Water—The Most Important Nutrient for Horses

Borrowed from Nutrena’s The Feed Room Blog

https://www.horsefeedblog.com/2010/11/water-the-most-important-nutrient-for-horses/

Water is the most important nutrient that we provide for horses on a year around basis. Horses need 2 to 3 times more water than other feedstuffs. An 1,100lb horse on a dry forage diet at an average temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit will need a minimum of 6–7 gallons of water per day or 48–56lbs of water, and many horses will drink more water than the minimum. We all appreciate that the water requirement may double at high temperatures but may not realize that at -4 degrees Fahrenheit; the quantity required is about 10–12 gallons per day, or actually higher than at moderate temperature. The onset of cold weather can actually increase the requirement for water because there is no fresh grass, and the air is very dry.

There is a misconception that domestic horses can easily eat enough snow to survive. While horses in the wild do adapt to lower water intakes, partially because food intake is also frequently reduced, horses can survive longer without food than they can without water. Reduced water intake can also impair digestion and potentially contribute to the incidence of impaction colic.

It also requires a great deal of energy to eat snow, melt the snow in the body, and raise the fluid temperature to normal body temperature of 99.5–100.5. Increasing the temperature of 10 gallons of water from 32 degrees to 100 degrees takes about 1,372 calories or about the amount of digestible energy in a pound of feed. Melting the snow to get to water will take a great deal more energy and the horses will not readily eat a pile of snow the size of 20 five-gallon buckets. It takes about 10 inches of snow to have one inch of water.

Providing horses with fresh clean water at an appropriate temperature all year around is a great management tool to reduce the risk of colic, maintain healthy digestion, maintain body condition, and even save a bit of money on feed cost!

Parasites & Pasture Management: Ask the Expert

Borrowed from Nutrena’s The Feed Room Blog
This article is reprinted with permission from Krishona Martinson, PhD, University of Minnesota.

https://www.horsefeedblog.com/2017/05/ask-the-expert-parasites-and-pasture-management/ 

Question: My two horses tested high in their fecal egg counts; I dewormed them regularly. We had a mild winter, and they were still foraging on the pasture. I am wondering if I am managing their manure poorly. We drag the manure piles in the pasture, but are we spreading out the parasite eggs and making it worse?

Answer: Good pasture management can help reduce parasites, especially stronglyes. Strongyle larvae develop within the manure pile, migrate onto pasture forages during wet weather, and wait to be ingested by horses. Rotational grazing, avoiding overgrazing, and ideal stocking rate can help to reduce strongyles. We recommend initiating grazing when pasture grasses are between 6” to 8” tall and rotating horses to a new pasture (or a drylot) when most of the forage has been grazed down to 3” to 4” tall. A pasture where most of the forage is below 3” tall is considered over‐grazed. This is especially important when managing strongyles as larvae tend to inhabit the lower part of forage plants. Allowing your horses to graze a pasture during the winter months (when forage re‐growth is not possible) may have resulted in over‐grazing and ingestion of parasite eggs. We recommend a stocking rate of 2 acres of pasture per adult horse. If the pasture is well managed, this should result in not needing to supplement hay during the grazing season. Parasite populations tend to be greater if the pasture stocking rates are higher (less than 2 acres per horse), especially in over‐grazed pastures. Since you have two horses, ideally you would have at least 4 acres of pasture.

Dragging is a recommend pasture management activity. Dragging is necessary to disperse manure piles since horses will rarely graze near these areas. However, to help reduce the parasite load, dragging should be reserved for hot and dry periods of the summer. A few weeks of high temperatures and limited rainfall after dragging will help kill strongyle larvae. During this time, it’s important to remove the horses from the pasture. During wet periods, horse owners should remove the manure from the pasture weekly, if possible. This may not be practical in all situations but may be necessary in high‐risk scenarios.

We suggest you continue to work with your veterinarian and use your fecal egg count results to strategically deworm your horses. Implementing a rotational grazing program, avoiding overgrazing, dragging manure piles during hot and dry periods, and confining your horses to the drylot during the winter months should also help reduce the parasite load in your pasture and horses.

What is Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS)?

Borrowed from Nutrena’s The Feed Room Blog

https://www.horsefeedblog.com/2011/10/what-is-equine-metabolic-syndrome-ems/ 

Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) is a hormonal disorder in horses, similar to metabolic syndrome in humans, that is characterized by obesity, insulin resistance, and abnormal fat deposits, which can predispose affected horses to chronic laminitis.

What types of horses are affected?

First and foremost, most horses do not suffer from EMS. The majority of horses tolerate dietary carbohydrates such as starch, sugar, and fructan quite well and thrive on this important and readily available source of energy. Performance horses in particular need sufficient non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in their diets for work and recovery after exercise. Too little starch and sugar in the diet can diminish athletic performance over time in non-EMS horses.

EMS can occur in any breed, however ponies, Morgans, Paso Finos, and horses that tend to be “easy keepers” seem to be most vulnerable to developing EMS. It should also be noted that not all obese (fat) horses are insulin resistant, and not all insulin resistant horses are fat.

How do I know if my horse is insulin resistant (IR)?

Veterinary diagnostic testing (blood work) is recommended to confirm IR, but here are some other classic signs of insulin resistance in horses and ponies:

• A classic sign of IR is a “cresty neck,” of which a clear correlation between neck circumference and IR has been documented.
• Horses with regional deposits of lumpy or dimpled fat pads behind the shoulder, around tailhead, and/or over the loin are suspect of being IR.
•  Horses that seem to gain weight rapidly, or blow up easily, particularly in spring with new pasture growth, relative to other horses may indicate IR.
• Horses that are tender footed, and/or that demonstrate rings on the hoof wall, expanded white line and blood spots on the soles of their feet, suggests mild, chronic bouts of laminitis and IR.
• EMS is sometimes confused with other clinical disease such as Cushing’s Disease and hypothyroidism due to similar clinical signs, despite different underlying causes. It is very important to work with a trusted vet to ensure an accurate diagnosis if any of these conditions are suspected.

Traditional Grain or Ration Balancer?

When it comes to feeding a horse with EMS, it’s important to pay close attention to their starch and sugar intake.

Since forage should always be the base of any good equine diet, it’s important to know your hay’s NSC content. This can be done by a commercial laboratory via your local feed representative. Contact Nutrena to inquire about hay testing in your area. Depending on the findings, you can adjust the amount being fed and possibly soak the hay to remove some of the excess sugar.

If you are feeding a traditional grain, it is best to look for one especially formulated for horses with metabolic issues such as Nutrena’s Safe Choice Special Care.

However, if you are concerned about caloric intake, a ration balancer might be a better option. This is a concentrated feed that is designed to be fed in smaller amounts, reducing caloric intake. A product like Nutrena’s Empower Topline Balance provides amino acids, organic trace minerals, vitamins, pre- and pro-biotics in a concentrated form, designed to balance and complement the nutrition coming from forage.

While both products are low in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), the major difference in the two products is the caloric content. Nutrena’s Safe Choice Special Care is higher in calories compared to Nutrena’s Empower Topline Balance. Because Nutrena’s Empower is concentrated, the feeding rate (pounds per day) is much lower compared to Nutrena’s Safe Choice Special Care. For horses needing additional calories beyond their forage, while keeping the diet balanced, Nutrena’s Safe Choice Special Care would be a great choice. For horses that are overweight or doing just fine with forage only but would benefit from balancing the total diet with regard to amino acids, vitamins, minerals, a ration balancer such as Nutrena’s Empower Topline Balance would be a good fit.

Estimating the horse’s target body weight and doing a body condition score are great tools to help determine which feed is best for your horse as well as how much to feed them based on manufacturer recommendations.

When to Feed Ration Balancers

Borrowed from Nutrena’s The Feed Room Blog

https://www.horsefeedblog.com/2011/01/when-to-feed-ration-balancers/

While recently reviewing a farm’s feed program, the manager explained that some of her horses only received 1 pound of grain per day. She felt their weight was good, but yet they appeared to be lacking something in their diet. She was wondering what type of supplements she could add.

When we looked at the tag on her feed, the problem was obvious. Her feed was designed for to be fed at a rate of 0.5–0.75 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight. This means that to provide proper fortification for a 1,000 pound horse, she would need to feed 5–7.5 pounds per day. By that standard, her horses that were only getting 1 lb. per day were not receiving the nutrient fortification they needed for optimum health, and thus her feeling that “they appeared to be lacking something.” Her farm was feeding good quality hay at a rate of about 2% of each horse’s body weight, and the overall body condition of the horses was good, but we needed to balance the amino acid and vitamin/mineral fortification.

We reviewed the farm’s hay test results to establish our baseline. I explained that she could easily improve her horse’s diet with the use of a ration balancer. Balancers have a low feeding rate, generally from 0.25 to 1 pound per head per day, but they contain a concentrated mix of the extra vitamins, minerals, and protein required to help horses achieve their full potential.

She was a little unsure about feeding something with a 30% protein level, but I explained that if you do the math, feeding 1 lb. of a 30% protein feed is actually providing the same to a little less than feeding a standard 12% feed at a higher rate.

Key features to look for in a ration balancer include:

• Probiotics and prebiotics to enhance fiber and protein digestion, as well as mineral absorption.
• Organic complexed trace minerals to increase the bioavailability—an example of this on the tag would be “zinc methionine complex” in the ingredient list.
• Added biotin and methionine, which are important for hoof and hair coat.
• Guaranteed amino acids (lysine, methionine, etc), mineral, and vitamin levels.

A good quality ration balancer will provide your horse with dietary essentials, and often no additional supplementation is needed!