What is best to feed in really cold weather to help your horse stay warm?
Well, the answer is hay or any type of high fibre forage really.
The fibre in hay and other forages is digested in your horse’s hindgut via the process of bacterial fermentation. A by-product of this fermentation process is HEAT!
By feeding extra forage in cold weather, you are giving your horse’s resident population of bacteria more fibre to ferment… which in-turn means they will generate more heat and help to keep your horse warm. Neat huh!
Just keep in mind though that you can overdo it. Feeding more than about 3% of your horse’s bodyweight in feed per day (or more than 3 lb/100 lb BW; 3 kg/100 kg BW) will have the effect of increasing passage rate through the gut.
So while there would be more fibre for the bacteria to ferment the fibre would spend less time in the hindgut, with less time for fermentation and heat production. Catch-22!
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Over the last few years questions about teff (Eragrostis tef) hay and its suitability for laminitic horses have started to come up and it appears production of teff hay and therefore availability is on the rise. Here is a very mini review of the published research on teff hay in horses that we can find:
Recent Research on Teff Hay for Horses
Staniar et al 2010
These authors report non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) contents for teff of 5.4% in the ‘boot’ stage and 8.4% in the ‘late heading stage’ of plant maturity. Both really low NSC levels and well below the 10 – 12% threshold considered safe for laminitic horses. Variation between samples was also minimal which is also our experience with other C4 Type grasses like Rhodes for example.
Horses in this study ate 1.5% to 1.8% of their bodyweight in teff hay, with the lower intakes being on the more mature hay. Again, this is a good thing as horses on restricted diets are unlikely to eat this hay as fast as more palatable hays like alfalfa, so they should eat for longer periods of time for lower calorie intake.
McCown et al 2012
Report that when fed to horses unaccustomed to teff and given a choice of either teff and alfalfa or teff and timothy, their intake of teff is lower than their intake of alfalfa (no surprises there) and timothy. BUT, when given access to only teff, intake was about the same as timothy hay. So they don’t relish teff hay, but truly, this is a good thing as they are less likely to overeat it!
Askins et al 2017
These authors report that horses given free access to teff hay consumed 1.5% of their bodyweight per day which equated to 86% of maintenance calorie requirements. So the finding of lower intake on teff continues … hooray for teff!
This study also reports that resting glucose and insulin levels did not change over 10 days while the horses were fed teff. To keep this in context however, ryegrass hay (which can be very high in NSC) was fed as the control hay in this study and glucose and insulin levels also remained the same on this hay. Unfortunately, the NSC content of the hays was not reported (yet!).
DeBoer et al 2017
In another recent study, these authors report that cool season (C3) perennial grasses (in this case orchardgrass, also known as cocksfoot and Kentucky bluegrass) had a significantly higher NSC content than teff pasture in summer and fall/autumn, however actual NSC content was not reported (this is just an abstract, hopefully the data will be fully published in future).
This research also looked at differences in plasma glucose levels in horses grazing either alfalfa, cool season (C3) grasses or teff and found that differences were minimal. However, we know that insulin resistant horses can maintain normal glucose levels, they just need a lot more insulin to achieve this. So just because differences in glucose levels were not apparent doesn’t mean there would not have been differences in insulin levels. These authors report that insulin levels will be reported in future research, so hopefully it is just a case of ‘watch this space’.
Summary
All in all, from the research available, teff appears to be suitable for laminitic horses and any other horses who need either a calorie restricted and/or NSC restricted diet. If you are going to feed teff hay, though be sure to use FeedXL to balance the diet.
Teff, being a subtropical/warm season/C4 type grass does contain oxalate which will reduce calcium absorption by your horse and may lead to calcium deficiency if you don’t correctly balance the diets calcium to oxalate ratio (FeedXL will make sure you do this!). Teff, like almost all forages will also be low in trace-minerals and doesn’t contain great quality protein… so you will have a few gaps to fill. Of course, testing your specific hay and uploading this to FeedXL will give you the best results in balancing your horse’s diet!
Finally, alfalfa/lucerne hay makes a great forage to feed alongside teff. Alfalfa is similarly low in NSC, but unlike teff is rich in quality protein and high in calcium to help offset the calcium binding tendency of the teff. They complement each other nicely.
If you need a low NSC forage, teff gets the thumbs up from us!
Askins M.J., Palkovic A.G., Leppo K.A., Jones G.C. & Gill J.C. Effect of feeding teff hay on dry matter intake, digestible energy intake and resting insulin/glucose concentration in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 52, 45.
DeBoer M.L., Hathaway M.R., Kuhle K.J., Weber P.S.D., Sheaffer C.C., Wells M.S., Mottet R.S. & Martinson K.L. Glucose response of horses grazing alfalfa, cool-season perennial grasses and teff across seasons. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 52, 79.
McCown S., Brummer M., Hayes S., Olson G., Smith S.R., Jr. & Lawrence L. Acceptability of Teff Hay by Horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 32, 327-31.
Staniar W.B., Bussard J.R., Repard N.M., Hall M.H. & Burk A.O. (2010) Voluntary intake and digestibility of teff hay fed to horses1. J Anim Sci 88, 3296-303.
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We have all been told ‘little and often’ when it comes to feeding horses. But why?
Well, when you consider horses are ‘grazers’ and their gut has been designed to work best with small amounts being consumed constantly over long periods of the day and night (they eat for up to 17 hours a day, can you imagine having to do that!) it makes sense that horses should be fed small meals frequently.
But here is a visual (in words) on why it is best to feed little and often… In the horse’s small intestine there are things called enzymes, which are like tiny pairs of scissors. An enzyme’s job is to cut big things like protein, starch and fats up into very small things like amino acids (the building blocks of protein), glucose (the building block of starch) and fatty acids (a building block of fats).
If these proteins, starches and fats don’t get chopped up they will not get absorbed because they are far too big to cross the intestinal wall intact. So for absorption to occur, these enzymes MUST chop the big stuff into little stuff!
Picture this…
Imagine you have a pair of scissors and are tasked with the job of cutting up a long piece of ribbon. The ribbon is trailing from a person going past you very slowly. If you have plenty of time to chop the ribbon multiple times then you can get it into small pieces. This is what happens in the gut. If a piece of protein for example goes moving through the small intestine very very slowly, the little enzymes have plenty of time to chop it up into amino acids so it can be absorbed.
Now imagine if the person holding the ribbon runs past you and you have to chop it up… you might get one shot at it before it is gone. And this is exactly what happens in the gut. If feed is moving too quickly through the gut the poor little enzymes simply don’t get enough time to chop anything up. Meaning the feed simply won’t be absorbed.
So back to meal size and the little and often concept… when you feed small meals, the feed will move nice and slowly through the gut and the enzymes will be able to do their job and fully digest it so your horse gains full benefit.
Feed large meals and all of a sudden you increase the speed with which it will travel through the gut and reduce the amount of time the enzymes have to do their cutting… meaning your horse misses out on a lot of the value from that feed. It will be digested to some extent in the hind gut but a lot of value is lost (and your $ wasted).
So while not the only reason you should feed little and often, it is a really important one to keep in mind.
If you have a horse struggling to gain weight eating huge feeds, something to consider is that you might find you get better results by feeding less.
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Following on from our article Identifying Pastures Part 1 that looked at how to identify grasses that could cause mycotoxin problems for horses, this blog will help you to identify grasses that have the potential to cause Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism, also known as ‘Bighead Disease’. Bighead Disease is a severe calcium deficiency and one way it can be caused is by grazing subtropical or C4-type pastures without appropriate calcium supplementation.
Subtropical or C4-Type pastures like kikuyu, bermuda grass (couch grass), buffel grass, setaria, green panic, pangola grass, guinea grass, purple pigeon grass, para grass and signal grass contain a compound known as oxalate. The oxalate in the grass binds most of the calcium available in the grass making it unavailable for absorption when the horse eats it.
So even though these grasses may contain plenty of calcium, horses cannot access it, meaning over time they will develop a severe calcium deficiency. The oxalate appears to also bind some of the calcium coming from other feed ingredients in the diet, rendering it useless to the horse as well. The more oxalate the pasture contains, the more rapidly a horse will develop bighead. Setaria, and specifically Kuzungula Setaria is the most dangerous high oxalate grass for horses, with severe bighead appearing in horses grazed on this grass species within one to 3 months.
Where do these “bighead” grasses grow?
Bighead Disease caused by pasture has traditionally been thought of as a disease of the subtropics and tropics as this is where the high oxalate pastures were first introduced for grazing cattle (cattle don’t experience the problem as the bacteria in their rumen are able to break the oxalate/calcium compound so they can absorb the calcium). However, some of the grass species that readily cause Bighead, like Kikuyu and Bermuda Grass, can grow in a wide range of environments and due to their popularity as a hardy lawn species, they are spread well into temperate climate areas.
So don’t be complacent: even if your horse lives in a temperate environment, the grasses that can cause bighead disease are widespread. Being able to identify them is important! Use this newsletter to have a wander around your paddocks to see if any of the 4 most common problem species are in your pasture.
Identifying your grasses
Now it is time for you to look at some grasses to see if you have any of the 4 most common pasture species that may cause Bighead lurking in your paddocks. Use the information in Identifying Pastures Part 1 as your plant physiology reference guide (you can find this here).
Kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum)
The characteristics of Kikuyu are as follows:
Emerging leaves are folded
Leaves have a prominent mid vein with many smaller veins running in parallel
Leaves are light to bright green and moderately hairy on top and underneath.
Leaf tip is slightly keeled, though leave flatten as they get older.
Auricles are absent
Ligules are hairy
Grows using both underground rhizomes and vigorous over ground stolons (so it has an obvious matt of runners above ground).
Kikuyu does not get visible seed heads but at flowering time, long, white, thread like stamens will sometimes be visible.
The leaf sheath of kikuyu (where the new leaves emerge from) is pale and light green in colour, turning brown as the grass matures. It is obviously hairy.
These images show kikuyu when it is green and growing and also almost completely dried off. Note the distinctive almost lime green colour of the grass when it is green and the dense, thick matt of stolons once it has dried off.
Bermuda Grass/Couch Grass (cynodon Dactylon)
The characteristics of Bermuda Grass/Couch Grass are as follows:
The seed/flowerheads are a digitate panicle with 3 to 7 thin branches 2 to 6 cm long.
Emerging leaves are rolled.
Leaves have a prominent mid vein with many smaller veins running in parallel.
Leaves are relatively short, green and hairless to sparsely hairy with more hairs underneath.
Leaf tip is flat.
Auricles are absent.
Ligules are short hairs on a membranous rim with a tuft of longer hairs on each end.
Grows using both underground rhizomes and over ground stolons (so it has visible runners above ground, but they are not nearly as thick as seen with klikuyu).
Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris)
The characteristics of Buffel Grass (also known as African Foxtail, Black Buffel Grass or Rhodesian Foxtail) are as follows:
The seed head is cylindrical (like a small bottle brush) and can be straw, grey or purple in colour.
Emerging leaves are rolled
Leaves are flat, hairless except for some sparse long hairs near the sheath and green to blue in colour.
Leaf edges are rough and tip is flat.
Auricles are absent
Ligules are hairy
Grows in a tussocky or bunch growth habit but it can sometime have stolons and rhizomes.
Setaria (Setaria sphacelata)
Setaria is the most dangerous of all the sub-tropical grasses for horses, so if you have it, it is important that you identify it. The characteristics of Setaria (also known as South African Pigeon Grass and African Bristle Grass) are as follows:
Spike like, panicle seed head that can be 8 – 25 cm long and varying in colour from purplish brown to brown to orange tinged.
Leaves are broad, flat, grey-green in colour and generally hairless.
Auricles are absent
Ligules are hairy
Grows in a dense tussock with short underground rhizomes.
If you think you have these pastures but aren’t 100% sure, pot some of the plants you suspect are Buffel or Setaria and let them grow and go to seed. The seed head will help you to positively identify the species.
So you have these grasses … what now?
If you have accurately identified that Kikuyu, Bermuda Grass/Couch Grass, Buffel Grass or Setaria are present in your pasture, you will need to take this into account in your horse’s diets in FeedXL. First of all, determine what percentage of the pasture each of the species comprises, and then use the Advanced Pasture Builder feature to create a pasture that is comprised of these pasture types.
For example, if your pasture is 25% Kikuyu, 10% Setaria and 65% native grasses, use the Pasture Builder in FeedXL to create a pasture that is ‘C4-Type Grass – 25%, Setaria – 10%; and Native Grass – 65%. It is important to be accurate so FeedXL can calculate an accurate calcium to oxalate ratio for you and keep your horse out of harms way!
Once FeedXL knows these pastures are present in your diet it will warn you if the calcium to oxalate ratio of the diet is too low, putting your horses at risk of bighead, and guide you in adding additional calcium to achieve the minimum ratio required of 0.5 parts calcium to 1 part oxalate. For more information on this, please read our blog: Bighead Disease.
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Also known as lucerne in some parts of the world, alfalfa hay enjoys a varied reputation amongst horse people, with some using it as a highly valued component of their horse’s diet and others avoiding it with almost religious fervour. So, who is right? Is alfalfa hay a suitable forage for horses? Or are there other more suitable forages? The answer is yes, and yes. Alfalfa hay is a valuable forage for horses when fed to the right classes of horses and in the correct amounts for its full benefit to be realised. The following article looks at the nutrients contained in alfalfa hay and its many and varied uses in the horse industry.
Nutrient profile
Figure 1: A comparison of the digestible energy (DE), crude protein (CP), calcium (Ca), phosphorous (P) and magnesium content of early bloom lucerne hay, grass hay and oaten chaff.
Good quality alfalfa hay contains more protein and energy than grass or cereal hays and chaffs (Figure 1). Alfalfa also contains high concentrations of calcium and magnesium, and when fresh, the vitamins A and E. Alfalfa is typically low in phosphorous and depending on where it was grown, contains varying concentrations of other micro and macro minerals. The protein in alfalfa hay is of high quality and contains appreciable amounts of the essential amino acid lysine.
When to feed alfalfa to horses?
To answer that question, we must consider the strengths and weaknesses of alfalfa hay. Firstly, note that there are no known anti‐nutritive factors in alfalfa hay. It is a very high quality, safe feed. However, the higher energy and protein in alfalfa hay can result in too much energy and/or too much protein in the horse’s diet if you feed too much, so it is important to keep these nutrients in the diet within the recommended daily intake limits (RDI’s). Too much protein and/or energy can result in some problems for horses which are discussed below. As with all hays, some nutrients are lacking, particularly some of the trace‐minerals, so when feeding alfalfa hay it is important to ensure you are meeting the RDI’s when balancing your horse’s diet. The use of alfalfa hay in the diet of various classes of horses is discussed below:
1. Performance horses in training and competition
Alfalfa hay can be used to provide energy, good quality protein and a source of fibre to the diet of a performance horse; however, it must be used in moderation. Excess protein in the diet of working horses and particularly those that are stabled can be detrimental to their health and performance. Excess protein intake will increase urinary ammonia production, which may then result in respiratory problems for horses confined to a stable. Excess protein can also contribute to dehydration due to water loss through increased urine production and excretion and increases the amount of heat produced during the digestion and utilisation of feedstuffs. Therefore a diet containing protein in excess of the horse’s requirement can increase the horse’s water and electrolyte loss through sweating and can contribute to hyperthermia, and decreased performance or endurance capacity.
It is important to understand that these effects are not as a direct result of feeding alfalfa, but rather from feeding too much alfalfa. Avoid them by keeping protein within the RDI limits. Use a grass or cereal hay to supply some of the horse’s roughage/fibre requirement.
2. Spelling or idle horses
Alfalfa hay can play a role in the spelling or idle horse’s diet and will provide these horses with good quality protein and calcium. If you keep energy and protein within your horse’s RDI, you can safely feed alfalfa to your horse on stall rest without having excess weight gain due primarily to too much energy.
<strong>3. Ponies</strong>
Ponies may be safely fed alfalfa hay, but again it must be fed in moderation. Alfalfa hay, because of its highly digestible nature is capable of encouraging significant weight gain in ponies, particularly those that are easy keepers. Feeding too much alfalfa hay may therefore predispose ponies to laminitis, as the risk of laminitis increases when ponies become overweight (again, this is not as a result of feeding alfalfa, but as a result of feeding too much energy and protein which in turn leads to excess weight gain). Keep energy and protein within the recommended daily limits when using alfalfa in the diets of ponies.
Alfalfa hay is very useful in the diet of aged ponies. As horses and ponies age, they lose some ability to digest fibre and protein. Feeding them an easily digested fibre and high quality protein source in the form of alfalfa hay will help them maintain bodyweight, particularly in winter.
4. HYPP and laminitic horses
Alfalfa hay may not be suitable for horses suffering with hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) as its concentration of potassium is often quite high (14 – 25+ g/kg). Make sure you keep potassium in particular at the 100% RDI in these horses, regardless of the feeds you use.
In the reverse, and contrary to popular opinion, alfalfa hay is a very suitable feedstuff for horses that have suffered a bout of laminitis. The high quality protein in alfalfa hay will help the horse to repair its damaged laminae while the energy derived from the alfalfa will prevent these horses from entering a negative energy balance which slows or prevents the hoof’s healing process taking place. In comparison to some grass hays, alfalfa also contains a lower level of starches and sugars. Again, make sure you feed alfalfa hay in moderation to prevent excess weight gain; don’t exceed the energy and protein RDI’s in FeedXL.
5. Growing Horses
Alfalfa is a valuable forage in the diet of growing horses. Alfalfa provides growing horses with a digestible source of energy as well as a source of high quality protein and the essential amino acid lysine. Alfalfa’s calcium rich characteristic is also beneficial for growing horses that typically have high calcium requirements.</p>
However, when feeding alfalfa to growing horses, the amount fed should not exceed the growing horse’s energy requirements. Growing horses fed energy in excess of their RDI’s have a much higher chance of suffering from developmental orthopaedic diseases including osteochondritis dissecans (OCD).
Feeding protein in excess of the growing horse’s protein requirements does not appear to be detrimental as the protein can be utilised as a source of energy. However, protein is an expensive source of energy and to quote Susan Garlinghouse “it is sort of like using bundles of dollar bills to start a barbeque. It’ll get the job done, but there are much cheaper, easier and more efficient ways of doing it”. Therefore, instead of using alfalfa hay to meet 100% of a growing horse’s energy requirements (which will far exceed their protein requirements) it would (depending on pasture conditions) be more economical to use some form of cereal grain or high energy fibre like sugarbeet pulp or soybean hulls to provide additional energy in the diet when needed.
Another point to be aware of when feeding alfalfa hay to growing horses is their intake of phosphorous. While feeding alfalfa hay to meet a growing horse’s protein requirements will also in most cases meet their calcium requirements, their phosphorous requirements will not be met. Feeding cereal grains will help to increase a growing horse’s intake of phosphorous, however, in many cases, phosphorous supplementation may be required (remembering that the calcium to phosphorous ratio in the diet of a growing horse should be maintained within the range of 1: 1 to 3: 1). Dicalcium phosphate is a suitable source of phosphorous for growing horses.
Also keep in mind that alfalfa hay is not a complete feed and will more often than not contain insufficient concentrations of trace minerals, in particular copper and zinc, to support sound musculoskeletal development. Thus diets utilising alfalfa hay as a protein and energy source must be balanced using an appropriate trace mineral supplement for the best results.
Once again, getting the diet balanced for the nutrient RDI’s in FeedXL is vital to making the best use of alfalfa.
6. Pregnant and Lactating Mares
Alfalfa hay is an exceptional source of energy and good quality protein for pregnant and lactating mares. Alfalfa hay will also help to support these mares’ elevated requirements for calcium and the essential amino acid lysine.
When feeding the pregnant mare alfalfa hay, take care not to exceed her energy requirements since this can cause her to become overweight. Pregnant mares should remain within a body condition score of 5 to 7 (using the Henneke scale of condition scoring) to prevent reduced milk production during the lactation period.
The lactatating mare’s energy requirements however are higher, and alfalfa hay alone will not be capable of meeting these and may, depending on pasture conditions, need to be fed in conjunction with cereal grains or high energy fibres to maintain body condition throughout lactation. Likewise, the lactating mare’s phosphorous and trace mineral requirements will not be met by a diet of alfalfa hay, thus these must also be supplemented accordingly.
As with growing horses, excess protein in the diet of pregnant and lactating mares does not appear to be harmful, however it is an unnecessary waste of this relatively expensive feed component and should be avoided if possible.
In Conclusion
Alfalfa is a valuable feedstuff for horses and is capable of providing them with energy, high quality protein, lysine, calcium and varying levels of other vitamins and minerals. However, alfalfa hay must be used correctly in the diets of all horses to realise its full benefits. Problems with the feeding of excess energy and protein are possible when feeding alfalfa hay so keep a close watch on those energy and protein RDI’s. Use grass/meadow hays in conjunction with alfalfa hay to fulfil a horse’s roughage requirement and well chosen supplements to fulfil mineral requirements. This will help you balance the diet and avoid some of the problems that can be associated with over‐feeding alfalfa hay.
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Winter can be a tricky time of year for feeding horses, especially if you have older horses or horses that lose weight easily. Feeding the right diet during winter will help keep your horses healthy and in good body condition. Here are some tips on how you can do it:
1. Prepare for winter early
Use late summer and autumn while the temperatures are still comfortable and the pasture and hay quality still high to get your horse in good shape for winter. All horses during this period need to be fed a balanced diet (more on this soon) to make sure they are generally healthy and their immune systems fully functional.
If your horse tends to lose weight over winter it can be fed a little more than normal during this time to get a bit of extra condition on them, so if they lose weight during winter, they won’t end up being too skinny.
You should also be looking to buy hay in summer as availability and quality are high but demand is lower meaning you will get a good quality product for less than you will pay in winter.
2. Feed plenty of forage
Forage (hay, chaff and pasture) provides your horse with many of the calories they will need to maintain weight during winter. Aside from that, forage will keep your horse warm in winter. During the digestion of forages in the horse’s gut, bacteria ferment the fibrous portions. One of the ‘by-products’ of this fermentation is heat, and it is this heat that really helps a horse to stay warm during winter.
Because of the ‘warming’ properties of forage, your horse will benefit more from an additional feed of hay than an extra feed of grain, pellets or sweetfeed in very wet, cold weather.
3. Condition score your horse regularly
Don’t throw a rug on your horse in winter and leave it on for weeks on end without taking it off to check your horse’s body condition (and of course that it doesn’t have any injuries or sores that are covered by the rug). Condition scoring involves looking at areas on your horse’s body such as the top of the neck, the wither, over the ribs and over the loin to assess the amount of body fat (which we call body condition) your horse is carrying. For more information on Body Condition Scoring, click here to see our post ‘Why Body Condition Score’.
At the very least, take your horse’s rug off every week so you can check to see if your horse is losing, maintaining or gaining weight.
4. Adjust your horse’s diet to control body weight
Because you will be condition scoring your horse regularly you will know if your horse is maintaining, gaining or losing weight. Depending on what you want your horse to be doing, you may need to adjust the diet to keep your horse at the bodyweight and condition you want.
If your horse is gaining unwanted weight, you will need to reduce or remove high energy feeds like grains, pellets, sweetfeeds or oils in the diet. If your horse is losing weight that you don’t want him to lose, you may need to feed more calories in the diet. You can do this by:
Feeding more hay and if you’re not already doing so feeding some alfalfa/lucerne hay.
Adding high energy feeds to the diet like pellets, sweetfeeds, oil or high energy fibres like soybean hulls, copra meal or sugarbeet pulp. Use the best quality feeds you can afford and if using a sweetfeed look for one that contains either extruded or micronised grains as these are more digestible for horses.
5. Feed a balanced diet
An unbalanced diet doesn’t meet your horse’s requirements for each of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals so your horse won’t be as healthy as he could or should be. Nutrient deficiencies can lead to:
Weight loss
Muscle wastage
Increased susceptibility to diseases like greasy heel and respiratory disease
Dull, dry coat and skin
Brittle and slow growing hooves
Suppressed immune systems
While traditionally, knowing if what you were feeding was meeting your horse’s requirements was quite hard, the FeedXL Horse Nutrition Calculator makes it very easy to see if what you are feeding is the right thing for your horse. FeedXL will also help you manage your horse’s bodyweight. Click here to learn more and get started now!
6. Beware of laminitis
For horses susceptible to laminitis (including overweight horses, horses with Cushing’s Disease or those who have previously had laminitis) winter can be a danger period.
If your horse is at risk, you should:
Restrict your horse’s access to pasture to only the very early hours of the morning up until 11 am.
Feed low sugar hay and avoid hays made from ryegrass or cereals like oats or wheat.
Avoid all feeds with grain or grain by-products in them.
Beware: Most feeds that claim to be grain free are NOT. Read the label of all feeds carefully. If they contain anything like bran, pollard, millmix or millrun do not feed them to a horse prone to laminitis. By ticking the ‘Laminitis’ box on your horse’s details page in FeedXL, all of the unsuitable feeds that contain grains or grain by-products will be coloured red and you will be warned not to use them.
A horse’s coat can become dry and dull during winter. To help keep the coat and skin healthy, add 1/4 cup of oil to the diet.
And finally…
Of course, all the normal rules of good horse husbandry apply in winter. Feeding a well-balanced diet in conjunction with good dental, hoof and veterinary care as well as a strict worming regime will help keep your horses in top shape over winter.
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