Weekly Tips Mar. 01

The Need for Feed

Like humans, horses have individual requirements for food intake. Some horses are considered "easy keepers" and require very little calories or they gain excessive weight. Others require extra sources of calories to maintain weight and health. Some may be young, some may be old. Some may be pasture pets, others might be in training. Keeping your heard, no matter how small or larger, nutritionally fit requires assessment of individual needs.

Here are some considerations to help you develop a feeding program that will supply good nutrition and adequate caloric intake for your horses.

Determining Need and Meeting It

The first steps in devising a feeding program is to examine need based on the individual horse's condition. The amount and type of food your horse requires depends on age, gender, size, and work load. Special considerations for broodmares, growing foals or aged horses may apply to your program.

Assessing local available resources is the next step. Adequate amounts of pastures and types of plants in them are important considerations. Likewise the types of forages grown locally for hay will make a difference in quality and amounts that need to be fed. You should also establish contact with your local feed store to find out what brands of feeds they carry and what types are commonly available.

Age

Younger or older horses have different nutritional needs than other horses. There are commercial feeds designed specifically for feeding weanlings, as well as senior feeds for older horses. These are generally higher in protein, vitamins and minerals, and should have added lysine and methionine (amino acids) to help with cell growth and maintenance. Additional protein is needed to support young growing bodies and a reduction in absorption and utilization of nutrients found in geriatric horses. Additional vitamins and minerals support healthy cell function and strengthen immune systems.

Considerations in Determining

The Need for Feed

age

- especially important in old and

young horses

gender

- broodmares and breeding

stallions

size

- more horse = more calories

work load

- more work = more calories

Gender

Broodmares and breeding stallions need additional energy during breeding season. Broodmares will need to have calories, vitamins, minerals, and protein increased in their last trimester and during lactation. There are several commercial feeds that provide good nutrition for third trimester and lactating mares.

Size

Larger horses need more calories then smaller horses to stay in good condition. Generally, it is acceptable to feed between 1-2% of body weight to maintain your horse when he is not in training or otherwise working. However, common sense must also prevail - some horses are easy keepers and some are considered hard keepers. Don't go overboard trying to feed a larger horse extra calories when it might be an easy keeper (more on this problem later).

The final consideration is how hard your horse works. Horses that are in training, have daily work schedules, or are extremely energetic in the pasture need more calories than horses that are ridden lightly on the weekend or lounge around the paddock. They also require slightly higher levels of protein. Generally, maintenance level concentrates contain around 10-12%, while performance horse feeds contain 14-16%.

An average 1000 lb. horse requires a minimum of 10,000 - 12,000 calories per day for maintenance. This amount will vary according to the horse's metabolism and things that affect it - hard or easy keeper, growing or older horse, amount of work. Things that increase metabolic activity will generally increase the need for calories. Exercise, training, growth, lactation, breeding and cold weather are some of the things that burn more calories.

The type of concentrate and forage that you provide also makes a difference in the amount of calories available to your horse. Whole grains and commercial grain based concentrates provide the most calories per pound - 1400-1700 for whole grains and 1200-1900 for commercial feeds (your feed provider should be able to provide information on calories). Forages are less calorie dense - alfalfa tops the chart at 900-1000 and grass hays provide approximately 800-900 calories per pound. In cases where forage and recommended amounts of concentrates are not enough, additional calories can be supplied by adding a source of fat such as rice bran or vegetable oil - 1500-4000 calories per pound. General recommendations for feeding concentrates is to feed less than 6 quarts/feeding. More than that results in grains being digested in the hindgut which can lead to colic or laminitis.

However, considering calories is not enough. The way that the horse utilizes its feed also makes a difference. For example, grains and grain products are digested in the foregut and thus provide calories faster than forages. They also are high in non-soluble carbohydrates (sugars and starches), so the energy in them is more quickly converted for utilization. Forages are digested in the hindgut and require many hours of fermentation to break down. Forages are lower in non-soluble carbohydrates and convert into fatty acids during digestion. This long, slow digestion results in "metabolic heat" that raises internal body temperatures and helps keep the horse warm. Grains and concentrates serve to fill the gaps when a horse's needs outweigh the amount it can physically eat in forage.

Assessing forages that are available to your horses is also an important factor. Pastures that contain an over abundance of weeds should be cut once or twice a year to encourage grass and discourage weeds from reseeding. Some areas are abundant in grass hays, while others offer mostly alfalfa or mixes of grass and alfalfa. Either is considered adequate forage for horses depending on the area that it is grown in. While a quality forage is recommended, you will need to consider caloric value also. It takes more grass hay to meet daily calorie requirements than alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix. Alfalfa and second cuts are better used for horses with heavy work loads or that otherwise need extra nutrition.

When considering a concentrate, your choice of forage will be key to providing adequate nutrition. Some feed companies provide feeds or mineral mixes to complement their concentrates based on whether you provide a hay or alfalfa diet. Those that do not, often produce feed in local mills and balance nutrients according to common local feeding trends. In general, alfalfa is excessively high in calcium, while grass hays are not. In contrast, whole grains - specifically oats - are high in potassium. This provides a natural balance for horses fed primarily alfalfa diets.

We often pay particular attention to balancing calcium to phosphorous ratios, but what about other major minerals? Most commercial feeds are fortified with a balance of vitamins and minerals, adequate protein, and other important nutrients to meet an average horse's needs. However, if you are feeding limited amounts of concentrates (less than manufacturer's recommendations), forage only, your own custom blend or whole grains, then a vitamin/mineral supplement may be required.

Mixing commercial feeds with lower quality sweet or all-purpose feeds, or whole grains only serves to create imbalances in the overall diet rather than enhance it in some way. In the long run, you most likely will be feeding more with less results. While it may seem like you are saving money, the difference in health (more vet bills), hoof quality (more farrier bills) and quantity fed will ultimately reflect in your pocketbook. In the long run, you will discover that you have most likely increased the cost of keeping your horse. The best choice is to develop a diet that is based around a quality feed product that supplies the majority of your horse's needs. Grass and quality forage, free access to clean water, and a mineral lick complete the diet.

Identifying horses in your herd that exhibit exceptional need is generally not a problem. But devising a way to feed them without buying several different concentrates or supplements can be perplexing. In general, it is advisable to supply broodmares, weanlings and growing horses a concentrate that is designed to meet their needs. Likewise, geriatrics should be provided either a senior or high quality concentrate with additional lysine, vitamins, and minerals. Beyond that, most horses do well on a quality product that provides required nutrients and calories. Increasing forage should help compensate for non-working horses that need more calories. Increasing concentrates will help compensate for working horses that cannot eat enough forage to meet their caloric needs.

When exceptional cases of under or over weight horses come under consideration, it may be necessary to supplement your standard feeding program. Some cases of hard keepers need an additional source of calories that will not cause digestive upsets. Fat is the most calorie dense supplement to add to a horse's diet. Horses are not designed to digest animal fat (unless it is specifically rendered for equine or pig use), so those derived from plant sources are recommended. Rice bran (20-25% fat) and vegetable oils (100% fat) are most commonly used. There are also some high fat feed products that generally provide 20-25% fat that can be used to top dress concentrates.

On the other hand, if you have an easy keeper, generally simply limiting its intake of concentrates helps keep it from gaining weight. However, this also limits the amount of nutrients that are available to the horse. When it becomes necessary to reduce or significantly limit concentrates, then you must consider an additional source of vitamins and minerals.

Today's feed market provides several alternatives to traditional concentrates that may be beneficial to your feeding program. Each has its own qualities and characteristics that might provide you with alternatives for horses with exceptional needs, diets geared toward more natural feeds, or supplementation to your regular program. Some, like beet pulp and forage cubes, provide extra calories and lower carbohydrates. Others like seeds and kelp, provide nutrients that may be lacking in your horse's diet. Still others provide alternative protein or fat sources.

Beet pulp is an alternative high calorie forage that is safe for all horses. It falls between forage and grain at approximately 1300 calories per pound. It can be used in addition to, or as a replacement for some of the forage your horse eats. In the case of geriatric horses that cannot chew hay, beet pulp can replace up to 50% of forage. Beet pulp is available in two forms - shredded and pelleted. It is advisable to soak it, especially for older horses or those that bolt their food.

maintenance feed for horses that are "easy keepers". Cubes can be soaked or fed dry. Alfalfa cubes and pellets are similar in calories to fresh forage. Soaked cubes also make an easily edible forage replacement for older horses. The pellets are often referred to as "complete" feeds and generally have some vitamins and minerals added. However, they are not a balanced ration and although designed to be fed alone, they should be supplemented with an equine vitamin/mineral supplement.

Flax seeds are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. They support the immune system and are a good source of additional nutrients. Flax seed or oil is recommended for horses that have little to no access to pasture. Fresh plants are the only source of essential omega-3 fatty acids, so flax brings beneficial nutrients to horses that have limited grazing privileges. Flax is also recommend in the treatment of some skin allergies. It has been reported as successful in cases of allergies to neck thread worm, bug bites and other sources of persistent itching. Flax promotes quality hoof and coat growth and most horses attain a remarkable shine and density to their coats.

Kelp (seaweed) is an excellent source of micro-nutrients. This is especially beneficial to older and hard working horses. It also contains some of the nutrients that are found in green grass and thus is an excellent supplement for horses with limited pasture access. Additionally, kelp contains iodine that is lacking in many horse diets. Iodine plays a key role in thyroid function and overall health.

When extra calories are needed for extra energy for work, adding weight or maintaining hard keepers, there are a number of sources that can be used. Vegetable oil is the most inexpensive, but messiest source of fat. Rice bran, black oil sunflower seeds, prilled fat pellets (made for pigs), and numerous commercial weight gain or high fat top dressings are available. There are also many high fat concentrates on the market that are generally promoted as feed for horses that are participating in competitive sports.

In general, the way you choose to feed your horses is personal preference. There are many considerations from age to work load, but you also need the convenience of the local market. If you cannot get the feed that you prefer, take the tag information to your local feed store and request help in finding a comparable feed that they can provide.

Select a concentrate that complements your forage. Alfalfa is high in calcium and needs additional phosphorous to balance it. Cutting quality concentrates with lesser quality feeds only results in nutritional imbalances and detracts from the benefits of the concentrate. When you find that your horse needs less than the recommended amounts of concentrates, then you are also feeding less than the guaranteed levels of nutrients. Supplementation with a vitamin/mineral mix is usually required.

Adding supplements or alternative forages should be done as needed. Extra calories are one thing, but when you need additional supplements that change the vitamin and mineral content of your overall diet plan, then caution should be taken not to provide too much of a good thing. Most unprocessed feed alternatives such as seeds and kelp, as well as protein supplements, need only be fed in small amounts to obtain desired benefits. Feeding more can upset nutrient balances and negate any good that might have been provided.