Bringing the Sport Horse Back into Work for the Competition Season

As the competition season begins, many sport horses will be returning to work after a winter break. Successfully bringing a horse back into work requires careful management of both exercise and nutrition. The goal is to rebuild fitness gradually, achieve optimal body condition, and supply the nutrients needed to support performance while minimising injury and digestive upset.

Assess Body Condition First

After turnout and time off, some horses come back overweight, often at a body condition score of 6–7 or higher. For these horses, the first weeks of training should focus on safe weight reduction as well as conditioning.

Forage should remain the foundation of the diet, supported by a ration balancer such as Plusvital Sport Syrup to provide vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants without excess calories. Its prebiotic content also supports gut health during the transition back into work, particularly where calorie intake may initially be restricted.

Horses that have lost condition or topline over winter will require additional energy from a suitable complete feed alongside good-quality forage. More reactive horses may benefit from lower-starch feeding strategies and calming gut support such as Plusvital Tryptocool to help maintain focus during early training. Horses lacking muscle development may benefit from targeted amino acid support such as Plusvital MyoMax EQ.

Rebuilding Fitness Safely

Despite appearing fresh, horses lose significant musculoskeletal and cardiovascular fitness during a break. Exercise must therefore increase gradually.

Long, slow distance work for the first four to six weeks is essential for conditioning horses for competition. It strengthens tendons and ligaments while developing aerobic fitness and respiratory efficiency. Introducing intensity too early greatly increases injury risk.

As workload increases, sweating also intensifies, making electrolyte replacement important. Low sugar, low dose Plusvital Electrolyte Plus includes vitamins C&E - so not only does it offer hydration support, but also muscle function and recovery. Used in conjunction with Sport Syrup it offers a powerful antioxidant cocktail to help your sport horse during this adaptation to training.

Progressing to Strength and Speed

After the initial conditioning phase, discipline-specific strength work, such as schooling, small jumping efforts or hill work, can be introduced two to three times weekly. As intensity rises, duration should decrease accordingly.

Closer to competition, some horses require faster work. Galloping and interval training should be introduced carefully, ensuring adequate recovery between efforts to minimise injury risk.

Adapting the Diet to Workload

As the horse becomes fitter and body condition stabilises, energy demands increase. Any dietary adjustments should be done gradually over 7-10 days.

Energy should ideally come from fibre and oils (such as Plusvital Carron Oil) rather than excessive starch, helping avoid digestive disturbances and behavioural excitability. Meals should be little and often.

High-quality protein supports muscle repair, while antioxidants aid recovery. Clean water and appropriate electrolyte support remain essential throughout training.

Supporting Performance and Longevity

Correct sport horse nutrition early in the season lays the foundation for performance and durability. Adequate forage, a balanced feed or balancer, and targeted supplements help meet requirements, but every horse must be managed individually based on temperament, workload and condition.

A gradual, structured approach protects health and supports a long and successful competition season.

Every horse is an individual, speak to one of the Plusvital team for nutritional advice on what’s best suited to yours.