07/31/2026
"My horse came home from the trainer's in poor body condition."
How often we see that type of post is infuriating as a trainer! There is no excuse for this! And you WON'T find that here! We might not have a "big" program.....yet.... but that doesn't mean we don't do the best we can while the horse is in OUR care! Though we can't work miracles in short time spans, horses still head home looking better than they arrived, even if they were "just" in halter training/handling, or a light under saddle start. It doesn't matter. FITNESS is part of training, feeding and care is part of horsemanship and part of a trainer's (or their staff's) job!
So often, these are young horses, who already have higher nutritional requirements due to growth, but now are also expected to perform at a specific level, often 5 days a week in a full time training program. For the average c**t starter, the horse may or may not get worked "hard" as truly defined in the NRC charts, but in a performance program, the nutritional requirements are arguably double! You have to account for their needs for good quality growth, the nutrient requirements on top of that now that they are working, AND "gains" in order for them to not drop condition during their training. Yes, there is a difference between fat and fit, but most of the posts I see, are under condition, under muscled, and/or underweight. Vitamins, minerals, quality protein. You name it, it IS required even if you don't think so. To put it simply - pasture alone, or a few flakes of hay alone is NOT sufficient for a young, growing horse in training! If a specific horse isn't gaining, it is between the trainer and the owner, and likely a vet, to figure out WHY! Could be as simple as a change of feed, a teeth float, or perhaps something else. A horse cannot gain adequate muscle if their body is not getting the nutrients they require. Protein, lysine, other amino acids, calcium, magnesium, Vitamin E and MORE are all required for muscle development and you have to not only meet their growth requirements, but then MORE, in order to also ensure they have enough for growing AND working, all while still GAINING!
I will always remember a conversation a few years ago with a client when she dropped off her horse - a young draft horse who arrived in impecable condition. She said "I know its expected for horses to drop a bit during training, but try not to let him loose too much." Thinking to myself, um no, that is NOT normal..... I simply said "You won't find that problem here." She repeated herself, saying how a little drop was ok, but he was a large, growing draft horse.... I cut her off. "That doesn't happen here." She nodded, trusting the trainer she had chosen. After his initial 30days, she came out to see him and was thrilled with how he looked. THAT is how it should be! THAT needs to be normalized!
Good, reputable trainers will have their own specialized feed program! If you want your horse on something else, you might have to supply it. If the boarding farm where the trainer is working at is not feeding the horse adequately, then the trainer should be getting that sorted for the horse's in their care! You CANNOT expect a horse to perform if you are not fueling their body! Yes, feed is expensive, but that IS part of the job!
With that said, here at DSH and Wolf Hollow Ranch, we DO have a specialized feed program and each horse that comes through our doors gets put into our special spreadsheet that is designed to balance their diets down to each individual nutrient according to the Nutrient Requirement Charts for Equines, based on size, work level and other requirements. That feed program includes free choice salt, free choice mixed alfalfa/grass hay, and either once a day or twice a day feedings of their feed ration of ZS Farms milled green peas, whole brown flax, Hoffmans loose mineral and if needed, whole oats.
Though we expect horses, that have been halter broke and are expected under saddle, to arrive in good body condition to get right to work, we still strive to ensure the horse heads home not just trained, but also looking better than they arrived! If they show up underweight, undermuscled, we "beef them up". If they show up overweight, we do what we can in the time allotted to get them to a healthier body condition while still fueling their bodies correctly! Of course, we can't work miracles, but it is ALL part of the program, and included in the fees. A trainer's job isn't JUST to ride them, and if you are a trainer and think it is, you are missing the horsemanship part of the entire thing! We need to do better as an entire industry, and that all starts at the individual level. Owners and industry professionals alike need to be more aware of the nutrition requirements, and then simply FEED the horse!
We also have 20kg bags of the ZS Farms feeds available for customers! For those folks that want to continue with the same feed program after their horses are done with us, OR that just want a quality, whole ingredient feed program for their horse that covers all the bases, without being overly processed and full of fillers that just aren't necessary. There is no need to over complicate it with a feed room full of supplements and bins, you won't find that here. Just quality, clean feeds, and free choice forage (pasture or hay), as nature intended. We have an entire album of "before/afters" to prove it! Pictured are just a handful of examples.
