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Animal Production III > Feeding Horses > Flashcards

Feeding Horses Flashcards

1
Q

What feeding behaviours do horses exhibit?

A
  • 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)
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2
Q

What are the basic food needs of horses?

A
  • forage, water, salt
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2
Q

How many hours per day do horses in the wild spend eating/foraging?

A
  • at least 12 hours per day
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3
Q

What are the health issues of feeding free choice in Eq?

A
  • can get fat
  • can lead to equine metabolic syndrome (similar to human diabetes)
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4
Q

How much forage do horses need?

A
  • 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)
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5
Q

what kinds of forage do horses eat?

A
  • hay
  • pasture
  • processed feeds
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6
Q

What kinds of hay do horses eat?

A
  • grass (timothy, brome, rye, fescue, orchard)
  • legume (alfalfa)
  • mix
  • nutrient levels vary
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7
Q

What is hay quality dependent on?

A

stage of growth, leaf:stem ratio, degree of cure at time of cutting & bailing

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8
Q

What should hay be inspected for?

A

dust, mold, soil, weeds, & toxic plants

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8
Q

Why is it important to have your hay analyzed?

A

to know nutritional values

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8
Q

what is important in regards to pasture for feeding horses?

A
  • native or seeded
  • minimum 2 acres/ horse
  • practice good pasture management to prevent over-grazing
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9
Q

What processed feeds are fed to horses?

A
  • hay based (alfalfa or timothy) cubes or pellets
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10
Q

What is the most important nutrient for horses?

A

WATER
- must always be available

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11
Q

What is the minimum daily water requirement for horses?

A

5L/100 kg of BW (in thermo-neutral temps)

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12
Q

What will horse water intake vary w/?

A

size of horse, temp/season, feed intake (amount), type of feed (forage vs concentrate), physiological state (pregnant, lactating)

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13
Q

What should horse water contain?

A
  • < 5000 ppm total dissolved solids
  • < 500 ppm sulfates
  • < 100 ppm nitrates
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14
Q

Does water = snow?

A

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

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15
Q

Feeding horses salt?

A
  • necessary!
  • free choice or in ration
  • provides electrolytes to maintain homeostasis
16
Q

When should we feed horses more?

A
  • maintenance is 2% of BW in dry feed
  • increased metabolic demand or nutritional deficits
17
Q

What do horses have increased metabolic demand?

A
  • growing, pregnant/lactating, cold weather, exercise, breeding stallions
18
Q

What kinds of concentrates do we feed horses?

A
  • grains, extruded feeds, protein supplements
19
Q

Why do we feed grains to horses?

A
  • adds energy +/- protein
  • not a necessity (useful w/ high metabolic demand, ex: race horses)
20
Q

what kinds of grains do we feed horses?

A
  • oats, sweet feed, barley, corn
21
Q

Why and how do we process grains for horses?

A
  • may increase digestibility
  • cracked, rolled, crushed
22
Q

What are extruded feeds?

A
  • 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
23
Q

What kind of protein supplements do we feed horses and why?

A
  • soybean or milk based
  • as part of or in addn to a concentrate ration
24
Q

Who do we generally feed protein supplements to in horses?

A
  • lactating mares, geriatrics, debilitated horses, elite performance horses, orphan foals (milk replacers)
25
Q

What minerals do we feed horses?

A
  • blocks (salt, salt & iodine, mixed mineral)
  • powders (used as top dress on concentrate ration)
26
Q

What vitamins do we feed horses?

A
  • powders, liquids, & pastes
  • B complex, C, & E most commonly supplemented
27
Q

What kind of ration balancers do we feed to horses?

A
  • extruded pellets or powders
  • contain concentrated vitamins & minerals
  • intended to be added to a pasture or hay diet
28
Q

What kind of body system specific supplements do we feed to horses?

A
  • joint health, hoof health, GI heath
29
Q

When do we feed fibre to horses?

A
  • may be used when traditional forages are scarce or as a base for feeding powdered supplements
30
Q

What kinds of fibre do we feed horses?

A
  • beet pulp, bran, grain hulls, extruded fibre supplements
31
Q

What should feeding programs for horses be based on?

A
  • age, weight & BCS, activity level, management, available feeds (season, geography)
  • all programs should be forage based
  • feed changes should be made gradually
32
Q

How do we feed horses in cold weather?

A
  • 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
33
Q

How do we feed mares & foals?

A
  • 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)
34
Q

How do we feed growing horses?

A
  • 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
35
Q

How do we feed horses in work?

A
  • increased concentrates to add energy & protein
  • offer free choice feeding or multiple meals to reduce risk of gastric ulcers
36
Q

What are common issues in feeding geriatric horses?

A
  • 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
37
Q

How do we feed geriatric horses?

A
  • good quality soft feed
38
Q

How do we feed horses to help them lose weight?

A
  • 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
39
Q

How do we feed following starvation?

A
  • 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)
40
Q

Which equine diseases respond to diet changes?

A
  • 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
41
Q

How do we BCS horses?

A
  • monitor sub q fat deposits to determine changes in health & feeding

Animal Production III (18 decks)

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