The off-season is a reset period for competitive horses. Training intensity decreases, show schedules slow and many horses transition into lighter work or maintenance programs. While activity levels may change, a horse’s digestive system remains highly sensitive to diet shifts, making the off-season an important time to feed with intention.
Rather than simply cutting back, nutrition should focus on maintaining digestive health, supporting body condition and delivering calories in a form that aligns with the reduced workload.
Subtle changes can be easy to miss
One of the challenges of feeding during noncompetitive periods is that nutrition-related issues can develop gradually. During the winter months, for instance, thick coats can mask changes in condition, and daily familiarity can make small losses hard to spot.
Dr. Abby Geick, DVM and Sentinel Horse Nutrition Ambassador, sees this frequently in her practice. “Weight loss is kind of insidious,” she explains. “You probably don’t notice it if you look at the horse every day, until you see the shadow of the ribs or you can see their topline a bit more.”
That’s why she encourages horse owners, especially those managing competitive horses during a season of lighter activity, to rely on body condition scoring, weight tapes and consistent monitoring rather than visual impressions alone.
Start with the total diet
As with any feeding program, off-season nutrition should begin with the total diet, not just what’s in the bucket.
Forage should remain the foundation of the horse’s diet, even when workload decreases. Consistent fiber intake supports digestive function, helps maintain gut motility and contributes to overall comfort during colder months.
From there, choices should be adjusted thoughtfully. Competitive horses may not need the same calorie load they require during peak training, but they still need balanced nutrition to maintain muscle, topline and overall health.
Why extruded feeds make sense during downtime
Extruded feeds, like Sentinel, differ from traditional pellets because the ingredients are cooked using heat, moisture and pressure. This process breaks down starches and proteins, making nutrients easier for the horse to digest and absorb.
Supporting digestive efficiency
From a clinical perspective, Dr. Geick often considers digestibility when recommending feeds, particularly during seasonal transitions. “The hindgut in the horse obviously is very important,” she says. “And the best way that we can currently support it is by providing accurate, good nutrition.”
Extrusion improves starch digestibility earlier in the digestive tract, which can help limit the amount of undigested starch reaching the hindgut, an important consideration for horses prone to digestive sensitivity.
An off-season-appropriate energy profile
Many extruded feeds are formulated to provide calories through higher fat and fiber levels while limiting starch and sugar. This can be especially useful during periods of lighter work, when horses need controlled energy rather than quick-burning calories.
“Due to its processing, extruded feed like Sentinel has lower starches and it contains a little bit more fat,” Geick explains.
This balance can help competitive horses maintain condition without overloading the digestive system during the off-season.
Slower consumption and gastric buffering
Another benefit Dr. Geick often highlights is how extruded feeds influence eating behavior. “If it’s taking them longer to eat, that’s actually better,” she says. “They chew more per pound of feed, which is better for their dentition, and produces more saliva as a buffering effect into their stomach.”
During the off-season, horses may spend more time in their stalls and experience longer periods between forage intake. In those situations, feeding rate becomes an important consideration. Slower intake encourages chewing and saliva production, both of which may benefit digestive health and efficiency.
Mash-friendly flexibility
“The extruded feed also breaks down really well in a mash format,” Geick notes. Mash feeding can provide extra hydration for horses that may not be drinking enough water, while also improving palatability and supporting consistency when off-season routines disrupt normal feeding patterns. For some horses, mash feeding may also help reduce the risk of digestive upsets.
What off-season success looks like
The benefits of a well-matched, noncompetitive diet are often visible and measurable. Dr. Geick finds that once owners see progress, confidence in the feeding program follows.
“Owners are very visual learners,” she explains. “Once the horse is on the proper diet for six to eight weeks and they can see the positive changes, and then see the horse maintain that weight, that’s usually when it clicks.”
She points to her own horse, Mackey, as an example. After switching him to an extruded senior feed, she was able to reduce the amount fed while maintaining body condition. “I was actually able to decrease the volume of grain he was eating,” Abby says. “He’s now down to 1-1/2 pounds twice a day and maintaining his weight.”
A simple off-season framework for competitive horses
When adjusting diets for a lighter-work season, consider these steps:
- Define the workload
Is the horse fully let down, in light maintenance work or still training consistently? - Adjust with purpose
Changes may include reducing total calories, selecting a feed with a different energy profile or choosing a feed form that supports digestibility and gut health. - Monitor and refine
Track body condition, weight trends, manure consistency, appetite and overall attitude, making gradual adjustments as needed. - Make changes slowly
Always make any feed program changes gradually over a 5–7-day period.
The takeaway
The off-season is not a pause button for nutrition. For competitive horses, it’s a transition period that requires thoughtful feeding decisions to support digestive health, body condition and long-term performance.
By prioritizing forage, monitoring condition closely and choosing feeds like extruded varieties, designed for digestibility and controlled energy delivery, horse owners can help their horses come through winter healthy, comfortable and ready for the season ahead.
As Dr. Geick puts it, “With the proper medical management and the proper diet, you do see positive results.”
