Dietary Management

This part of my blog focuses on ensuring you have a good understanding of different types of feeds that can be included in your horse's diet no matter the age or work load. By the end of this blog you should be able to define the nutrient requirements of horses and ponies and provide recommendations on rations.

DETERMINING BODY WEIGHT
* Essential part of dietary management
* Can be done by:
  - Weigh tape
  - Weighbridge
  - Measuring tape
* Equation: BW(kg)= [heart girth (cm) x 2x length (cm)

CONDITION SCORING
* 0 to 5 system
  - Carroll & Huntingdon, 1988
  - Ideal= between 2 to 3
* 1 to 9 system
  - Henneke, 1983
  - Ideal= between 5 to 7
* Henneke- scored on 1 to 9 scale
* Areas of body are graded 1 to 9
  - Average taken
* Areas assessed:
  - Loin
  - Ribs
  - Tailhead
  - Withers
  - Neck
  - Shoulders

CONDITION SCORING- THIN HORSE
* Loin
  - Negative crease
* Ribs
  - Very prominant
  - Easily seen and felt
  - No fat padding
* Tailhead
  - Prominent
* Withers
  - Affected by confirmation
  - Easily visible
* Neck
  - Can see bone structure of neck
* Shoulder
  - Prominent

CONDITION SCORING- OBESE HORSE
* Loin
  - Crease down back
* Ribs
  - Not seen
  - Very difficult to feel
* Tailhead
  - Bulging fat
* Withers
  - Bulging fat
* Neck
  - Thick all around "Cresty"
* Shoulder
  - Bulging fat, especially behind the elbow

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS
* Categories:
  - Maintenance
  - Pregnancy and lactation
  - Growth
  - Work
* Requirements are additive
  - Maintenance + activity
* Under/over supply of nutrient
  - Limit performance/productivity
  - Affect health
* Balancing diet begins with maintenance

MAINTENANCE
* Horses that are not:
  - Pregnant
  - Working
  - Growing
* Requirements depend on:
  - Bodyweight
  - The environment
  - Individual digestive and metabolic efficiency
* Feed intake
  - Generally 2% of bodyweight
* Forage only (with forage balancer)

BREEDING- PREGNANCY
* Pregnancy
  - Gestation= 11 months
  - First 4 months= maintenance
  - Last 7 months= adjust ration
* Requirements
  - Increased energy and protein
  - Reduced intake
  - Due to fetal growth
* Feed intake
  - Can reduce to 1.75% of BW
* Feed energy dense feeds (e.g. oils) and high protein feeds

BREEDING- LACTATION
* Lactation
  - Early and late lactation
  - Early lactation= 0 to 12 weeks
  - Late lactation= 12 weeks to weaning
* Requirements
  - High energy requirements
  - Early lactation= 2x maintenance
  - Late lactation= 1.75x maintenance
* Feed intake
  - Can increase to 2.5% of bodyweight
* Ensure ad lib water available
* Feed good quality forage
* Feed a stud mix
  - No more than 40% of the ration
  - Feed little and often
* Monitor condition
  - Feed more mix if losing weight
  - For easy keepers use a forage balancer to reduce calories

BREEDING- STALLION
* Breeding season
  - Naturally starts in spring
* Requirements:
  - Non breeding season feed for maintenance
  - Breeding season feed 1.2x maintenance energy and protein
  - Increased vitamin and mineral requirements
  - Depends on the number of mares covered
* Feed intake
  - 2 to 2.5% of bodyweight
* Feed broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement
* Feed good quality forage
* Can feed a stud mix
  - During breeding season
  - Feed little and often
* Monitor condition
  - Obesity affects breeding performance

GROWING HORSES
* Aims:
  - Steady increase in size and bodyweight
  - Avoid very rapid growth rates
  - Avoid compensatory growth spurts
  - Avoid getting overweight
* Foals:
  - Newborn= 10% of bodyweight
  -  One year old= 60 to 70% of adult weight (80 to 90% of adult height)
* Feed intake
  - 0 to 3 months eating solely mother's milk
  - 3 months mare's milk decreases and foal's requirements rise
* Feeding the foal
  - Begin to introduce feeds at 3 months to ready for weaning
  - Weaning occurs between 4 and 6 months of age
* Feed types
  - Good quality protein feeds
  - Low starch
  - Good vitamin and mineral levels
  - Good quality forage (e.g. grass)
  - Feed a youngstock pellet
  - Easy keepers should have balancer only
* Yearlings to 2 years
  - Growth rate begins to slow down
  - Correct feeding still essential
* Feeding:
  - Feed ad lib forage
  - Feed a forage balancer
  - Good quality forage should meet energy and protein requirements
  - Some youngsters may need supplementary feeding (stud feed)
* Two years onwards
  - Requirements affected by training (racehorses)
  - If not in training then forage alone
  - Growing horses in training have higher nutrient requirements
  - Diet should still be good quality forage plus supplementary feed

WORKING- LIGHT WORK
* Light work
  - Recreational riding
  - Beginning of training program
* Requirements:
  - Appetite= 2% BW
  - Good quality forage
  - Possibly supplementary feeds deepening on individual
  - Forage should comprise 70% of the ration
* Supplementary feeds
  - Low energy mix, sugar beet pulp, alfalfa, oil
* Feed broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement

WORKING- ENERGY SOURCES
* Dietary energy sources:
  - Oil
  - Carbohydrate (fiber, starch and sugars)
* Type of energy source required depends on:
  - Intensity of exercise
  - Duration of exercise
  - Temperature of the horse
  - Any clinical conditions
* Energy- calories
  - Horse diets use megajoules (1 MJ= 239 calories)
* Digestible energy (DE) is digested in the GIT
* Fiber as an energy source:
  - Slow release energy
  - Essential for gut health
* Starch as an energy source:
  - Instant energy
  - May cause excitability
  - Not suitable for obese horses/for horses with certain clinical conditions
* Oil as an energy source
  - Slow release of energy (high energy content)
  - Less excitable behavior
  - Must be introduced gradually (100 ml per week)
  - No more than 100 ml oil/100 kg BW (Vitamin E should be added to high oil diets)

WORKING- MODERATE WORK
* Moderate work:
  - Novice/intermediate level eventer
  - Dressage horse (medium level)
  - Grade A Showjumper
* Requirements:
  - Appetite= 2.25% BW
  - Good quality forage
  - Supplementary feeds
  - Forage should comprise minimum 60 to 70% of the ration
* Supplementary feeds:
  - Mix, sugar beet pulp, HT alfalfa, oil

WORKING- HEAVY WORK
* Heavy work:
  - 3 day eventer
  - Endurance horse (7o to 100 mile rides)
* Requirements:
  - Appetite= 2.5% BW
  - Good quality forage plus supplementary feeds
  - Forage should comprise minimum 50 to 60% of the ration
* Supplementary feeds
  - Mix
  - Sugar beet pulp
  - HT alfalfa
  - Oil

WORKING- VERY HEAVY WORK
* Very heavy work:
  - Racehorse
* Requirements:
  - Appetite= 2.25% BW
  - Good quality forage
  - Plus supplementary feeds
  - Forage should comprise minimum 50% of the ration
* Supplementary feeds
  - Mix
  - Sugar beet pulp
  - HT alfalfa
  - Oil

RULES OF FEEDING
* Provide adequate forage
* Feed concentrates little and often
* Feed consistently: amount and type
* Provide a good water source
* Control parasites
* Check teeth
* Monitor condition (and weight)
* Provide regular exercise

THE DIETARY MANAGEMENT CONCLUSION
* Feed high quality forage
* Use high degradable fibrous feeds
* Feed cereal grains in moderation
* Feed little and often
* Monitor bodyweight

Abbreviations used in this section:
 

ADF = acid detergent fibre

BW = bodyweight

Ca = calcium

CH4= methane

CHO = carbohydrate

CF = crude fibre

CO2= carbon dioxide

CP = crude protein

DE = digestible energy

DM = dry matter

G = grams

GIT = gastrointestinal tract

H2O = water

HT = High temperature

LAB = lactic acid bacteria

LI = large intestine

LW = live weight

Mg = milligrams

MJ = megajoules

NSP = non-starch polysaccharide

P = phosphorus

RAO = recurrent airway obstruction

SI = small intestine 

 

HORSE WEIGHT CALCULATOR

http://www.thehorse.com/tools/horse-weight-calculator

HORSEration APP

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/horseration-free/id577847790?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2