Where to Buy
Best Supplements for the Dressage Horse
While the foundation diet of every dressage horse should be a plentiful supply of high-quality forage and an appropriate concentrate, there are specific elements of performance and health that can be targeted to gain that extra margin. We can split these into sections and take a look at some products that can target these areas:
Muscle Health
Amino acids for Horses: Having a readily absorbable, high-quality supply of amino acids in your horse’s diet is essential for developing and maintaining strong, well-defined muscle to make your horse perform and look at their absolute best. Training regimes can be hard on the dressage horse, and supplying these key amino acids, particularly in the early stages of your training regime, can be challenging as feed intake may be lower during this time. Offering these amino acids via a supplement can be advantageous, and Muscle Prep, our muscle builder for horses, can supply all the essential amino acids in a hydrolyzed protein formulation ensuring optimal absorption. Muscle Prep also provides the potent antioxidant vitamin E to support muscle function and recovery, plus B vitamins for horses to promote efficient protein metabolism.
Antioxidants for Horses: Oxidative stress is a normal part of all physiological processes, but it can have detrimental effects; antioxidants are required to combat excessive oxidative stress and keep the balance just right. Vitamin E and selenium for horses are two of the most commonly used antioxidants to optimize recovery in dressage horses.
Depending on your horse’s diet, they may benefit from additional levels of these key nutrients. Muscle Max, our muscle supplement for horses provides Vitamin E, Selenium, and the key amino acid lysine for horses also which are all designed to promote muscle function during exercise and optimal recovery post-exercise. Muscle Max also makes a great follow-on product after Muscle Prep has supported your horse in reaching optimal musculature; Muscle Max works to maintain it.
Electrolytes for Horse: An equine-specific formulation such as Equi-Lyte G or Refuel both provide a complete electrolyte package, with added antioxidants to optimize your horse’s recovery from training, minimizing muscle stiffness post-exercise. Refuel comes in a handy single-use syringe (available in a pack of 3) and also provides a range of B vitamins to help get your horse eating well again after exercise. Electrolytes are particularly important in hot climates such as the Middle East as horses lose a lot more electrolytes through sweating. Choosing a quality equine electrolyte is vital to promote recovery is important for the busy competition season.
Joint Health
The highly skilled and precise movements required by dressage horses place significant demands on the skeletal system and, in particular, on the joints. Providing targeted nutrition to support joint health in these powerful horses is essential, and Ost-O-Flex, our equine joint supplement is a great way to do this. Providing tried and tested ingredients including glucosamine and MSM, plus marine collagen as a source of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin, Ost-O-Flex is an effective all-round joint supplement for horses formulated to keep your horse supple and moving freely from the early stages of training up to and throughout advanced levels.
Digestive Tract Support
The stresses and day-to-day regimen of the competition season leave all performance horses with a certain degree of vulnerability to poor digestive health. Fibre is key to digestive health, and providing an excellent source of forage, hay or haylage, on an ad libitum basis is essential. Avoiding stress is almost impossible, and with travel, competition, environment changes, and training all being part of normal life for dressage horses, providing additional support for the digestive tract is essential. Nutri-Gard, our equine calmer can offer this support to your horse through proven and effective ingredients including:
Postbiotic: Promote optimal gut and immune health.
Prebiotic: Support a healthy hindgut microbiome.
B-vitamins: Promote appetite and optimize feed utilization.
Pectin: Helps to buffer stomach acid.
L-Threonine: Essential for mucin production, which lines and protects the digestive tract.
DL-Methionine: Aids intestinal enzyme activity.
Oat fibre: Naturally rich in beta-glucans.
Apple flavour: Highly palatable.
Targeted Competition Support
Pre-Fuel: This is an energy supplement for horses in convenient single-use syringe in a gel format and is for horses that require extra support to sustain energy levels. Pre-Fuel contains the branched-chain amino acids valine, leucine, and isoleucine, highly regarded for their ability to delay the onset of muscle fatigue; B vitamins to promote energy metabolism; Vitamin E for its potent antioxidant benefits and key minerals to support muscle function.
Re-Fuel: Keeping a syringe of Re-Fuel, our recovery supplements for horses at the ready to provide key electrolytes post-exercise to promote recovery from competition and ensure your horse is ready and happy to start work the following day.
B-Complete: This is a specially formulated and comprehensive B-vitamin supplement for horses to support and promote appetite in horses that may go off their feed either leading up to or throughout the competition.
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Nicolas Gaumerais
Group Commercial Manager GCC Region
Based in the UAE, Nicolas Gaumerais is the Commercial Manager of the Connolly's RED MILLS Group which includes Foran Equine supplements and Connolly's RED MILLS horse feed in the GCC region. Nicholas regularly travels across the Gulf.