Feeding Your Horse (Part 3) - Nutrients

So far, we have run over calculating your horse’s energy requirements, and how to feed your horse. Today we will examine the actual benefit and use of their nutrients.

This guide will be exceptionally useful if you find your horse experiences regular issues such as laminitis, dry skin or low immunity.

Macronutrients (Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein)

Macronutrients provide the bulk of our horse’s energy or calorie intake. They also serve an important function in the overall way their bodies work.

Carbohydrates (sugar, starch and dietary fibre)

Carbohydrates form the bulk of feed for horses and comprise of 2 main categories – simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Sugars and simple carbohydrates and starch and dietary fibre fall under the category of complex carbs.

Starches and simple sugars are found most commonly in grains and concentrated feed. Excessive levels of these can contribute to blood sugar fluctuations and potentially contribute to conditions such as laminitis, cushings disease and tying up. Starches and simple sugars are easily digested absorbed by the small intestine. Starches require a particular enzyme to be broken down into simple sugars before they can be absorbed, and thus can become overloaded when a large quantity of concentrated feed is eaten, making it important to provide these in a limited quantity per feeding (see Part 2 for more information)

Dietary fibre or ‘roughage’ is exceptionally important for horses. Their gastro-intestinal tract, which actually is similar to humans in make-up, has evolved over several millennia to be able to ferment and digest the maximum quantity of nutrition out of dietary fibre. The ceacum(the equivalent to the now redundant human appendix) is responsible for housing the bacteria and protozoa that helps ferment and break down fibre for use within the body. The intestinal tract of the horse is also quite long, allowing a slower transit of food for maximum nutrient absorption.

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a description of how much a feed increases blood glucose level. Foods with a high GI increase blood sugar quickly. Foods with a low GI still affect blood sugar levels, but not as much or as fast.

Physical effects of high GI feeds

High GI feeds can generally be eaten faster. Less chewing produces less saliva. Saliva provides a buffer in the stomach to neutralize the acid, so less saliva can lead to more acid in stomach and result in stomach ulcers

High GI foods tend to move faster through the gut, which can create colic.

The speed and high sugar may create abnormal or unhealthy bacterial growth in the ceacum, which influences the development of inflammation, toxin release, colic and laminits.

Sugar and starch is absorbed quickly resulting in fluctuations of blood glucose level and insulin release. This increases the risk of cushings, laminitis, colic, tying up and equine metabolic syndrome

Foods with a high GI

Foods with a high Glycemic Index are high in sugar and often low in protein and fat. Most commonly are seeds and grains, as they contain all the sugar a seed requires to sprout. Sprouted seeds contain less sugar and therefore are a lower GI. Examples of high GI foods include:

• Sweet feed
• Corn
• Oats
• Barley

Foods with a low GI

Foods that are low GI are generally high in fat or protein AND dietary fibre. Most commonly examples are the hulls of the seed and also:

• Wheat bran
• Speedi‐beet
• Alfalfa
• Rice bran
• Soy bean hulls

Protein

Despite being herbivores, horses still need protein. This doesn’t mean you need to run out a cook up a steak or two (would you eat your former neighbor anyway?) as horses can receive and digest amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, from plants.

Protein is an important part of growth and is require as building blocks for muscle and other body tissues. It is also essential for healing and repair as well as general function, including the production of enzymes and hormones. Thus protein is an important component of the diet, even though it is only required in smaller amounts.

Mature adult horses require 8-10% of the total feed to consist of protein. Working doesn’t significantly impact this though we tend to feed at the higher end of the ratio to help recovery (bearing in mind that a horse in work has a higher energy requirement, so the same size horse in work will receive more grams of protein, but could still be fend the same percentage of protein in feed as a non-working horse). A young horse in growth stage requires significantly higher percentage of protein in their feed, being between 14-16%, to help with the growth phase. Geriatric horses also may need a similar protein percentage to growing horses (as their ability to effectively use protein decreases, their oral intake may need to increase), but their liver and kidney functions should be examined prior to increasing the feed as higher protein diets make these organs work harder and may exacerbate deterioration.  Pregnancy and lactation also need higher protein than a mature adult horse.

Below are some protein averages in common feeds, and you can see more specific protein requirements in the earlier chart.

Fat

Fat has a bad reputation, but is critical for our overall function. Omega 3, 6 and 9 play important parts in our inflammatory processes, vitamin absorption, and offer twice the energy to protein or carbohydrates on a per gram basis. The benefits of a high fat diet is generally that you can feed smaller quantities and provide more energy, but using the correct ratio of omega 3/6/9 can have significant benefits on overall health, and particularly for skin and coat issues.

Feeds that are high in fat include mill run, rice bran and wheat bran.

However, overfeeding high fat feeds can result in the deposit of fat around the liver and heart which is not beneficial to the horses overall health.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are nutrients that don’t provide energy but are essential for the body to function accurately. These are our vitamins and minerals, and also include some substrates that act in vitamin-like ways.

The list of micronutrients is extensive, so we will focus on a key few. If you are keen to know more, you can read them here in the MSD Mercks Veterinary Manual.

Calcium & Phosphorous

Because of the way our horses are built and work, the skeletal frame is exceptionally important and therefore calcium and phosphorous should be given some important considerations.

"Excessive intakes of certain minerals may be as harmful as deficiencies; therefore, mineral supplements should complement the composition of the basic ration. For example, if the horse is consuming mostly roughage with little or no grain, phosphorus is more likely to be in short supply, especially for growth, than calcium. However, if more grain than roughage is being fed, a deficit of calcium is much more common. The total mineral contribution and availability from all parts of the ration (forages and roughages, concentrates, and all supplements) should be considered when evaluating the mineral intake." Merck Vet Manual

Calcium and phosphorous are required in greater quantities during growth, pregnancy and lactation than for a mature horse. Geriatric horses may require higher phosphorous than mature horses but calcium should be monitored and reduced, especially if renal function is compromised.

Both calcium and phosphorous play an important part in the development of bone, but also in areas such as cell membrane protection and neural function. The calcium:phosphorous ratio should be in balance of ideally 1.5 calcium to 1 phosphorous.

Salt

Salt (sodium chloride) requirements are largely influenced by the work, or more accurately, sweat production. Horses will generally self regulate salt intake and as such should have free access to salt blocks or licks.

A Note about Supplements and Additives

• Multi vitamin – find a well reputed source to ensure the horse gets its dietary vitamins and minerals
• Oil – calorie dense option to increase weight. Feed no more than 500mL. 250mL of oil has roughly the same calorie content of 2.5kg of oats. Balance of omega 3, 6 and 9 is important in feeding oil. Try to avoid over feeding omega 6. Ensure that you use cold pressed oil and store in a cool environment out of direct sunlight.
• Soybean meal ‐ contains the full spectrum of essential amino acids. Great sources of protein for muscle mass and over health
• Psyllium husks – 1 cup a week can help maintain motility of bowels and may reduce incidence of colic

There are plenty of other supplements and additives each with their own merits. Horse feed is an art not a science, if you find something that works for your horse use it, if you are using something that doesn’t seem to be working, don’t use it. Feeding horses is expensive enough without feeding additives that aren’t doing anything!

Feeding Your Horse (Part 2): Calculating Feeding Requirements

Today we are going to share some tips on calculating feed for your horse.

With such a wide variety of feeding options and a massive number of variables with every single horse (size of paddock, turn out hours, paddock mates, along with physiological changes), it’s a small wonder so many of us have questions about feeding our horses.

Calculating feed quantities is absolutely a mix of science and art. We will share the science and allow you to play with the art depending on your situation.

So here are some facts:

a) A guide to calculating feed breakdown based on a healthy horse at various stages of health

• Horses require at least 1.5% of their body weight in food each day, and can eat up to a maximum of 2.5-3% depending on energy requirements, activity level, age, and size of the horse (notably weanlings and ponies will exceed these maximums if on good pasture).
• Roughage (including grass) should make up a minimum of 50% of their total diet, and recommended to be at least 1.5-2% of their body weight. Roughage is exceptionally important to aid digestion, feed gut flora and provide satiety.
• It is with the above point that you can assume that a lot of healthy, mature horses that are maintaining or in light work can maintain solely or almost solely on roughage, with very little grain supplementation, with horses in intense work needing a higher percentage of concentrate supplemented (see charts a & b).
• Older horses, growing horses, reproducing horses or horses with illnesses have varying requirements based on body condition, muscle condition, disease and growth requirements, and require more in-depth analysis for feeding calculations.
• Concentrates (high sugar/energy foods) fed at greater than 0.5% of your horses’ body weight in a single feed can seriously disrupt the gut flora and digestion, and predisposes your horse to all manner of gastric problems including ulcers, colic and laminitis. If your horse needs a larger percentage of concentrate in the feed, ensure to split the feeds over several meals to avoid problems (chart c).
• Feeding more than 50% of the total feed as a concentrate has also been well documented to increase the risk of several problems including laminitis and colic.
• Large feeds (greater than 0.25% of the horses body weight) of concentrates should not be offered within 1 hour of stressful situations (heavy exercise, transport), nor to exhausted horses.

b) An approximation of the feed for a horse, which can alter depending on body condition, feed selection and general health.

c) Maximum recommended concentrate per feed (not day) by horses body weight

Feeding for energy

While we initially start by looking at the total weight of food compared to body weight, we must also consider the energy requirements.

Example 1:

A 500kg horse in light work with a body condition score of 5 requires 69.9 MegaJoules per day to maintain healthy energy and weight (see Part 1: Calculating Energy Requirements for full details).

Energy Requirement: 69.9 MJ

Estimated feed intake based on weight: 9.75kg

Roughage intake approximation: 7.8-9.75kg

Concentrate intake approximation: 0-1.95kg (Note: maximum concentrate in single feed should not exceed 2.5kg for a 500kg horse)

Through pasture yield calculations, we estimate that this horse is eating at least 6kg of pasture each day (I'll go more into detail on how to calculate that in a later segment).

average energy and protein from common feed souces

Pasture average intake: 8.5MJ/kg or 51MJ

Leaving 18.9MJ to make up in additional food, at least 1.8kg in roughage.

Lucerne: 8MJ/kg x 1.8kg = 14.4MJ.

There is now 4.5MJ left to feed for.

Barley: 13MJ/kg. 350g will provide 4.5MJ.

Total Weight of Food: Pasture (6kg) + Lucerne (1.8kg) + Barley (350g) = 8.15kg, or 1.63% of total body weight.

This is less than the 1.75% body weight recommendation, but contains higher than 50% roughage and meets the required energy needs for a 500kg horse in light work.

Example 2

Same horse, but now it is winter and the pasture is not yielding as well.

Energy Requirement: 69.9 MJ

Estimated feed intake: 9.75kg

Roughage intake approximation: 7.8-9.75kg

Concentrate intake approximation: 0-1.95kg (Note: maximum concentrate in single feed should not exceed 2.5kg for a 500kg horse)

Through pasture yield calculations, we estimate that this horse is eating at least 6kg of pasture each day.

Pasture average intake: 5MJ/kg or a total of 30MJ.

Leaving 39.9MJ to make up in additional food, at least 1.8kg in roughage.

Lucerne: 8MJ/kg x 1.8kg = 14.4MJ.

There is now 25.5MJ left to feed for.

Barley: 13MJ/kg. 1.95kg would offer the missing 25.5MJ.

Total Weight of Food: Pasture (6kg) + Lucerne (1.8kg) + Barley (1.95kg) = 9.75kg, or 1.75% of total body weight.

Hopefully, this has given you a great starting point at calculating feeding requirements. Later this month we will release more information on nutrient requirements and estimating your pasture's yield.

Feeding a horse is a combination of art and science. Each horse has different requirements depending on their age, reproductive status, work level, body condition and health status. This blog is intended as a guide for feeding of mature horses that are not reproducing, have an ideal body condition score between 4 and 6, are healthy and may or may not be in work. If you have an aged horse, breeding horse, is a growing horse or is an unwell horse we recommend you speak with your veterinarian for support in feeding your horse. Equestrian Movement and their staff accept no responsibility for any actions undertaken as a result or in part due to this blog.

Information sources: MSD Veterinary Manual, Rowan Barbary Feed

Feeding Your Horse (Part 1): Calculating Energy Requirements

Feeding your horse is a combination of art and science. Scientifically, we know there is a minimum requirement for energy, and that particular feeds provide typical levels of that energy. Artfully, every horse, paddock, feed and lifestyle is different, which makes it extremely difficult to comfortably make an exact assumption for every single horse in the world.

How we combine the science and the art will determine how we can successfully manage the feed for our own horses in each individual scenario.

To help you with Feeding Your Horse, we are releasing these blogs in 4 parts:

1. Calculating the energy requirements for your horse (or herd)
2. Calculating Feed Quantities
3. Nutrients Requirements
4. Calculating Pasture Yield

In each we will discuss both the science and the art, so you can be as informed as possible for your own horses.

Today we are going to discuss energy requirements for your horse.

What is Energy?

Energy is referred to as calories or joules - or in the case of horses, megacalories or megajoules (we will be using megajoules for the purpose of this discussion as this is what most measurements in Australia are in, however if you wish to convert to megacalories click here).

Energy is required for everything we do - in fact, if the minimum energy requirement (known as Resting Energy Requirement) if not met, we can no longer function and will cause muscle wastage as our body utilises our own body fat and protein reserves in an attempt to function normally, and eventually organ failure and death.

Excess energy, on the other hand, is energy that cannot be used in normal daily activity (Digestible Energy Requirement) and is therefore stored as fat. This excess energy storage results in increased inflammation, weight gain, increased pain (there is actually a study that shows excess fat increases the response stimuli to pain!!), improper function of our body and organs and can reduce our lifespan.

Energy, which is provided through nutrition, is very important to manage correctly.

How much energy does my horse need?

The Digestible Energy that your horse requires is reliant on many factors:

• Age and growth/reproductive status
• Gelded or Entire
• Workload

Dietary Energy Requirements for horses varies depending on multiple factors. For full details, including other weight ranges, growth and reproductive status, click here (cited: MSD Veterinary Manual)

Light Work: a horse used for pleasure riding, early training or ridden 1-3 times per week.

Medium Work: a horse worked for performance 5 days per week

Intense Work: a racing horse or polo horse, where significant energy is expending in a short period of time.

My horse is a good/poor doer?

Some horses get fat on the smell of grass, and others loose weight just while eating it. This is where the art comes in!

Use this data as a starting baseline, but tweak your feeding requirements to each individual as required - monitor, tweak, and continue to monitor and tweak as needed. Some poor doers need a higher grain diet, and some good doers can do without much or any supplemental feeding.

My Horse Needs to Loose or Gain Weight

The energy requirements listed above are for horses at maintenance, or in work, with a body condition score between 4-6 (see our Horse Health Facts: Weight Management for more details). In the case of horses need to gain weight, their requirements are higher, and it's the opposite for horses needing to loose weight.

We will discuss actual feeding requirements in Part 2.

Do you have any questions about Calculating Energy for your Horse? Comment Below!

DISCLAIMER - this is a guideline and should be followed under the advice of your treating veterinarian. Equestrian Movement holds no responsibility for any actions undertaken as a part of this guide and only aims to share the research and insights into animal care so owners can simplify their own processes where possible and use it in conjunction with their veterinarians advice.