Ranvet x Pony Club Australia 12 month resource hub

The road to nationals
starts today

Your month-by month guide to feeding, fitness and preparation, packed with practical advice and expert insights, to help you strive for greatness. Whether your goal is to represent your state at Nationals in 2027, or you are looking at trying competitions for the first time, the Health Hub has information fit for all!

One theme a month, all the way to the start line

From October through to the Nationals, we're walking alongside pony club riders and their horses with practical, feed and fitness focused content each month. Follow the road below to see what's coming and when.

OCT

October

Start where you are

Every horse and rider begins the road from a different point. This month is about assessing the horse in front of you, understanding their current condition and workload, and setting realistic goals before changing feed, supplements or training.

Short video Weight estimator Diet evaluation

Assessing the horse in front of you

What does my horse weigh?

Knowing your horse's weight is important for determining proper feeding requirements, monitoring overall health and condition, as well as defining correct dosage rates of medications and supplements. There are three ways that we can work out our horse weight: scales, a weight tape, or a weight calculation. If your horse has recently been to the vet, you may have a recent weight recorded from a set of equine scales. Alternatively, you can use a weight tape or weight calculator at home to get a good approximation.

How to use a weight tape

How to do weight calculation

Weight estimator

Estimate the weight of your horse with our quick calculator

The most precise method is using a scale, but if that's not available, the Ranvet Horse Weight Calculator provides an easy and reliable alternative. Follow the video above on "How to do a Weight Calculation" and input your results into the calculator below to determine their weight.

Enter measurements

Drag the sliders or type exact figures from your measuring tape.

Heart girth 178 cm

Body length 150 cm

Age category

512 kg

estimated bodyweight

(girth² × length) ÷ 11,900

Step 1: Measure your horse's heart girth

Measure your horse's heart girth (circumference) by running the tape measure all the way around your horse 10cm (4") behind its front legs.

Step 2: Measure your horse's body length

Measure your horse's body length from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock in a straight line.

What is my horse's body condition score?

A Body Condition Score (BCS) is an objective ranking system to help determine your horse's overall condition and body coverage. BCS are non-invasive and easy to take. BCS can be recorded on a regular basis to assess any sudden or dramatic changes, which can be an indication of feed imbalances to workload, or further health conditions such as parasites or dental issues.

Download and print a copy of the PCA BCS chart, and keep it handy in your tack room. Practice BCS your horses regularly, and record in their health notes.

Pony Club Australia body condition score chart

Download Body Score Chart

What is my horse's workload?

Everyone uses different terminology to assess their horse's workload. That is why we refer to the universal definitions set by the National Research Council. These definitions are used to set the appropriate nutritional specifications for horses in such levels of work.

Light Work: 1-3 hours of work per week, with most of the time spent at walk or trot, with some canter. Best describes horses who are coming back into work, may attend some rally days, but are otherwise not at a competition intensity.

Moderate Work: 3-5 hours of work per week, with an increase in trot and canter work, as well as some time spent on skill work such as jumping or dressage. Best describes most horses in low-moderate level, semi frequent competitions.

Heavy Work: 4-5 hours per week, with most time spent at trot and canter, with some element of intense work (gallops or high-level skill work). Best describes horses in moderate-high level, frequent competitions, especially eventers.

Very Heavy Work: 1 hour of speed work, 6-12 hours of slow work per week. Best describes racehorses, endurance and elite level eventers.

Weighing out my horse's feed

Now we have done all the weighing of our horse, it's time to move to the feed! Weighing out the feed is the most accurate way to describe your horse's ration. Watch the video below for more details!

How to weigh out your feed

Feed weighing check list

Set of scales
A sturdy dipper, bucket or cup
A notepad and pen
Your horse's individual feed ingredients

Pro tip: if you feed an ingredient that is soaked, or watered down, such as a mash, measure and record its dry weight, before soaking. When performing an analysis we focus on dry matter weights.

What is a diet evaluation?

Not sure if your horse's diet is meeting their needs? Well now you have all the information a Ranvet nutrition specialist needs to accurately review your horse's current feeding program. Our nutrition team can make sure everything is looking in order, and recommend adjustments tailored to your horse's workload and condition.

Click the link below to fill out and submit your horse's details.

Ranvet Diet Evaluation

And with that, you now have an assessment on where your horse is at currently! This will help us in future months with our planning and goal setting. Thanks for taking part in our October topic, we'll see you in November for the next one!

NOV

November

Hydration is an every day habit

Keeping horses hydrated is a year-round duty, however, the risk of dehydration is certainly elevated during the hot summer months. In this month’s Road to Nationals Health Hub topic, we learn all about hydration. We will look at ways to monitor hydration levels, signs and symptoms, prevention tools and the science behind dehydration, so that you can keep your horse feeling their best!

Short video Electrolyte options Hydration checklist

Keeping Horses Hydrated

Dehydration is used to describe the state where there is reduced, and potentially harmful, low water levels in the body. It is an ailment that can happen to every living thing, including humans and horses. To reach a point of dehydration means that the individual hasn’t consumed enough water to meet their needs, or replenish losses they have experienced.

In humans, overcoming this can be as simple as drinking some water. However, in horses its not as straight forward. Ever heard the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink? Yep, its actually science, not just an old saying!

Unlike humans, horses don’t have a conscious thought process (or a parent!) telling them they need to drink some water, so they don’t feel unwell. Instead, they have a thirst reflex that is stimulated by salts and electrolytes. When salt levels are ideally balanced, our horses will maintain a steady drinking pattern. However, when salt levels become low, this can shut down the thirst reflex, and our horses may not drink.

But, that’s not the only important factor at play. Horses sweat is HYPERTONIC, a big word that simply means, very salty. Our horses sweat is made up of more salt than fluids, meaning that these precious salts that trigger our horses thirst reflex, are easily lost. This makes our horses more susceptible to suffering dehydration on hot days, when travelling, and especially after training or competition.

It is also important to note that medical conditions and physical impediments can also be at play restricting water intake. If at any stage you suspect dehydration, do not hesitate to contact your vet as dehydration is a very serious issue that can quickly escalate.

Method 1: Skin pinch test

A skin pinch test is the quickest and easiest way to check your horse’s hydration. The skin has an elastic state when well hydrated. This is tested by pinching the skin between your thumb and forefinger, near the point of shoulder on the horse. The skin, if hydrated, will return flat in less than a second. If they are moderately dehydrated this may take between 2-4 seconds, and anything greater is severely dehydrated.

How to do a skin pinch test

Method 2: Capillary Refill Time

This is tested on the horses’ gums. The gums should present pink and moist. Press your thumb on the upper gum for a second, turning the point light pink. Upon release, the point should return to pink within the second. A longer reaction time may be an indication of dehydration

Don’t forget to also check their overall appearance and behaviour for other warning signs!

Has your horse eaten? A horse won’t eat if it hasn’t drunk, so this could be signalling dehydration.

Does your horse appear alert? Signs of tiredness, weariness even some stiffness moving, may be indicating dehydration.

Does your horse appear ‘tucked up’? Drawn up flanks are a sign that the horse has not drunk recently and may be an early warning sign of dehydration.

As a horse becomes dehydrated, the salt concentration in their blood decreases, and ultimately reduces their thirst reflex. Thus, it is most important to stimulate the horses thirst reflex, in order to promote their re-hydration.

Electrolyte options

Tap a tile to see the option.

Salt Licks: Every horse should have access to a salt lick in their paddock and stable. When it comes to salt regulation, horses are quite clever, and can self-regulate when given free access. So, on those days where thy may need a little extra than what has been provided, they can visit the salt lick. As for those other days where its not needed, the Salt Lick is left alone. We often get the comment that “I have given my horse a salt lick and they have devoured it like a lollypop”. Our first question; what colour was the brick? If it is a dark colour, it is often the case that it has been bound by molasses. So, your pony wasn’t necessarily eating away for the salts, it was enjoying the sugars! Do be extra cautious, when choosing a salt lick that you select a molasses free variety, such as Ranvet’s Iodised Salt Lick.

Salt in the daily feed: If your horse receives a daily feed, adding salt is a cheap and easy way to supply their daily sodium and chloride needs. A simple table salt variety from the supermarket is perfect, and can be added to the feed or mash. Be sure to mix thoroughly to avoid salty mouthfuls. An average 500kg horse will require about 30g of salt a day, but traces do exist in your premix feeds and grains. For an accurate dosage level, get your diet evaluated.

Electrolytes after training, competition or excessive sweating events: Whilst providing salt will help tick the box for sodium and chloride, there are still other electrolytes and water-soluble vitamins that are lost to sweat. This is where an Electrolyte comes in handy. There are two types of electrolytes, standard or premium. A standard electrolyte, such as Electrolyte Replacer, will cover your 5 key nutrients; sodium, chloride, magnesium, potassium and calcium. A premium Electrolyte, such as Salkavite will cover these, and often contain extra nutrients such as B-Group Vitamins, and antioxidants like Vitamin E, which can aid in recovery for performance horses. Dosage rate is dependent on the size and workload of your horse, but may vary from 30-60g. If your diet is naturally low in B-Group vitamins, or your horse is an easy / heavy sweater, a premium electrolyte option may be best for you. You can always speak with an equine nutritionist for assistance on what best suits your horses needs.

Electrolytes for travel: Long travel trips not only use a lot of our horses’ energy, but it also restricts their free access to water. Add on extra sweating, and suddenly you have a recipe for dehydration! Travelling your horse in cool parts of the day, with plenty of ventilation and minimal coverings can help reduce sweat and overheating. If safe, and access is available, plan extra stops to offer water in the float. Of course, if you are able and again, its is safe, larger stops where you unload your horses for a break is also the perfect opportunity for some more water. When it comes to electrolytes when travelling, we do have to be careful with our timing, as administering an electrolyte, especially a paste, will trigger a thirst reflex quite quickly, and we don’t want this to “kick in” when our horses are loaded up with no free access to water. Rather, it is a better idea to do pre-hydrate the night before leaving, on any over night stop overs, and when arriving. This can simply involve adding electrolytes to the feed, as you would post training/competition, or providing a paste. This will stimulate their thirst overnight, encouraging a good drink up before the trip.

Hydration for the fussy horse: For those horses that might be a bit suspicious about new smells or additives to their feed, Electrolytes can be administered in different ways. Be sure to check with your individual product of choice but often powder electrolytes can be added into water or made into your own paste. Alternatively, select a pre-made paste option for a more direct over the tongue administration. If reluctant to drink, sweeten the taste and smell of the water with molasses, cordial or even melted liquorice. Another handy tip is to have a Drench Gun or large syringe in your float/away kit. If your horse is being reluctant to drink, you can fill these vessels with water, to rinse their mouths and administer small volumes of water.

A horse will consume between 20L and 60L of water per day, but there are various reasons that may deter a horse from meeting this requirement just with the water itself! We suggest checking on and considering the following

Does your horse know where the water is? It may sound silly, but if you are moving paddocks or introducing your horse to a new area take a minute to walk them to the water source and show them!

Is there enough water? For automatic waterers this question may relate to a tank, if it is not connected to a “town” supply. Check daily that the automatic waterer is refilling and in operation, with no leaks. For buckets or bins, check that the capacity is greater than 60L. Consider how many horses will be using it, will you be at the paddock to check and refill again tomorrow? These questions will help determine how much water you will need as a minimum.

Is the water clean? Water can be tainted by various things from animal faeces to leaves/fruits off trees, even dirt and debris. Different contaminants cannot only give off a deterring smell, but a bad taste. Check daily and refill with clean water where/when possible. Taking a scrubbing brush will also help remove any algae buildup.

How is the water temperature? In winter we may find ourselves breaking open frozen water troughs but what about on hot days? Is your water source in the full sun? Are the pipes connecting to it in the full sun? Warm to hot water will deter the horses from drinking as their sensitive muzzles will react negatively to the unexpected temperatures. On hot days consider refilling water in the afternoon to replace the warm water, with cool water.

Hydration Check list - Daily Checks

Print it, tick it off each day and hang it in the tack room.

Download checklist

Skin pinch test:

This is tested by pinching the skin between your thumb and forefinger, near the point of shoulder on the horse.

Results:

Hydrated - returned to flat instantly
Mild dehydration - returned to flat after 2-4 seconds
Dehydrated - returned to flat after 4 or more seconds, or doesn’t return completely flat at all

(Alternate Method) Capillary Refill Time

This is tested on the horses’ gums. The gums should present pink and moist. Press your thumb on the upper gum for a second, turning the point light pink.