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Horse Nutrition Protein: My irritation becomes your knowledge benefit

January 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

OK this is very irritating – one of my clients used my name to try and get the barn owner convinced that they need change the way they are feeding her horse. Now I would not have minded if the horse owner was telling the barn owner something that I believe to be true, but it is not something that I think is right for her horse.

We discussed that her horse was still a little thin but was improved from the last time I saw the horse. We also discussed that the horse could use some fat supplement to help with weight gain without making the horse excitable especially since the horse is a Thoroughbred and might be a little tough to handle if she was loaded up on a lot of grain. That was all that was said.

The owner told the barn owner that I insisted the horse be fed a specific product! To make matters worse that product is not a fat supplement but rather a protein supplement – 32% protein to be exact. Now it may be that I misheard the horse owner when she mentioned fat supplements or she thought that this particular product was a fat supplement, but in any case I would not recommend feeding a protein supplement for weight gain in horses.

A horse requires 10 to 12% protein in its diet and that is all! It does not add any benefit to add more protein as the horse does not use it to build anymore muscle but rather turns it into energy. When the body turns the extra protein into energy it produces more urea nitrogen which then passes through the kidneys and creates that horrible ammonia urine smell. Two things that make this scenario bad. One is that the ammonia produced in the urine can cause irritation to the respiratory tract which can then make the horse more susceptible to respiratory tract infections, especially in the winter time in an enclosed barn. The other is a financial issue – protein is an expensive resource to be used for weight gain – carbohydrates and fat are both cheaper and fat is the preferred for horses.

So in case that client is reading this I hope it was just a misunderstanding. I do not want you to feed that 32% protein supplement to your horse, but rather I would like to see your horse fed a fat supplement with Probiotics – something like Advanced Biological Concept’s Energy (http://www.a-b-c-plus.com/)

Other Related Articles on Nutriton for Horses

Horse nutrition

When protein is fed beyond what the horse requires, the body uses it as an energy source and excretes the unused nitrogen in the urine. Although doing so does not harm the horse, protein is a very expensive energy source. …

Publish Date: 10/15/2009 13:07

http://petshub.com/blog/

Horse Nutrition Essentials

I find many horse owners are unsure on the basic essentials for nutrition for their horse. There are thousands of supplements out there and many, many.

Publish Date: 08/30/2007 14:58

http://www.horsekinetics.com/

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Purina Horse Food Recall on the East Coast

May 6, 2008 By 1 Comment

If you are receiving this email -

I just called my feed store, and they confirmed that this was true, Purina
has recalled many of their feeds due to the potential aflatoxins as a
“precautionary measure” (his words).

From another list

Subject: PURINA RECALLS HORSEFEEDS

I think it is important for all horse owners to know that Purina has
issued two massive recalls this month affecting almost their entire horse
feed product line. This recall was not made available to the general
public. Notices went to the dealers directly. It is unconscionable that
they have made no effort contact the end users. On 4/9 they recalled 27
equine products, including senior and the platformline. On 4/21 they
recalled another 18 products. The problem is Aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are
toxic and one of the most carcinogenic substances known. They can cause
liver disfunction, immune suppression, and neurological difficulties.

Please share this information with your horse keepingfriends. It seems
that the only way this information is going to get out, is among
ourselves.

It actually is true. You can find the recall on Purina’s website —> Eastern U.S. Feed Product Retrieval

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Feeding Fat for horse health – a fad?

September 19, 2007 By 2 Comments

Feeding Fat, is it a fad or is it truly something we should be doing for our horse’s health?

Well I will tell you I do not believe it is a fad. There are several reasons to balance your horses diet using fat as one of the energy sources. I talked about it in Horse Nutrition Essentials. Explaining it more in detail here – fat is very high in energy however it is digested and absorbed slowly in comparison to carbohydrates. This benefits the horse in a couple of ways. The first is that your horses glucose and insulin levels can be leveled out. Many times when feeding carbohydrates, especially corn, the carbs are digested quickly and absorbed quickly causing a spike in glucose. The body responds by producing more insulin in anticipation that a lot more glucose is coming. Unfortunately since it is a carbohydrate there will be no more coming, it was digested rapidly remember. So this causes an unusually high spike in insulin with no glucose around to be utilized. This is one of the factors insinuated in Pre-Cushings or Insulin Resistant horses. So feeding a fat supplement such as flax seed and/or rice bran can stabilize the glucose insulin levels in your horse thus improving health and possibly avoiding future health problems.

Another problem with carbohydrates in some horses is the effect they have on muscle tension. In some horses, especially draft horses and heavily muscled horses, a disease known as Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM) can have dramatic effects on muscle tension to the point of muscle damage. The theory is that carbohydrates are not available for a long enough time period to provide the muscles enough energy to function when working. The muscles then starving for energy begin to break down, causing a release of lactic acid and other enzymes. This causes very tight and sore muscles. Damaged muscles certainly can affect your horses health and performance. Feeding a high fat diet helps prevent this issue, by providing a longer lasting energy source.

So feeding fat to your horse through the sources of rice bran and/or flax seed can be of great benefit to your horses health and performance. I especially recommend the fat diet along with Vitamin E and Selenium (in deficient areas in the country) and Magnesium, to balance out the hormone levels, in any horse that I see with very tight and sore muscles with no known reason except for working.

To learn more about feeding fat to your horse or about EPSM I would recommend visiting Dr. Beth Valentines websites and forums -

http://www.ruralheritage.com

http://www.ruralheritage.com/messageboard/virtualvet/index1.htm

and for more information and discussion about Cushings and/or Insulin Resistance checkout this group -

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/

In another post I will explain the benefits of using Magnesium in possible Pre-Cushings horses it goes hand in hand with feeding a higher fat diet.

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Horse Nutrition Essentials

August 30, 2007 By 9 Comments

fosseyhorses.gif I find many horse owners are unsure on the basic essentials for nutrition for their horse. There are thousands of supplements out there and many, many different types of complete feeds – which ones are the best, what should you be feeding your horse?

Well lets start out simple and easy and forget all the hype. I will not mention any products in this post. I will at a later time so that some specifics are filled in, but here I want to be general and simple so you get the basic concepts of what you should be feeding your horse.

    Basics -

  • Water
  • Pasture/Hay
  • Salt
  • Minerals
  • Fat
  • Grain, only if needed

Water – 24 hour access to fresh clean water. An old farmer chore was to water the horses. They would bring the horses twice a day to the water trough to drink and that was all. Now we know better. We know now that to prevent impaction colic and improve horse health, it is much better to have fresh water available at all times for horses. An average horse will drink 10 gallons of water a day, some less and on hot days some more.

Pasture/Hay – This is otherwise know as forage and it should be the base of your horses diet. A horse is a grazer, built and designed by God, or nature if you wish, to eat grass roughage to sustain life. Grass hay or pasture should still be the foundation of a horses diet why go against the horses own blueprint, it is by far much more healthy for the horse. The best hay to provide is one that has a little alfalfa in it. And when I say a little I mean only a little somewhere between 10 and 20% and that is all. If you provide more than that the type of protein in the alfalfa produces much more ammonia in the urine which can lead to health problems and a very smelly barn. Also an important thing to note is that forage needs to be at least 2 inches in length or longer to provide adequate fiber to maintain the horses digestive tract health, so most hay cubes do not qualify as proper forage.

Salt – Salt is an important compoinent of the horses diet. It is ecessary to provide the electolytes that a horse uses for all of its body functions. Now the most common way to provide a horse with salt is to provide them a salt lick block. Now just because it is the most common does not mean that it is the best way to provide salt for your horse. The best way is to provide you horse with salt crumbles as a top dress to the food and you do not need very much.

Minerals – Minerals especially Calcium and Phosphorous are extremely important for a horse; on top of this there are many other macro minerals and micro nutrients very important for sustaining the horses’ health and body functions. And although I am OK with providing a horse a salt block to provide salt, I am not OK with providing a horse minerals through a mineral block. This is the worst way to provide such an extremely important element in the horses nutrition. It is vital that you provide a mineral supplement or top dress mineral crumbles, if you are feeding grain. If your grass hay has some alfalfa mixture in it like we do here in the midwest then you need to provide less calcium and phosphorous, so you may want to check with a nutritionist to balance your vitamin and mineral rations based on the hay you are providing.

Fat – Fat is not a fad for the horse’s diet. It is a very good source of energy and fatty acids. Many different diseases can be prevented or controlled by adding fat to the diet. Some people add corn oil or some other oil to the diet, unfortunately this is not the best way to provide this nutrient. The best way is to provide it using flax seed and/or rice bran. Now there are many different ways to provide flax seed and rice bran, however there is a lot of disagreement as well. The best way is to actually have it processed, which I know is not the typical thing for me to say as I usually dislike processed feed stuffs. However, for this type of supplement, it is much more convenient and you do not lose the important fatty acids in the stabilizing process. You can keep the flax and rice bran for longer periods of time without it becoming rancid and un-useable and you can feed it straight from the bag without having to grind it or soak it or prepare it before feeding.

Grain – Your horse only needs grain if it is pregnant, nursing, or working hard enough that it can not maintain its weight. Grain or Concentrates goes against the natural nutrition for the horse and over graining does contribute to many health disorders and diseases in the horse including behavior problems, urinary tract problems, and digestive disorders which the worst of which is colic. o if it is necessary to feed grain I would advise to stay away from corn and sweet feed, because these provide the horse with a rapid rise in glucose and subsequent crash from the rise in insulin levels. this can be a contributing factor in insulin resistance or pre cushings disease in horses. It is much better to provide straight oats or rolled oats to the horse. Now rlled oats will lose some of its nutritional value over time however since this is not the main base of the horses diet that is OK. You are using this more as an energy supplement and since the majority of your energy with vitamins and minerals is coming form your forage (pasture/hay) and fat (rice bran/flax seed) the samll amount of nutrient deterioration from rolled oats will be of very little importance.

These are the basics. It is simple and uncomplicated. You will find all these components in many complete feeds. You need to be careful because some of these companies do a least cost nutrient composition, which means they find the cheapest grains, forages, supplements that they can find just add them together in the amounts they need to meet the requirements they have set. So you are not purchasing a consistent product like they are promoting. With that said, you will find inconsistencies from year to year and cutting to cutting of hay and grain quality, so an important thing to consider is to have your feedstuffs tested by a nutritionist and a diet set up for the grain and hay by the nutritionist so you are providing the appropriate levels of nutrition for the health of your horse. Lastly when feeding your horse do not just eyeball or just scoop your horse its feed. I know this can be diffucult especially in large barns but it is important that you weight the feed that you feed your horse. Different cuttings or batches of hay weigh differently and provide different nutritional values depending on the weight of the feedstuff. The same with grain. So for your horse’s health actually weigh your horses feed, each time you feed your horse.

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Head Position when eating – does it matter?

July 25, 2007 By Leave a Comment

OK I think I have read one of the bizarrest ideas I have heard in a long time. That Head Position matters to digestion in a horse. Here’s the exact quote -

Feeding at chest level makes it easier for the horse to digest the food, which means he is getting more nutrients out of his food, than he would be if he was eating at ground level.

I could not believe what I was reading when I read this – I said outloud – WHAT?!?!
I was tempted to write this person to find out where they heard such a thing – and if any of my readers have heard this please comment and point me to the reasoning or research behind this.

Let me take a moment to give you my opinion as to why I feel this is nonsense. First horses are grazers, they are not giraffes in which there food is in the trees, they are like cattle and deer and other such animals in which they graze the ground for their food. They were built this way, thousands of years of being on this earth has not changed the fact that horses are grazers. In order to be a grazer your head must be down to eat.

Lets put some facts to the design of the horse as a grazer, the first part of digestion is the mouth and teeth and the chewing process, so I can only assume that the individual writing the article that included the quote I am refering to realizes that this could be the only thing associated with digestion that head position could remotely change – at least I can hope that they realize this. So what happens to teeth position when the horse raises and lowers its head, well interestingly enough it does change. If you examine a typical horses mouth from a side profile with the incisor teeth (front teeth) exposed with the head elevated to your eye level you will notice that the majority have a very mild overbite in this position, basically about 1/2 cm or so, very mild almost imperceptible. When the head is lowered so that the nose is close to the ground the lower jaw shifts forward allowing for the front incisors to meet more exactly which gives the horse a better cutting surface to graze pasture and cut grass to eat.

So what does this do to the molars which do the majority of the grinding and first part of digestion, it also moves the lower molars forward about 1/2 cm or so. Well the molars consist of 6 teeth top and bottom on both sides of the mouth with each tooth being between 3 and 4 cm long by 2cm wide of chewing surface. The little 1/2 cm movement in the lower jaw means absolutely nothing when given this chewing surface not to mention that the jaw completely moves well well well beyond that 1/2 cm movement while chewing and it does not matter which position the head is in when the horse chews.

So unless your horse has a jaw, neck, or even a breathing problem such as COPD, heaves, it does not matter what position your horses head is in for digestion and if the horse was designed to be a grazer what makes people think that they would have better digestion if their head is raised??? Feeding at chest level is a convenience for humans not a horse health benefit!

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“Street Sense” holistic Kentucky Derby Winner

June 9, 2007 By Leave a Comment

You may have known that “Street Sense” won the Kentucky Derby. You may also know that he placed second in the Preakness and still you may know that he is not racing in the Belmont. But did you know this horse has been treated and fed in a holistic manner?

Carl Nafzger is Street Sense’s trainer and is known to be holistically minded when it comes to feeding his horses. He feeds a mushroom mix to his horses for a more calm and focused horse.

Good for him, at least there is one thing that I can be happy about the racing industry. Some trainers do care a little about their horse’s overall health OR maybe they just want to win …OK there is my cynical side again. I’ll just leave it alone.

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Hay Shortage, Alfalfa and my soapbox

June 1, 2007 By Leave a Comment

OK we all know that there is a possibility of a hay shortage this year, so there are articles coming out about what to do about it. Here is one Horse owners find ways to stretch limited hay supplies By Kylene Orebaugh that I read today and actually I am disgusted with the expert from Colorado State University Karen Hansen. Here’s the first quote that I take issue with and let me say before I put my foot in my mouth this may not be her fault I have been misquoted and misinterpretted when giving interviews so I guess I am taking issues with the quotes. OK here we go -

“Alfalfa is a good forage type for horses because it is nutrient-dense; that is, it has a high concentration of nutrients such as protein, digestible energy and calcium compared to other forages,” Karen Hansen with the Equine Science Department at Colorado State University said. “Due to the nutrient density of alfalfa hay and processed alfalfa (cubes and pellets), this forage must be fed with good management skills to prevent overfeeding and possible digestive disorders.”

First things first Alfalfa is NOT a good forage for horses, for dairy cows sure for horses NO. It is acceptable for it to be in combination with other grass hays and for performance horses it helps in their weight maintenance. However I prefer a 25% or less alfalfa in the mixture. Why? Overfeeding and digestive disorders are only the start, how about urinary tract problems, and respiratory problems from the increase in Ammonia levels that need to be excreted when feeding alfalfa hay. Barns that are feeding alfalfa are easy to notice when you first walk into them – the smell can bring a tear to your eye especially in winter with the barn doors closed.

Now she does state a generic acceptable premise that horses should be fed at least 1% of their bodyweight each day in good, clean, long-stemmed (hay) forage per day. Just remember the “long-stemmed” part for a second.

She recommends pelleted and/or cubed hay or even a complete ration with forage in it as alternative sources for hay. I understand in a hay shortage you have to do what you have to do but she states …

Pelleted or cubed hay is usually a standardized good quality forage that is just put in another form compared to baled hay… Pelleted and cubed hay may be a good alternative if available in a producer’s area, and may be affordable.

No and No. A horse REQUIRES a 2 inch minimum forage length to maintain proper digestion and bacterial count in their digestive tract. If it is less than this length many behavioral problems begin to appear such as wood chewing, cribbing, chewing off tails and destroying trees. The reason is two fold – one the horse will feel less full. Fiber of less than 2 inches in length are quicker to digest leaving the horses intestinal tract feeling empty most of the day. Second, it can produce a condition in the intestinal tract called acidosis which has a negative effect on the bacteria which then produces an increase in digestive upset, ie colic.

Lastly she says here about complete feeds -

Complete feeds which often contain a mixture of grains and roughage sources, and are designed to be fed without hay. It should contain at least 15 percent fiber if no hay is fed, but nutritionists do not recommend no hay being fed. Horses must have forage.

Yes the reason that nutritionists do not recommend no hay being fed is the long-stemmed 2 inches or greater fiber requirement. Hay cubes are acceptable if they meet this requirement however most of the time they are chopped smaller than 2 inches.

Here is an article from Purdue that supports my case..Selecting Quality Hay for Horses by Mark A. Russell, Department of Animal Sciences and
Keith D. Johnson, Department of Agronomy

Off my soapbox and my apologies if certain parts of the interview were left out or if Karen Hansen was misquoted.

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