Power & Performance Case Studies

Feeding William Funnell’s horses

Consistently competing at the highest level within his sport, William Funnell is constantly looking at ways of improving his team’s performance. Previously, on barley based feeds, William found some of his top international show jumping horses, including Amber Du Montois and Mondriaan could become distracted or sharp at competitions.

William asked the Allen & Page Nutrition team to help him develop a feeding programme that would combat these issues, while still providing his horses with enough energy and stamina to perform at their best whilst competing. Allen & Page suggested that William’s horses take part in a feeding trial for a new style of competition feed, Power & Performance.

William put both Mondriaan and Amber de Montois onto the trial and closely monitored their progress. Since participating in the trials over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, William has seen huge improvements in focus and control, leading to some of his best results ever.

William explains: “Jumping clear at the Hickstead Derby requires a horse with real power, but to win you have to be accurate, and in control. Since feeding Power & Performance my horses are more focused and responsive, but still have all the energy they need to perform at the highest level.”

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Dressage requires both power and energy from the horse, however when Feist, a Westphalian gelding arrived at Liza McQuiston’s yard despite showing great talent and potential he lacked energy and impulsion which meant he struggled with his work.

In an effort to provide Feist with the energy he required, he was fed a high starch, cereal based diet, however this had the opposite effect on Feist and his energy levels dropped even further.

At this point Liza was offered the opportunity to trial Power & Performance a high energy, barley and molasses free performance feed. Having already tried various high energy feeds in the past to no avail, Liza was amazed at the difference in Feist, his energy levels improved dramatically and for the first time he had the power and impulsion he needed to use his full talent.

Liza has always felt that Feist has the ability to go to the top but since feeding Power & Performance Feist has gone from competing at Novice level to Prix St Georges in just one season and is now performing consistently well. Liza now wouldn’t feed anything else to Feist and has found Power & Performance to be ideal for both her novice and advanced horses to provide energy, control and condition.

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After suffering a bad fall from another horse, Sharon took a long time searching for her perfect horse. She found the right horse in the form of Skimberley a then 4 year old Dutch warmblood. Initially Sharon had no intention of competing, but with the help of her instructor discovered that Skimberley was a talented jumper and they took part in their first eventing competition just 9 months later.

However, Skimberley has always proved tricky to feed, he tends to lose weight easily but also has a tendency to be excitable. Sharon found that while feeding a traditional competition mix helped Skimberley to maintain his weight he became too excitable and unpredictable while showjumping and lacked the concentration needed for dressage.

Sharon contacted the Allen & Page Nutritional Helpine at the beginning of December 2008 and Power & Performance was recommended. Power & Performance is a high energy feed that is ideal for hard working horses and ponies. Unlike many competition feeds Power & Performance is barley and molasses free making it lower in sugar and starch and less likely to lead to excitable behaviour. Specially selected ingredients provide a balance of both fast and slow release energy to allow your horse to perform to the best of their ability while remaining focused.

Since Skimberley has been fed Power & Performance Sharon has noticed not only an improvement in his condition but also in his attitude to his work. Skimberley is no longer over excitable and is able to concentrate on his work but importantly he still has the required energy for competitions. Since feeding Power & Performance Sharon and Skimberley have been placed in every dressage and showjumping class they have entered and are now looking forward to an even more successful 2009 eventing season.

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When Jade Vale took on Marco v.d. Kuene or Marco to his friends she knew she had found a really special horse. Marco had been imported from Holland as a foal by Jade’s family and after backing him Jade started to compete with Marco as a four year old. Marco showed a real flair for dressage and was doing very well, so much so, that Jade decided to affiliate Marco with British Dressage.

Jade found that although Marco was a talented horse with a good level of fitness he was lacking energy. At competitions Marco would struggle in his second test because he lacked stamina and at home Jade was unable to progress with Marco’s training simply because he didn’t have enough energy.

Although Jade felt that a change of feed would help Marco she didn’t want to overload him with a high starch and sugar feed and so decided to try Power & Performance. Power & Performance is a high energy feed that is ideal for hard working horses, it contains a combination of both slow and fast release energy sources for both stamina and instant energy. Being barley and molasses free Power & Performance has lower starch and sugar levels making it friendlier on the horse’s digestive system and ideal for excitable and laid back horses alike.

Since changing to Power & Performance Jade has found that Marco’s energy levels have improved without any excitable behaviour and at competitions he has ‘more petrol in the tank’. Marco really has the ‘wow’ factor and combined with his new found energy levels Jade is sure that Marco has an exciting competition career ahead of him.

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When Lindsay Harrison, a veterinary surgeon from North Yorkshire, went to view A La Carte as a 4 year old she had no idea that he would end up being her future eventing star. Instead Lindsay thought A La Carte would make a nice riding club type and with his breeding, being a Clydesdale X Thoroughbred he didn’t look typical eventing material. However, the following spring Lindsay felt A La Carte was ready to enter his first British Eventing Intro competition which he completed with ease and Lindsay was beginning to realise what a talented horse she had. A La Carte quickly progressed through the ranks and contested his first Intermediate event as a seven year old. However, A La Carte had become much stronger, keeener and had grown three inches since Lindsay purchased him into a strapping 17hh horse.

Lindsay has always fed A La Carte a traditional cereal based competition feed but at A La Carte’s first CCI* last year he lacked concentration and was unpredictable which culminated in not completing the cross-country due to his excess energy. When Lindsay heard about Power & Performance she immediately felt that its low starch and sugar levels would suit A La Carte while still providing him with enough ‘controllable’ energy to compete at a high level. Over the winter months Lindsay changed A La Carte over to Power & Performance and found that it provided him with both the ‘oomph’ type energy that he needed without becoming too excitable, while the high fibre and oil levels provided plenty of stamina type energy needed for the cross-country.

With three clear cross-country rounds at Novice level to their credit so far this season Lindsay is looking forward to moving back up to Intermediate level with A La Carte, and a CCI* is in their sights for the summer months now that they have the control and focus required.

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Nutritional Analysis
Oil:	6.0%
Protein:	15.0%
Fibre:	10.5%
Estimated DE:	12.8 MJ/kg
Starch:	20.0%
Sugar:	4.75%
Calcium:	1.2%
Vitamin A:	13000 IU/kg
Vitamin D:	2000 IU/kg
Vitamin E:	250 IU/kg