Timing of Meals for Horse Health and Performance

when needed.
Does Timing of Grain Meals Affect the Performance Horse?
In general small meals of forage like hay fed often are not only safe but advisable for performance horses. The timing of meals of concentrates like grain prior to performance events though can have a significant impact on the animals ability to perform no matter what his conditioning.
Meals that are high in sugars and starch are rapidly converted to glucose in the stomach and small intestine of the horse. The glucose is absorbed through the gut wall into the bloodstream and the increase in blood glucose elicits a corresponding increase in insulin secreted by the pancreas. The insulin facilitates the movement of the glucose into the tissues where it is stored as glycogen or fatty acids. Blood insulin levels after eating starchy meals are at their highest about two to three hours after feeding. Research has shown that this can have significant effects on the ability of the performance horse to utilize free fatty acids and glucose available in the tissues and bloodstream.
Aerobic exercise refers to cell metabolism in the presence of oxygen and in horses includes activities of a longer duration such as endurance or dressage. Aerobic exercise is largely accomplished through the oxidation of fuel sources. Efficient aerobic exercise relies on good cardiovascular fitness to continue to supply the cell with oxygen and a good supply of circulating fuel such as glucose and fatty acids. High levels of circulating insulin result in glucose being moved into the tissues for storage at the same time the requirement for them for energy for work is at the highest. This can drop the blood glucose down rapidly causing fatigue and the experience of your horse hitting the wall. High blood insulin levels can also put the brakes on body fat mobilization thereby reducing the amount of fatty acids circulating in the blood for fuel.
Anaerobic exercise refers to cell metabolism that takes place in the absence of oxygen. This would include speed work like jumping racing eventing and barrel racing. Good cardiovascular fitness is important in anaerobic metabolism because it facilitates the removal from the muscle cell of waste products like lactic acid which can accumulate during anaerobic metabolism. Most of the work our horses perform relies on a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy metabolism.
A very common practice is to give our horses a meal prior to transport to the show or