Food to keep at the yard for riders

Such an important and underrated topic! Eating enough and giving our own nutrition the same priority we give our horses really is the be-all and end-all.

When I know I will be at the yard for a while, I bring a packed lunch. In the warmer half of the year a pasta salad in various forms is easy to manage, and in winter a soup you can heat up works well (if you have a microwave to hand). These days I usually drink a protein milkshake, the long-life kind that does not need to be kept chilled while unopened, so it will not spoil. I always keep a stash at the yard with various protein bars, rice cakes and nuts, and I often bring bananas and apples.

At competitions I eat exactly the same. I try to keep my routines as close as possible to the ones I have at home, and that works for me. I take the same snacks I keep at the yard. I usually bring my own packed lunch with some kind of pasta salad too, since food at competition venues is often a hot dog in a roll and sweets, which is not enough energy to get me through a competition day.