Delivering feed to the British horses in stabling at WEG. Photo courtesy of KER.
What goes into feeding all of the horses during the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games? Kentucky Equine Research is the Official Equine Nutritionist of Tryon, and they coordinated getting familiar feeds from around the world to the horses competing.
Now that WEG is in full swing, KER’s focus has shifted to getting the feed delivered to all the horses in stabling. In week one, the KER crew delivered 1,093 bags of finished feed and 107 bags of grains. Of the grains, whole oats and rolled oats are the most popular, while steam-crimped oats are less popular. KER has also delivered cracked corn, flax seed, rolled barley, sugar beet pulp shreds and wheat bran.
KER has also delivered 2,945 bales of hay. Competitors have been offered two cuttings of timothy hay, as well as alfalfa and orchard grass. The timothy hay has by far been the most popular, with a nearly 50-50 split between the first- and second-cutting varieties.
With high heat and humidity in North Carolina, demand has increases for electrolytes. KER offers powder and paste versions of their electrolyte products, as well as traditional salt blocks. In week one KER distributed 233 tubes of electrolyte paste, plus 73 packs of electrolyte powder (typically a 20-serving supply for a single horse) and several larger containers of electrolyte powder for larger teams. Five-pound white salt blocks were requested by 86 athletes.
KER received 1,300 treat orders in week one. These deliveries included:
- 137 bushel boxes of apples (40 pounds each)
- 253 bags of apples (5 pounds each)
- 453 large bags of carrots (25 pounds each)
- 441 small bags of carrots (5 pounds each)
- And 15 REALLY big bags of carrots — 50 pounds each!
That’s 21,025 pounds of treats for the horses at Tryon, or 10.5 tons.
The KER crew working in the stables is a mix of full-time employees, research interns and volunteers. Thank you to the KER crew for working hard to make sure the horses at WEG have all the feed and treats they need.
The KER interns even got a front-row seat to watch the show jumping finale at WEG on Monday:
The KER interns, from left: Vera, Kenyan, Shannon and Julia. Not pictured are Caroline, Emma and Ciara, who also helped in week one. Photo courtesy of KER.
KER is blogging behind the scenes on the process of feeding all the horses at WEG. Click here to read the latest news.
