What is a Low-Starch Diet for Horses?

Mar 23, 2023 | General feeding practices

If you’ve ever wondered what is a low-starch diet for horses, and more importantly, should my horse be on one, then you’re not alone.  However, it isn’t ideal for all horses. Ultimately, it will depend on their caloric requirements, the work they’re in and existing health conditions..

Forages should of course be the basis of any diet and are 75-90% carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, and some fibre. These carbohydrates found in pasture and hay fall into two broad categories: nonstructural and structural.  So horses actually rely on carbohydrates as the largest portion of their diet.  Especially soluble and insoluble fibres that make up forage.

Carbs, sugars and starches in forage.

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) in forages are simple sugars and fructans and can be readily digested or fermented by horses. They are produced in plants during warmer weather, and are higher in more immature forages. Pasture is usually lowest in NSCs in the early morning unless overnight temperatures are cold.  However, these carbohydrates can affect some disease processes, so you need to monitor how much your horse eats.

Carbs, sugars, and starches in your horse’s hard feed

Grain based hard feeds contain carbohydrates, including simple sugars and starch. Grains such as barley, maize and oats are high in NSCs, mostly starches. Starches are long chains of attached sugar molecules. These sugars get broken apart during the digestive process and the simple sugars (glucose) readily absorbed. Most horses can digest and absorb sugars and starches in the small intestine through a process called hydrolysis. From there, glucose in the bloodstream triggers the pancreas to release insulin.  Then the glucose molecules move into cells for storage as glycogen.  This is the fuel for the working muscles.

If there’s more starch in a single meal than the horse can digest, starch will enter the caecum, (the first part of the hindgut after the small intestine). Any undigested starch here is rapidly fermented creating lactic acid.  This lowers hindgut pH, killing the good bacteria that live there. The endotoxins released from microbial death can then contribute to both colic and laminitis.   

So, just how much starch is in a low-starch diet for horses?

 A “low-starch” feed usually contains less than 15% starch, but some feed companies might classify low-starch as any feed below 20%.  Compare this to a traditional hard feed with grains such as barley, maize and oats as its base.  These types of feed might be as much as 40-60% starch.  A “mid-level” starch content is usually between 20 and 25%. Whilst many horses are fed high starch feeds seemingly without problems, the key consideration that still remains for any horse is how much starch is fed in any one meal.

Ultimately, there is no single definition of a “low- starch” diet as both sugar and starch concentrations are important. Therefore, it’s better that feeds are referred to as ‘low-sugar and starch’ or ‘low nonstructural-carbohydrates (NSC).  NSC is a laboratory measure containing starch plus all water-soluble carbs (sugars and fructans). The recommendation for horses with metabolic issues therefore is not actually low-starch but low-Non-Structural Carbohydrates.  So, if f low starch/low NSC is a primary concern for your horse and it’s not quoted on your bag of feed, then contact the feed manufacturer directly to find out.

Starch Content of Common Feed Ingredients

Data collected from Equi-Analytical Laboratories

When should your horse have a low-starch diet?

For some horses with certain health conditions, vets and nutritionists might recommend a low-starch diet to help maintain blood glucose at a steady level. These are conditions that cause horses to become more sensitive to sugars and starches. This then means that owners will need to reduce these levels in both forages and concentrates. Individual horses have variable responses related to a variety of factors, including age, body condition, fitness, metabolic status, and disease status.

Obesity and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS)

These metabolic conditions are of major concern and there needs to be an overall reduction in calories consumed, not just from starches. Some breeds, especially pony breeds are “metabolically thrifty”, so they’re able to readily convert glucose into fat for storage. They will benefit from a lower-quality forage and no hard feed.  This is where a quality feed balancer supplement such as one from the Fibregenix range, is ideal.  It will  provide vitamins, minerals, protein, fatty acids and other essential nutrients to bridge nutritional gaps in forage.

Insulin dysregulation (ID)

Insulin dysregulation is considered a component of EMS.  In affected horses or ponies, insulin is not effective at transporting glucose from the bloodstream into cells, so both remain elevated. This can increase susceptibility to laminitis. Horses with this condition are extremely sensitive to starches. Ideally, they should be on as low a starch and, specifically, soluble-carbohydrate diet as possible.

Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, formerly Equine Cushing’s)

This  endocrine disease mostly affects horses or ponies over the age of 15. Some, but not all, PPID horses will require a lower-starch diet. PPID horses that are also insulin-dysregulated are the ones which will benefit.  However, some PPID horses are thin, non-insulin-dysregulated, and they need calories.  In such cases a more traditional NSC level is fine.

Polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM)

Horses with this muscle disorder often have a normal glucose/ insulin metabolic process. They’re unable to use the form of glucose stored in their cells as energy and are also susceptible to tying-up (exertional rhabdomyolysis).  This is the breakdown or destruction of skeletal muscle cells associated with exercise.

Laminitis

Laminitis prone horses and ponies  should also have diets low in soluble carbohydrates and starch. Elevated levels of starch reaching the hindgut can lead to hindgut acidosis, killing off the good microbes. This releases endotoxins, which can negatively affect enzymes involved in maintaining the integrity of the laminae in the hoof leading to laminitis. Susceptible horses should not be allowed to graze immature or lush, rapidly growing pasture routinely found in spring and early autumn.

Gastric ulcers (EGUS)

Signs of this condition include poor performance, poor attitude, and mild colic. Horses prone to ulcers and hindgut acidosis benefit from a low-starch/high fibre diet. This is because chewing and consuming fibrous carbohydrates produces more saliva which in turn helps reduce acidity in the stomach.

Reactivity

Anxious or hyperactive horses may also benefit from less starch in their diets. Multiple studies (Bulmer et al., 2019; Destrez et al., 2015) have focussed on the diet’s effect on behaviour. But more recently, they’ve focussed on the “why” behind this. The latest studies have revealed that glucose is a sugar that easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. Elevated glucose levels are associated with increased dopamine production.  And this can lead to elevated awareness or hyperexcitability.

Should you change your horse to a low-starch diet?

If your horse doesn’t have any of the aforementioned conditions, then he probably doesn’t need a low-starch diet. In fact, performance horses benefit from a diet with readily available carbohydrates needed to replace the stored glycogen in working muscles.  Especially those that do anaerobic exercise (short bursts of high-intensity training) during work.   When muscle glycogen is low, the muscle adapts by slowing contraction rate and power to conserve fuel (glycogen). This is obviously not desirable in a competition horse. Similarly, hard keepers might not be good candidates for low-starch feeds either, unless you increase the fat content in the diet. These horses need more readily available calories than the fibrous ingredients often used in low- starch feeds.

Traditional hard feeds with grains such as barley, maize and oats as its base might be as much as 40-60% starch. A “mid-level” starch content is usually between 20 and 25%. Whilst many horses are fed high starch feeds seemingly without problems, the key consideration that still remains for any horse is how much starch is fed in any one meal.

When looking at starch levels, check the feeding rate as well as the % on the feed bag or label. There’s a misconception about the % on a feed bag or label being the same as the amount of starch received on a daily basis

Balancers, fortified fibre feeds, mueslis & pellets will all have different feeding rates for a 500kg horse. Therefore, to work out how much starch they are receiving it’s important to first understand the recommended feeding rate of the feed.

The table below shows ideal targets to follow when considering how much starch your horse should have.

Example of Pelleted balancer v a standard hard feed for those at risk of gastric ulcers

It’s recommended starch should be limited to a maximum of 2g or less per 1kg of bodyweight per day. And 1g or less per 1kg of bodyweight per meal. So, a 600kg horse can have up to 1.2kgs of starch per day with no more than 600g per meal. 

If you’re feeding your 600kg Warmblood Fibregenix Pro balancer at the recommended feeding rate (100g/100kg bodyweight)  600g a day.  It has a starch level of 6% so your horse will be receiving 36g of starch from the balancer per day.

If you’re feeding your 600kg warmblood a hard feed at the recommended feeding rate (2.5kg a day)  If the starch level is 10.5%, your horse will be receiving 262.5 g of starch per day.

Let’s take a high starch performance feed with a starch level 26% fed at 2.5kg a day for a 600kg horse. This will provide 650g starch. This is still within the maximum recommended intake for those horses prone to gastric ulcers. However, we would recommend splitting this into multiple meals during the day so that it’s below 1g/1kg bodyweight per meal.

Making Changes To a Horse’s Diet Safely

Any changes MUST be slow and gradual so as not to upset the hindgut microflora. Gut microbes must have time to adjust to a new diet, so it’s generally accepted to make the complete transition over about two weeks.

For horses needing a low-starch concentrate, transition them the same way you would to any new diet. Start with a meal that is ¼ of the new feed and ¾ old feed and stay at this level for four days. Move up to ½ and ½ for another four days. Then switch to ¾ new feed and ¼ old feed for another four days. By the end of this period, you should be able to feed a full meal of the new feed. If you are concerned about NSC levels in forage, then limit pasture access when they’re elevated (e.g. during spring grass growth).  Soak hay before feeding. Just remember to discard the soak water, so the horse doesn’t drink it.​

What if a sudden change can’t be avoided?

Sometimes, the transition to a low-starch diet has to happen suddenly. For instance, after a metabolic event (e.g., laminitis) where the horse is moved from lush pasture to being yarded. Or begins to wear a grazing muzzle. In these cases, you don’t have days or weeks to make the change. So watch your horse carefully for signs of digestive disturbance such as diaorrhea. If signs develop (and if possible), back off the transition rate and make the conversion more slowly.

What if you have more than one horse and only one requires a low-starch diet? You might be tempted to think you could feed all the horses the same feed.  However, whilst it may make feeding more convenient, you still have to consider each individual horse’s needs and feed accordingly.

Feeding for individual needs

What if you have more than one horse and only one requires a low-starch diet? Tempted to feed all the horses the same feed? Whilst it may make feeding more convenient, you still have to consider each individual horse’s needs.

5 Take-home messages

• A low-starch diet might be a suitable option for your horse, but it depends on his health status.
• Horses in good body condition, fit for their discipline, with high caloric demands can cope on a more traditional feed containing higher starch levels. Even so, care must still be taken with how much starch is fed in any one meal.
• Before making any changes, talk to your vet or an equine nutritionist.
• Find out how much starch is in your horse’s feed when the term “low starch” is used. This will ensure you are making decisions based on the best information available.
• Always make any changes to the diet gradually so as not to upset the digestive microbes.

Reviewed and amended April 2021

Feed Balancers – A Versatile Approach to Feeding Horses

May 10, 2022 | General feeding practices

What are Feed Balancers?

Feed balancers, or ration balancers as they are sometimes referred to, are a versatile approach to feeding horses.  Yet despite their usefulness, there is still so much misunderstanding of this type of horse feed product. Whilst they might look like just another pelleted feed, they will provide that extra ‘punch’ to any feeding programme. We all want our horses to look and feel their very best with a happy outlook on life.  So, keeping their diets as close to nature as possible ie mostly forage, is the best way to achieve this.

So What Are Fibregenix Feed Balancers?

A Fibregenix balancer may initially seem like any other vitamin/mineral supplement for your horse. However, it provides every daily essential nutrient necessary in a low-intake, low energy, highly concentrated source. And not just vitamins and minerals.  Added extras such as protein, fatty acids and digestive aids to promote a healthy gut and improve feed utilisation are also included. This makes a Fibregenix Feed Balancer the ultimate ‘all in one’ feed additive product.

These balancers are designed for when additional calories are not required.  And they’re fed in much smaller amounts than standard hard feeds. Usually 100g per 100kg bodyweight (500 grams for a 500kg horse). Your standard 50-100g of a vitamin and mineral supplement just can’t match the functionality provided by a genuine feed balancer.

So when, why and how would I feed a Fibregenix Balancer?

Fibregenix pellets

Fibregenix Feed Balancers can be used in the following ways:

Fed alone as a low-calorie source of protein, vitamins, and minerals to balance forage.

Depending on forage quality, your horse should be able to get all his daily essential nutrients from pasture or hay.  However, it’s widely recognised that modern forage and pasture is frequently deficient in minerals and other nutrients. Forage analysis can help you pinpoint exactly what is lacking.  This is when a balancer is a great way to counteract these deficiencies.  Furthermore, feeding the recommended daily amount of a balancer means no additional vitamin or mineral supplement should be required.

Fed alongside ‘Straights’.

Some owners prefer to incorporate ‘straights’ such as lupins, oats, barley etc alongside beet pulp, chaff, oil etc. Whilst great ingredients, they can leave a diet unbalanced in some specific areas such as macro minerals. So, a balancer is ideal for this type of feeding programme. The main components of the feed provide the calories. And the balancer is added to ‘fill in the nutritional gaps’ of these ingredients, supplying amino acids, vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids.

Feeding less than recommended?

Concentrated balancers really come into their own if you need to feed less than the recommended quantities of a hard feed. Eg a performance muesli or pellet.  Maybe you’re cutting back your horse’s feed to keep weight down or to avoid hot behaviour.  In this way, balancers are ideal, providing essential nutrients for health and performance without additional energy (calories) or starch.  They also give you the option of feeding smaller amounts of a lower energy hard feed.  Then you can top up the nutrient, (but not energy) levels, to meet the increased demands of work or competition.

Many modern horse breeds maintain weight on limited calories, even when asked to perform hard work.  Because of the concentrated nature and low feeding rate, a feed balancer can meet the protein, vitamin, and mineral needs.  And it does this without adding excessive calories or starch to the diet. Even those on stable rest/convalescing benefit from a source of essential nutrients without the calories, provided by a balancer.

Added Extras in Balancers: 

Whilst feed balancers are a modern and cost-effective approach to feeding horses, you need to do your research.  Not all balancers are created equal and a genuine balancer should be:

• Ideally free from whole cereal and molasses.
• A specialist tailored range catering for different categories of horses and ponies rather than a ‘one balancer suits all’ approach.
• High in functionality with special digestive enhancers eg nucleotides and equine approved probiotics and prebiotics. These are key to ensuring digestive health and maximising nutrient yield from forage.

Busting 6 myths on Fibregenix balancer supplements

Myth 1 Fibregenix balancers provide calories for weight gain.
Fact: Generally, any balancer will provide low levels of calories when fed at the recommended amount, regardless of the manufacturer. The term ‘conditioning’ is generally used in association with high-calorie products aimed at weight gain. However, the live yeast probiotic additive in Fibregenix balancers has been shown to double fibre digestion and utilisation.  Keep in mind though, a balancer won’t be a substitute for the additional feed poor doers may need to gain/maintain weight. But it will work alongside your horse’s fibre, helping him make more out of it. And this, in turn, can actually help with weight gain.

Myth 2 Fibregenix balancers are expensive to feed.
Fact: With a high price tag compared to a bag of standard hard feed, a Fibregenix balancer may seem like a costly investment. However, they are polar opposites to a standard hard feed. And, due to the low feeding rate (typically 500g a day for a 500kg horse), they’re actually a very cost-effective way to ensure a balanced diet. Depending on pack size, a bag of Fibregenix will typically last 30 days for a 500kg horse and costs less than $3 per day to feed.  For smaller ponies it becomes even more economical.

Myth 3 Forage is enough for many horses.
Fact: Hmmm, if only! Yes, in the perfect world where grass grows on the most perfect nutrient rich soils which remain so all year round.  Whatever the season.  Reality check: For sure, forage can easily meet or even exceed energy (calorie) requirements for many horses. However,  these days, forage-only diets are unlikely to provide a balanced supply of vitamins, minerals and quality protein. Lysine, for example, is one of the most important essential amino acids that horses need in their diet every day. And frustratingly, it’s typically low in forage. Average hay is also unlikely to meet maintenance requirements, especially if fed at minimum rations for those on restricted diets.

Hay can also contain negligible levels of vitamin E. This important antioxidant plays a key role in supporting muscle health and immunity. While vitamin E levels in fresh grazing are typically high, other nutrients like copper, selenium and zinc are typically low. Vitamin A is another essential nutrient and the content of beta carotene (the precursor for vitamin A) diminishes the longer hay is stored for.  In fact, after 6 months, it can be almost negligible.

Additionally, during the curing process, hay will lose all its Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids which are naturally present in grass.

Myth 4 A Fibregenix balancer will make my horse excitable.
Fact: No, it won’t. Diet can generally affect behaviour in one of two ways. By oversupplying energy or by providing high levels of starch and/or sugar. Low feeding rates means our balancers provide a negligible level of energy, starch and sugar when fed at the recommended amount.  This makes them an ideal choice for excitable horses and ponies that maintain weight easily (or gain too easily!) on forage alone.

Myth 5 A Fibregenix balancer will give my laidback horse more energy.
Fact: Unfortunately, the idea of finding a feedstuff that’s high in energy, but low in calories really is too good to be true. Fibregenix balancer supplements aren’t energy providers. Low starch and sugar means they contain low levels of energy/calories when fed at the recommended rate.  This makes them ideal for good doers. If your horse lacks energy, it may also be that he lacks fitness for his work.

Myth 6 There’s no difference between a Fibregenix balancer and a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement.
Fact: Unlike broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplements, Fibregenix balancers also supply digestible protein. This provides key amino acids such as lysine and methionine.  Then we’ve added essential Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids and hoof improvement nutrients along with vitamins and chelate minerals.  Each balancer also contains our high-powered live probiotic yeast and purified nucleotides.  And for the harder working horse we also added a gut health package of MOS & FOS prebiotics.

Take Home Message:

The beauty of a Fibregenix balancer is the flexibility provided in customising the nutritional management of individual horses.  The key is to keep your horse’s diet as simple as possible whilst satisfying nutritional demands even for working horses. Ultimately, this means more emphasis on fibre feeding as the healthiest approach.  

Oh and below is Sophie Taiki’s stunning boy who really benefitted from getting on to Platinum Pro.

Tango Charlie fed on Fibregenix Platinum Pro

Effective, Simple Feeding with Fibregenix Balancers

Aug 16, 2021 | General feeding practices

Bucks tucking into his Fibregenix

Here’s our ultimate guide to effective, simple feeding with balancers. So, you’ve taken the plunge and got your first bag of Fibregenix.  A good decision made!  Fibregenix feed balancers will be you and your horse’s best friends.  Bucks certainly thinks so!

The 3 big questions we are most often asked.

1. How do I keep an effective, simple feeding regime with Fibregenix feed balancers?

Well, as you know, we are big promoters of fibre feeding in the first instance. It’s what is naturally best for your horse or pony, and what he/she has evolved to eat.  So, it’s a no-brainer to keep your horse or pony’s diet mostly forage based. However, we do appreciate that there are times when your horse may require more calories (energy). Furthermore, not all horses are good doers.  More on that later…

2. What other feeds do I feed with it? 

Here are some suggestions to accompany your balancer (which is fed at 100g per 100kg of bodyweight).  (Remember, to avoid dietary imbalances and potential nutrient conflicts, you generally shouldn’t need to feed additional supplements).

Fibregenix Prime Original for horses up to novice level, show horses & ponies, broodmares & foals:

Suggested Fibre feeds:  Hay (cereal, meadow, legume), haylage, hay cubes, Lucerne chaff/pellets, cereal chaffs, shandy chaffs, beet pulp products. There are plenty to choose from but avoid heavily molassed products.

Fibregenix Platinum Pro for performance horses in hard work, veterans or those with compromised digestive systems.

Feed any of the fibre feeds as above and if feeding for slow-release energy eg endurance – oils/fats NB:  Cold pressed linseed oil has the best balance of OM3:OM6)

Feeding for fast-release energy eg, eventing, racing, polo etc

Straight Grains:  oats, (whole, crushed or naked); barley, (boiled or micronized); maize – (flaked/ micronized). Legumes eg lupins. Oil can also replace part of your grain ration. We suggest linseed oil or simple veggie oil. Standard hard feeds can also be partially replaced with any of the balancers.  Be aware of the starch content of grains or standard hard feeds. Always feed in several small meals to avoid compromising the digestive system.

Healthy Horse Tip:  A horse’s stomach can only hold approx. 0.5% of its bodyweight in feed at one time.  Eg a 500kg horse’s stomach can only hold 2.5kg of feed.  This includes not just hard feed, but chaff and any other additional feedstuffs eg beet pulp.  So always keep within this parameter and split feeds into smaller meals. Yes, tedious I know but it’s all for the greater good! …

Fibregenix Lami Low-Cal – for laminitis prone horses and ponies and other metabolic issues, good doers, stable confinement.

Soaked hay, low NSC hay (preferably below 10%), low sugar chaff, unmolassed beet pulp. Restrict grazing or yard with appropriate amounts of soaked hay fed in a slow feeder net. (Never starve an overweight or laminitic horse or pony)

3. Do I still need to feed hard feed?

This totally depends on the type of work your horse/pony is doing.  You also need to consider his breed type/temperament, or if he has any health issues.   Always feed for the work being done, not what you think your horse is going to do.  This means if you aren’t working your horse, back off the hard feeds! Generally, horses and ponies can be split into 3 types – good doers, normal doers and poor doers.

Good doers eg native ponies, cobs or horses with a naturally laid-back temperament.  Fibre feeds alongside Lami Low-Cal balancer will suit these types best. Even in light to moderate work. And if in hard work, low energy feeds such as beet pulp or small amounts of legumes such as lupins or good quality forage will provide extra energy.

Normal doers are just that.  They are easy to keep weight on but don’t get overly heavy or drop weight when the wind changes direction.   Keep the diet high in fibre and monitor weight as you go along. Add legumes such as lupins and oil for grain free energy sources.

Poor Doers.  This category of horse or pony often has a history of digestive issue – predominantly ulcers. (Stomach or Hindgut).  They could also have a history of a heavy worm burden which can affect gut motility and create a horse which will be a poor doer all its life.  They may be super sensitive types and have a hot temperament which can be genetic or due to the aforementioned gut issues eg TBs or Warmbloods.  So, what do you feed a poor doer when high energy feeds are needed for work but must be limited or are totally off limits?  Grain free energy sources eg lupins, beet pulp and oil/fat. We have customers with starred TB event horses that cannot tolerate grains. These horses do very well on a basic diet fed in appropriate amounts of course.

Meeting his daily feed requirements.

Bear in mind that your horse needs at least 2% of his bodyweight in total dry matter feed intake every day. If he drops off, firstly check the quality of your forage and how much you’re actually feeding.

Secondly, remember the Horse Health Tip of small regular feeds, rather than overburdening the digestive system.  If you’re feeding heaps of feed and he isn’t gaining or is still dropping weight, consult with your vet. He may need scoping for ulcers, and they must be treated to heal and clear. Alternatively, there could be other digestive or health issues, so get him checked out.

Take Home message: Maintain a simple feed regime to keep your horse’s digestive system happy.  Contact us if you need help with your horse’s diet. We’re always happy to advise and have a wealth of experience of feeding all types of horses and ponies whatever their workload/circumstances.

Reduce Feeding Costs

Apr 2, 2020 | General feeding practices

Helpful guide to cut cost | not care

Feb 14, 2020 | General feeding practices