Horse Nutrition
Keeping Your Horse Healthy From the Inside Out
Horse nutrition has a direct impact and effect on your horse's overall health. Knowing what to feed and how much, and recognizing the need to make subtle changes to your feeding program is a skill that will come with experience. To successfully keep and take great care of your horse, you need a basic understanding of what your horse needs to survive.
If you are relatively new to keeping and feeding horses, you may want to enlist the help of someone with more experience. Even if you have had horses for a few years, but you have boarded during that time; the switch to keeping them at your home is a lot more work than you think.
Horses have basic nutritional needs to live. This mini horse nutrition guide will discuss what those needs are, sources of those nutrients, calculating feed amounts, supplements, and dietary related diseases. Feeding horses requires your understanding of the sciences of horse nutrition, anatomy, and the physiological process.
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Equine Nutrition Needs
WaterNext to the intake of Oxygen through breathing, water is the most important nutrient for healthy horse nutrition. A horse will die of dehydration within days, while they will last weeks without food. Also when you increase other elements in a feed program such as protein or minerals, an increased amount of water is also needed to aid in the excretion of the added protein and minerals.
Water intake will need to be increased for younger foals, lactating mares, working or show horses, and those living in warmer climates. Water not only comes from the water bucket hanging on the wall, but can also be obtained through the food that your horse eats. A horse kept on pasture will likely get more water out of their food intake than one kept primarily on dry hay.
Carbohydrates & Fats
Carbohydrates and fats are your horse’s main energy sources. Carbohydrates come from the sugars and starches present in the grains you feed and the fiber (cellulose) present in the roughage and grains you feed. Fats are also present as the oils in the grain and roughages fed. Fats usually ranges in amount from 2-4% of each ration, but there are feeds with higher levels of fat. Horses are able to tolerate as much as 15% of their rations being composed of fat, but any higher will interfere with the digestive process which has a negative impact on horse nutrition.
Fats produce more energy than carbohydrates therefore some owners will mix in some vegetable oil with feeding to working horses. Energy is measured in calories and for horses are expressed as kilocalories (Kcal). You may also see some older printed material refer to energy in horses as Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN).
Carbohydrates in excessive amounts will cause an increase in weight gain and possibly obesity which can threaten the life of the horse. When sizing up your horse to determine if he is at a good weight, you should not be able to see ribs but you should be able to feel them. This is an easy way to judge horse nutrition.
Protein
Remembering basic chemistry, think of proteins as building blocks in the body. They are made up of the 22 types of amino acids needed for building tissues.
Your horse's protein needs will vary compared to other horses. A horse that is growing or in foal has higher horse nutrition demands and will likely need more protein than one that is mature and healthy. It’s not as important to increase protein with feeding due to a horse's workload as it is to increase energy. If you pick up your horse's feed amount during show season, you will also be increasing the amount of protein he gets daily anyway.
Increasing protein can be wasteful since a horse's body will only breakdown excess protein for excretion. Also, protein can produce increased body heat in horses when broken down which will interfere with a working horse's ability to cool effectively.
Minerals
Minerals are very important to horse nutrition
for carrying out chemical reactions in the body and bone growth and
maintenance. There are two categories of minerals, macro-minerals and
trace minerals.
Macro-minerals include calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and chlorine. They are needed in larger amounts in the body than other minerals. Calcium and phosphorus alone make up 70% of the total minerals in the body. 80% of the phosphorus and 99% of the calcium are present in your horse's bones and teeth. Both minerals are needed in the correct ration in comparison to each other. It is recommended to have a 1.1-2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus to avoid one mineral from interfering with the other.
Salt (sodium chloride) is a common horse nutrition additive usually provided to horses in block form. It is one of the few minerals that your horse will actively seek out and should be offered to your horse daily. Most people choose to mount a salt block to the wall so your horse will have free choice to eat the salt block. Mature horses do well with about 1 ounce of salt per day. When providing your horse with salt on a daily basis it is recommended to use trace mineralized salt.
Trace minerals include iodine, selenium, copper, and zinc. Selenium helps with normal muscle and immune system function. Care must be taken when adding selenium as a trace mineral due to a fine balance between what is needed for the horse and toxic levels for the horse. Too much selenium can cause loss of appetite, hair loss, blindness, paralysis, death.
Copper helps with normal cartilage development and the changing of cartilage to bone. It also helps with tendon development, blood vessel health, skin pigmentation, and fertility. A deficiency in copper can cause contracted tendons, fertility problems, and anemia. Copper levels in feed need to be compared to the amounts of other trace minerals present in the feed.
Zinc can be toxic if too much is present and a deficiency will cause a lowered growth rate.
Vitamins
Vitamins are an organic part of your horse nutrition requirements and are needed in lower quantities for chemical reactions in the body. Most feeds have a good amount of vitamins already added and your horse will likely not need supplemental vitamins. If the feed is lower in quality you may need to supplement some vitamins into your feeding. Vitamins available for supplement into feed are vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Vitamin A, formed from beta-carotene, is prominent in forage sources. It is needed for cellular health for those cells found lining the skin, pulmonary system, eyes, and reproductive organs.
Vitamin D forms due to UV rays from the sun converting a compound in the skin into the vitamin. Deficiency could occur if a horse is not fed quality feed or is kept indoors more often.
Vitamin K is found in forages and is important for normal blood coagulation for blood clotting. Lack of vitamin K can cause a lack of ability for blood clotting.
Vitamin E is normally found in good quantity in most types of horse feed. It is also linked to helping with normal muscle function. Feeds for working or performance horses are usually higher in vitamin E levels.
Vitamin B is another vitamin also normally available in most horse feed sources. Deficiency can be caused when a horse is under increased amounts of stress causing loss of appetite and anemia.
Sources Of Nutrients
Pasture & HayThe most common sources of nutrients for horse nutrition are classified as roughages and forages. Roughages is then further broken down into grasses and legumes. A horse turned out to pasture essentially eats the non-dried form of the hay and there are differences in calculating how much a horse kept on pasture needs compared to one stabled.
The most common grasses you will see fed to horses are timothy, orchard grass, brome grass, tall fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. Nutritional values for grasses vary depending on type and what stage of bloom it was cut at. Grass hays are generally lower in protein than legume hays. They are also lower in calcium and phosphorus, but are easier to harvest and have less of a tendency to become dusty.
Common legumes you will see are alfalfa, clovers, birdsfoot treefoil, lespedeza, and vetches. Legume hays have higher values of protein (can also depend on time of harvest) and minerals calcium and phosphorus (usually incorrect ratios of 5:1). The minerals will need to be balanced when feeding to your horse. Legumes do have a tendency to be more difficult to make into hay due to leaf breakage producing a more dusty hay. Legumes tend to be the preferred hay over grass hays due to its inherent nutritional values.
Concentrates
Oats were once a top choice of grain fed to horses due to its increased bulkiness and decreased risk to cause digestive problems. Oats are about 12-13% protein, but should not be considered a main protein source for horse nutrition when fed to growing horses. Corn is a far more popular choice compared to oats. Corn is lower in cost and consists of a higher energy value. It can be used to help build weight on some horses. Corn is about 10% protein.
Barley is 11-13% protein but it is higher in cost. It needs to be fed in a rolled or crushed form due to the whole form being difficult to digest. Wheat bran is another concentrate containing 17% protein. It is higher in phosphorus which may affect the balance of calcium and phosphorus in the body. It is not used very often in today’s horse feeds since the protein is of lower quality.
Molasses has been used as a concentrate in horse feed and horse nutrition to encourage a horse to eat. It is also used to bind fine particles in feed and can reduce dust. It does have some emery value to it, but its higher cost makes it a poorer choice over less expensive sources of feed.
Calculate Feed
AmountSince every horse is different, each horse will have to be considered individually when deciding how much to feed. Each bag of feed will come with a feed tag giving you instructions as to how much is recommended for the average horse. From this average baseline there are special horse nutrition considerations to take into account such as foals under six months of age or the older horse.
Most horses need a feed ration of at least 50% roughage for good digestive health. Grain rations needed to generally meet a horse's needs can be calculated as approximately 0-10% for mature horses, 50-70% for weanling horses, 50% for yearlings, 30% for 2 year olds, and 20-70% for horses at work.
Your feed tag will tell you the purpose of the feed and a breakdown or analysis of the nutrients mixed in the feed. There are some minimum horse nutrition levels required for some proteins, fats, and fibers. Next you will likely read the ingredients similar to reading a food list of ingredients for something you eat from the grocery store. You will also be given specific instructions on how to feed it to your horse. You should follow these directions, but keep an eye on your horse's overall body condition and make adjustments in feed amount as needed.
Frequency
Horses are built to eat smaller amounts more
frequently through the day. It is best if roughage is available to them
at all times, but periodic feedings through the day could also work to
meet their horse nutrition needs. When feeding concentrates it is best
to feed no more than .5% of your horse's body weight at a time. If you
feed more than what is needed at one time, the excess amount of sugars
won't be digested in the small intestine so they can get into the cecum
where they can cause colic or founder.
Example: a 1,000 lb. horse: 2% body weight = 20 lbs (overall total feed), 1% of weight = 10 lbs (minimum amount of roughage needed), and .5% of 10 lbs = 5 lbs (concentrate needed). For this horse, 20 lbs of total feed is needed on a daily basis of which at least 10 lbs should be roughage and a maximum of 5 lbs should be concentrate.
Balanced Rations
It is important to ensure there is a good balance of all the nutrients for both roughage and concentrates you are feeding. Most commercial feeds will have provided your horse with a good mix of nutrients. It is important to keep in mind that grains are higher in phosphorus and low in calcium, while legume hays are high in calcium and low in phosphorus. Grass hays have the correct ratio of calcium to phosphorus, but the amounts are too low for young horses (under 2) and pregnant/lactating mares. There are some horse feeds available to be fed in conjunction with certain hays to provide a correct balance of nutrients for your horse.
Supplements
Vitamins and minerals can be supplemented to your horse's diet to meet horse nutrition needs. Mineral supplements usually include trace-mineralized salt and a variety of phosphorus and calcium.Plant Based Protein
Soybean oil meal has the largest amount of protein content per ration at 44%. It is higher in lysine which you will typically see in lower amounts in the average bag of grain. It is a less expensive form of protein supplement you can purchase for feeding. Be aware that horses should never be fed raw soybeans because they can actually interfere in protein digestion resulting in poor horse nutrition.
cottonseed oil meal contains approximately 39% of protein per ration and is considered second best in quality compared to soybean oil. However, it does contain gossypol which interferes with digestion and not recommended for foals but tolerable by adult horses. There is also some research that shows this substance in cottonseed oil meal to decrease sperm production in males. There are some negative aspects to using cottonseed oil meal and caution should be taken when considering to use it as a part of your horse nutrition program.
linseed oil meal is higher in sulfur based amino acids. It is about 35% protein per ration and is more costly compared to soybean oil meal. It is a good source of selenium to help with normal muscle function in some horses.
Dietary Related Diseases
ColicColic is a common digestive disease affecting horses and has some causes rooted in poor horse nutrition. It is best recognized in a horse that is uncomfortable and restless, pawing at their abdomen, excessive sweating, abnormal breathing rates, constant laying down and getting up, rolling/thrashing around. Colic is serious and can be life threatening so a veterinarian is recommended to be involved as soon as possible. It has a variety of causes including intestinal twisting, parasitic worms, abdominal organ disease or problems, and diet.
If it is diet related it can be caused from excessive amounts of gas, an impaction, sand, or spasms. Gas colic develops from eating increased amounts of lush grass feeds resulting in an increased amount of gas production. Impaction colic is a result of a blockage in the intestines from the overeating of grain, lush pasture, decreased water intake, or the eating of foreign materials.
Sand colic results from the consumption of sand, most likely when a horse is fed on the ground in a sandy area or has a vice of eating soil. There are substances you can add to a horse's feed, such as Metamucil which will help bind the sand and move it through the digestive tract. Spasmodic colic can be recognized through increased amounts of bowel movements and following changes in temperature, diet, or activity level.
Founder
Founder can also be called laminitis if it is severe enough. Horses with founder are more reluctant to move and heat can possibly be felt from the feet. In founder there is inflammation in the laminae or tissue in the foot between the bone and hoof wall. There is a buildup of pressure and compression in the soft tissue between the hoof wall and bone. This increase in pressure can cause a decrease in blood flow to the laminae causing tissue death (if severe enough). This will then cause the laminae to separate and disconnect from the hoof wall rotating downward while the hoof wall curls up.
Dietary causes of founder include poor horse nutrition in the form of excessive amounts of grain consumption, cold water intake after exercise, or an excessive intake of lush grass and legume pastures.
Growth Problems
Any abnormal growth patterns or problems are typically caused by poor horse nutrition via diet deficiency or toxicity. Common growth problems seen in foals are hyperthyroidism, orthopedic problems, and contracted tendons. Hyperthyroidism is caused by a poor balance of calcium and phosphorus. A diet with larger amounts of phosphorus and lower amounts of calcium causes an excessive release of the parathyroid hormone which is normally used to release calcium from bones. This increased amount of bone loss is then replaced by connective tissue causing bone enlargement in the skull.
Orthopedic problems occur due to bony abnormalities in growing foals. There are other factors from genetics and the environment that can also play a role in the development of orthopedic diseases.
Contracted tendons (flexor tendons) are linked with rapids growth rates. They can occur quickly in a foal (24 hours) where the heel of the hoof will appear to rise causing a pointed toe appearance. Basically the bone is developing faster than the soft tissue. It can be prevented with nutrient balance in feeding and a good amount of exercise.
Obesity
There are many overweight horses in the world resulting from poor horse nutrition and care. Obese horses have a harder time tolerating exercise and heat. They are also more prone to founder which increases their risk for drastic medical care such as surgery. This condition is most common due to a lack of attention from the owner to the horse's body condition by over-feeding and limited exercise. It is a problem that is easier to prevent by properly monitoring and rationing a horse's daily intake of feed.
Starvation
Starvation is brought about by a limitation of access to food sources. Horses can decrease their food intake due to stress or pain. A lack of sufficient nutrients and food can cause multiple problems in the body not limited to the digestive system. Lack of food can cause diarrhea which can be detrimental and even fatal to the horse. Bringing a horse back to improved condition needs to be done slowly since an abrupt increase in feed can also be fatal.
Food Allergies
Horses can have allergic reactions in some types of feed. There are allergens in soybeans, bran, and possible molds forming in some feeds. A horse could present with bumps or hives on the skin, rashes, changes in breathing, or diarrhea.
For more horse nutrition and horse health information please visit our friends at Practical Horsekeeping
