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On-Demand Webinar: 10 Key Concepts for Feeding the Performance HorseBy Kentucky Equine Research Staff · January 21, 2011
Questions and Answers
Q: I have a low-performance mare with PSSM. What are the most important dietary concerns to prevent tying-up?
A: Providing a diet very low in starch and sugar, aside from keeping a regular schedule of daily exercise and/or turnout. For more information on dietary concerns, go to the KER website homepage (www.ker.com) and use the In The Library search and type in PSSM. A number of articles about the disease will come up.
Q: My horse has loose stool; which do I need: yeast, probitoic, or hingut buffer?
A: Loose stools can be caused by either hindgut acidosis or an imbalance in the microbial population. If you are unsure which it is, you can try the hindgut buffer first. If that does not help, try a yeast product. Giving probiotics to a horse with hindgut acidosis is mostly a problem when the probiotic contains only Lactobacillus sp., so try to find one that contains full-spectrum microorganisms.
Q: Please review the need of vitamin E for endurance horses. I've heard that because of the demands of the sport endurance horses require more.
A: Vitamin E works in muscle tissue to control the damage of free-radicals affecting the integrity of muscle cells. Since endurance horses are using their muscles for long periods of time, you can see that they would benefit from higher levels of vitamin E in the diet. There was a study done by Williams and coworkers (2004) on endurance exercise that found benefit from 5000 IU/day supplementation by decreasing the damage in muscle tissue during a 55-mile (80-kilometer) competition. Realistically, you would probably want to supplement 2000 IU on a daily basis and then feed the larger amounts (up to 5000 IU) after a hard workout and during the week of a competition, including during the competition. It helps to have adequate selenium in the diet because selenium and vitamin E work in concert with each other.
Q: I am a high school student and studying equine nutrition in performance horses. Do you have any names you could give me of resources that could help me in my research? I have had trouble finding pleasure-horse requirements/recommendations. What level of exercise would best match pleasure horses?
A: Pleasure horses would be classified as performing “light exercise." You can find information in the National Research Council's book “Nutrient Requirements of Horses, Sixth Revised Edition” (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11653) as well as searching the Kentucky Equine Research website, www.ker.com.
Q: Can you direct us to the source showing the benefits of feeding more alfalfa to calm horses?
A: I believe in the presentation I spoke of alfalfa as calming ulcers not horses in general. If you would like references to the recent research on alfalfa's effect on ulcers, this article by Dr. Pagan in Feedstuffs magazine (http://www.ker.com/library/PopularPress/Feedstuffs/Feedstuffs-07-12-31.pdf) explains it and includes a list of references.
Q; Is it beneficial to have a horse on a digestive supplement to prevent ulcers? I train in dressage and have no issues currently but was wondering if some sort of buffer would be good?
A: A diet high in forage that is available free choice to the horse so that the horse does not go for long periods of time without something to eat and limiting the amount of grain fed will go a long way to preventing ulcers. If the horse is in an environment that will trigger the development of ulcers, then providing some type of ulcer supplement may stave off the crisis but is not a guarantee that they will not occur. The other digestive aids mentioned in this presentation have their effects on the hindgut mostly and not the stomach. It is not known whether these types of products will help deter the development of ulcers.
Q: When is it safe to feed grain to a horse in relationship to its exercise schedule? If there is only one to two pounds of concentrate being fed in addition to grass hay, can exercise begin after an hour?
A: The degree of glycemic response is relative to the amount of grain fed and the timing with the hay. So when feeding small meals with hay there will probably be a low enough glycemic response that it will not affect performance of the horse dramatically.
Q: How should dried beet pulp be added to grain mix?
A: If adding dried beet pulp (as opposed to soaking it first) to a grain mix, I recommend it be mixed thoroughly with the grain and add oil. This will slow the swelling response of the beet pulp so it is less likely to cause choke. If soaking the dried beet pulp first, add it to the grain mix at the last minute so that it does not cause the pellets in the mix to fall apart.
Q: How do you know if you have a fructan-rich pasture?
A: The amount of fructans can fluctuate and is subject to a number of environmental factors that influence their accumulation. In general, the cool-season perennials will accumulate more frunctans than the warm-season grasses found in warmer climates. The time of year will also affect the amount of fructans accumulating, with spring and fall being the times of highest accumulation. Nutrient Requirements of Horses, Sixth Revised Edition (2007) states, “Environmental influences that both reduce photosynthetic activity (e.g., cloud cover) and enhance plant growth (e.g., warm, moist, fertile soils) result in lowered accumulation of NSC in vegetative tissues, whereas conditions that enhance photosynthesis but reduce growth (e.g., high light intensity coupled with cool temperatures) allow elevated levels of NSC, particularly fructan to accumulate.”
Q: What is more important, digestible or indigestible?
A: Digestible means that the body can benefit from breakdown and absorption of the nutrient, so we like to feed things that are digestible. Indigestible means that it will pass through the body without changing. The major nutrient that it is important to have a certain amount that is indigestible in the diet is fiber; it helps to keep the digestive tract functioning properly and the digesta moving through the tract. We like to feed forages with a lot of digestible fiber and not too much indigestible fiber because high amounts of indigestible fiber have been correlated with impaction colics.
Q: Please review the correct ways of feeding omega-3 and omega-6 for distance horses (i.e., chia seed, fish oil or other ways).
A: For distance horses having a diet balanced in omega-3 and omega-6 could be very important since the diets tend to be higher in fat than those of other types of performance horses. Horses that have abundant fresh grass in the diet and relatively low grain intakes are less likely to have an imbalance. If additional oil is fed for energy then feeding canola or soybean oil would be recommended over corn oil to keep omegas from getting to far out of balance. To benefit from the advantages of a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, supplementation with fish oil, flax, or chia can be done. Fish oil has the advantage of containing the omega-3s in the forms used by the body, DHA and EPA. Fish oils that have acceptable palatability in horses are usually the ones marketed to the horse. The feeding rate would be 1 to 2 oz (30-60 ml) per day. Flax and chia are high in ALA, which needs to be converted in the body to DHA and EPA. Flax (otherwise known as linseed) has been a component of the equine diet for centuries and is known for improving hair coat. The daily feeding rate would be around 2 oz per day, and preferably fed ground or cooked. Chia is higher in omega-3 than flax and does not need to be ground to make the nutrients available. Chia also has other nutritional advantages but may be more expensive to feed than flax. The daily recommended feeding would be 2 oz per day for a horse.
Q: Do you feed soy hulls like a grain?
A: Soy hulls are a powdery product that are usually used by feed manufacturers in higher fiber feeds but can be found as a standalone ingredient. Most of the time they come pelleted but occasionally can be found loose. In either form, fed alone they are not terribly palatable. The best would be to mix them into a more palatable feed.
Q: Is this why you should wait to ride after feeding?
A: It is complicated but to briefly summarize: exercising the horse when insulin levels are high and pulling glucose out of the bloodstream (1-4 hours after a high-grain meal) can precipitate an exaggerated drop in glucose and cause fatigue the horse. Particularly for a performance, the horse may have better energy utilization if the timing of the grain meal is noted.
Q: Define "performance horse." I have three horses we ride, but we do not show them. Each has a different energy need.
A: Any horse being ridden, driven, or worked would be considered a performance horse. It is best to match the energy intake to the individual to keep him or her from gaining or losing too much weight.
