nutrition gaps and help provide your horse with everything they need, in a low calorie format 🩵
If you’ve ever owned a good-doer, you’ll know… they don’t miss a meal. Not ever.
Spring grass comes through, the sun appears, and suddenly, what should be a simple turnout becomes a stressful balancing act.
For some, that starts with a muzzle. Not to restrict completely, but to slow things down – turning every bite into a more considered mouthful.
For others, it’s strip grazing. Walking the fence line forward inch by inch, controlling access to fresh grass and keeping intake steady rather than excessive.
Then there’s hay, soaked to reduce sugar levels, making it a safer, more suitable forage option when you need to take the edge off.
Some horses thrive in dry paddocks, where grass intake is minimal but movement and turnout are still part of their routine. Others benefit from a little more time stabled, where you can fully manage what goes in and when.
All of these approaches share the same underlying principle: restriction. You’re limiting intake to manage weight, sugar exposure, and overall health. But it’s easy to forget what else gets restricted at the same time. When you reduce grass, soak hay, or limit access to forage, you’re not just cutting calories and sugars, you’re also reducing the intake of essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that your horse would naturally pick up throughout the day.
Over time, that gap can start to show. Hoof quality, coat condition, muscle maintenance, even energy levels and recovery, they’re all influenced by those nutrients that are no longer consistently coming in. This is where a low calorie balancer, like Pure Balance comes in. It`s job is to fill in these nutrition gaps and help provide your horse with everything they need, in a low calorie format 🩵
✨ Pure Fibre Balance - high-fibre, low-calorie feed for good doers! ✨
Combines our premium balancer pellets (vitamins, minerals, pre/probiotics, biotin, amino acids, salt) with low-calorie chaff for extra fibre to provide steady, slow-release energy (no fizz) = ideal for good doers & laminitis-prone horses
🚫 Cereal & molasses free, no preservatives – all the nutrition, none of the empty calories 🩵
✨ Pure Fibre Balance - high-fibre, low-calorie feed for good doers! ✨
Combines our premium balancer pellets (vitamins, minerals, pre/probiotics, biotin, amino acids, salt) with low-calorie chaff for extra fibre to provide steady, slow-release energy (no fizz) = ideal for good doers & laminitis-prone horses
🚫 Cereal & molasses free, no preservatives – all the nutrition, none of the empty calories 🩵
A good session doesn’t end when you untack.
Work takes more out of your horse than you can always see: fluid loss through sweat, muscles under strain, and a digestive system that’s more sensitive post-exercise.
That’s where Refuel comes in.
Supporting faster muscle recovery, replenishing electrolytes for effective hydration, and formulated to be gut safe, it helps your horse recover properly 🩵
A good session doesn’t end when you untack.
Work takes more out of your horse than you can always see: fluid loss through sweat, muscles under strain, and a digestive system that’s more sensitive post-exercise.
That’s where Refuel comes in.
Supporting faster muscle recovery, replenishing electrolytes for effective hydration, and formulated to be gut safe, it helps your horse recover properly 🩵
Both Fibre Balance and Easy are part of our low calorie range but which suits your horse?
Pure Fibre Balance is built for good-doers who don’t need extra energy - low calorie, high fibre, fully balanced, and ideal for those in light work or at maintenance. It is like feeding a full cup of balancer with a handful of chaff. Everything your horse needs in one measured portion: high fibre, low sugar and starch, perfectly balanced.
Pure Easy uses the same ingredients, but served at a higher rate – more fibre, more slow-release energy, without adding extra sugar or starch. It’s the choice for horses that need extra bulk and sustained energy, while staying completely balanced and gut-friendly.
Not sure which would be best for your horse? Comment `DIET PLAN` to recieve a link to our diet plan 🩵
Both Fibre Balance and Easy are part of our low calorie range but which suits your horse?
Pure Fibre Balance is built for good-doers who don’t need extra energy - low calorie, high fibre, fully balanced, and ideal for those in light work or at maintenance. It is like feeding a full cup of balancer with a handful of chaff. Everything your horse needs in one measured portion: high fibre, low sugar and starch, perfectly balanced.
Pure Easy uses the same ingredients, but served at a higher rate – more fibre, more slow-release energy, without adding extra sugar or starch. It’s the choice for horses that need extra bulk and sustained energy, while staying completely balanced and gut-friendly.
Not sure which would be best for your horse? Comment `DIET PLAN` to recieve a link to our diet plan 🩵
Different workloads, different grazing, different quirks that make “one size fits all” feeding… not quite fit at all. That’s usually where the questions start.
"Am I feeding too much? Not enough? The right balance?"
Our diet plan service takes the guesswork out of it. A quick, simple form, reviewed by our nutritionists, and within a day, you’ve got a plan built specifically for your horse – their needs, their lifestyle, their routine.
👉 Comment `DIET PLAN` to find out more 🩵
Different workloads, different grazing, different quirks that make “one size fits all” feeding… not quite fit at all. That’s usually where the questions start.
"Am I feeding too much? Not enough? The right balance?"
Our diet plan service takes the guesswork out of it. A quick, simple form, reviewed by our nutritionists, and within a day, you’ve got a plan built specifically for your horse – their needs, their lifestyle, their routine.
👉 Comment `DIET PLAN` to find out more 🩵
Keep your good doers in top condition without overloading them with calories! 🌿🐴
Pure Easy is a low-calorie, low sugar and starch feed designed specifically for horses that gain weight easily. Despite the lower calories, it provides steady, slow-release energy from high-quality fibre and superfibre sources, perfect for horses in light to medium work.
It also contains a built-in balancer packed with essential vitamins, minerals, pre- & probiotics to support the gut microbiome, biotin for strong hooves, key amino acids for muscle maintenance, and added salt to help hydration.
This carefully formulated feed lets you give your horse the energy they need to perform, without risking excess weight gain , all in one simple, easy feed! 🩵
Keep your good doers in top condition without overloading them with calories! 🌿🐴
Pure Easy is a low-calorie, low sugar and starch feed designed specifically for horses that gain weight easily. Despite the lower calories, it provides steady, slow-release energy from high-quality fibre and superfibre sources, perfect for horses in light to medium work.
It also contains a built-in balancer packed with essential vitamins, minerals, pre- & probiotics to support the gut microbiome, biotin for strong hooves, key amino acids for muscle maintenance, and added salt to help hydration.
This carefully formulated feed lets you give your horse the energy they need to perform, without risking excess weight gain , all in one simple, easy feed! 🩵
Did you know Vitamin E, or Tocopheryl, is crucial for your horse’s overall health? All Pure Complete feeds include it in our balancer, ensuring your horse gets the benefits every day:
👉 Protects cells from oxidative stress – helping to neutralise free radicals.
👉 Supports muscle function and recovery – essential for exercise and stamina.
👉 Maintains a normal immune system – keeping your horse strong and resilient.
Including Vitamin E in every feed means your horse receives targeted antioxidant support alongside all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in our balancer. Perfect for keeping horses happy and performing at their best! 🌿
Did you know Vitamin E, or Tocopheryl, is crucial for your horse’s overall health? All Pure Complete feeds include it in our balancer, ensuring your horse gets the benefits every day:
👉 Protects cells from oxidative stress – helping to neutralise free radicals.
👉 Supports muscle function and recovery – essential for exercise and stamina.
👉 Maintains a normal immune system – keeping your horse strong and resilient.
Including Vitamin E in every feed means your horse receives targeted antioxidant support alongside all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in our balancer. Perfect for keeping horses happy and performing at their best! 🌿
Refuel comes with a splash zone warning!
A recovery mash horses just can`t get enough of! Packed with electrolytes, antioxidants and amino acids, Refuel works hard to keep your horse in tip top shape!
We would love to see a photo of your horse after a bowl of Refuel, drop them in the comments below 👇
Refuel comes with a splash zone warning!
A recovery mash horses just can`t get enough of! Packed with electrolytes, antioxidants and amino acids, Refuel works hard to keep your horse in tip top shape!
We would love to see a photo of your horse after a bowl of Refuel, drop them in the comments below 👇
What people say about Pure Feed
