At the recent Pacific Northwest Endurance Rides annual convention, I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Susan Garlinghouse’s series of three talks on endurance horse hydration and nutrition.
Although I’ve heard these lectures before, there’s always something to learn or remember! This time around, Atlas’ owner Layne and I sat in the back, scribbling notes. Then, we scuttled off to our hotel room and spent some quality time with Google and a spreadsheet.
We discovered that although we were pretty close to meeting Dr. Garlinghouse’s recommendations, we could make a few changes to support Atlas’ performance even better. Among other things, we zoomed in on the quantity of fat in his diet.
Why focus on fat?
3 Benefits of a High-Fat Diet for Endurance Horses
Dr. Garlinghouse highlights three, significant benefits of feeding endurance horses a high-fat diet:
#1. Concentrated Source of Calories
Because endurance horses burn so many calories in the course of their work, dietary fat (which provides 9 calories per gram, vs 4 calories per gram in proteins and carbohydrates) is an efficient means of helping the horse meet his daily energy needs.
#2. Body Temperature Regulation
During digestion, dietary fat burns “cooler” than protein, producing less metabolic waste in the form of heat. This translates to less heat that the horse must dissipate during work, which in turn supports the endurance rider’s top priority: her horse’s hydration status.
#3. Optimal and Abundant Energy Source
Bodyfat is the endurance horse’s most important fuel source during aerobic work. He isn’t going to run out of bodyfat, even during a tough 100-mile ride. For all intents and purposes, it is an unlimited source of energy as long as the horse can tap into it…a process which requires glycogen.
The horse will be best able to utilize his bodyfat for fuel – thus sparing his limited supply of glycogen – if he is adapted to a high-fat diet.
What Exactly IS a High-Fat Diet for Endurance Horses?
Dr. Garlinghouse defines a high fat diet as one including 2 cups of dietary fat per day. Additionally, she notes that fat adaptation requires 8-11 weeks on a high fat diet.
Note that the high fat diet is fed for 2-3 months leading up to a ride, in order to achieve fat adaptation resulting in the horse’s ability to efficiently access his bodyfat stores for energy during an endurance ride. This is not the same as feeding the horse high fat meals during competition.
Dr. Garlinghouse emphasizes that the horse relies on bodyfat on race day – not dietary fat. She suggests replacing high fat feeds with forage beginning the evening before a ride, in order to promote better gut motility.
So, we want to feed 2 cups of dietary fat daily, except immediately before and during competition. Got it.
But what exactly does 2 cups of dietary fat look like in a form your horse will actually eat?
How to Calculate Fat Volume In Your Endurance Horse's Diet
Since feed labels list fat as a percentage, figuring out how to get two cups of fat into your horse daily requires a bit of math.
Most of the feeds and supplements you buy won’t be pure fat, of course. Even “high fat” performance feeds tend to run about 12% fat. Then there’s rice bran, flaxseed, and other products, all containing various percentages of fat.
How much of each feed does it take to get up to 2 cups of fat per day? What if I dial the performance feed up and the flax down? What if I add some marine oil for its anti-inflammatory benefits?
The mental mixing and matching gets out of control quickly!
This is why, back in our hotel room at the PNER convention, Layne googled the fat content of various feeds while I created a spreadsheet to easily calculate how much fat (in cups) Atlas would be eating with various combinations of feed, based on their fat percentage and the volume fed (also in cups). Here’s an example:
Using the calculator, we experimented with different feed combinations until we arrived at a palatable selection with sufficient fat to promote fat adaptation. Our final combination was close to what Atlas has been eating, but we did need to add even more fat to get to 2 cups.
Importantly, Layne and I discovered that we didn’t have a great “eyeball” for how many cups we’d been feeding, so borrowing an actual measuring cup from the kitchen was crucial for accuracy!
If you’d like to use the calculator yourself, just drop your email below and I’ll send it your way. Simply enter the details of your feed selections using the labels on your feed bags and let the calculator do the math.
Then, you can adjust the quantity of different feeds you’re offering in order to arrive at Dr. Garlinghouse’s 2-cup daily fat recommendation.
Learn More
If you haven’t had an opportunity to hear Dr. Garlinghouse’s talks lately, you can read all the important details in her articles on the AERC website:
Beating the Metabolic Pull Part 1 – Hydration
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