Offering free-choice hay can help minimize behavior problems.

Photo © EQUUS

You’ve slept through the alarm, and now you’re racing out the door to be sure you feed on time. Slow down and enjoy some coffee first. A little variation in your horse’s feeding schedule won’t hurt and, in some cases, might even be beneficial.

Consider this: Horses fed on precise schedules are more likely to develop destructive anticipatory behaviors, such as pacing or stall kicking. Having mealtimes vary within an hour or two can prevent and minimize this behavior.

Furthermore, studies have shown that there is no physiological reason for a pleasure horse to be fed on a strict schedule. They are not likely to colic0 or develop laminitis0 if their meals come at slightly variable times: Those conditions are associated with large, starchy meals rather than feeding schedules. (Elite athletes in training, however, do need to receive grain on more rigid intervals. Their bodies utilize every calorie they consume, and feeding them on time optimizes digestion to do so.)

If you’d like to start varying your feeding schedule, begin by offering free-choice hay throughout the day. This is easiest to do using a slow feeder that controls portions while reducing waste. Not only does unlimited hay give a horse something to occupy his time while he waits for grain meals, but it will prevent the kind of hunger that can lead to anxious behavior.

With free-choice hay available, wait an extra half-hour to feed one day. Then show up about 20 minutes earlier than usual the next. Over the course of several weeks, vary your schedule so meals arrive within a two-hour window, but never at the same time. Your horse will adapt with no behavioral or physical consequences, and you can enjoy a bit more flexibility around feeding time.

This article first appeared in EQUUS issue #424.

Most foals are weaned at about 4 to 6 months, just when their nutritional needs begin to outpace their mothers’ milk supply. Designed to provide all of a foal’s nutritional needs at birth, a mare’s milk yield naturally starts to decline after the first month or two. By the time the foal is 4 months old, he must supplement his nursing with other food sources, such as forage (hay and pasture) and grain. Accustoming him to these nonmilk sources well before weaning time not only will help him maintain consistent growth throughout the transition, it will also help to avoid the “kid-in-the-candy-store” syndrome. In this situation, weanlings with no previous exposure to grain overeat, either ­because of the novelty of it or to compensate for previously inadequate nutrition.

Your foal will taste-test grass and hay as early as a few days old. But because the microorganism populations in newborns’ hindguts need several months to develop fully, he will have trouble digesting this forage initially. As he ­matures, his forage intake will increase and play a larger part in his diet. It’s important to continue encouraging his appetite for forage as he approaches weaning time. (A 4-month-old weanling should eat enough daily forage to equal between 0.5 and 1 percent of his body weight.) Think of him as a fussy toddler who won’t eat his vegetables unless they’re really tasty. Turn him out on a productive pasture or entice him with good-quality, palatable hay (fresh and clean, early-cut).

A growing foal requires high levels of protein, calcium and other minerals. After weaning, most horse owners provide some of this nutrition in the form of a concentrate balanced specifically for young horses. If you plan to feed your weanling grain, introduce him to it when he’s about 1 or 2 months old, starting with just a handful at a time and increasing the amount incrementally.

Introduce Grain

A corner creep feeder is tied into an existing fence line. The 4-foot height allows foals to duck underneath, without allowing the mares access.

One good way to introduce nursing foals to grain is with a creep feeder: a four-sided, single-railed enclosure built either in the corner of the fence line or standing alone in the center of the pasture (the latter is preferable for group feeding, as it allows escape on all four sides). While mature horses are too big to duck under the rails, foals can come and go as they please. Young foals usually will take a few bites at a time and then return to their dams. This feeding method thus reduces the risks of digestive problems, such as colic and ulcers, brought on by large meals.

If you have only one foal, make the creep feeder sides about 8 feet long, set at your mare’s chest height. For each additional foal, add another 2 feet in length to each side. Space individual, shallow plastic, rubber or wood pans or troughs far apart and ­observe the group dynamics carefully to be sure that no foal is hogging the trough. Remember to ­remove excess feed daily to prevent spoilage.

If you don’t use a creep feeder, offer your foal small meals when his dam is being fed. He can eat out of her feeder—in which case, be sure the feed meets his nutritional needs, which are higher than the mare’s in some respects. (Many commercial dealers offer “mare-and-foal” concentrates, which work well in these circumstances.) If the mare doesn’t share well, feed your foal separately, either in an adjoining stall or just outside her stall (if it opens into a safe enclosure). Or mount a foal feeder, which has openings too narrow for an adult horse’s muzzle to access, for him on the wall of her stall.

A stand-alone creep feeder is better for larger groups of horses because it allows four sides for escape.

After weaning, it’s easiest to regulate your foal’s grain ration by feeding him individually. However, if it’s more convenient to continue feeding him in a group, monitor his grain intake carefully. Without the option of his mother’s milk, he may be tempted to eat more grain than he needs. On the flip side, he may eat too little grain if other foals bully him away from it.

Your horse doesn’t seem as sharp as he did a few months ago, and his coat is losing its glow. Does he need a supplement? Should you change his feed?

Before you can answer those questions, you need to answer two others: First, does he have a health problem? Second, is his diet balanced? The first one is easy—just call your veterinarian and schedule a visit for a complete checkup. But determining if your horse’s current rations provide the right amounts of the nutrients he needs may seem daunting. You’ll find reams of nutritional information in books and online, much of it highly detailed. The numerical data and technical jargon can deep-fry your mind.

The process doesn’t need to be complicated, says Sarah Ralston, VMD, associate director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center and a specialist in equine nutrition. You won’t even need higher math skills. In this article, you’ll find out how to balance your horse’s diet using some simple tools. Want instant gratification? See “Cut to the Chase” below for shortcuts.

What Does He Need?
All horses need the same essential nutrients—energy to fuel body functions, protein to build and repair body tissues and produce enzymes and hormones, and certain vitamins and minerals—but the amounts required by individual horses vary. To figure out if your horse is getting what he should from his diet, start with basic information about him:

Weight: Feed recommendations are generally based on amounts per pound or per kilogram of mature body weight, so this is essential information. A livestock scale will tell you your horse’s precise current weight, but a careful estimate with a weight tape (easily obtained from feed stores) will be fine.

If your horse is underweight or overweight, base his feeding program on optimum weight rather than current weight, Dr. Ralston says. A body-condition scoring system (such as the Henneke scale, online at www.equisearch.com and other websites) can help you decide if you should go with his current weight. Check the table of typical weight and height ranges for various breeds at www.equi-analytical.com (the website of Equi-Analytical Laboratories, which does hay and feed analyses) for an idea of normal weight for horses of his breed and body type.

Age: Horses have different needs at different stages in life. Young horses need extra energy, protein and the right amounts of minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus for bone and tissue development. Broodmares’ nutritional requirements jump during late pregnancy and lactation. Senior horses may develop metabolic problems that call for changes in diet.

Work level: Work increases energy needs. The increase isn’t very great for horses in light to moderate work (five hours a week or less), but a horse in very heavy work (upper-level eventing, racing, endurance) may need twice as many calories as a horse who just loafs in the pasture. Sweat losses associated with hard work dramatically increase the need for water and salt, too.

The dilution factor is important because most gut upsets in the horse are related to the large intestine. The horse’s large intestine is essentially a fermentation vat—like the four stomachs of a cow. Nutrients are first broken down by the bacteria and protozoa that live in the hind gut. The byproducts of that breakdown are actually what the horse then absorbs and turns into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that the body can use.

Each specific type of organism (and there are hundreds) will need a specific type of food to survive. Some are better at using complex fibers. Some like simple sugars. Others will thrive on high protein. Still others will be intermediate forms and will further break down the products produced by other types of organisms. When the organisms receive a constant flow of foods to ferment in a high volume of fluid, they can adapt to changes much easier.

When a large “load” of fermentable food hits the hind gut all at one time, if it is different from what the organisms are accustomed to handling, the result can be a rapid increase in the “bugs” that prefer that type of nutrient. This, in turn, can change the chemistry in the intestine and cause other forms of bugs to die off. Consequences for the horse range from poor utilization of feed (or some portions of it) to gas, mild distention, diarrhea, or full-blown colic.

If the large intestine becomes too acidic, as it can if unusually high amounts of sugar, starch, or complex plant sugars enter it, the lining can actually be damaged and bacterial toxins absorbed into the body. This can make the horse very ill. It can even cause laminitis.

Most people know you shouldn't start, increase, or change grains rapidly. This is one of the most dangerous things you can do in terms of risking intestinal upset. However, what you may not realize is that changes in hay can be bad, too.

The large intestine is the major site for breakdown of hay. Even if you always feed the same type of hay, such as timothy, Bermuda grass, or alfalfa, not all hay is created equal. Different cuttings, under varying growth conditions and even different strains of the same type of forage, can vary by 100% or more in the level of rapidly fermentable nutrients they contain. Changing hay types risks dietary differences in both the levels and relative proportions of fermentables your horse’s system must adapt to.

Even rapid changes in pasture plants can cause problems for your horse if their composition changes too much. This is especially true in the spring and fall when grasses are growing (or regrowing) at a rapid rate. Young growths of grass are lower in slowly fermented fiber types and can have wide swings in the amount of simple carbohydrate they contain. Very high protein levels in young, growing pastures can also cause gut upset.

These guidelines can help you prevent feeding-related gut upsets:

•  Introduce grain feeding gradually, no more than 1 pound per feeding.

•  Allow three days between each increase in grain to enable organisms to adapt.

•  Don’t feed more than 4 pounds of grain at one time.

•  Make changes in hay gradually, replacing from 10% to 25% of the old hay with the new variety; increase every three days.

•  Accustom horse to lush pastures gradually, especially if grass is growing rapidly (spring and some fall conditions).

•  Keep hay available for horses on young growths of pasture grass to provide complex and slowly fermented fiber which the grasses may be lacking.

If your horse is on the skinny side, take steps now to put some pounds on him before winter arrives. A horse with a good body weight will fare better in chilly weather because a little fat provides insulation from the cold as well as a stockpile of energy to maintain his core body temperature.

But you don’t want to get him too fat, either. A good target is a body0 condition score (BCS) of 5, which means his ribs aren’t visible but can be easily felt, the fat around his tailhead is soft and “spongy,” his withers are rounded, and his shoulders and neck blend smoothly with the rest of this body. If you’re unsure of how to assess your horse’s condition, consult with your veterinarian---you’ll want to rule out any illnesses or dental troubles that might be causing your horse to be too thin.

If you do want to add pounds to your horse, you’ll need to boost his caloric intake safely. A diet too rich in sugars or carbohydrates can increase the risk of serious health issues, including colic and laminitis. Here are some tactics you can try:

• Add another meal of hay to his daily ration, or feed it free-choice. High-quality, leafy hay is less likely to be wasted than coarse, stemmy hay. A slow feeder, which allows a horse to pull out only a few stems with each bite, enables you to offer more hay at a time while also reducing waste.

• Switch to a higher calorie feed. Many slim horses are slow, picky eaters who may not finish bigger portions of their usual grain. Instead, try a feed that will provide more calories in the same-size meal. To avoid health risks, look for feeds that supply extra calories from fat rather than sugars or carbohydrates.

• Add oil to his existing ration. Corn or other vegetable oils add calories to a horse’s meal in the form of fat. And, since fat is digested differently, without the risks posed by sugars or carbohydrates, oil is one of the safest ways to put weight on a horse. Most horses will willingly eat up to a half cup of oil at each feeding.

As you implement your new feeding plan, keep track of your progress with notes and pictures of your horse’s body, then taper off the extra calories before he gains too much weight. Obesity can also cause serious health problems.

No need to excuse yourself from a summer barbeque to feed the horses at a specific time. A ration delivered a few hours earlier or later won’t harm a pleasure horse or one in light work. If anything, varying the schedule may help prevent anticipatory behaviors such as pacing and stall kicking.

One key to feeding flexibility is to offer free-choice hay and then enough grain to maintain a horse’s condition divided into as many meals a day as possible. Chowing down a heaping serving of starchy grain on an empty stomach can lead to laminitis or colic.

An elite athlete, however, needs to eat on a more rigid schedule. Every calorie he consumes is precious, and a regimen that delivers meals at the same hour each day—give or take 30 minutes—optimizes digestion so he extracts every bit of energy from his grain.

It’s not unusual for a horse to dive in as soon as his grain hits the bottom of the bucket. But if he eats too quickly, referred to as “bolting," he may swallow before the feed is thoroughly chewed or moistened with saliva. The large, dry particles can then become stuck in his esophagus0 and lead to choke—a blockage of the esophagus.

Here are some things you can do to discourage feed bolting and protect your horse from choke:

• Switch from a feed bucket to a larger, shallower feed pan. When grain is spread out in a thinner layer your horse will have to take smaller mouthfuls.

• Place rocks (fist-size or larger) in his feed tub. Your horse will be forced to eat around the objects, slowing his intake.

• Feed hay free-choice. Offering hay continuously throughout the day---using a slow feeder can cut down on waste---keeps a horse from becoming ravenous by feeding time.

• Feed smaller meals more often. Not only are smaller meals better for a horse’s digestive system, but frequent feedings take the edge off a horse’s hunger and the “novelty” out of feeding time.

• Separate horses at feeding time. Some horses fed in herd situations feel they must eat quickly before being bullied away from their meal by a more dominant horse. Horses fed in protected, personal spaces, such as stalls or separate paddocks, can eat at their own pace.

Knowing how to recognize and manage equine colic is a critical skill for owners, but colic aftercare is just as important to the horse’s well-being. If a horse in your care does develop a colic, ask your veterinarian for a detailed post-colic care regime to follow during his recovery. More than likely, it will include the following the suggestions:

These days, commercial feeds can contain a lot more than just alfalfa meal and cereal grains, and looking at feed-tag ingredients lists can be confusing. We asked equine nutritionist Clair Thunes, PhD, whose Sacramento-based Summit Equine Nutrition (summit-equine.com) advises clients throughout the U.S. and Canada, to give us a breakdown of modern feed ingredients.

Here’s what she told us.

Complex Carbs. These are one of the three main sources of energy in horse feeds. (The other two are nonstructural carbohydrates [simple carbs/starch] and fats.) Complex carbs, which require bacterial fermentation in the horse’s hindgut in order to be broken down, typically come from common hays such as alfalfa, grain hay (such as oat), and grass hay (such as Bermuda), or sometimes from less-common forages such as soybean hay. Other sources of complex carbs are highly fermentable “super” fibers such as beet pulp and soybean hulls. Super fibers provide a greater quantity of calories than typical forages and are useful where calories are needed but starch must be limited.

Simple Carbs/Starch. These are typically provided by traditional grains such as barley, corn, and oats, as well as molasses—a customary ingredient in sweet feeds. Some feed manufacturers may use the collective term “grain products” on their ingredients list, which can include any of these grains in various forms plus others such as wheat and rice.

Fats. Fat tends to be highly digestible and contains two and a quarter times more energy than an equal weight of carbohydrate. It also helps reduce the dustiness of feeds and aids in the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin E. Sources of fat include vegetable, soybean, and corn oils, all of which supply energy only—no protein or minerals. Rice bran (about 20-percent fat) is another popular source.

Levels of fat in horse feeds have increased in recent years as manufacturers have sought to decrease energy from starch. With the growing awareness of fatty-acid balance in the diet, some feed companies are moving away from using corn oil as a fat source (as it’s high in omega-6 fatty acids) and relying more on soybean oil (which has a slightly higher omega-3 count). Some companies also are beginning to add omega-3 fatty acids from flax and even fish oil to some of their higher-end products.

One complication of fat in horse feeds is that it makes the resulting product harder to form into pellets. For this reason, high-fat feeds are often textured, or a mix of pellets and other ingredients, such as beet pulp. In these instances, the fat may be applied to the feed toward the end of processing, which can cause the feed to look “wet.” Traditionally, such an appearance has been caused by molasses, thus can create concern in the eyes of buyers trying to avoid simple carbs. So always check the feed tag to determine if a wet appearance is likely the result of fat or molasses in the product.

Protein. Many different sources of protein are found in horse feed, and they’re not all of equal quality. Protein consists of amino acids, which fall into two types: “essential,” which must be provided in the diet, and “non-essential,” which may be created by the horse’s own system. Protein quality is judged by the proportion of essential amino acids that the protein source provides.

High-quality protein sources include milk proteins (dried whey) and by-products of oil production from oil seeds such as soybeans. All these are high in the essential amino acid lysine.

Other sources of protein include linseed and canola meals. Sometimes feed companies add amino acids individually, and you may see these listed on the tag (for example, l-lysine monohydrochloride).

Minerals/Vitamins. These are included in commercial feeds to ensure that the deficiencies and imbalances typically found in the forages consumed by most horses are corrected. Macrominerals (required in gram amounts) may include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride.

Trace minerals (required in milligram amounts) include copper, iron, zinc, manganese, selenium, and iodine.

Vitamins include A, D, and E, plus several of the B vitamins. Natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) is most absorbable.

Digestive Aids. These ingredients, which aid in the utilization of feed by supporting the horse’s gut-bacteria populations, have become more common in feeds. They include various enzymes and yeast cultures, as well as the extracts and products of specific bacterial populations, such as lactobacillus acidophilus.

Other. These include preservatives (propionic acid), flavorings (anethose, fenugreek seed, yucca), stabilizers (lecithin), and pelleting agents (glycerin).

A Word About By-Products
By-products, now increasingly common in horse feeds, sometimes cause concern among horse owners. The term conjures up images of mill leftovers and waste, but many by-product ingredients are nutritious and have been accepted for years.

For example, wheat bran, a staple of feed rooms for decades, is a by-product of wheat-flour processing. Beet pulp, which many horse owners love to feed, is left over after the sugar is extracted from sugar beets.

Newer and less-well-understood by-products include wheat mill run and wheat middlings. These are popular because they “pellet” well and allow performance diets to maintain a high caloric intake while reducing starch. Other grains have a starch content that’s often over 45 percent; by contrast, wheat middling and wheat mill run provide a comparable amount of digestible energy but with a starch content of only about 25 percent.

Although bran mashes were once popular winter fare, served to horses to prevent colic and tying up, modern research has shown that these mixtures do not have any particular medicinal powers. In fact, bran mashes can be detrimental to horses with insulin resistance or other dietary issues. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t treat most horses to a tasty warm mash occasionally this winter. Here are two recipes to try:

Sugar-free apple mash

2 cups unsweetened applesauce
6 to 10 cups bran or ground oatmeal
2 cups Cheerios
hot water

Directions: In a bucket, mix together the water
and bran or oatmeal. You can make the mash as
watery or dry as you like, so experiment to see
which your horse prefers. Add the applesauce and
allow the mash to cool before sprinkling with Cheerios and serving.

Sweet celery soup

6 to 10 cups bran or your horse’s
regular grain ration
1/2 cup molasses (skip this ingredient if your horse is or may be sensitive to sugars)
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
hot water

Directions: In a bucket, stir together the oats or grain and enough hot water to reach the desired consistency. Stir in the molasses, then add the chopped celery and carrots. Let the “soup” cool before serving. Note: For the grain portion, use the same ration your horse gets on a daily basis, and if using bran, do not feed this mash more than twice a month