Equine nutrition Flashcards
Describe the components of a horse diet
Forage
Roots, succulents and by-products
Vegetable and fish oils
Concentrates
Describe the importance of forage/roughage in horse diets
Should be main component
Can provide complete diet (with added vitamin and mineral supplementation)
Required for healthy digestive system (teeth, intestines)
Fulfils horses psychological need to chew
Chewing stimulates saliva which buffers stomach acid
Describe the components of hay in horse diets
High in fibre
low in digestible energy and starch
High in Ca and K
Low in P
Contain vit A, E and K (and D if sun cured)
Variable protein
Describe the importance of hay storage
Poor storage => ragwort (poisonous) and dust (bad for airways)
Describe the features of soaking hay
Hay submerged in water for long period
causes nutritional leaching
good for horses on restricted diets (removes water soluble carbs, dust and spores but still need to chew)
Describe the features of steaming hay
Reduces mould, dust and spore content (and some water soluble carbs)
Nutritional leaching
Good for horses with resp issues
Describe haylage in horse diets
Retains moisture content
Minimal dust and spores
Contains lots of VFAs which is high energy source
More needs to be fed than hay to achieve same amount of dry matter gained
What can occur if mouldy haylage is given to a horse?
sever illness
botulism
Describe concentrate feed in horse diets
Fed when horse needs more energy
Low in fibre
high in digestible energy and starch
low in Ca and vitamins
palatable
Describe the features of balancers in horse diets
provide essential micronutrients that may be lacking in current diet
low in sugar and starch
good levels of protein, vits and mins
should be given to horses on forage only diet
Describe amino acid deficiency in horse diets
Lysine only AA that can be deficient from forage - leads to growth issues
Describe starch in horse digestion
hydrolysed by digestive enzymes to glucose sub-units in SI
Primarily found in grains, warm season grasses and legumes
What is the effect of feeding excess starch to horses?
Takes long time to digest so passes into caecum and gets fermented => produces lactic acid => lower pH => kills bacteria => dead pathogens enter blood stream => laminitis
Describe water insoluble carbs in horse digestion
cannot be digested by digestive enzymes
undergo bacterial fermentation to VFAs in LI
Give examples of water insoluble carbs in horse diets
Cellulose and hemicellulose - found in hay
What are non-structural carbs (NSC) in horse diets
a measure of hydrolysable carbs specific to horses
Water soluble carbs:
- simple sugars
- di- and oligo-saccharides
- some polysaccharides
Ethanol soluble carbs:
- sugar
- glucose
- fructose
- fructans
Starch
Describe the effect of environmental temp on NSC an fructan in equine diets
if not correct sunlight or temp grass generates and stores sugar as fructans and it cannot be used for growth
Low environmental temp => higher sugar concentration
Grass eaten by horse in colder temps => fructan enters hindgut => bacterial death, endotoxins in blood and laminitis
Give examples of water soluble carbs
Pectin - found in sugar beet and apples
Fructan - in grass (can affect microbacteria if too much eaten)
Give examples of carbs that are fermented in horses?
Cellulose
hemicellulose
pectin
fructan
Describe fat soluble vitamins in horse diets
A and E - found in pasture and hay
D - synthesised when skin exposed to sunlight and found in sun cured forage
K
Describe water soluble vitamins in horse diets
Vitamin B complex and K:
- synthesised by microbes in LI
C:
- horses can synthesise this
Why are salt licks recommended for horses?
commercial diets and forage are usually low in Na and Cl
What methods are their for assessing equine weight and body condition?
BCS (out of 5 or 9)
Equine weight-tape
electronic scales
What individual considerations are there when planning an equine diet?
Age
Physiological state:
- pregnant
- lactating
- growing
- over/under weight
- nutritional disease
- behavioural issues
Individual preference
Owners circumstances
What is the recommended dry matter intake for horses?
2% BW per day
Describe donkey diet
Efficient at digesting poor quality fibre - straw should be majority of diet
Low energy requirement
Browsers and grazers
Vit and min provision via daily balancer
What issues can a poor equine diet cause?
poor performance
abnormal behaviour
underweight
obesity
equine metabolic syndrome
dental overgrowths
equine gastric ulcer syndrome
colic
Why is roughage important for dental health in horse diets?
increase chewing => prevent sharp points
What are nutritional causes of laminitis?
Carb overload
fructan overload
Insulin-induced
How does carb and fructan overload cause laminitis in horses?
cannot be broken down by SI digestive enzymes so enters hindgut and gets fermented into VFAs and lactic acid
Lactic acid cannot be absorbed or used => digestive disturbance
Causes death and lysis of bacteria due to acidosis => increased endotoxins in bloodstream
Describe the link between laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS)
EMS characterised by obesity, insulin dysregulation and laminitis
High levels of NSC (non-structural carbs) in grass => raised blood glucose conc
Insulin dysregulation => hyperinsulinaemia => constriction of blood vessels to laminae
