With the show season now in full swing, many horses will be out competing on a regular basis which can impose additional requirements on the diet.  Several factors are involved in getting your horse to be in peak condition on the day, with diet playing a crucial role in helping your horse to look its best. Energy Energy is one of the most important considerations to take into account when designing a diet for a show horse.  If energy loss is greater than energy intake then weight, and subsequently, body condition will be lost and performance will be affected.  However, if a horse is receiving more energy than they are burning off daily then this will result in weight gain. If condition is required oils or fat supplemented diets are an excellent way of providing the horse with the additional calories.  If feeding straight oil in large quantities it is important to further supplement the horses diet with antioxidants or to use a high oil manufactured feed such as Rowen Barbary Sumo Original. Protein Regardless of the type of work the biggest factor affecting sound muscle development, coat and body condition is the type and quality of protein that the horse is receiving from his diet.  Certain amino acids including lysine and threonine are major components of muscle protein and are essential for growth, muscle development and repair. Protein is particularly important to the show horse and products like Rowen Barbary Muscle Builder can be added to the diet to help encourage overall muscle tone and development helping improve topline. Vitamins & Minerals It is vital that the horse is receiving adequate amounts on vitamins and minerals to ensure the healthy functioning of body systems to maintain general health and vitality. Studies have shown that competition horse may be deficient in B vitamin production due to low fibre, high starch diets coupled with the stress and the excitement of competition days.  B group vitamins are vital for enzyme function and for fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism as well as being required for the formation of blood cells so are vital for performance horses. Antioxidants such as Vitamin E and Selenium play an important role helping support the immune system and they are used to attract and bind free radicals, which when produced in excess can cause damage to your horse’s body. Special consideration must be made when feeding the show horse for optimum performance, but this does not have to be complicated.  With an extensive range of feeds Rowen Barbary have a product to meet with the dietary requirements of all types of horses and ponies, whatever their age or workload.