The Thoughtful Horseman on Equine Nutrition

I'd like to provide an overview of these topics, but before I do, let me just say...

The BEST option is ALWAYS to test your hay.

Commercially available supplements promise to give your horse everything he needs on a cellular level for spectacular health. But the truth is that these supplements cover the National Research Council's minimum major mineral, trace mineral, and vitamin amounts to avoid primary deficiencies. In reality, our horses do best when they're getting 150 to 200% of the NRC's recommendations.

To complicate matters, the ratios between the major and trace minerals make or break what the horse can actually absorb. Some of the minerals actually compete for absorption. So too much of one can literally prevent the absorption of another! Imagine the balls in a lottery machine....if one ball is black, and the other 99 are white, your odds of getting the black ball are slim. This is what happens if there is too much iron (very common in hay samples from the SouthWest), and not enough zinc, copper or manganese, or if there is too much calcium, and not enough phosphorous. Ratios are critical!

Other factors impact absorption, too: for example, iron absorption is enhanced by vitamin C, and vitamin E is not absorbed without a fat source.

Feeding commercial preparations is a shot in the dark. Why guess, when you can find out exactly what your horses need? The cost of testing and analyses are not prohibitive. And many people actually find they end up saving money once their custom blend is formulated!

I invite you to learn more by perusing the websites of some of my favorite resources on the subject of current research on what to feed horses:

Dr. Eleanor Kellon, of Equine Nutritional Solutions, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, is one of a handful of experts in the field of applications of nutraceuticals for horses. She is an authority in the field of equine nutrition as well as conditions affecting performance horses. She offers online courses ranging from in-depth nutritional requirements, to nutrition as therapy. She also offers individual diet balancing.
http://www.drkellon.com

Excess Carbohydrates

Our traditional ideas about equine diet are being challenged heartily these days. One of the biggest discussions involves the dangers of a diet high in non-structural carbohydrates, or NSC. The horse's metabolism simply is not designed to metabolize large quantities of NSC. The local feed store is full of high calorie, high nutrition feeds for growth and energy: feeds full of non-structural carbohydrates. We tend to forget how the horse evolved -- he is a thrifty creature by his very nature, and our nurturing instinct to feed him forage and supplements highest in nutrition is actually probably the worst thing for him! There is also a common body scoring misperception among horse owners: we see a horse that is a very healthy weight, and want to fatten him up.

High sugar, high carb, nutrient-dense feed appeals to us; it looks good, smells good, and the horses love it. But an overweight horse is not the worst risk we court with over-nourishing. Laminitis is probably the biggest risk, and research indicates that it is on the rise. Other metabolic issues, such as Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM or PSSM, similar to "tying up"), Developmental Orthopedic Disease (DOD), and insulin resistance are very real hazards. Geriatric horses often develop an intolerance to sugar. And to top it all off, new research has finally linked excess carbohydrates and excitability in horses. (No kidding??)

Don't be too quick to feel safe because you feed only grass hay, either; there is a huge variability of sugar/carb content in grass hays, depending upon the variety, the growth cycle, and even the time of day the hay is cut!

While it can be difficult to regulate all of the factors in your horse's diet, particularly if you are in a boarding stable, there are definitely steps you can take to minimize your horse's risk. I'll touch upon a few of the highlights here, and encourage you to read further. I personally feed Bermuda hay for forage, and supplement with a low-NSC feed like LMF's Low Non-Structural Carbohydrate Stage 1.

How Much Protein?

The horse operates most effectively with a dietary protein level of between 7 and 10%. Most people will advocate adding protein to a horse's diet as a source of energy, but the truth is that metabolizing excess dietary protein is much more work for the horse than other less expensive sources.

Alfalfa

Alfalfa, long a mainstay in the equine diet, first (and finally!) started to receive bad press for its role in the formation of enteroliths (stones) due to high phosphorous content (research suggests that enteroliths are more prolific when the digestive tract is high in phosphorus and high pH).

While alfalfa is generally lower in NSC than most grass hays, it is exceptionally high in protein: anywhere from 15% to 20%, compared to the 10% to 11% suitable for horses.

Oats

Oats and oat hay have a very high starch content. Chock full of sugar, and not much else.

Molasses

Bad. Bad, bad bad. And in 90% of the grain mixes (what part of "sweet feeds" doesn't scream sugar and carbs to you??) and pelleted feeds on the market. What else do you want to know?...

OatMo

See above: Oats (oat hay). See above: Molasses. Now swear you won't ever feed this garbage to your beloved horse again.

Grass Hays

The two most readily available in our area are Bermuda and Orchard. Bermuda, a warm season, tropical origin grass, is lower in NSC, and therefore a better choice for equine forage than Orchard, a cool season Kentucky bluegrass.

A quick word about pasture grazing...

I know, I know: horses love to drop their heads and graze. And it's such a peaceful scene to watch. But the truth is, chances are good -- no, excellent -- that the grasses growing in the pasture are really, really high in sugar and NSC. If you must turn them out for more than 45 minutes, put a grazing muzzle on. They can still graze, but they won't be able to eat enough to get themselves in trouble. You love your horse, right??

Figuring out what to feed YOUR horse

In general, the fewer "patches" you apply to the horse's diet, the better. The problem with adding *this* supplement for one thing, and then *that* supplement for another, is that MANY of these products overlap, and the risk of further skewing your horse's mineral balance is very real. (Electrolyte supplements, for example, add calcium and phosphorous, which must be carefully balanced in the diet to prevent an imbalance of either.)

Good:

Low non-structural carbohydrate forage, such as bermuda hay, supplemented with one of the low molasses, low alfalfa, low NSC pelleted feeds designed to balance a bermuda hay diet, such as Purina Strategy GX, LMF Feeds Low Non-Structural Carbohydrate Stage 1, or Purina Well Solve. A biotin supplement with a 3:1 zinc:copper ratio for hoof health is generally a good idea.

Better:

Low non-structural carbohydrate forage, such as bermuda hay, supplemented with a high-quality mineral supplement like EquiPride top dress. Minerals can be mixed with soaked, rinsed (to eliminate excess molasses and iron), shredded beet pulp, and up to 8 oz ground flax seed. If you can't find the EquiPride in your area, or don't want to purchase it online, look for a mineral supplement with low iron content (levels of iron tend to be high in equine diets, and iron in excess is toxic), with a non-alfalfa base and minimal molasses. Two to four ounces of cocosoya oil can be added for palatability. In addition to enticing picky eaters to lick their pan clean, cocosoya oil actually provides additional Omega fatty acids (as does the ground flax) and vitamin E. Finally, sodium should be added to facilitate mineral absorption. Sodium is typically negligible in the average equine diet, unless they are drinking sodium chloride softened water. Table salt works well; five teaspoons provides the 10 grams of sodium required daily for a 1100 lb horse. It also encourages drinking!

In Southern California, the hay is notoriously high in iron, and low in zinc and copper. Hoof supplements are a good source of zinc & copper; my personal favorite, Biotin II 22X, is also low in iron, and high in manganese, which is needed to offset the iron overload.

Best:

Test your forage, test your pasture, test your water, and custom balance. You can learn to do it yourself by taking Dr. Kellon's NRC Plus course, or contact me for individual diet balancing.

A New Take on Equine Nutrition

Excess Carbohydrates ♦ How Much Protein? ♦ A Look at Forages/Supplements ♦ Figuring Out What to Feed YOUR Horse