Feeding Horses in Drought

Feeding Horses in Drought 

BY FIBREGENIX PARTNER JANE COCKERTON 

Jane is based in Rockhampton, Queensland. She has a wealth of experience in feeding horses in drought conditions and feeding horses correctly.

Firstly, it’s best to explain how much a horse should eat every day.  An average horse needs 2.0-2.5% of its body weight to maintain good condition and proper gut function.  This means a 14.2hh horse will need around 8kg of food daily, and an average 16hh horse will need 10kg daily.  Usually, this comprises of forage in the form of grass. During drought however, it’s very important to feed conserved forage (hay) to replace some or all of the horse’s diet.

Hay Suitability When Feeding Horses in drought conditions

Hay comes in many different forms, and depending on local differences and availability, it varies in energy content and palatability. Generally, hays are grouped into grass hays, legume and cereal hays.

All hays have an energy value, or as it’s commonly known –  DE (Digestible Energy). This indicates how much energy an average horse can extract from a kilogram. As a rule, the older the hay, the less energy and nutrient content it has.

There’s another big consideration to take into account – the NSC level. Simply put, this is non-structural carbohydrates (starch and sugars).  Most cereal hays are high in NSC as they’re made from partially developed seed heads and unripened stems of grain-producing plants.

The following list of hays provides useful details to help you choose what will best suit your horse or pony.

1.       Rhodes Grass – the most common type of cut grass hay

Energy value approx  9MJ/kg. NSC content (starch 0.34% plus WSC 7.5% = NSC value 8.14%)

Considerations: Easy to feed to most horses. However, if coarse or musty smelling, then it’s unpalatable. It’s safe and cost-effective to be fed ad lib to all horses.

2.       Lucerne/ Grassy Lucerne – Pure legume or a mix of legume and grass

Energy value approx 8-9.3MJ/KG. NSC content oflLucerne Hay or chaff mean average of 11%. Grassy Lucerne NSC% mean average of 13.6%

Considerations: This type of hay is highly palatable so can lead to gorging. Scouring may occur in horses when feeding prime (green) lucerne. Contains a higher digestible protein content which is often incorrectly perceived as increasing energy levels. It’s best fed in addition with other grass hays, not as the sole forage replacement to pasture.  I’ve found if mixed with other hays, it increases palatability and encourages consumption of less desirable fodder products.  In some horses, lucerne has been known to cause skin photosensitivity.

3. Cereal Hays (Barley/Oat/Wheat)

Energy value of oaten approx 7MJ/kg – barley and wheat higher. NSC content is 22% on average but can be up to 33%. NSC content for barley is 12.1 to 26.3%,.  Wheat 10.5-24.8%

Considerations: Palatable with a very high NSC level which can increase energy levels in some horses.   Long-term feeding has been cited as causing dental issues and metabolic issues due to its high sugar content. It’s not suitable for laminitis prone or insulin resistant horses. Issues can occur if the product is baled too early and when it’s too green.  For example, mouldy product in storage and the possibility of mycotoxin development.

Crucially with barley hay, check that it’s been baled young and is a beardless variety. Barley barbs can get stuck in the horse’s gums and teeth causing big issues.

4.       Lab Lab/Diolichos Lab Lab

Energy value unknown but is suggested to be similar to lucerne. NSC content unknown

Considerations: Palatable. Can be a good substitute for Lucerne but is prone to being coarse and not well preserved. Stems are thick and leaf matter is lost in the drying process. It’s fed overseas as a cattle and silage crop. No negative side effects reported with use in horses, however, the coarseness of the hay could cause digestive issues.

5.       Sorghum Hay/ Forage Hay (another cereal hay)

The energy value is variable according to the species. It’s thought to be around the same as oaten ie 7MJ/Kg. NSC content unknown but it’s considered high, similar to cereal hays.

Considerations: Sorghum is palatable with a high NSC level which in some horses can increase energy levels. Its high sugar levels mean long term feeding can lead to dental issues and metabolic issues. Sorghum is not suitable for laminitis prone or insulin resistant horses. Again, manufacturing issues can be prevalent with the product being baled too early and too green.   This can lead to mould forming in storage and the possibility of mycotoxin contamination. I’ve also noted that horses’ manure can become smelly when fed Sorghum.

Sorghum – buyer beware! 

Another issue is the manufacturing process.  When cut too early, stressed in dry conditions or isn’t the correct variety, it can be high in Prussic Acid (Cyanide). This is really bad for horses – an indication of high levels of Prussic Acid is redness on the leaves and stems. Grain hays comprised of sorghum grass and Johnson grass hay should NOT be fed to horses due to the toxicity levels of these plants. Sorghum grasses include Sudan grass, Johnson grass, hybrid forage sorghums, and grain sorghums. All classes of Sudan grasses and associated hybrids have toxicity levels that make them unfit for horse feed.

Further Issues have been reported with long term use including urine infections and abortion and deformities in foals.

6.       Millet Hay (another cereal hay)

Energy value unknown. NSC content unknown

Considerations: Some varieties are not palatable so it’ll often take time to adjust to a new type of hay. The greener it is, the sweeter it is. Excessive selenium levels found in some varieties can become an issue long term. There are reports of mouth ulcers from certain varieties as well as mineral imbalances. If foxtail millet hay is fed to horses, additional calcium supplementation will be required as it is high in oxalates. These are substances that make it difficult for the horse to absorb dietary calcium.

Planning Ahead when Feeding Horses in Drought Conditions

Given the current drought conditions, some owners may be forced to use less desirable hay type to feed their horses. With soaring costs and diminished availability, good hay is far more difficult to source. Hence, the importance of planning ahead is paramount. If a change to hay type needs to be made, then this should happen over at least 2 weeks to avoid colic or gut disruption.

Other Useful Horse Feeds for Drought Conditions 

Other fibre products are useful when feeding horses in drought conditions. For example, soaked feeds can be used as part replacement for chaff and hay. These include speedibeet, micrbeet, fibrebeet, and maxisoy. Providing a source of  quality digestible fibre, they can help increase digestible energy of inferior hay products. It’s possible to feed them at quite high levels – up to 1kg dry weight a day (check the individual product for details).

Balancer supplements

Essential Nutrient Supply

When feeding horses in drought conditions, you must ensure your horse is getting the correct levels of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Hay can be deficient in several major nutrients the longer it’s stored for, so a balancer is the ideal accompaniment.  A Fibregenix balancer supplement also assists with fibre digestion helping to improve calorie intake. Ensuring your horse gets his correct daily quota of nutrients will mean a healthy, happy horse for when the rains come.

Reviewed and amended April 2021

Overweight Horses – Feeding Mistakes

Overweight Horses – Feeding Mistakes

 

Overweight Horses – Common Feeding Mistakes

When it comes to feeding overweight horses, there are many common feeding mistakes that could be a contributing factor. You think you’ve got your horse’s diet sussed. The problem is he’s still carrying too much weight for his own good. Where are you going wrong?  Check our  guide of common errors to see where you might be slipping up.

1. You’re feeding too much for his workload

Calorie-counting in overweight horses is the same as it is with humans. If a healthy horse takes in more calories than he burns off, he’ll put on weight. A 500-kilo horse in hard work will burn nearly twice as many calories as his mate who weighs the same but in light work. ie 34,500 calories as opposed to 20,000. So make sure your horse is receiving the right amount of feed for his weight and workload.

2. You’re feeding incorrectly for his breed

Native breeds have evolved to be good-doers, making the most of poor quality grazing. They generally require feeds of a lower-calorie level as they maintain their weight easily.  However, they still need lots of fibre to maintain digestive and behavioral health rather than being starved to keep weight down. While native types don’t tend to require concentrate feeds to provide calories, they do need a balanced diet. A quality feed balancer eg Fibregenix, with a small amount of fibre, is all they need plus grazing and hay.

3. You’re feeding incorrectly for his age

Feeding young horses correctly is important to ensure they grow at an appropriate rate. It’s also really important to ensure that the diet is completely balanced at all times. The majority of growth and development problems occur when there’s too much energy/calories going into the diet. Especially in combination with insufficient levels of vitamins, minerals and quality protein. Ideally, you’d want to keep youngsters in relatively light condition (4-4.5 out of 9 on the body scoring scale). This reduces the amount of pressure and strain on growing joints and limbs.

Veterans, however,  may need more calories to maintain condition as their ability to chew may be impaired by dental issues. The digestive system of the older horse also tends to be less efficient at processing feed. However, not all aged horses need a ‘veteran’ mix. Instead, monitor the condition and speak to a nutritionist if advice is needed on what best to feed your older horse.

4. You’re feeding too much for the time of year

In spring and summer, the grass is richer. In winter, it’s poorer and sparser. In winter, your horse can use up to 80% of his feed energy to keep warm.  So if he doesn’t get enough feed his weight may drop accordingly. Most horse owners prefer their horses to maintain a steady weight throughout the year. This doesn’t always follow the horse’s natural metabolic pattern of losing weight in winter and gaining in spring. If a horse comes out of winter already in good condition, he’s likely to stack on more weight when grazing becomes plentiful. Condition score your horse regularly so you know whether he needs more or less feed. Remember,  the level required will fluctuate with the seasons.

5. You don’t know what he weighs

Horses in light/medium work need to consume 2% of their body weight.  This should be mostly forage (70-100% of their food intake) a day.   So if you don’t know how much he weighs, how do you know if he’s getting the right amount? Invest in a good weigh tape or take advantage of the weighbridge services that some feed companies or vets offer.

6. You’re not weighing his feed

If you have a good doer that’s prone to piling on the pounds, don’t just throw some feed into a bucket and hope for the best. You need to be strict with him — and yourself — and weigh his feed. A 500-kilo horse needs 20,000 calories a day in order to maintain his weight. There are approximately 7-8 MJ (or 2,000 calories) in a kilo of good quality hay. So if you’re stuffing his haynet with 10 kilos of hay each night, he’s already receiving all the calories he needs just for maintenance.  And that’s before you include any grass or hard feed!  Are you worried he’s scoffing his hay ration too quickly and having nothing for the rest of the night?  If this is the case, invest in a small hole haynet to encourage him to eat more slowly.

7. You’re feeding too much hard feed

We should all know by now that many diseases are linked to high starch diets.   These include laminitis, colic, gastric ulcers, Developmental Orthopaedic Disease (DOD), Equine Rhabdomyolysis Syndrome (ERS) and Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM).   Does he really need all that high starch hard feed?  The majority don’t. Limit starch where possible and if not, split high starch diets into several smaller meals.

8. You’re buying the wrong hard feed

Work out how many calories your horse needs for his weight, breed, age, and level of work. Then check the calorie intake he’ll receive from his hard feed and consider honestly whether or not he really needs it.  If he has too much energy or is carrying too much weight, ditch the hard feed and switch to fibre feeds only.

9. Your grass is too good

Grass can contain a lot of sugar and calories, particularly in Spring and Autumn. Or in fact,  any time after drought-breaking rains.  So when feeding overweight horses, restrict grazing in the danger periods. Alternatively, yard with hay. A Fibregenix balancer such as Prime Original OR Lami Low-Cal alongside forage will provide enough daily nutrients he needs for good health.

10. You’re buying the wrong hay

When feeding overweight horses, you need to choose the most suitable forage possible. A late cut, coarser hay will typically be less nutritious than an early cut forage.  Good doers don’t need cereal or legume hays – look for simple grassy hay instead.  If you can’t find a more suitable forage, soaking the hay for an hour or so can help reduce sugar content.

11. You’re trying to starve him into being skinny

Horses can’t do ‘crash diets’ any more than humans can. They’ve evolved to trickle feed.  This means they need an almost constant supply of forage for their digestive system to work properly. If you withhold food, they may develop ulcers and may also gorge quickly on food when presented with it. All dietary changes should happen gradually and over a significant period of time to be effective, especially in overweight horses.

12. He’s a good doer

Feeding overweight horses can be a nightmare. Some just seem to get fat on thin air. If your horse is putting on weight despite taking all the precautions above, then speak to us. He may need to have a more specialised feeding program devised for him. Being a good doer can also be problematic for competition horses. Feeding them for their level of activity can provide too many calories and cause them to gain too much weight. One solution is to feed less hard feed and provide a good balancer such as one from the Fibregenix range.

Reviewed and updated May 2022

Horse feeding practices

Horse feeding practices

A few days ago you brought your gelding in from the pasture where he’s been living 24/7. You decided to stable him during the day so you can get him prepped for an upcoming show. Today, however, he seems dull and is off his feed, with mild colic signs. The sudden change from pasture to hay and hard feed  must have upset his digestive system. To avoid such scenarios it’s vital you’re aware of what constitutes good or poor horse feeding practices.

The above example demonstrates how our horse feeding practices can greatly affect our horses’ gastrointestinal (GI) health. In order to refine our management techniques, we need to first look at the diet horses evolved to eat.

Horse Feeding Practices following The Horse’s Natural Way

OrlandoHorses evolved in an environment where they grazed more or less ­continuously—about 14 to 18 hours a day. And for good reason.  Digestion in horses is less efficient than digestion in ruminants.  Therefore, the horse’s feeding strategy is to eat a lot of forage to get the necessary nutrients required on a daily basis. Forage has a relatively rapid rate of passage through the digestive tract, producing lots of faeces. As long as the horse has plenty of forage, this rapid rate of passage doesn’t matter.

So this strategy works well for horses which wander, graze, and eat continually except when resting. However, a study showed that stabled horses maintained a lower (more acidic) pH in the stomach  than those allowed to move around in paddocks. Movement also helps gut motility and this is why confinement is one of the risk factors for colic.

In natural settings, social contact also affects digestion.  It gives horses a sense of security so they can settle down and eat. Being herd animals, the comfort of being together reduces their stress levels, ­promoting normal grazing behavior.

The three aspects (free movement, foraging, and social interactions) of normal equine behavior are disturbed when we confine horses in stables.  By limiting free movement and feeding at set times, foraging behavior is lost. Even if they can see other horses when they stabled it’s not the same as having continual social contact. This also adds stress to their daily lives.

These changes can affect horses in ­several ways. Some of them adopt abnormal stereotype behaviour such as cribbing, weaving, and stable-walking. Additionally, health issues such as gastric ulcers, colic or laminitis can develop.  And all these are down to the unnatural conditions, feeds and feeding practices of modern horse-keeping.

The horse’s small stomach is designed to handle continual modest amounts of high-fibre food. This is why horse feeding practices work best if the horse is trickle-feeding throughout the day and night. It can’t hold a large meal eaten all at once. Not only that, the horse’s gut also works differently from ours. Humans, like other predatory species, eat nutrient-dense meals (such as meat) and don’t have to eat again for quite a while. Horses are prey animals, eating a large proportion of fibrous material continuously to gain an equal amount of nutrients.  They are constantly on the move, and on the lookout for predators.

By imposing our type of eating on the horse, thinking a horse can eat meals like us, we forget this is unnatural. It’s also detrimental to his well-being and gut health. We adopt a regime of  feeding our horses just twice a day.  We may even be restricting his forage, feeding in such a manner. Yet we don’t stop to think about the horse’s natural feeding behavior and how the digestive tract works.

Best Horse Feeding practices – Increase Chew Time

Horses grazingForaging behavior— ie, grazing for 50 to 70% of the day—translates into heaps of time spent chewing. The horse spends a lot more time chewing forage than eating grain/hard feed.  Studies have shown that for 1 kilogram of hay, a horse chews 3,400 times and takes 40 minutes to eat it. If a horse is chewing 1 kilogram of oats, he only chews 850 times and finishes it in 10 minutes.

In another study, researchers looked at how many times horses chew per day when given constant access to hay: 43,000. By contrast, a horse consuming a pelleted diet chewed only a quarter of that amount, around 10,000 times per day.

Chewing is so important because the saliva it produces helps buffer the stomach from ulcer-causing acid.  Therefore, we can increase chew time by making appropriate  feeding adjustments. Feeding more fibre makes our horse chew more. The solid and liquid portions readily separate with he fibre floating on top forming a mat and the liquid underneath. There are also varying particle sizes.

By contrast, if a horse consumes a 100% pelleted diet, there’s not much physically effective fibre.  This leaves the particle size very small in his GI tract . The horse doesn’t have to chew pellets as he would fibre,  and there’s a very uniform mix of food within the tract.  That uniform mixture will increase the risk for ulcers.  It won’t move through the GI tract in the same way that a non-uniform mixture would.  Primarily,  because there’s not enough bulk to help keep things moving along properly.

Related Content: Journey Through the Equine GI Tract

Studies were undertaken at Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center, at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.  They studied feedstuff characteristics in the caecum of cannulated horses.  (Those with surgical portals created through the abdominal wall through which researchers can access the caecum).

High-grain diets resulted in more  material in the cecum that lacked good solid and fluid separation. The researchers noted that this mixture was also frothier and trapped more gas. A potential for colic.

Findings showed the caecum and colon come together at the pelvic flexure which is geared toward high-fibre forage that horses eat naturally. The more uniform mixture of modern diets might not fit as well,  increasing the risk for gastrointestinal disturbances. In fact, more feed impactions occur at the pelvic flexure than anywhere else in  the digestive tract.

So horses with minimal chew time are prone to not only gastric ulcers but also colic due to gas, impaction, or other issues.

Importantly, chewing also has a calming effect. Horses that chew more during the day are less likely to develop stereotypical behaviour. If they’re happily eating, they’re content, less stressed, and healthier.

Several things, however, can diminish a horse’s ability to chew. Poor tooth alignment, tooth loss, or arthritis in the jaw can all happen in older horses.  He will chew less, with a higher risk for gastric problems. If the horse can’t chew fibre effectively, then you have to make dietary changes. Provide something that’s easier to chew, such as hay cubes, pellets, chaff, beet pulp, and/or a complete feed.

A Paper Trail of Feeding.

Keep precise records of what and when you feed your horse.  This makes it easier to  determine any causative factors if there are gastrointestinal problems.

This might include the type and amount of hard feed. Hay type and weight, feeding frequency, and diet changes.

Know the body condition of your horse and vital signs. Take these periodically so you’re familiar with his normal temperature, pulse and respiration rate when he’s healthy.  It’ll help you to recognize problems early— for instance, if he goes off feed and his heart rate is increased. If any of these things are abnormal for that horse, it can be indicative of a gastrointestinal problem. You may think you know what’s going on, but a diary note is better evidence than a recollection.

Best Horse Feeding Practices – Reduce Meal Size

Remembering a horse’s small stomach size, concentrate meals should never be too large. Generally, a 500-kg horse should consume no more than 2.3 kg of concentrate feed per meal.

However, the new way of thinking for feeding horses correctly focuses more on the amount of starch in any one feed. To decrease the incidence of gastric ulcers yet still provide a high-starch meal to horses needing lots of energy, limit grams of starch per kilogram of body weight. Ie. no more than 2g of starch per kg of horse’s bodyweight. Ulcer prone horses should have no more than 1 gram of starch per kilogram of body weight in any single meal. For horses in less demanding work, some studies advocate no grain at all.

This means if your feed is 20% starch, your 500 kg horse should consume 2kg of feed per meal. If the feed is 40% starch, his meal should be half that size. This helps reduce gastric ulcer risk. Feeding more than this in one meal, increases the risk of  hindgut acidosis or colic. Hindgut acidosis occurs when we overwhelm the small intestine with too much starch. It doesn’t get enzymatically digested and ends up in the hindgut. There are bacteria in the hindgut that love to digest starch and the end product of their starch digestion is lactic acid. This makes the hindgut more acidic which increases the risk for colic and indigestion.

Such horses might lose weight and develop stereotypies. Keeping a concentrate meal under 2 grams per kilogram of body weight may prevent hindgut acidosis.

Best Horse Feeding practices – Feed More Frequent Meals

Hay weighingIncreasing the number of meals per day is a management strategy that helps reduce gastric ulcer and colic risks.  However,  it can be a challenging practice for people accustomed to only morning and evening feeding—before and after work.

Many horse owners put a pile of forage in front of the horse first thing in the morning or at night, thinking he’ll feed on it until the next feeding. The problem is most horses eat it all at once and by mid-morning or late evening the hay is gone.

Instead, try grouping smaller, more frequent fibre-rich meals closer together. Use a slow feeder for hay and incorporate some kind of chopped fibre (or chaff) into the grain or concentrate feeding. This will slow eating and make the horse chew more. If this is combined with some pasture access during the day, the horse will probably have less risk for gastrointestinal problems.

In fact, if you’re trying to get more calories into a horse, you’re better off feeding smaller meals more frequently. If you’re trying to feed just 1 gram of starch per kilogram of body weight, and the horse needs 5 kilograms per day (to keep weight on or provide energy for hard work), you should be feeding several meals. For example, feeding oats, which are about 40% starch,  means you would feed four meals per day to keep it under 1.25 kilograms per meal. Not always a viable option of course!

Some of today’s commercial concentrate feeds can be helpful if they are high-fibre, or high in fat and fibre and relatively lower in starch and sugar.  (around 20%)

Many stabled horses spend as little as 30% of their time eating. Dividing food into more meals so they can eat more often, is healthier for the GI tract than going so long between meals. Abnormal behaviors such as eating manure and bedding, or stereotypies eg chewing wood, are primarily due to the horse’s inability to graze.  This means lack of chew time, insufficient fiber in the diet, and not feeling full. When a horse doens’t get his daily gut fill he’ll resort to trying to eat or chew other things.

Best Horse Feeding Practices – Make Diet Changes Slowly

As we mentioned earlier, when making any changes to your horse’s diet, do so slowly and gradually. Make any change over a couple of weeks. Eg. from hay to pasture or pellets and vice versa.  From one kind of hay to another. Or in a concentrate ration, content, or quantity.

Related Content: Switching Horse Feeds Safely

Even moving from one part of the country to another, where feedstuffs might be different, can be a challenge for horses. Many people on the East Coast go from north to south every year for showing, racing, etc. When making these moves, bring a little feed (both the hay and concentrate) that the horse is accustomed to eating.  Thereafter, make a gradual change after the horse arrives in his new environment.

Some horses adjust readily, others don’t, so always err on the side of caution when it comes to feeding practices. Horses are a lot like humans in that there are variations in how different horses handle change or different foods. This is down to a combination of genetic factors, microbes in the gut and differences in ability to handle different foods.

Take-Home Message

For optimum gut health, our horse feeding practices should mimic nature as much as possible. Unnatural conditions can adversely impact horses’ GI tract health and function. This means paying attention to what we feed (nutrient and fibre levels). Plus, how we feed in terms of meal size and frequency.  We should always be mindful of trying to find ways to increase his eating and chew time.

If you’re unsure about your horse’s diet please feel free to contact us.  Alternatively, try our free diet audit. Our Equine Nutrition consultant will thoroughly review your horse’s diet with the experience gained from over 30 years of practical, hands-on and common sense knowledge.

Reviewed and amended April 2021

Spring Clean Your Horse’s Diet

Spring Clean Your Horse’s Diet

A FRESH START…SPRING CLEAN YOUR HORSE’S DIET

The best diet for horses means finding the best and simplest ways to optimise general health. Whether a paddock ornament or a high-level performer, it’s never too early or too late to Spring clean your horse’s diet.   It’s one of the most important things you can do for him.  The pay-off will be a happy, re-energised and stress-free horse that looks, feels and performs his best.

Keeping things simple can make a huge impact on long term overall health and well-being. Just start your Spring clean with these 3 basic steps….

1. CHECK DIGESTIBLE ENERGY INTAKE

  • Too much digestible energy for daily requirements = weight gain and/or hot, fizzy behaviour and vice versa.

SOLUTION:

WEIGH ALL FEED INCLUDING HAY AND CHAFF, EVERY FEED!

Scalesweighing food Hay weighing

You can’t manage what you don’t measure, right? Hay, chaff and hard feeds vary in weight and volume. Make sure your horse is getting the correct amount of fibre for his size and weight. Purchase a spring balance and scales and get weighing.  Managing digestible energy intake will ensure your horse gets his appropriate nutrients and daily fibre gut fill.  Weigh your horse too; you can use a tape or a weighbridge.  Work on approx. 2% of body weight for daily total dry matter intake.

2. CHECK AND ASSESS WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS    

Be honest with the work you give your horse – really honest. The best diet for horses means feeding for the work done and not what you think he is going to do.  Any time off work means you should reduce or cut out hard feeds appropriately.

CONSIDER WHETHER YOUR HORSE REALLY NEEDS HARD FEED

Think about the work your horse is doing and ask yourself – where would he naturally get his energy from?  Yep, fibre of course!  Remember fibre provides the main source of a horse’s energy intake.  Many horses in light up to medium work perform perfectly well on just quality fibre.  As long as their essential nutrient intake is being met, they’ll be good to go.

If your youngster is just starting work, don’t oversupply digestible energy.  Too much energy and you could be dealing with hot, fizzy behaviour and a whole heap more!

A really hard-working horse will likely need some sort of starch-based hard feed for fast-release energy.  In this case, manage the diet carefully by splitting hard feed into several small portions. This avoids overloading the digestive system with too much starch in one meal.

For grain sensitive horses or where there are metabolic challenges, consider replacing some or all the hard feed with oil. This will provide calories but in a slow-release, ‘cool’ energy form.

 horse feeding Horse bucking

3. CHECK ALL ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS ARE BEING MET

How do you check this?

SOLUTION:

There are 3 easy options to check whether your horse’s essential nutrients are being met:

Look at the horse – A healthy horse has a glossy coat, good condition hooves, bright eyes, plenty of energy and an overall happy outlook. Sometimes it’s good to just let the horse speak for himself!

Diet review and nutrition consult.  You can contact us for this.  We pride ourselves on being thorough!

Computer feed programmes. Can be useful for checking vitamin and mineral levels in the diet.  However, algorithm-based programmes can’t take into account every possible feed anomaly despite their best efforts.  Without hay and/or pasture analysis they aren’t going to provide you with the full picture. The biggest part of your horse’s diet is forage which will supply many of his essential nutrients. Without analysing this, inputting just hard feeds and supplements won’t provide the full picture and could be misleading…

SHORTFALLS IN THE DIET…

It’s not just grass that has fluctuating levels of nutrients. Hay is also susceptible from the moment it’s harvested, baled and stored.  Hay nutrient quality depends on

  • the time of year when cut, (protein, vitamin and mineral levels)
  • time of day when cut, (NSC levels – this is the starch plus water-soluble carbohydrate content)
  • how long it has been stored for (vitamin depletion). Once the grass has been cut for hay it loses vitamin E. Neither is it a viable source of essential fatty acids such as Omega 3. Also, the longer hay is stored for, the less Vitamin A it contains.

THE BEST DIET FOR HORSES PROVIDES QUALITY ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS

Feeding a premium quality Fibregenix balancer supplement is a no-fuss and simple way of bridging nutritional gaps.  It’ll supply every nutrient required as well as sophisticated digestive aids – all in one product. This saves you having to buy individual supplements (which gives better value and savings long term).  It also helps to prevent further dietary imbalances and potential toxicity from over-supply.

THE BEST DIET FOR HORSES PROMOTES HEALTH & VITALITY…

A Fibregenix balancer supplement is a logical approach to managing the nutrient intake in your horse’s diet. Our balancer supplements are so concentrated you’ll be feeding in grams and not kilograms!

best natural diet horses grazing

Worried about weight gain or have a good doerFibregenix Lami Low-Cal balancer provides the essential nutrients needed every day, even on a restricted diet.

Worried about your horse’s condition or topline Fibregenix Prime Original will aid condition and topline providing all the ingredients for great overall health. Peak health inside always reflects on the outside.  You’ll see a shiny coat with the silkiest feel even when clipped. With quality protein and high levels of folic acid, it’s also ideal for broodmares, foals and youngsters.

Concerned about your performance horse that’s working super hard? Do you have a veteran or horse with a compromised digestive system? Fibregenix Platinum Pro performance balancer is a technically advanced feed balancer formulated specifically for the fit performance horse. It delivers the optimum balance and level of each nutrient with a synergistic effect.  This helps to optimise and enhance health and performance.

CONCLUSION

Giving your horse’s diet an overhaul doesn’t have to be a painful task.  Make these 3 simple ways of how to spring clean your horse’s diet, part of your horse’s daily management,  Fibregenix makes it so much easier to simplify a diet whilst providing the right nutrients for great health.

Reviewed and updated March 2021