FEED ADVICE – DISCIPLINES
Ultimate Guide to Feeding a Show Horse
Feeding show horses requires a well-balanced diet tailored to their specific needs. Unlike horses used for leisure or light work, show horses face the unique demands of maintaining peak physical condition, a glossy coat, and the stamina necessary for performances. In this guide, we will explore the best practices for feeding show horses, ensuring they remain in top form for competition.
What is Showing?
Showing highlights a horse’s way of going, conformation, and turnout, with classes ranging from in-hand to ridden at all levels.
Horses need controlled calories from fibre and oil to maintain topline and shine without becoming excitable.
Quality protein, oils, and a balanced vitamin and mineral profile help promote coat condition and muscle tone.
A complete, fibre-based diet supports calm behaviour, digestive health, and that polished show ring appearance.
Understanding the Nutritional Needs of Show Horses
Show horses have distinct nutritional requirements, influenced by their breed, age, workload, and the demands of their discipline. The key goals in feeding a show horse are to:
Maintain Optimal Weight:
Show horses need to be neither too thin nor overweight. Achieving the ideal body condition score is crucial for aesthetics and performance.
Support Muscle Development:
High-quality protein is essential for muscle tone and recovery, especially for horses undergoing regular training.
Enhance Coat Condition:
A shiny, healthy coat is a sign of good nutrition and care. Specific nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, are vital in achieving this.
Provide Energy for Performance:
Show horses require a steady energy supply for training and competition without becoming too excitable or nervous.
Metabolic Requirements of Show Horses
Show horses have heightened metabolic demands due to the physical and mental stress of training and competition. Their energy needs are higher than those of horses at rest or in light work. To meet these demands, it’s important to provide a diet rich in both energy and essential nutrients. The primary sources of energy for show horses include carbohydrates, fats, and fibre:
Carbohydrates: Provide quick-release energy. However, too many simple carbohydrates (such as those found in cereals) can lead to excitability and digestive issues. It’s better to rely on complex carbohydrates from fibre sources.
Fats: Offer a concentrated source of energy and are ideal for slow-release energy, helping to maintain endurance without causing spikes in energy levels.
Proteins: Crucial for muscle development and repair. Show horses benefit from high-quality protein sources that supply essential amino acids necessary for muscle tone, recovery, and overall condition.
Key Components of a Show Horse’s Diet
Forage
High-Quality Hay: The foundation of any horse’s diet should be good-quality forage. For show horses, this means providing hay that is clean, free from dust, and rich in nutrients. Timothy and alfalfa are popular choices, offering a balance of fibre and protein.
Grass: If available, fresh grass provides a natural source of nutrition. However, it’s essential to monitor grazing to prevent overconsumption, especially in lush fields that may cause weight gain or exacerbate the risks of laminitis.
Hard Feed
Balancers: A high-specification feed balancer can be an excellent way to ensure that a show horse receives all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids without adding too many calories. Did you know that all our complete feeds already contain a balancer?
Conditioning Feeds: For horses that need to build or maintain condition, conditioning feeds are designed to provide extra calories through fats and fibres rather than starches, which can lead to excitability
Key Components of a Show Horse’s Diet
Protein Sources
Soybean Meal: High in essential amino acids, ideal for supporting muscle tone and recovery.
Linseed: Offers a balance of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, promoting both muscle health and coat condition.
Fat Sources
Oils: linseed oil provides a dense source of calories without increasing starch intake. It also contains a rich source of omega 3 for enhancing coat gloss!
Rice Bran: A popular feed additive, offering high fat content with additional protein and fibre.
Full-Fat Soya: Provides a combination of protein and fat, helping to support both muscle and energy levels.
Key Components of a Show Horse’s Diet
Supplements
Electrolytes: Especially important during the competition season, electrolytes help replenish salts lost through sweat during intense work.
Joint Support: Glucosamine, chondroitin, and other joint supplements can help support the long-term health of a horse’s joints, crucial for horses in demanding disciplines.
Skin and Coat Conditioners: Supplements rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can promote a shiny coat, while also supporting skin health. Adding a small amount of micronized linseed each day can help improve coat shine – check out our micronized linseed here!
Hydration
Always ensure that fresh, clean water is available. Hydration is critical, especially when travelling to shows or during warm weather.
Pure Feed has two different routes for hydration help – Meadow Mash and ReFuel! Both are made from micro quick soaking pellets that form tasty mashes! Meadow Mash can be fed at high volumes and only contains a pre and probiotic, whereas ReFuel is fed in smaller concentrated doses and contains all the ingredients your horse needs for recovery!
Feeding Tips for Show Horses
Energy Management: Opt for feeds that provide slow-release energy, helping to sustain your horse through long training sessions without causing spikes in energy levels.
Consistency is Key: Horses thrive on routine. Feed your show horse at the same times each day, and avoid sudden changes in diet, which can cause digestive upsets.
Monitor Body Condition: Regularly assess your horse’s body condition score (BCS). Adjust the diet as needed to maintain the ideal weight.
Manage Stress with Diet: If your horse becomes stressed during travel or at shows, consider feeds that include magnesium or other calming ingredients. However, always consult with your vet before adding new supplements.
Hear from the Expert – Ellis Grierson
Ellis Grierson is a successful show rider whose thoughtful approach to feeding plays a big part in her horses’ performance. In 2023, she and her 16-year-old pony Hummy took an impressive second place at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). Known for her dedication and strong bond with her horses, Ellis pays close attention to every part of their care – especially their nutrition.
Feeding to Support Performance
To keep Hummy in top condition throughout a busy show season, Ellis combines good-quality forage with carefully chosen hard feed. She feeds Pure Performance – our highest energy feed – to give Hummy the stamina and sparkle needed in the ring.
Oats give quick-release energy for instant performance.
Oil provides long-lasting, controlled power for stamina.
Fibre supports digestive health – essential during busy show days.
All-in-one formula keeps feeding simple and balanced.
Pure Performance also supports topline and muscle tone – vital for horses in the show ring where condition and appearance matter just as much as performance.
What We Recommend for Show Horses
Made in the UK
We are proud to say that all of our feeds are produced here in the UK
FREE Shipping
We offer FREE SHIPPING for all orders in the UK with 15 bags and over*
Sustainable
We are dedicated to playing our part in making the world more sustainable
100% Natural
We use high-quality ingredients and no unnecessary additives.
Thousands of people love our feeds
The hard work doesn’t end when the ride stops.
Whether it’s a competition, a schooling session, travelling, or simply coping with hot weather, giving your horse the right support afterwards can make all the difference to how they feel the next day.
Hydration, muscle function, digestive support and replenishing what’s lost through sweat all play a huge role in keeping horses comfortable, healthy and ready to go again.
That’s why we created Pure Refuel 💧🐴
An easy-to-feed recovery mash designed to support horses after work; without relying on cereals or unnecessary sugar 🍒🩵
Your horse’s feed should do more than just fill a bucket 👀
At Pure Feed, our complete range is formulated to be just that: complete. Meaning your horse gets balanced nutrition in every bite, without the need for endless extras and complicated feeding plans 🌱
Each feed combines:
✔️ High-quality fibre for digestive health
✔️ Added vitamins & minerals for daily balance
✔️ Essential amino acids to support topline & muscle
✔️ Linseed & rapeseed oil for slow-release energy
✔️ Pre & probiotics to support the gut microbiome
Because feeding your horse shouldn’t feel like solving a science equation every day 🧪
Whether you have a happy hacker, competition horse, veteran or good doer, the goal stays the same:
➡️ Simple feeding
➡️ Consistent nutrition
➡️ Healthy horses
☀️ Grass might look like the perfect summer feed… but appearances can be deceiving.
Lush grazing can provide plenty of calories, but it doesn’t always provide the balanced nutrition your horse actually needs to support:
⬇️ Muscle function
⬇️ Hoof quality
⬇️ Gut health
⬇️ Recovery
⬇️ Energy levels
⬇️ Overall performance & condition
As grass grows rapidly through summer, nutrient levels can fluctuate massively, and key vitamins, minerals, quality protein and electrolytes are often still lacking.
That’s why at Pure Feed all of our feeds are designed as complete feeds 🩵
Meaning every scoop contains:
✔️ High-quality fibre
✔️ Added vitamins & minerals
✔️ Pre & probiotics for gut support
✔️ Linseed & rapeseed oil for slow-release energy
✔️ Essential amino acids to support topline & muscle
No complicated feed rooms. No balancing guesswork. Just simple, complete nutrition that works with your horse`s gut not against it 🌱
It’s a really common misconception that Pure Feed has “higher feeding rates” than other brands. That perception usually comes from how different feeds are structured, not how much nutrition the horse is actually receiving.
Firstly, many traditional feeding systems are built across multiple separate products: a chaff for fibre, a balancer for vitamins and minerals, a mix or cube for energy, and then additional supplements for gut health, hoof condition, or muscle support. Because these elements are often purchased individually, it’s easy not to fully register just how many separate feeds are being used to build the daily ration.
Secondly, when you compare feeding rates in isolation, it can also be misleading. A single product, such as a chaff, may appear to have a lower recommended intake on its own, but that’s because it’s only contributing one part of the overall diet. The rest of the nutrition comes from other bags, buckets, and supplements.
Our Complete feeds are formulated differently. Everything is already built in; a balanced fibre base, carefully selected energy sources, a full vitamin and mineral profile, plus targeted functional support for gut health, muscle function, and hoof strength. Because of that, the feeding rate can look slightly higher when compared directly to a single-component product like a chaff, but you’re actually seeing the full ration in one place rather than just part of it.
It simplifies the whole routine, reduces the need to juggle multiple products, and ensures consistency in every mouthful 🩵
Final week ⏳
£5 off Pure Stud ends soon!
If you’re looking for a complete, balanced feed to support youngstock, mares or stallions, now is the time to try!
With higher protein levels, a full balancer, and a formulation free from cereals, molasses, soya and alfalfa, Pure Stud offers a simple and effective feeding solution.
Available in-store and online 🩵
Molasses is commonly used in horse feeds as a cheap palatability enhancer, effectively adding sweetness to make heavily processed or less naturally palatable ingredients more appealing.
The issue is that this approach also increases the overall sugar content of the diet, while encouraging reliance on flavouring rather than formulation quality. For some horses, this can contribute to unnecessary spikes in dietary sugar intake and inconsistent energy levels, particularly in more sensitive types.
That’s why the Pure Feed range is completely molasses-free.
We don’t rely on added sweetness or masking agents to make our feed tastier. Instead, we focus on naturally palatable, fibre-led formulations with slow-release energy sources, supporting steadier intake, more consistent condition, and a more transparent approach to nutrition.
Want to learn more about our molasses free feeds ? Link in bio 🩵
Feeding shouldn’t feel like building a puzzle every morning 🧩
A complete feed brings everything together in one consistent, carefully formulated ration; designed to deliver fibre, energy, vitamins, minerals and protein in the right proportions, every time.
Instead of relying on multiple buckets, supplements, and guesswork, you’re giving the horse a single, balanced foundation that supports gut health, condition, and performance as one joined-up system.
Because when nutrition is already complete, everything else becomes simpler, keeping them feeling their best, day in, day out🐴 🩵
A complete feed should do more than just “fill a gap”; it should actively support the horse from the inside out, every single day.
That’s why the Pure Complete range goes further, building in targeted support through Gut Support, Muscle Support, and Hoof Support packages as standard = not as add-ons, not as extras, but as part of the formulation itself.
So instead of juggling separate supplements and hoping everything adds up, you’ve got a fully balanced feed that supports digestion, topline, strength, and hoof health in one simple system.
Complete nutrition, complete support = all in one bucket 🩵
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. 🐴
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 🩵
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! 🍀🩵
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.
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 🩵
What people say about Pure Feed
