Hydration & Nutrition for Competition & Hot Weather Riding

The best practice for sports conditioning is to drink one half to a full cup of water every 15 minutes. This is not always feasible when working with horses, but you can compensate by drinking liquids every half hour to an hour. Having a couple of sips to rinse your mouth just after your warmup and just before you go into the ring is a good idea. It will help perk you up mentally.

Drinking after your ride will help to bring your hydration back up to pre-training levels. Another rule of thumb in sports conditioning is to drink two glasses of water per pound of weight lost during your training session. Paying attention to water loss in endurance disciplines is particularly important, but for most riders having some water after your ride and again during the following hours will be adequate. On a show day, this would mean starting your day with a glass or two of fluid such as juice or water prior to arriving at the show grounds, continually drinking throughout the day, and making certain to replenish water lost at the end of the day. 

Drink before you feel you are thirsty. Thirst indicates that you are already depleted.

Coffee is a diuretic, which means it has a dehydrating effect. If you drink diuretics such as coffee, alcohol or cola, you will need to drink two glasses of water per cup of diuretic. Coffee is not a good way to start a show day. The negative diuretic effect will outweigh the positive value of the slight caffeine lift. If you get competition jitters, coffee can also aggravate them. Tea, and green tea in particular, may be better choices.

Your first priority is to replace fluids. Replacing electrolytes (mainly sodium and potassium) is easier. You can use sport drinks, but you don’t have to. Fruit juices and fruits will not only provide you with all the potassium you need, but also provide vitamins and even fibre which will help your digestive system. One litre of orange juice contains three times the potassium a long distance runner would need to replenish

It also replaces carbohydrates needed to fuel muscles. In most cases fruit juices will be adequate. Squeezing lemon or lime into your drinking water is another great option for hydration, but fruit juice will give you added energy through the day when it is not as convenient to actually eat.