Basics

Our understanding of performance is shaped by our own experience. If you look at today's long-distance hiking routes, daily distances of 10-15 miles are recommended. In a report about the first ascent of the Matterhorn, Reinhard Messner mentioned that in 1870 the normal hiking distance was 40 mls per day. And not with Nike's ultralight, but with heavy iron-clad boots and 60 lbs of rope.
 
Our robust horses have not changed.  They are still able to walk 20 miles at night while grazing. And then do another 30 miles a day, so close to 50 miles.  But the average rider gets tired after 15 miles of riding. 

When it comes to feeding, we look at what the horse needs to maintain its bodily functions, (1-2 % of its health weight) then we look at what he needs working extensively.  But it's not what we see ourselves as working hard, but what it means for our horse to work hard. And these are two different things.  In other words, working hard for the horse is not 15 miles of trail riding on the plain, but starts at 20-30 miles depending on the terrain.  That's why there is no need to feed your horse double the rations he gets for body maintenance, except if it did 20 miles or more in strenuous terrain.
 
When we talk about performance horse feed, we are not talking about fragrances and oat-free. These are products sold by the industry to increase profits. However, they are usually completely unnecessary, if not counterproductive, or in the worst case, harmful.
 
The best performance feed we can give our horses is still oats or barley. It contains the best combination of amino acids and proteins that can be utilized by the horse's body.
 
When your 800 lbs horse has covered 30 miles a day, they would have to eat 12 lbs of hay to replentish the calories it has expended.  This corresponds to 150% of normal requirements.  For 12 lbs of hay the horse needs approx.  480 minutes. That's 8 hours to eat it. To give the horse more time to rest, we give, for example, 2 lbs of oats and thus save the horse 4 lbs of hay and thus 1 1/3 hours of time. For 4 lbs of oats that would be around 2 1/2 hours.
 
The disadvantage of this is that oats and barley are quickly converted into sugar, so their energy is dissipated in a shorter time. While the energy supplier hay provides long-lasting energy. Similar to a chocolate bar versus a portion of Carbs.

Make sure your horse gets to graze every 2-4 hours, for 20-30 minutes, so its stomach has something to work on, all the time.
 
The only thing we regularly give our horses on long trail rides, especially when they have been sweating a lot,  is salt or mineral feed.  We dissolve it in the water and pour it over
the hay.  I get salt in every restaurant, it doesn't have to come from the Himalayas.

​

An important note at the end:
14 days before the tour, my horses get a lot of different added feeds in small quantities.  For example, ground corn, oats and barley and, if available, a mixed feed from a bag so that the intestinal bacteria are there to be able to digest the performance feed that I get on the go.

​