Horse eventing at all levels requires an event horse that possesses athleticism, concentration, agility and stamina. Making sure that your event horse is getting all the nutrition they need from their diet will help to ensure they can perform to the best of their ability.

Top Tips

• Feed the event horse specifically for their level of work or competition and continually re-assess this to ensure your event horse is getting everything they need to be successful event horse. 
• Event horses will still need a minimum of 1.5-2% of their total bodyweight in fibre such as ad lib forage over a 24hr period.
• Ensure your event horse is receiving a good quality source of protein to help with muscle development and repair when training and competing at an event.
• If your event horse has had an extra hard day at competition, feed an electrolyte to replace the ions lost through the sweat.
• Event horses should also be treated as non-event horses and turned out for some time during the day.

Recommended Blue Chip Products For An Event Horse

For The Beginner Event Horse

Blue Chip Original is the perfect feed balancer for event horses up to Pre-novice level. Original contains the optimum level of vitamins, minerals and nutrients required to give an event horse the right amount of energy and strength an event horse requires to deal with an event.

Blue Chip Original also has a high level of probiotic, which increases fibre digestion and encourages the beneficial bacteria in the gut to thrive. This high level of probiotic in Blue Chip Original will double the digestibility of any fibre in your event horse’s diet. Feeding Blue Chip Orginal alongside ad lib forage means you should be able to reduce the amount of additional hard feed fed, benefiting the event horse’s digestive system and also potentially reducing feed bills.

For The High Level Event Horse

Blue Chip Pro is ideal to feed when work becomes more demanding. It incorporates a blood building formula, a prebiotic and an elevated specification of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to help support the equine athlete when travelling and competing at a higher level. You should also continue to feed Blue Chip Pro if your event horse has to have a period of box rest, to help maintain muscle tone and condition, hence helping to reduce the length of time taken to bring them back into full work.

Joint Protection For The Event Horse

An event horse needs suppleness and joint protection. Your event horse will be faced with the high impact of jumping over fences during show jumping as well as racing at speed during the cross country event.  Using a liquid joint supplement like Blue Chip’s Joint RLF, which incorporates the rosehip extract Rosa canina, Hyaluronic acid (HLA), Organic MSM, yucca, organic manganese chilate, vitamin C and glucosamine HCL to aid your event horse by protecting and conditioning the joints and ensuring optimum flexibility.

For The Spooky Event Horse

Travelling to an event often leads to a spooky event horse which is no good when it comes to the time your event horse needs to perform. For better concentration and a calmer temperament, give your event horse Blue Chip Karma which contains a superior, water-soluble form of magnesium that can be quickly absorbed into the blood stream. This means your event horse is calmer much quicker and ready to compete in an event.

Blue Chip products are used by eventing riders such as Kristina Cook, Lisa Pilbeam, Susie Clark & Giovanni Ugolotti.

If you would like to discuss feeding an event horse in more detail, please contact Blue Chip on 0114 266 6200 or email us on info@bluechipfeed.com

Olympic medallist, Kristina Cook tells Blue Chip about her up and coming events.

Two of our sponsored riders have exciting news; Charlie Hutton, our sponsored dressage rider, is currently taking part as a member of the dressage team at the FEI Young Riders European Championships, in Kronenburg, Germany. And our sponsored eventing rider, Kristina Cook, has been selected for the World Equestrian Games Eventing squad, to be held in Kentucky.

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We wish them both the best of luck.

Our sponsored eventing rider, Kristina Cook, has been selected for the World Equestrian Games Eventing squad, to be held in Kentucky.  We wish Kristina, and all of the GB squad, the very best of luck.

International event rider Kristina Cookis acknowledged as a skilled producer of young event horses and at this time of year, when many riders are introducing young horses to cross country courses, we have asked Kristina to share her tips on building experience and confidence in a natural, easy way. 

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Kristina’s recent tally of international medals includes Team and Individual gold at the European Championships and Team and Individual bronze at the 2008 Olympics, all with her talented ride Miners Frolic, who is fed Blue Chip Pro, the nutrient dense feed balancer for the fit performance horse and Blue Chip Joint RLF, the award winning liquid joint supplement. 

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Her starting point is to ensure that a young horse is fit enough, confident and under control jumping at home before thinking about going for a first cross country schooling session. She explains, “When you are ready, always arrange to go with someone who can give you a lead on an experienced horse in case you have problems. The other reason for company is that anyone can have a fall when cross country schooling and need help, so don’t ever go alone.

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“Whatever you are doing, be patient and never rush a young horse. Remember that the horse needs to be confident over smaller fences before you ask him to jump bigger ones, so start off trotting to a fence if the horse is unsure, then pick up canter and repeat the fence to encourage confidence. You can jump a number of single fences in a schooling session and then jump a few together as the horse becomes more confident. 

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“When it comes to water, you need to allow a young horse to play and enjoy himself in the water, so it’s never a frightening experience. Don’t ask too many questions in one day and your horse will come out to his next cross country schooling session confident and happy to progress in his training.”

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Ask your feed merchant for Blue Chip by name or if you’d like to receive news of great Blue Chip offers and more information about Blue Chip products, join the Blue Chip free newsletter by emailing your name and address details to liz@bluechipfeed.com. You can also contact Blue Chip on 0114 266 6200 or visit www.bluechipfeed.com

After the World Equestrian Games, Kristina Cook was quoted as saying she “wanted to improve on bronze” and she did it in style at the European Eventing Championships in Fontainbleu, as Miner’s Frolic produced top form just when it mattered to secure not only a team gold medal, but also a coveted individual gold.

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Blue Chip founder Clare Blaskey has a long association with Kristina’s family, the Giffords and sold her father Josh a horse called Southern Supreme to go jump racing. When she wrote to congratulate Kristina after her bronze medal success at the Olympics, it led to Miners Frolic becoming one of the leading international horses to trial Blue Chip’s innovative liquid joint supplement Joint RLF.

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Already fed on Blue Chip Pro, after it became difficult to maintain his weight following diagnosis with equine gastric ulcer syndrome, Miners Frolic has continued to benefit from Blue Chip’s hugely successful Joint RLF, a success equalled when he and Kristina were crowned European Champions.

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She said after the European Championships, “I was looking to improve on bronze and I’m so thrilled that I have. Miners Frolic is stronger and in excellent condition. He travelled well and finished still full of enthusiasm. It is the perfect end to a tremendous season.”