Equine Health Library

Performance Horse Overview

It doesn’t matter whether your horse runs barrels, turns steers, clears oxers or racks on, all performance horses share the same work-related risks: Stress of training and traveling, majority of time spent indoors, frequent exposure to other horses, and injury from extreme exertion.

For these reasons, performance horses should be seen by a veterinarian three to four times per year.

Many performance horses also receive a variety of supplements and medications throughout their careers, which makes it even more important to have frequent discussions with your veterinarian or nutritionist. You can do more harm than good by over-supplementing or combining drugs and/or nutraceuticals that are ineffective or incompatible with one another.

The key to a long show career – and a long, healthy life – is careful training and frequent communication with your horse’s healthcare team.