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The Role of Carbohydrates in Horse Feed
August 17, 2025
Posted by Kelly Vineyard, MS, PhD
Discover which horses can benefit from higher carbohydrate levels in their diets and the feeds that can supply them.
Q: What role do carbohydrates play in horse feed? I often hear about carbohydrates in a negative context because they can be harmful to horses with metabolic problems, but what groups of horses might need more carbohydrates and what sources should they be getting them from?
A: Thank you for asking this question because this is an important but often misunderstood concept in equine nutrition. With the increased awareness of and ability to diagnose horses with carbohydrate sensitivities (i.e., insulin dysregulation, equine metabolic syndrome) and the rise in popularity of low-carb rations for horses, it’s understandable how some horse owners might be unaware there are many benefits of feeding nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) to horses.
Nonstructural carbohydrates are the simple sugars (i.e., glucose and fructose) and starches in feeds readily digested and absorbed in the horse’s small intestine. This results in a rise in blood glucose and, subsequently, blood insulin levels following a meal...
Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/1129226/the-role-of-carbohydrates-in-horse-feed/?lid=plijzilkhlhg&uuid=019205ef454c0001d30cabe5878605089009a081004ea
Endurance Horse Podcast - Virginia City 100 with Tami Rougeau
Endurance Horse Podcast - Listen
September 1 2025
Hosted by Christina Hyke of WARHORSE Endurance™
In this heartfelt 71st episode of the Endurance Horse Podcast™, we head to the wild beauty of Nevada to visit with Tami Rougrau, ride manager of the legendary Virginia City 100.
Tami shares her deep love for the trail, her horses, and the endurance community, along with fun behind-the-scenes stories (yes—her chickens often chime in!) and insight into what it takes to keep a 100-mile tradition going strong. We talk about the spirit of endurance riding, the magic of the Virginia City 100 trail, and the dedicated team behind it all, NASTR.
We take time to highlight NASTR—Nevada All-State Trail Riders—a phenomenal organization that plays a critical role in trail preservation, mentoring new distance riders, and keeping the future of our sport alive. If you're looking for a club that blends heart, history, and boots-on-the-ground trail work, NASTR is worth joining and supporting.
To listen and to see more about WARHORSE virtual rides: https://endurancehorsepodcast.podbean.com/e/virginia-city-100-rm-tami-rougrau-56th-anniversary-of-vc100/
Endurance Competition Returns to Biltmore Following Hurricane Helene
USEF.org - Full Article
“We were under more than 20 feet of water in some locations,” said Elizabeth McLean, Director of Equestrian Activities at Biltmore, when discussing the impact of the deadliest hurricane in North Carolina history.
by Debbie Elliot | Sep 2, 2025, 9:30 AM
On September 27, 2024, wind and flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated the western Appalachian area of North Carolina, including the town of Asheville, which is home to Biltmore, a majestic house and historic property dating back to 1895. Several rivers in the region overflowed and the subsequent destruction led Helene to become the costliest natural disaster in North Carolina history.
The 8,000-acre Biltmore estate hosts two endurance rides each year: a spring ride in May and a fall ride in September. While the spring event had to be cancelled earlier this year due to ongoing recovery efforts, the Biltmore Fall Endurance Ride to Benefit Hope for Horses will take place around the estate’s stunning trail system on September 20-21. The event features a number of different classes: 30-mile Limited Distance, 50-mile, 65-mile, and 75-mile Endurance Rides, plus FEI divisions (2* Open, 1* Open and Junior/Young Rider). Biltmore's bi-annual endurance rides follow the Biltmore trails; photo by Becky Pearman
“Our primary facility and a lot of our pastures are right alongside the French Broad River in Asheville, so we had significant flooding after Helene, worse than I've ever seen, and certainly worse than the area had seen in over a hundred years,” said Elizabeth McLean, Director of the Biltmore Equestrian CenterActivities at Biltmore. “We were under more than 20 feet of water in some locations...”
Read more here:
https://www.usef.org/media/equestrian-weekly/endurance-competition-returns-to-biltmore
2025 Old Selam/AHA Distance Nationals photos by Steve Bradley
2025 Old Selam/AHA Distance Nationals Endurance ride photos in Idaho
by Steve Bradley:
https://stevesphoto.smugmug.com/2026-Endurance-Rides
2025 Iron Mtn Jubilee photos by Becky Pearman
2025 Iron Mtn Jubilee Endurance ride photos in Virginia by Becky
Pearman:
https://beckypearman.smugmug.com/Other/Endurance-2025/Iron-Mountain-Jubilee
2025 Tevis Cup photos by Merri Melde
2025 Tevis Cup photos in California by Merri Melde, The Equestrian
Vagabond:
https://www.theequestrianvagabond.com/Clients-Endurance
2025 Tevis Cup photos by William Gore
2025 Tevis Cup photos in California by William Gore Photography:
https://williamgorephotography.smugmug.com/Tevis-2025
2025 June's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast
HorseRadioNetwork.com - Listen
Endurance Day: Horse Signals, Hat Creek and Bad Feet for June 10, 2025 by Arabian Horse Association
by Ashley Winch | Jun 10, 2025
Karen reviews the Fi Tracker and goes over the Ten Horse Signals to Watch for During an Endurance Ride. Plus, Cyd Fairbanks tells us all about the Hat Creek Hustle Ride in Northern California, listen in...
https://www.horseradionetwork.com/2025/06/endurance-day-horse-signals-hat-creek-and-bad-feet-for-june-10-2025-by-arabian-horse-association/
Garmin Launches New Wellness Product for Horses
US eventer Julie Wolfert demonstrated the product on her horse during its launch in Kansas. (Caelan Beard photo)
HorseSport.com - Full Article
Blaze, the company’s first foray into the equine market, helps deliver insights into horse’s health and fitness.
By: Caelan Beard | August 29, 2025
Garmin, maker of GPS navigation and wearable technology, has launched a new product for horses: Blaze, an equine wellness system.
Blaze is comprised of a sensor that pops into a thin neoprene sleeve. The sleeve is wrapped around the base of the tail, with the sensor pressing closest to the underside of the tail.
Once paired with the Blaze app on a smartphone or a Garmin watch, the sensor then delivers live stats on your horse’s health, including their heart rate, skin temperature, and strides. (If you don’t ride with a phone or watch, the sensor still records data, and updates the information on the app once it reconnects to your device).
Other features of the product include biometric data such as changes in skin temperature, and a heat score based on AAEP guidelines and temperature and humidity pulled from local conditions.
It also provides kinetic information on the horse’s stride frequency, weather, speed and distance, the latter two which both rely on GPS data from a host phone or watch.
The sensor will also prompt alerts for certain conditions – for example, if you’re approaching a high heat score...
Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/garmin-launches-new-wellness-product-horses/
2025 May's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast
HorseRadioNetwork.com - Listen
Endurance at Older Ages, Extruded Feed and Trail Manners for May 13, 2025 by The Arabian Horse Association
by Ashley Winch | May 13, 2025
Karen shares her experience at the High Desert 50 ride, offers tips for trail etiquette and safety, and Diane Whitlock about her experience as an older rider transitioning to long-distance riding with an older horse. Plus, Kristyn Sturken, Equine Product Manager of Sentinel Feeds on how extruded feed can help the endurance horse. Listen in...
https://www.horseradionetwork.com/2025/05/endurance-at-older-ages-extruded-feed-and-trail-manners-for-may-13-2025-by-the-arabian-horse-association/
Electrolytes and Your Horse: What You Should Know
USEF.org - Full Article
In the right circumstances, oral electrolytes can provide important support for equine athletes
by Natalie Voss | Aug 26, 2025, 8:33 AM
If you’ve been checking the daily forecasted highs and letting out a sigh of frustration this summer, you’re not alone. Many of us are constantly on the lookout for the best ways to support our horses if we need to train or compete in warm weather.
Oral electrolyte pastes and powders are a popular tool to help horses replenish minerals they may lose while exercising or due to certain medical conditions.
Horses can produce several gallons of sweat in the course of a workout, depending upon air temperature, humidity, work intensity, and fitness. Contained in that sweat are minerals like sodium, chloride, and potassium, but also calcium and magnesium in smaller amounts. Having depleted levels of those minerals can, in extreme cases, have an impact on body system function...
Read more here:
https://www.usef.org/media/equestrian-weekly/electrolytes-your-horse-what-you-should-know
Wild horses are pitted against grazing cattle in a battle for survival across the West (Opinion)
DailyCamera.com - Full Article(Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Stop blaming wild horses for the severe damage the meat and other industries inflict on federal public lands
By Jennifer Best | Guest Commentary
PUBLISHED: August 18, 2025
Colorado does not have a wild horse problem as a recent Denver Post headline states. The real issue lies with the meat industry’s grip on our public lands. The federal government authorizes ranchers to graze an exorbitant amount of cattle in wild horse herd management areas. It is this industrial use of our public land that degrades it.
Instead of confronting the outsized influence of private industry on public lands, the state of Colorado looks the other way and scapegoats wild horses.
Evidence of this problem abounds in the data publicly available from the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) allotment reports. There are four grazing allotments in the Piceance-East Douglas herd management area, where a staggering 10,960 cattle are allowed to graze at various times throughout the year. Yet the Bureau of Land Management insists the area can sustain just 235 wild horses based on BLM’s outdated “aappropriate management levels” or population targets. Only 362 wild horses are allowed to graze in Sand Wash Basin, yet a staggering 12,026 sheep and 300 cattle are allowed to graze in three allotments there at various times throughout the year.
There are a measly 1,516 wild horses left in Colorado on 365,988 acres of land, according to the BLM’s 2025 program data. The fact that the state is now paying the federal government to deploy paid professional darters to expand its birth control darting program in lieu of violent helicopter roundups may make it look like Gov. Jared Polis is listening to public concerns. But the truth is, Colorado’s wild horses are being managed to extinction. A model for the West? It should be anything but...
Read more here:
https://www.dailycamera.com/2025/08/18/wild-horses-grazing-cattle-blm-land-populations/
This is what it’s like to win the ‘world’s toughest horse race’ through Mongolia
Michael Pollard was one of the four winners of the 2025 Mongol Derby (Kathy Gabriel)
Ca.News.yahoo.com - Full Article
Annabel Grossman
Fri, August 22, 2025
When riding across the Mongolian steppe, one mistake can mean game over. This mistake can be anything, from losing a piece of kit to your horse stumbling in a marmot hole while navigating the vast stretches of open landscape.
The wilds of Mongolia are beautiful but unforgiving, as 45 riders discovered earlier this month when they competed in the “world’s toughest horse race”.
The Mongol Derby is not for the faint-hearted, with riders crossing 1,000km (620 miles) of rugged terrain on semi-wild horses, relying on their survival skills, horsemanship and pure grit to reach the finish line.
Out here on the steppe (the wide open plains that characterise this land), the competitors live among local herders, often staying in ger, traditional Mongolian tents, with families. The riders change their mounts every 20 miles at morin urtuu (horse stations) and must deliver the animals in good health at every stage.
Throughout the race (this year, competitors took between eight and 10 days to complete the course), riders found themselves cantering through wide-open valleys, navigating mountain passes, crossing rushing rivers, and traversing rolling dunes.
Speaking to The Independent two days into the race, competitor Anna Boden described the toll this takes on the body and the level of endurance needed.
“Physically, it’s significantly harder than anything I’ve ever done before,” she said. “You’re riding 12-hour days, and because you have a fresh horse each leg, you can ride quite fast – that is really tough on your body...”
Read more here:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/win-world-toughest-horse-race-103011641.html
Great Britain: Success Stories from the International Thetford Endurance Rides
August 16 2025
Thetford Endurance was held for the first time under new organisers Anna Bridges and Lauren Hirst, showcasing a CEI3 160km, CEI3 140km, and the National 160km, attended by riders from the UK and around the world.
Here are some of the success stories from the weekend.
Barnsley Rider Triumphs in Epic 100-Mile Endurance Challenge After 39-Year Wait
Surrey’s Alice Ingram Completes 160km International Endurance Race – Just 6 Months After Giving Birth
British riders shine at Thetford Endurance 2025
Lancashire Rider Shines with 2nd Place in International Endurance Race
Dale Horst 1945 - 2025
Obits.dallasnews.com
Dale Horst Obituary
Dale Richard Horst was born September 20, 1945 in Ontario Canada and passed away peacefully at home in Pilot Point on August 6, 2025, surrounded by loved ones. He will be deeply missed by his loving companion, Roberta Corbett, and his children, Delinah Horst (Jason Hubbard) and Nicole Hammond. His beloved granddaughter, Cree Horst Hubbard, was a shining light in his life, and she will always be reminded of the wonderful grandfather she had.
Dale is survived by his siblings, Gloria King, Mary Lou Snyder, Myrna & Bob Schlegel, and Steve & Sandra Horst. He also leaves behind many cherished nieces and nephews: Eric, Bradley, Dan, Monica, Maria, Tammy, Barry, Steve, Kim, Kirby, Kari, Krystal, Seth, Roxanne, and Karl. He was predeceased by his parents, Myrtle and Elam Horst, as well as his brothers-in-law, Rev. Ed King and James Snyder.
Dale touched the lives of all who knew him. He was known for his gentle spirit, kind heart, and unwavering generosity. He carried himself with quiet strength and had a special way of making others feel valued. Loyal and hardworking, Dale formed lasting bonds with his colleagues and employees, earning deep respect in both his professional and personal life.
A lifelong animal lover, Dale had a profound connection with the animals around him-especially his beloved horse, Ramsey, and his faithful dog, Wylie...
Read the rest here
HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad wins Rushford Endurance 120 km race in UK
BNA.bh - Full Article
17 Aug 2025
London, Aug. 17 (BNA): His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs and Captain of the Royal Endurance Team, won the Rushford Endurance 120 km race held in the United Kingdom.
The race was attended by His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the General Sports Authority, and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee; and His Highness Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Vice President of the Supreme Council for Environment, Deputy Chairman of the Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club High Committee, and member of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports.
HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad won first place after successfully completing the four stages of the race amid wide participation from riders...
Read more here:
https://www.bna.bh/en/HHShaikhNasserbinHamadwinsRushfordEndurance120kmraceinUK.aspx?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2BDm%2BsBglZXQNQWZZLrjCqzo8%3D
Mongol Derby 2025 – Day 10 – Third time lucky
Equestrianists.com - Full Article
Holly Conyers
14th August 2025
Day 10 of the 2025 Mongol Derby has drawn to a close, as our remaining superstar riders made it home after 1,000km of thrills and spills out on the steppe to join the party at finish camp. We couldn’t be more proud of them. These riders have faced extreme physical and mental adversity over the last 10 days, and they’ve come out fighting. What a Derby it’s been, and what a finish they gave us: a decent helping of drama right down to the last.
First to appear on the horizon between the finish line flags this morning was Bianca Farmas-Griffith (BFG). She’d left HS28 this morning with the other 5 riders sharing their last night out on the steppe together. All were mounted up and raring to go at 7AM, but waved goodbye to HS28 with a hint of sadness: this would be their final morning of packing up their sleeping bags and picking their steed...
Read more here:
https://equestrianists.com/updates/mongol-derby-2025-day-10-third-time-lucky/
Karen Anne Fredrickson, 1946-2025
LostCoastOutpost.com
August 13 2025
With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Karen Anne Fredrickson (née Moore), age 79, who left us peacefully at her home in Iaqua on August 6, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.
Karen was born on April 13, 1946, in Eureka at St. Joseph Hospital to Charles and Edra Moore. She grew up in Freshwater, attending Freshwater Elementary School, and spent her summers at the family ranch in Iaqua — a place central to the rest of her life. The ranch shaped her love of ranching, animals, community, and the land itself.
She graduated from Eureka Senior High School in 1964 and went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1968. Her experience in college would continue to influence Karen’s life, blending community and agriculture.
Karen began her professional journey with the Department of Food and Agriculture in Lebanon County, Oregon, and broke new ground as Oregon’s first female Brand Inspector. From there she worked for Oregon State University Agricultural Extension, serving as the 4-H Director for Benton County, Oregon. In 1982, she returned to Humboldt County, serving the community with Redwood Community Action Agency and later the Area 1 Agency on Aging.
Continuing her path of community service Karen was a key member of the Humboldt County Probation Office. From 1988 to 2003, Karen served as a probation officer, supervisor and director. Karen made a lasting impact in the department serving as founding supervisor for the Humboldt County Drug Court, leading the Intensive Supervision Unit, and ultimately serving as Division Director of Adult Probation. Compassion and commitment defined her professional career. Her dedication earned her the Pat Mitchell Award from the Eureka Police Officers Association along with the admiration and respect of the law enforcement community.
Karen married her beloved husband, Duane Fredrickson, and together they built a life of love, hard work, and shared passions. She was the proud mother of Shaun and Kylie Brenneman, Adrienne and Thomas Ross, Melissa Grace, and Jason and Emily Fredrickson. She adored her grandchildren — Meghann and Michael Weldon, Kaitlin and Kevin Marshall, McKenna and Andrew Miyashiro, Samuel Ross, Austin Grace, and Wyatt Grace — and her great-grandchildren, Elias and Agatha Miyashiro.
Karen is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Kathleen and Roddy Gordon, and her brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Dina Moore. She also leaves behind a large extended family of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews, all of whom she cherished deeply. She was predeceased by her parents, Charles and Edra Moore. Her dear friends remained an important part of her life through the years.
Karen was a lifelong athlete competing in many endurance related sports from marathons to ride and ties, ultimately culminating in equine endurance rides...
Read the rest here
Mongol Derby 2025 – Day 9 – Homeward bound
Equestrianists.com - Full Article
Holly Conyers
12th August 2025
While the battle for first place in the 2025 Mongol Derby may have been decided yesterday, Day 9 saw a whopping 19 more of our intrepid riders make it home to finish camp to complete the adventure of a lifetime. While 13 of those riders were still riding for a competitive placing, we were mighty proud to welcome 6 of our Adventure Class riders across the line too. Some were even reunited with family and friends for whom following along at home wasn’t enough. There were tears, there was signing, there were bear hugs and emotional reunions. Welcome home, legends. Time to party...
Read more here:
https://equestrianists.com/updates/mongol-derby-2025-day-9-homeward-bound/