What To Look For If Your Recommended Diet Is Not Working
You have called up a nutrition helpline for feeding advice, been recommended a ration based on your horses’ requirements, however it has not had the desired effect. What could be wrong? There is an extensive list of factors that affect a horse’s body condition, appearance, performance, and temperament which often have to be addressed before a feed can be expected to do its job.
Particularly when owners are experiencing issues maintaining or controlling body condition, we first look at forage intake. It is important that all horse’s consume a minimum of 1.5% bodyweight forage per day, however we usually aim for 2% body weight for maintenance and 2.5% body weight for conditioning. It is easy to assume that by providing ad-lib forage, your horse must be eating enough to meet its requirement. However, some horses have a low appetite for forage and will not consume sufficient quantities. To monitor your horse's forage intake, we recommend weighing hay nets to get an idea of daily consumption. If horses are not voluntarily consuming sufficient forage, this is where we look to provide palatable forage replacers to increase intake, such as chaff and soaked fibres.
Example: 500kg Horse
1.5% body weight = 7.5kg forage
2% body weight = 10kg forage
2.5% body weight = 12.5kg forage
As well as forage quantity, forage quality has a large impact on nutrient intake. Whilst we can roughly gauge forage quality from its appearance (less mature, more digestible forage being soft and leafy, more mature, less digestible forage appearing coarse and stemmy), there is no way of truly knowing the nutritional content of forage without sending a sample for analysis. Undergoing NIR analysis to determine dry matter, crude protein, forage digestibility, and digestible energy content can often explain where a horse may be lacking in nutrients. Mineral analysis gives an indication of individual essential mineral levels, and whether requirements for these are being met through the ration as a whole.
The next factor we look to address is whether the horse on the correct daily rate of feed for its body weight and energy requirements? Feeds are specifically formulated with vitamins, minerals and protein to meet a horse’s requirements when fed at a particular rate for its body weight. It is important not to feed more or less than the recommended range for your horse, as this risks over or under fortifying the ration. If you are giving the feed within the recommended rate and it is supplying too much or too little energy, you should look to trial a more appropriate feed rather than change the quantities. You can alter feeding rate within the given range. For example, a 500kg horse can be fed between 2kg - 3.5kg Re-Leve Mix per day, however you should not feed outside of this range.
Another question we ask is whether your horse is finishing its meals. Whilst it may seem self-explanatory, if your horse is throwing its feed around or leaving half in the bowl, it is likely not receiving all the nutrients it requires. Some horses may require smaller more frequent meals to encourage them to finish the bowl rather than getting bored and leaving it behind. Following on from this, we confirm current meal sizes, as meals greater than 400g / 100kg body weight can overload the small intestine and not be efficiently digested.
For poor-doers who are struggling to keep condition, we must rule out dental issues, worming, and digestive issues. If a horse’s dentistry is not up to date, this can cause them to improperly chew feed and forage, leading to them missing out on this important phase of digestion. If you get up close to your horse’s faeces and notice long fibre stems in there, this is a good indicator that your horse is not chewing its forage properly. Parasite issues can also lead to weight loss as well as a dull coat and changes in behaviour, so we advise a worm egg count or worming if this is not up to date.
Digestive issues such as disruption to the hindgut can compromise fibre digestion, meaning the nutrients being consumed are not effectively digested and absorbed for energy. If your horse has potential hindgut disturbance indicated through loose droppings, poor appetite, or weight loss, we may recommend trying a probiotic yeast, such as Pro-Yeast, to support a normal hindgut environment. In more extreme cases where horses are experiencing recurrent colic, we will take a more targeted approach by recommending a hindgut buffer such as KER EquiShure. EquiShure is a targeted time released hindgut buffer which has been shown to reduce faecal pH, representative of a more stable hindgut environment.
Foregut digestive issues such as gastric ulcers can also lead to weight loss, as well as additional issues with temperament and energy levels. Some of the clinical signs of gastric ulcers include, poor appetite, weight loss, colic, behaviour issues, poor performance and dull coat condition, so bare the possibility of ulcers in mind if your horse experiences one, or multiple of these signs. If you suspect your horse to be suffering with gastric ulcers, we recommend contacting a veterinarian to confirm this.
Often, we come across horse’s that do not have sufficient energy for work, even though they are on a high energy feed. Aside from the possibility of medical issues, it is important to consider whether your horse is fit enough for the work it is being asked to do. Carrying excess body fat can also reduce energy levels, so often it is important to first address a horse’s body condition before using a higher energy feed.
If you have any questions or concerns about your horse’s ration, please contact the Saracen Nutrition Helpline at 01622 718487, to speak to a member of our nutrition team.
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