Feeding Horses Flashcards
What feeding behaviours do horses exhibit?
- grazing sp
- should be fed at least 2 meals per day (ideally free choice feeding)
- allow horses to eat w/ their heads lowered (natural grazing position that helps physiological drainage of airways)
What are the basic food needs of horses?
- forage, water, salt
How many hours per day do horses in the wild spend eating/foraging?
- at least 12 hours per day
What are the health issues of feeding free choice in Eq?
- can get fat
- can lead to equine metabolic syndrome (similar to human diabetes)
How much forage do horses need?
- good quality forage needs to be the basis of the Eq diet
- average mature horse needs ~2% of its BW in dry feed per day (majority should be forage)
what kinds of forage do horses eat?
- hay
- pasture
- processed feeds
What kinds of hay do horses eat?
- grass (timothy, brome, rye, fescue, orchard)
- legume (alfalfa)
- mix
- nutrient levels vary
What is hay quality dependent on?
stage of growth, leaf:stem ratio, degree of cure at time of cutting & bailing
What should hay be inspected for?
dust, mold, soil, weeds, & toxic plants
Why is it important to have your hay analyzed?
to know nutritional values
what is important in regards to pasture for feeding horses?
- native or seeded
- minimum 2 acres/ horse
- practice good pasture management to prevent over-grazing
What processed feeds are fed to horses?
- hay based (alfalfa or timothy) cubes or pellets
What is the most important nutrient for horses?
WATER
- must always be available
What is the minimum daily water requirement for horses?
5L/100 kg of BW (in thermo-neutral temps)
What will horse water intake vary w/?
size of horse, temp/season, feed intake (amount), type of feed (forage vs concentrate), physiological state (pregnant, lactating)
What should horse water contain?
- < 5000 ppm total dissolved solids
- < 500 ppm sulfates
- < 100 ppm nitrates
Does water = snow?
NO!
- snow along cannot meet a horse’s water requirements
- 6-10x volume of snow must be eaten to meet water requirements
- takes energy to heat snow (may affect body warmth, condition, & overall health)
- source of clean, potable water must be provided
Feeding horses salt?
- necessary!
- free choice or in ration
- provides electrolytes to maintain homeostasis
When should we feed horses more?
- maintenance is 2% of BW in dry feed
- increased metabolic demand or nutritional deficits
What do horses have increased metabolic demand?
- growing, pregnant/lactating, cold weather, exercise, breeding stallions
What kinds of concentrates do we feed horses?
- grains, extruded feeds, protein supplements
Why do we feed grains to horses?
- adds energy +/- protein
- not a necessity (useful w/ high metabolic demand, ex: race horses)
what kinds of grains do we feed horses?
- oats, sweet feed, barley, corn
Why and how do we process grains for horses?
- may increase digestibility
- cracked, rolled, crushed
What are extruded feeds?
- complete feed: used when forage quantity or quality is low or when forage cannot be fed
- supplemental feeds: high fat, starch, or protein feeds to add calories
What kind of protein supplements do we feed horses and why?
- soybean or milk based
- as part of or in addn to a concentrate ration
Who do we generally feed protein supplements to in horses?
- lactating mares, geriatrics, debilitated horses, elite performance horses, orphan foals (milk replacers)
What minerals do we feed horses?
- blocks (salt, salt & iodine, mixed mineral)
- powders (used as top dress on concentrate ration)
What vitamins do we feed horses?
- powders, liquids, & pastes
- B complex, C, & E most commonly supplemented
What kind of ration balancers do we feed to horses?
- extruded pellets or powders
- contain concentrated vitamins & minerals
- intended to be added to a pasture or hay diet
What kind of body system specific supplements do we feed to horses?
- joint health, hoof health, GI heath
When do we feed fibre to horses?
- may be used when traditional forages are scarce or as a base for feeding powdered supplements
What kinds of fibre do we feed horses?
- beet pulp, bran, grain hulls, extruded fibre supplements
What should feeding programs for horses be based on?
- age, weight & BCS, activity level, management, available feeds (season, geography)
- all programs should be forage based
- feed changes should be made gradually
How do we feed horses in cold weather?
- below 5 C horses need more forage to maintain body temp & weight
- usually achieved by increasing amount of hay fed
- concentrated feed may help horses w/ poor dentition
How do we feed mares & foals?
- add 0.5-0.75% body weight concentrates to a mare’s diet in last trimester of gestation & during early lactation
- dam’s milk is sufficient for the foal during its 1st 6-8 wks of life
- creep feed offered at 0.5-1% of the foal’s BW/day (max 5 lbs)
How do we feed growing horses?
- usually consume 3% of BW/day
- free choice hay is best
- weanlings can be fed creep feed at 1% BW/day
- feed horses under 2 yrs old separate from rest of the herd
How do we feed horses in work?
- increased concentrates to add energy & protein
- offer free choice feeding or multiple meals to reduce risk of gastric ulcers
What are common issues in feeding geriatric horses?
- poor dentition (slow intake, risk of choke)
- poor appetite (iatrogenic: pergolide (treatment for Cushings); pain: arthritis, loose teeth, EOTRH (Equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis))
- increased nutrient requirements
How do we feed geriatric horses?
- good quality soft feed
How do we feed horses to help them lose weight?
- avoid all concentrates, treats
- weigh meals (no free choice hay)
- gradual reduction in feed offered
- start at 2% BW/day, reduce gradually to 1.5% BW/ day, reductions should occur over 2-3 wks, stop reducing feed once weight loss is noticed
How do we feed following starvation?
- gradual refeeding
- initially restrict nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) to < 20%
- diet should be primarily hay & a supplement
- aggressive refeeding may result in refeeding syndrome (potentially fatal shift in fluids & electrolytes)
Which equine diseases respond to diet changes?
- Polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM)
- Recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER)
- Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP)
- equine asthma
- equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), obesity
- vit E related diseases
How do we BCS horses?
- monitor sub q fat deposits to determine changes in health & feeding
