The first two items here are the feeds we'd actually reach for. The remaining eight are the honest buying criteria we'd walk any client through, whether they buy from us or not. Read them in order — they build on each other.
Höveler Original Sport — controlled energy without the fizz
This is the feed we'd hand a sport-horse owner who wants performance without a hot head. Höveler Original Sport, a performance horse feed, is a 44 lb muesli that runs 15% starch and just 4.6% sugar, which is a genuinely restrained combination for a feed that still delivers 12.6 MJ/kg of digestible energy. That's the benefit up front: energy for the work, without loading the bucket with the fast sugars that make some horses tense.
The protein number tells the rest of the story. At 15.1% crude protein, with lysine at 1.0% and threonine at 1.0%, it's built to actually support muscle repair rather than just look good on the label — lysine and threonine are the amino acids that tend to be the limiting factors in a horse's diet, so seeing them called out by number is a good sign. Fat sits at 9.0%, giving you a slower, cooler-burning energy source alongside the controlled starch.
Two more things set it apart. It's soy-free and its components are grain-free, which matters for owners managing sensitivities or simply wanting to avoid those inputs. And it includes added Diamond V inactivated yeast, a postbiotic that supports the gut microbiome — helpful for a stabled working horse whose digestive routine is anything but natural. It's competition-safe and FEI-compliant, so it comes with you to the show. At $49.99 for a 44 lb bag, it's the premium pick of the two.
Who this is for: sport horses in medium to heavy work — dressage, jumping, eventing — whose owners want strong energy and muscle support with the starch and sugar kept in check.
Höveler Western Sport — a low-grain, alfalfa-forward option
Höveler Western Sport, a performance horse feed, is the one we'd reach for with western, ranch, and pleasure horses in lighter work. It's a 44 lb low-grain muesli built around 28% alfalfa, which brings quality fiber and protein from a forage source, and it's oat-free, so you're not relying on a classic high-starch cereal to carry the energy.
The numbers keep it sensible for a horse that works but doesn't need the full sport-horse energy load: 14% crude protein and 12.19 MJ/kg digestible energy, with fat at 6.10%. Starch comes in at 18.30% and sugar at 5.30%. Those are honest figures for a low-grain feed that still gives a working horse something to run on, and the alfalfa base is a big part of why the grain content can stay low without leaving the horse short.
Like its stablemate, Western Sport is competition-safe and FEI-compliant, so it travels to sanctioned events with you. At $37.99 for a 44 lb bag, it's the more budget-friendly of the two feeds we'd feed first.
Who this is for: western, ranch, trail, and pleasure horses in light to medium work whose owners want a low-grain, alfalfa-forward feed that keeps oats out of the diet.
A sensible starch and sugar level
Starch and sugar are the fast-energy part of a feed, and for a performance horse they're the numbers to watch most closely. Too much fast energy can leave some horses fizzy and can be hard on the digestive system, especially when a working horse is fed larger meals on a schedule. The two feeds above show what "sensible" looks like in practice — 15% starch and 4.6% sugar on the Original Sport, 18.30% starch and 5.30% sugar on the Western Sport.
When you're reading any performance feed, look for these numbers printed plainly on the label, and be wary of a feed that hides them. A feed that keeps starch and sugar in a controlled range while still delivering energy from other sources is doing the harder, better job.
Energy from more than one source
Digestible energy, usually shown in MJ/kg, tells you how much fuel a feed provides. But where that energy comes from matters as much as the total. A feed that leans on fat and fiber for a chunk of its energy gives you a slower, cooler burn than one that gets it all from starch and sugar. That's why fat percentage is worth reading alongside the energy figure — 9.0% on the Original Sport, 6.10% on the Western Sport — and why an alfalfa or fiber base is a plus.
For a performance horse, energy from a blend of sources tends to translate into steadier work and calmer behavior. When you compare feeds, don't just chase the highest energy number; look at how that energy is built.
Quality protein, with the key amino acids named
Crude protein tells you how much protein is in the feed, but it doesn't tell you how useful that protein is for building and repairing muscle. What actually matters is the amino acid profile — and the two amino acids most often in short supply are lysine and threonine. A feed that lists those by number, the way the Original Sport does at 1.0% lysine and 1.0% threonine, is telling you it was formulated for muscle support, not just padded with cheap protein.
So when you read a label, look past the headline protein figure. A feed with a moderate crude protein number and a clearly stated amino acid profile can support a working horse better than one with a bigger protein number and no detail behind it.
A gut-support ingredient you can point to
A performance horse's digestive system is under more pressure than a pasture horse's: more stabling, harder work, and meals that don't match the trickle-feeding a horse's gut is built for. That's why it's worth looking for a named gut-support ingredient. The Original Sport includes added Diamond V inactivated yeast, a postbiotic that supports the gut microbiome. It's a concrete, named ingredient with a clear job — not a vague "digestive blend."
When comparing feeds, a specific, named gut-support component is a better signal than marketing language. It shows the feed was formulated with the working horse's digestive reality in mind.
Competition-safe and FEI-compliant status
If you show, this one isn't optional. A feed that's competition-safe and FEI-compliant is formulated to keep banned substances out, so you're not risking a positive test at a sanctioned event. Both feeds above carry that status. If you compete under any governing body, confirm the feed states this clearly — and keep your bag and batch records, because that's what protects you if a question ever comes up.
Even if you don't compete now, a competition-safe feed is a sign of a clean, tightly controlled manufacturing process, which benefits every horse.
Clear feeding rates you can actually follow
A feed is only as good as the plan behind it. Look for a manufacturer that gives you feeding rates tied to body weight and workload, not just a vague "feed to condition." The Höveler rates are a good example: for the Original Sport, per 220 lb (100 kg) of body weight per day, that's 0.55 lb (250 g) in light work, 0.88 lb (400 g) in medium work, and 1.32 lb (600 g) in heavy work, alongside 3.31 lb of hay per 220 lb. The Western Sport lists 0.55 lb (250 g) in light work and 0.88 lb (400 g) in medium work per 220 lb per day.
Clear rates like these let you feed accurately instead of guessing, which is where a lot of horses end up over- or under-fed. If a feed doesn't tell you how much to give a horse of a given weight and workload, that's a gap.
Ingredient inputs that match your horse's needs
Some horses do better without certain inputs. The Original Sport is soy-free and its components are grain-free; the Western Sport is oat-free and low-grain. Those aren't just marketing points — they're useful when you're managing a horse with known sensitivities, or when you simply want to keep a particular input out of the diet. Read the ingredient list, not just the analysis panel, so you know what's actually in the bag.
Matching the ingredient inputs to your individual horse is one of the most practical things you can do. Two horses in the same barn, doing the same work, can respond very differently to the same feed.
A brand and a support setup you can lean on
The last thing to look for isn't on the analysis panel at all. It's whether the feed comes from a maker with real depth, and whether you have support when you need it. Höveler has been making feed since 1905 — over 120 years of expertise, made in Germany. On the bifid side, you're buying from an operation rated 9.0/10 across 24,098 reviews, with a 24/7 licensed vet team, a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee, and a US operation based in Florida.
That combination — a feed maker with more than a century behind it and a seller who backs the purchase with real support — is what lets you buy with confidence rather than crossed fingers. When you're feeding an athlete, that peace of mind is worth as much as any single number on the bag.