We’ve hit the hottest portion of the summer and we are witnessing our horses attempt to keep cool by sweating.  The process of sweating causes a decrease in core temperature through evaporative cooling at the skin surface. As high energy molecules evaporate from the skin, releasing energy absorbed from the body, the skin and superficial vessels decrease in temperature. Cooled venous blood then returns to the body’s core and counteracts rising core temperatures.  During hot weather and during exercise in hot weather, horses are able to produce an abundance of sweat to aid in the cooling process.  Sweat consists mainly of water, but it also contains minerals known as electrolytes.  During hot weather, sweating is a vital means of cooling horses, but the water and electrolytes in sweat must be replenished to keep the horse healthy.

Dehydration can occur when horses lose large volumes of sweat.  Normally, horses will drink enough water to replenish sweat losses.  However, when sweat loss occurs rapidly or when large volumes of sweat are lost the body is slow to signal it is necessary for the horse to drink.  The methods to ensure your horse is drinking enough water are listed below:

1. Always provide free-access to fresh clean water
2. Make sure any odors are masked in water the horse is not used to drinking by adding flavors to the water.
3. Offer your horse water is a quiet area where other horses can’t disrupt his ability to get enough water.
4. If you horse is a poor drinker, wet down his food (both hay and grain) prior to feeding it. This will provide the horse with additional water in every mouth full of feed.

The other major component of sweat are minerals know as electrolytes.  These minerals are salts which dissolve into charged ions in water.  These ions are important to muscle contraction, nerve function and general health of the horse.  The major electrolytes lost in sweat include sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium.  If these electrolytes are not replaced when a horse sweats the horse may develop muscle cramps, become uncoordinated and may have impaired nerve and brain function.  Replacement of electrolytes may be as simple as providing the horse with access to a salt block.  Unfortunately, some horses do not consume salt from a block and commercial electrolytes powders provide a quick and easy solution.  Remember it is important to follow label directions on electrolyte preparations because too much electrolyte can be as devastating as too little electrolyte.  It is also important to provide electrolytes in the feed and not in the water.  Some horses will reject water that is supplemented with electrolytes making them not want to drink.  This further increases the chances of dehydration.

Other considerations in hot weather includes fluid/weight loss. Exercise generates a great deal of heat that must either be dissipated from the body or stored. The dissipation of heat is very important, because if a large amount of heat is stored, body temperature will rise to dangerous levels. In the horse, the processes that contribute to the dissipation of heat during exercise include radiation, convection, conduction and evaporation. Of these, evaporation may be the most important; particularly when horses are exercised in warm conditions. To facilitate evaporative cooling, horses sweat. Sweating is certainly desirable as a means to maintain body temperature, but high sweating rates result in high rates of water and electrolyte loss.

Range of weight losses when horses were weighed before and after various events indicating sweat loss**

** These values may not apply to all horses performing these types of events

Horses consist of approximately 60% water, which works out to be around 270 kg of water for a 450 kg horse. Most of the water is contained in cells (intracellular water) but some is outside of individual cells (extracellular water). Blood plasma, which constitutes a large portion of the horse’s blood volume, is an important component of the extracellular water pool. When horses sweat, some of the water in sweat is obtained from the plasma volume. Consequently, if sweat losses are large, the plasma volume may decrease. A reduction in plasma volume (and thus total blood volume) may affect the ability of the horse to maintain adequate blood flow to muscles during work. Progressive dehydration may also result in a reduction in sweating rate and thus an increase in body temperature. This is why electrolytes are so important in the horse.

So when the hot weather is behind us can we simply forget about electrolytes?  The answer is no.  Electrolytes are minerals that a horse needs on a daily basis.  The volume or amount of electrolytes needed in cool weather is less than needed in hot, humid weather, since the amount of sweat is less but electrolytes are still required.  Maintaining a simple year-round electrolyte program will pay dividends with improved health of the horse.

Do I have a good diet?

Dressage requires power, athleticism, concentration and obedience from the horse. The type of work required from a dressage horse could be compared to a cross between weight lifting and ballet in human terms and requires the development of muscle. Feeding to achieve all of these aims can be difficult, too much energy and the control and concentration may be lost and too little energy and the horse may lack the energy and impulsion required in the arena. Added to this each horse needs to be treated as an individual and other consideration such as condition, and temperament need to be taken into account. Dressage does not require huge intakes of energy and excess body fat will hinder performance and soundness.

The basis of any horse’s diet should be good quality fibre in the form of hay or pasture. At least 50% of the dressage horse’s diet should be forage even when competing at top level. Fibre is essential for the maintenance of a healthy gut. It reduces the incidence of stereotypic behaviour, as well as the likelihood of gastric ulcers and colic, along with helping maintain appetite and hydration. Highly digestible fibre sources such as the Super Fibres used in the Robank products also provide slow release energy that will not elicit an excitable behaviour in your horse.

When it comes to choosing a concentrate feed remember to take into account your horse’s workload, temperament, age and condition. For young horses just starting out or for mature horses in light work a low energy, high fibre feed should provide adequate energy levels. Feeds with low cereal grain content are ideal as these should be low in starch level to help avoid excitable behaviours.  For horses in harder work but that have a tendency to be excitable a higher energy feed with a high fibre and fat content can help to provide the necessary levels of energy without the behaviour sometimes associated with traditional cereal based feeds.

For the calm (maybe lazy) horse a feed containing some fast release energy sources such as cereal grains may be helpful to provide some instant energy for short periods of intense work. Care should be taken however, that meals are not too large, as this can lead to undigested sugar and starch entering the hindgut, which can cause serious consequences such as colic and laminitis. Never feed more than 2kg of concentrate feed per meal. It is also very important to make sure the grains are processed in a way that makes them more available to the horse for digestion. Robanks utilizes state of the art micronizing technology to break down starch molecules in cereal grains making them more available for digestion and much safer to feed to horses.

If your horse loses weight easily, most of his additional concentrate feed should be in the form of a increased fat & highly digestible fibers. Very often laid-back horses tend to be good doers that are prone to gaining weight easily. If your horse keeps weight on well, then any additional energy will be converted to extra fat. In this situation, your horse needs a low intake feed that is moderate to low fat but still made up of highly digestible fibre sources— look for feeds which are formulated to be fed at low levels e.g. Robank Showtime. Regular weight taping and condition scoring will allow you to pick up on any changes in your horse’s weight and condition. As a guide you should be able to feel your horse’s ribs easily but not be able to see them. An ideal condition score is a 5 or 6 (on a scale of 1 to 9).

Like all horses the dressage horse will need vitamins and minerals to maintain health and performance.  Not all minerals are the same however and in there inorganic state they are not very bio-available to the horse. A mineral’s bioavailability is the proportion of the mineral that, when ingested, actually gets absorbed by the body. The remaining amount is not absorbed and is removed as waste. Unfortunately most minerals in their natural or salt state are not easily absorbed and are therefore not very “bioavailable”. The movement of most minerals across the intestinal mucosa requires chelation. A chelated mineral that can be utilized by the body is one that has been bonded to two or more amino acids. A mineral in this “chelated state” allows easy passage through the intestinal wall into the blood resulting in increased metabolism of that mineral.   In other words, when this mineral (e.g. zinc) is bound to an amino acid the combined particle (mineral plus amino acid) is perceived as food by the body, whereas the mineral itself, is not food.  Your horses intestines are designed to allow food to pass through, but not raw (unbound) minerals. Robank utilizes high quality chelated minerals in all of its feeds.
By adhering to the principles of feeding plenty of fibre and choosing your horse’s feed according to workload, temperament and condition you can help to achieve a healthy horse with the energy needed to perform at their best.

Fats and oils are commonly used in horse feeds to increase the calorie content of the feed or to replace the calories supplied by carbohydrates.  Fat supplementation has many benefits including, providing calories for weight gain and providing essential fatty acids to improve skin and coat condition.  Feeding fat has also been reported to decrease excitability in nervous horses.  Both animal fats and vegetable oils have been fed to horses, although the use of vegetable oils is more prevalent due to superior palatability.

Vegetable oils (corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, rice bran oil) are each highly digestible, in excess of 90% digestible by horses. Animal fat, on the other hand, is approximately 70% digestible and certainly less palatable both for the horse and the horse feed buying public. Horses will readily consume many different types of vegetable oil if given the opportunity to adapt slowly to the addition of fat in the diet.  Horses will also consume sources of dry fat, such as high fat stabilized rice bran (20% fat) and spray dried vegetable oil (Cool Calories 100 – 99% Fat). The fat contained in these sources is highly digestible, similar to vegetable oil, and the palatability is excellent.

The initial goal in supplementing performance horse diets with fat was one of increasing the calorie content of the diet. Horses in training require an increased amount of calories the harder they work. In fact, horses in training may require twice as much energy compared to horses at rest. Traditionally, the increased energy requirement associated with exercise was satisfied by adding more grain to the diet. However, on an equal weight basis vegetable oil provides horses with 2.5 times the digestible energy of corn and nearly 3 times the digestible energy of feeding oats. Thus, adding fat to the diet increases the energy density (number of calories per kilogram of feed) of the diet. The net result of the high calorie content of a fat supplemented diet is that horses in training do not have to eat as many pounds of grain to maintain body weight. Reducing the amount of grain in the diet decreases the chances of colic and grain overload founder. Horses that need to gain weight also benefit from the high calorie content contained in fat. Thin horses will gain weight and do so without having to eat as much grain if the diet is fortified with additional fat. Numerous studies have reported on potential benefits of fat supplementation to horses under a variety of exercise conditions. Although the jury is somewhat out on the clear metabolic advantages of fat, it is clear that feeding a fat supplemented diet will not decrease performance in horses that are adjusted to their diets. As a practical note, a high fat diet for a horse can provide 15 – 20% of the total calories from fat, while a high fat diet in humans can provide 60-70% of the total calories.  Therefore, even horses receiving a significant amount of vegetable oil do not suffer any potential health consequences as seen in humans consuming too much fat.

Research concentrating on the glycemic response of grain meals fed to performance horses found that the sugar response of a grain meal was drastically reduced if the meal contained fat. This lower glycemic response with fat-supplemented diets has led to promising results for horses that suffer from certain types of tying-up syndrome. The mechanism by which the addition of fat alters glycemic response has been reported to be a general slowing of the rate of stomach emptying. The fact that dietary fat does not contain sugar, and that adding fat to the diet results in a general decrease in glycemic response, also may be helpful in controlling behavior in horses that become hyper when fed large amounts of grain. This is not to say that feeding fat will calm the savage beast, but it may modify behavior enough to be noticeable. It should be apparent that dietary fat in the form of vegetable oil, high fat stabilized rice bran or spray dried vegetable oil (Cool Calories 100) is beneficial for performance horses and for horses that need to gain weight. Fat is both palatable and highly digestible by horses. Further, feeding fat does not result in digestive upset that may occur when large amounts of grain are added to the diet.

The goal of any breeding program is to produce strong sound foals. To do this there are several factors involved including genetics, environment and nutrition. Nutrition is a critical piece of any successful breeding operation and must be considered at every level: Stallions, mares, foals.

Few topics in equine nutrition stir more controversy than feeding the growing horse. Many factors add to the confusion of providing nutrition throughout these critical stages of life. For example, growing horses may have different commercial endpoints. Some will be shown in halter futurities where maximum growth and condition are required at a young age. Others will be prepared for sale, again requiring a “well-grown” individual. Still others will be kept on the farm to be used as replacement horses or future performance horses. These horses often have less pressure on them to look their best at a young age.

A healthy foal will grow rapidly, gaining in height, weight and strength almost before your eyes. From birth to age two, a young horse can achieve 90 percent or more of its full adult size, sometimes putting on as many as 1.5kg per day. Feeding young horses is a balancing act, as the nutritional start a foal gets can have a profound effect on its health and soundness for the rest of its life. At eight to ten weeks of age, mare’s milk alone may not adequately meet the foal’s nutritional needs, depending on the desired growth rate and owner wants for a foal. As the foal’s dietary requirements shift from milk to feed and forage, your role in providing the proper nutrition gains in importance.

The critical nutrients for growth are energy, protein (amino acids), minerals and vitamins. Nutrition imbalances have been recognized as one potential cause of growth disorders in young growing horses. Therefore, it is important that the diets of young horses be properly balanced with nutrients known to be critical to proper development.

When you plan a feeding program for your young horses, several factors are very important:

• Body changes involved in growth,
• Nutrient requirements of that particular class of horse,
• The feed’s nutrient content,
• Anatomical limitations of young horses’ digestive system, for instance, you cannot feed young horses’ low-energy, bulky feeds because their digestive tracts are not large enough. Instead, young horses need concentrated sources of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to meet their nutritive needs.

The Nursing Foal

Foals will meet their nutritional requirements in their first 2 to 3 months with mare’s milk and pasture, plus whatever feed they start nibbling on. If a foal and mare are in good condition, the foal does not need to start creep feeding until it is at least 2 months old. However, some may need to start creep feeding by 30 days of age. In the third month of lactation, the mare’s milk production drops while the foal’s nutritional needs keep increasing. Therefore, foals have a nutrient gap. Creep feeding (that is, using feed that the mare cannot get to) can provide the foal with extra nutrients to fill this gap.

Several aspects of creep feeding are very important:

• Start creep feeding when foals are about 8 to 12 weeks old. Make sure the feed is fresh daily and that foals are consuming it adequately.
• Use a creep feeder designed so that mares cannot gain access and so that foals will not be hurt. If you do not want a field type feeder, you can tie the mare in her stall, allowing the foal to eat.
• Put the creep feeder where mares gather frequently.
• Feed the creep feed at a rate of 1% of the foal’s body weight per day (max – 1 kg/100 kg of body weight).

The Weanling

Generally foal performance decreases immediately after weaning. To minimize this “post weaning slump,” make sure foals are consuming enough dry feed at weaning to meet their requirements. One way of doing so is by creep feeding. Managing growth during this time is very important because excessive weight gain may cause bone abnormalities and long-lasting skeletal problems.

Feed weaned foals on a combination diet. First, they should be fed good quality forage. They should have access to all the good quality hay they will consume and allowed all the voluntary exercise they want. Research has shown that exercise strengthens bone, increases cortical thickness and makes for a more durable future athlete.

Second, weanlings also should be fed concentrates at the approximately the following rate: 0.5kg per month of age p

er day (depending on the recommendations listed on the product). Be careful not to feed weanlings too much concentrate. If you feed them high levels of concentrates, they will grow more rapidly and this rapid growth may harm skeletal and tendon development. Therefore, adjust feed intake to avoid overfeeding.

 The Yearling

Because their growth rate slows considerably by 12 months, yearlings can consume more pounds of dry matter. Therefore, they need lower nutrient concentrations in their ration. Feed grain to yearlings at approximately 0.5 to 1.5 kg/100 kg of body weight. Even though yearlings require only 12% CP in the total ration, a 14% CP concentrate ration gives you more flexibility. With this level, even if you use different types of hays with protein variations, the horse will still get enough protein. A 400 kg yearling may receive 3.5 to 5 kg of concentrate per day plus free choice hay or pasture. The amount of concentrate required varies due to forage quality and quantity.

By the time yearlings are 18 months old (long yearlings), their growth rate has slowed even further. Although long yearlings only require 10% protein, you do not need to formulate a new ration for them. You can feed them the same ration as 12 month yearlings get. Because horses have highly individual natures, you need to adjust feed consumption to account for changes in individual condition. Some horses are easier to maintain than others. Therefore, you must combine your knowledge of nutrition, your eye for condition and your common sense to make the final adjustments on feed intake.

The Robank® breeding product range offers several options to meet the needs of growing horse. Robank® EQUI-NIZE® GROWTH Concentrate is a scientifically formulated concentrate feed designed for growing horses (weanlings, yearlings) mares and stallions. Another option in the Robank range is Robank Signature Balancer®, this is a concentrated vitamin and mineral pellet that supports healthy bone development without supplying additional calories to the diet. This is an ideal option for horses that may be predisposed or suffering from growth disorders.

Robank® EQUI-NIZE® SALE TIME has been specifically formulated for young growing horses undertaking a sales preparation where a complete feed is required, that delivers a controlled energy source, meeting the needs for growth and body condition, where hair coat quality and that sales finish is needed. Robank® Equi-NIZE® Sale Time® is a grain based complete textured feed that utilises the latest technology of Micronizing to cook the grains in the feed and change the starch structure in the grain, it is a high fat feed and includes unique fibre sources to give energy for growth without overloading on grain. The combination of high quality grains and protein sources along with the Micronizing process makes this feed highly palatable and digestible to the horse.

Robank® Equi-NIZE® Sale Time® contains a highly fortified balancer pellet that has all the Vitamins and Bio-Plex® minerals as well as the digestive aids Yea-sacc® and Bio-mos®. This unique combination of organic minerals ensures maximum utilization by the young growing horse, which assists in the development of a strong skeleton and in addition ensures these nutrients are absorbed by the horse by eliminating separation of them in the feed. Robank® Equi-NIZE® Sale Time® includes Beet Pulp, a super fibre which is a highly fermentable fibre and is highly digestible, it is a good source of digestible energy for the horse.

We have all heard the terms: “feeling their oats”, “high”, “fizzy”, “hot” and “hyper”.  All terms used by horse owners to describe the effect that grain or certain feeds seem to have on the behavior of their horses.  Does feeding management or individual feed ingredients really influence the behavior of horses?  Sound scientific research on the effects of feed or feeding on horse behavior is scarce.  However, a basic understanding of feed and feeding management coupled with data from other animals may help us determine if a “calming feed” actually exists or if it is just wishful thinking.

Feeding Management – The “natural” diet for a horse is often far different compared to the “performance” diet for a horse.  The “natural” diet for a horse is one in which the horse has free-access to pasture.  This allows the horse to graze nearly continuously.  Given this opportunity, the horse will graze for approximately 16 – 18 hours per day.  This facilitates a slow, continuous intake of fibrous feed into the digestive system.  Another feature of the “natural” diet is the ability for horses to roam around the paddock.  This provides the horse with an ample amount of natural exercise.  Contrast the “natural” diet with the “performance” diet for a horse.  The “performance” diet is typically feed two times per day to horses that are confined to a stall.  These horses often finish their meals in a short time and then stand for long periods of time waiting for the next meal.  The meals often consist of high-energy grain and limited amounts of hay or chaff.  Further, since these horses are stalled or confined they do not have the opportunity for natural exercise.

So what effect does the “performance” diet have on the behavior of a horse?  The main features of the “performance” diet are a low fiber intake, a small amount of time spent eating, a high grain intake and limited natural exercise.  The combined result is an increase in stereotypic behaviors such as cribbing, wood chewing, weaving and stall walking.  Many of these horses also exhibit excitable behavior.  Scientists have tried to determine the exact cause or causes of these behavior problems.  Possible explanations include: frustration due to confinement, lack of socialization with other horses, acid accumulation in the digestive system as a result of a low fiber, high grain intake leading to pain, or simply a lack of exercise leading to pent up energy.

Some of the negative behavior effects of the “performance” diet can be alleviated by modifying feeding management.  First, provide horses with an adequate amount of forage.  Horses require a minimum of 1.5% of their body weight in hay or pasture.  For a 500 kg horse this equates to a minimum of 7.5 kg of forage.  Horses will comfortably consume 2% of their body weight in dry forage (10 kg of forage for a 500 kg horse).  Contrary to popular belief, providing adequate amounts of forage will not cause horses to become fat.  Another management tool is to feed smaller meals on a more frequent basis.  Feeding three or even four times per day keeps horses occupied alleviating boredom and frustration.  It also slows the movement of material through the digestive system keeping the horses full and satisfied.  Finally, giving horses an opportunity for turnout in a paddock or an arena will provide exercise and allow horses to expend pent up energy.  Turnout for as little as 30 minutes twice a day will help keep horses mentally healthy and avoid negative stereotypic behavior.

Dietary Ingredients – Several ingredients fed to horses have been identified by horse owners as “heating” or having the potential to result in negative behavior in horses.  The list of ingredients thought to cause problems include: oats, corn, barley, alfalfa (Lucerne) and molasses.  Each of these ingredients is “thought” to make horses mentally hot or hyper and make horses difficult to handle or train.

Several possible explanations exist for why these ingredients may alter behavior in horses.  First, each of these ingredients contains a significant amount of calories.  Negative behavior may simply be a result of overfeeding calories to horses that are not adequately exercised.  Since an overfed horse would have plenty of energy, and they are not getting adequate turnout or forced exercise, they may channel the energy into negative behavior.

Another, more scientific explanation for the change in behavior may have to do with the sugar and starch content of the diet.  Sugar and starch are found in large quantities in cereal grain.  When grain is digested in the small intestine of the horse the end product is glucose which is absorbed into the blood.  Fluctuation in blood sugar may be the cause of behavior changes.  Research has demonstrated that horses fed the exact same number of calories as either starch or fat had more spontaneous activity and reactivity to stimuli when fed a starch-rich diet compared to a fat supplemented diet.  So is fat a non-heating ingredient, or is it simply the fact that less sugar was fed to the fat-supplemented horses?  Simply stated, more research is needed to answer this question.  This brings up another interesting question.  If changes in blood sugar cause behavior changes then why don’t all horses have behavior changes when fed grain?  The answer may lie in the fact that horses have large differences in their ability to digest starch, and thus alter blood sugar.

Another interesting theory for the reason certain feeds may cause behavior changes revolves around the brain neurotransmitter – serotonin.  It is important to understand that this theory has not been tested or studied in detail in horses.  For humans, serotonin functions to regulate mood.  Low levels of serotonin are often associated with depression.  Thus, many human depression medications function to increase the level of serotonin in an effort to improve mood.  In the human body, high levels of glucose from the digestion of starch increase serotonin levels.  This improves mood, making humans more alert and active.  So if we attempt to apply this theory to horses, realizing this has not been thoroughly studied in horses, we may paint a picture that high starch (grain) diets result in high levels of serotonin and the horse feels good and becomes more active.  A horse that feels good may be thought of by many horse owners as one that is “hyper”, “hot” or “fizzy”.

What about the protein in the diet making horses “hot”?  Excess protein fed to horses can be metabolized and utilized for energy.  However, protein itself does not seem to influence behavior.  The individual effects of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, have not been studied to determine their effect on mood or behavior.

Finally, many horse owners do not feel that feed influences behavior.  These horse owners simply feel that a well-fed horse is displaying its’ normal or true behavior.  If you want to change or modify this behavior the horse simply needs to be trained so the energy is channeled into positive work rather than poor behavior.  In reality feed likely has the potential to modify behavior, but there are several ways horse owners can minimize any potential effect of feed.  For example, instead of feeding a diet that relies heavily on corn, oats and molasses the diet can be modified

to replace some of the grain with beet pulp, a low sugar, high fiber ingredient.  Molasses in feed can be partially replaced with vegetable oil, an ingredient that does not contain any sugar.  Feeding the grain concentrate portion of the diet in three meals per day instead of two meals per day also helps minimize large fluctuations in blood sugar.  Finally, feeding a larger volume of good quality hay or pasture provides additional calories and helps minimize the amount of grain that must be fed to maintain body weight.

Calming Feeds or Supplements – There are several horse feeds and supplements on the market that claim to be “calming” or “non-heating”.  Horse owners are happy to purchase these products because of the potential benefit.  Most horse feeds that claim to be “calming” or “non-heating” include low sugar ingredients such as beet pulp.  In addition, they are supplemented with fat to provide non-sugar calories for the horse.  Overall, these feeds generally contain lower sugar content, thus potentially resulting in less negative behavior if fed correctly.

Supplements that claim to calm horses typically have several common ingredients including thiamin and magnesium.  A deficiency of either the B-vitamin thiamin or the mineral magnesium results in nervousness, anxiety and even convulsions.  Typical diets fed to horses are rarely deficient in either thiamin or magnesium.  Adequate research has not been conducted to validate the effectiveness of these supplements; however, over-supplementation of the diet with these two ingredients does not result in toxicity issues.  Several herbal ingredients are utilized to calm horses; unfortunately, many of these substances are banned substances that cannot be utilized in the diets for competition horses.  Care must be used in administering any of these products to horses.

Summary – Both feeding management and individual feed ingredients have the potential to produce negative behavior in horses.  Confinement in stalls in combination with being fed two meals per day is a potential cause of digestive irritation and negative behavior.  Modification of feeding management to mimic grazing situations in which horses have constant access to hay (a minimum of 1.5% of body weight in dry hay per day) and reducing the size and increasing the frequency of feedings helps horses alleviate boredom and anxiety.  Turnout in a paddock or an arena provides natural exercise for horses and it decreases stress and stereotypic behavior.

Feed ingredients such as oats, corn, barley, alfalfa and molasses have been identified by horse owners as causing “hyper”, “fizzy” or “hot” horses.  Grains contain starch and sugar that may result in large fluctuations in blood sugar and result in mood or behavior changes.  Modification of the diet to include less grain, more hay and low sugar ingredients such as beet pulp and fat have shown to decrease activity and reactivity of horses to their environment.

Finally, supplements designed to calm horses typically include nutrients that when deficient in horse diets cause anxiety or excitement.  Normal horse diets are rarely deficient in these nutrients, but supplementation is generally safe.  The effectiveness of these products has not been adequately tested so they may not have a calming influence on the horse.

Laminitis is a painful, disabling, common and costly disease of the horse and pony with many causes; the digestive and metabolic forms are linked to equine nutrition.  Laminitis has major economic and welfare implications and can affect any member of the equine family (horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules). Equine laminitis is a systemic disease, often linked to hindgut disturbances; its final manifestation is inflammation of the lamina of the hoof, and downward rotation of the coffin bone. Treatment of laminitis is difficult because clinical signs of laminitis are apparent only after laminar tissues have undergone inflammatory and degenerative changes. There are a myriad of different problems that can cause laminitis or increase the potential for it to occur. Nearly half of all reported cases of laminitis in the US occur in horses at pasture, specifically lush spring pasture.

Laminitis in equines can be caused by ingestion of high amounts of sugar and starch which exceed the digestive capacity of the small intestine, the undigested material flowing into the hind gut causing a proliferation of lactic acid bacteria. This may result in reduced hindgut pH, which, in addition to hindgut acidosis, may lead to a cascade of events culminating in compromised blood flow (and thereby reduced nutrient supply) to the foot resulting in laminitis.

During photosynthesis, green plants ‘fix’ atmospheric carbon dioxide in the presence of light, resulting in the production of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC; simple sugars and starches). When sugars and starches are produced in excess of the energy requirement of the plant for growth and development, they are stored in the plant. Studies have shown that environmental conditions cause significant changes in the amounts of NSC that accumulate in forage plants. Spring grass and to a lesser extent autumn grass is higher in NSC than summer or winter grass. Other environmental factors, including light intensity, temperature, fertilizer, and water availability also affect NSC accumulation on grasses. For example water restriction will reduce the growth of the plant but will not affect the plant’s capacity for producing sugar and starch resulting in elevated concentrations of NSC.

The good news is that preventing pasture associated laminitis is relatively simple: limit the horse’s access to pasture. However not all horses need restriction from spring grass. Healthy horses and ponies that are not overweight and have never suffered from laminitis before may not require restricted pasture turnout in the spring. Decisions regarding whether and to what extent affected horses and ponies can be allowed access to pasture must be made on a case-by-case basis. The following points summarize current suggestions for avoiding high NSC intakes by horses and ponies at risk for pasture laminitis:

• A horse or pony currently suffering from laminitis should be held off pasture until there has been complete resolution of the laminitic episode. Once this has been determined start with 1 to 2 hours of grazing once or twice per day. This should be done late at night (after 10:00pm) or early in the morning, removing them from pasture by midmorning at the latest (before 10:00am, because NSC levels are likely to be at their lowest late at night through early morning).
• Alternatively, limit the size of the available pasture by use of temporary fencing to create small paddocks or use a grazing muzzle.
• Avoid pastures that have not been properly managed by regular grazing or cutting.
• In overweight or cresty-necked horses and ponies, and in those that have had laminitis before, it may be best to keep the horse off lush pasture entirely. These animals seem to be susceptible to further episodes of laminitis in the face of even small variations in pasture availability and nutrient content.
• Do not turn horses out onto pasture that has been exposed to low temperatures in conjunction with bright sunlight, because cold temperatures reduce grass growth, resulting in the accumulation of NSC.

Animals denied access to pasture for most or all of the day, require provision of alternative feedstuffs. Horses at maintenance require approximately 2.0% of their body weight as forage or forage plus supplement to meet daily nutrient requirements. Grain and sweet feeds should not be fed, and the feeding of other ‘‘treats,’’ such as carrots and apples, should be discouraged. Forage (as hay or hay substitute, such as forage pellets or cubes, chop, chaff, or haylage) should be the primary, if not sole, energy-providing component of the ration. Lucerne hay or other legumes, such as clover, on average, have lower NSC content when compared with grass hay but have considerably higher calorie/energy content. Generalities regarding carbohydrate value of forages should in most cases, however, be avoided.  Ideally, hay should be analyzed for sugar and starch, and should be reviewed before selection.

The show horse is required to have excellent conformation, gait, athleticism, concentration and obedience. The appearance of the show horse needs to be impeccable, so nutritional factors affecting coat, skin, mane and tail, hoof and body condition are extremely important. The type of work required from a show horse is similar to that of a dressage horse.  The level of concentration and obedience required by the show horse is extremely high. The distractions at a show whether it is a local show or a Royal Exhibition are numerous, from loud music to other horses and carnival rides to name a few. Feeding to achieve all of these aims can be difficult, too much energy and the control and concentration may be lost and too little energy and the horse may lack body condition along with the energy and impulsion required in the show ring. Added to this, each horse needs to be treated as an individual and other consideration such as temperament need to be taken into account.

The basis of any horse’s diet should be good quality fibre in the form of hay or pasture. At least 50% of the show horse’s diet should be forage even when competing at the highest level. Show horses are often stabled for multiple days without access to pasture or turnout when competing at shows; this can be very disruptive to the digestive tract. Fibre is essential for the maintenance of a healthy gut. It reduces the incidence of stereotypic behaviour, as well as the likelihood of gastric ulcers and colic, along with helping maintain appetite and hydration. Highly digestible fibre sources such as the Equi-nize Beet are used in the Robanks feeds, they provide slow release energy that will not elicit an excitable behaviour in your show horse.

When it comes to choosing a concentrate feed remember to take into account your horse’s workload, temperament, age and condition. For young horses just starting out or for mature horses in light work a low energy, high fibre feed should provide adequate energy levels. Feeds with low cereal grain content are ideal as these should be low in starch level to help avoid excitable behaviours.  For horses in harder work but that have a tendency to be excitable a higher energy feed with a high fibre and fat content can help to provide the necessary levels of energy without the behaviour sometimes associated with traditional cereal based feeds.

For the calm (maybe lazy) horse a feed containing some fast release energy sources such as cereal grains may be helpful to provide some instant energy for short periods of intense work. Care should be taken however, that meals are not too large, as this can lead to undigested sugar and starch entering the hindgut, which can cause serious consequences such as colic and laminitis. Never feed more than 2kg of concentrate feed per meal. It is also very important to make sure the grains are processed in a way that makes them more available to the horse for digestion

If your horse loses weight easily, most of his additional concentrate feed should be in the form of increased fat & highly digestible fibers. Fats and oils are commonly used in horse feeds to increase the calorie content of the feed or to replace the calories supplied by carbohydrates.  Fat supplementation has many benefits including, providing calories for weight gain and providing essential fatty acids to improve skin and coat condition.  Feeding fat has also been reported to decrease excitability in nervous horses. Feeding too much fat does not cause colic or laminitis in horses.  Performance horses can easily be adapted so they can be fed up to 2 cups of vegetable oil per day (500 kg horse).  Feeding too much fat without properly adaptation can cause diarrhea until the horses digestive system becomes accustom to the dietary fat. Adding vegetable oil or a grain concentrate with a high fat content (Robank Pro-Gold) will safely increase the fat content of the diet. Remember that weight gain will not happen overnight, it is reasonable to safely expect a mature horse to gain 18-20 kg in about 60 days when fed adequate additional calories.

Very often laid-back horses tend to be good doers that are prone to gaining weight easily. If your horse keeps weight on well, then any additional energy will be converted to extra fat. In this situation, your horse needs a low intake feed that is moderate to low fat but still made up of highly digestible fibre sources— look for feeds which are formulated to be fed at low levels e.g. Robank Signature Balancer. Regular weight taping and condition scoring will allow you to pick up on any changes in your horse’s weight and condition. As a guide you should be able to feel your horse’s ribs easily but not be able to see them. An ideal condition score is a 5 or 6 (on a scale of 1 to 9).

Like all horses show horses need vitamins and minerals to maintain health and performance.  Not all minerals are the same however and in there inorganic state they are not very bio-available to the horse. A mineral’s bioavailability is the proportion of the mineral that, when ingested, actually gets absorbed by the body. The remaining amount is not absorbed and is removed as waste. Unfortunately most minerals in their natural or salt state are not easily absorbed and are therefore not very “bioavailable”. The movement of most minerals across the intestinal mucosa requires chelation. A chelated mineral that can be utilized by the body is one that has been bonded to two or more amino acids. A mineral in this “chelated state” allows easy passage through the intestinal wall into the blood resulting in increased metabolism of that mineral.   In other words, when this mineral (e.g. zinc) is bound to an amino acid the combined particle (mineral plus amino acid) is perceived as food by the body, whereas the mineral itself, is not food.  Your horses intestines are designed to allow food to pass through, but not raw (unbound) minerals. Robank utilizes high quality chelated minerals in all of its feeds.
Summary

With the increased demands on show horses, it is important to feed the right balance of forage along with concentrate feeds. These feeds should be fortified with vitamins and minerals to meet the extra demands imposed by exercise and stress.  Remember that horses are individuals and vary greatly in their requirements for energy. Some horses become over weight when fed according to the guidelines while others lose weight. Therefore, monitor each individual horse’s condition constantly and feed each one accordingly. Working with a nutritionist is recommended to make sure the horse is provided with exactly the right nutrients to obtain the best performance possible.

Versatility would be the best way to describe horses used for eventing, the horse must possess athleticism, concentration, agility and stamina. Making sure that your event horse is getting all the nutrition they need from their diet will help to ensure they can perform to the best of their ability. That being said each and every performance horse requires the following essential nutrients: water, energy (calories), protein, vitamins and minerals.  Nutritionists and horse owners spend a great deal of time choosing feeds and supplements in an effort to balance the diet for these essential nutrients.  As a three-day event horse progresses in training and level of competition the requirements for these essential nutrients increase and may exceed 1.5 to 2 times their requirement for maintenance.   The following is a discussion of how feeds and feeding management can help three-day event horses meet their nutrient requirements.

Is water important?

Small decreases in the amount of water contained within the body (dehydration) can lead to serious health consequences as well as a decline in performance potential. Performance horses must maintain proper hydration to transport materials to and from the cells within the body and to synthesize and repair body tissues.  The amount of water required by a performance horse depends on the amount of water lost from the body.  For performance horses, water is lost from the body primarily in sweat. Eventing horses cool themselves by dissipating heat through sweat, especially during the most intensive phase of cross-country.  This results in both loss of water and electrolytes. Electrolytes are charged particles, including sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium.  These particles control among other things nerve and muscle function in the body.  Loss of electrolytes causes fatigue, muscle weakness and decreases the thirst response from dehydra

tion.  Therefore, it is vital to replace both water and electrolyte losses in eventing horses. To replace the water lost from the body, performance horses should have free access to fresh, clean water. Ice cold water should be avoided for horses still hot and sweaty from exercise, since cold water may cause shock to their system. Electrolytes should be added to the diet of the eventing horse the night before and the morning prior to exercise. Avoid adding electrolytes directly to the water as some horses may not drink the water and therefore will become more dehydrated.  Following exercise, electrolytes should not be given to a horse that is dehydrated; instead the horse must be re-hydrated before electrolytes are provided.

What about roughage?

It doesn’t matter what the discipline or breed, all horses should consume at least half of their diet as forage (hay, pasture, and other processed forage). Good-quality forage is a source of each essential nutrient.  High-quality grass hay is usually adequate for the eventing horse; however, young horses should have mixed grass/lucerne hay or the addition of a lucerne product to their meals.  This will increase the amount of quality protein in the diet along with calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients. Other scenarios where adding some lucerne to the diet would be beneficial include horses that need to gain weight as lucerne has more calories than regular grass hay. Also horses that suffer from ulcers may benefit from the addition of lucerne especially prior to exercise as it contains high amount of calcium which acts to buffer the stomach acid and negate the splashing effect of stomach acid that occurs during exercise. The typical recommendation is that horses eat 1.5 to 2% of their body weight in forage per day.  For 500kg horse this equates to 7.5 – 10kg of dry hay per day.

How do I keep him going through the whole event?

The main component of any horse’s diet should be forage, but three-day event horses require additional supplementation to meet the increased nutrient demands of training and competition. This additional supplementation comes in the form of adding grain and fat to the diet.  There are two basic metabolic pathways utilized by the horse to provide energy – aerobic and anaerobic. Eventing horses utilize both metabolic pathways during the course of a single competition.  Aerobic metabolism simply means “requiring oxygen” and is the primary means of energy production when the horse is doing slower work such as the dressage phase of an event. At these slower speeds the horse burns dietary fat and body fat as the primary fuel source. The anaerobic pathway (without oxygen) is totally dependent on carbohydrate from grain to produce energy. Carbohydrate from the diet is broken down and stored in the muscle as glycogen and provides quick bursts of energy to the horse. This pathway would be used during the showjumping phase of an event and a combination of both pathways would be used during the cross-country phase.

How much should I feed?

There  is concern regarding feeding large quantities of grain to horses as it can lead to high quantities of undigested grain (starch) reaching the large intestines.  Undigested starch that is fermented in the large intestine can cause several metabolic problems including: colic, laminitis, gastric ulcers or simply poor performance.  To overcome this Robanks processes grains to make them more digestible by the small intestine of the horse and safer to feed. Yeast Culture is also added to the feeds to stabilize hindgut pH and decrease the risk for colonic ulcers.

Fat (vegetable oil) is an extremely useful energy source for three day event horses for several reasons. First, vegetable oil is well digested (>90%) by horses.  Compared to hay, fat is nearly twice as digestible.  Second, vegetable oil contains more than 2.5 times as much digestible energy as an equal weight of corn and 3 times as much digestible energy as an equal weight of oats.  The high calorie content of vegetable oil is very helpful in fueling the high-energy requirements of eventers.  Adding high fat grain concentrates such as Robank^® Pro-Gold^® or Robank^® Equi-nize^® Showtime^®, will safely increase the energy density of the diet.

When should I feed?

One of the most frequently asked question’s regarding feeding the performance horse is when to feed before a competition. Several studies found that feeding small amounts of hay prior to exercise was beneficial in stimulating water intake and maintaining hydration.  However, feeding grain concentrates to performance horses is not recommended within 3 to 5 hours prior to competition.  Avoiding last minute meals of grain will allow horses to properly mobilize and utilize carbohydrate and fat during exercise.  Feeding post exercise is critical to the recovery of the horse.  Following exercise, horses should be immediately provided with hay and water.  Once the horses have consumed hay and drank water, a meal of a balanced grain concentrate should be provided within 1.5 hrs. after exercise. This balanced grain concentrate should contain vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates fat and branched chain amino acids.

Summary

With the high levels of energy three-day event horses are expending, it is important to feed the right balance of forage along with high-energy feeds. These high-energy feeds should be fortified with vitamins and minerals to meet the extra demands imposed by exercise.  Remember that horses are individuals and vary greatly in their requirements for energy. Some horses become over weight when fed according to the guidelines while others lose weight. Therefore, monitor each individual horse’s condition constantly and feed each one accordingly. Working with a nutritionist is recommended to make sure the horse is provided with exactly the right nutrients to obtain the best performance possible.

What is it?

Equine gastric ulcers are caused because gastric acid (hydrochloric acid secreted by parts of the stomach lining), and, to a lesser degree, the digestive enzyme pepsin, irritating the lining of the stomach, causing ulceration.  Gastric ulcers are common in horses. Their prevalence has been estimated to be from 50% to 90% depending on the athletic activity of the horse.

What are the symptoms?

The clinical signs of ulcers are not noticeable in most horses. Of those horses clinically affected, the signs may include poor athletic performance, change in attitude, dull coat, altered eating behavior, weight loss, diarrhea and colic. In foals, teeth grinding (a sign of pain) and excessive salivation are common. Ulcers also occur in the first part of the small intestine (duodenum) and in the esophagus.

What are the causes?

Ulcers are caused by a variety of factors including: diet and feeding management – feeding high levels of concentrates, feed deprivation and types of feeds (grass hay vs lucerne, lucerne is known to have acid buffering abilities), stress of training or disease, mechanics of training (splashing of acid in stomach while exercising) as well as medications such as corticosteroids.

Diagnosis:

The only way to definitively diagnose ulcers is through gastric endoscopy, or gastroscopy, which involves placing an endoscope into the stomach and looking at its surface. This procedure is relatively easy to perform and minimally invasive. Horses are typically fasted for 12 hours prior to the exam and water is withheld for 4 hours

Feeding & Management:

The treatment of stomach ulcers involves a combination of changes to feeding management, medical therapy, as well as reducing stress on the horse. Turnout onto green grass pasture along with altering the feeding regimen is likely the fastest method to allow the ulcers to heal. If concentrates are to be fed, they should be fed in small amounts at frequent intervals. Adding alfalfa to the diet will also help by buffering stomach acid.

By nature, horses are grazing animals, spending much of their day feeding. The grazing horse has a constant flow of saliva and passage of grass into the stomach, buffering stomach acid. If the horse must be stalled, arrange for the horse to see the horses he socializes with. Consider offering a ball or other object that the horse can enjoy in his stall.   Feed the horse more frequently to help buffer the acid in the stomach. Decrease grains in your horse’s diets that are prone to promote the formation

of volatile fatty acids (These are the high carbohydrate grains such as corn). Incorporate fat supplements to increase calories without excess grain.  Medications that decrease stomach acid production are available, but are only necessary in horses showing signs of clinical diseases or when the predisposing factors, such as stress, cannot be removed.

Recommended Robank Feeds

Signature Balancer, Weight Gain, Golden Years, Relax Equine, Showtime

It is not uncommon to hear of individual horses that may be in their upper 20’s or early 30’s. Why are horses living so long? Several potential reasons exist including improved internal parasite control, better nutrition, advances in veterinary care, and less strenuous work. As horses become old their bodies naturally begin to fail. This leaves their owners with the responsibility of providing proper care for their senior horses.

A common question many owners have is “When does a horse become a senior?” In general, horses between 18 and 20 years of age are thought to be approaching their senior years. However, a better description of senior is when a horse becomes a “Nutritional Senior”. A nutritionally senior horse is one that can no longer eat its normal diet and maintain proper body condition. Nutritionally senior horses typically have one or more of the following conditions: decreased nutrient absorption, dental problems, increased sensitivity to stress. A geriatric horse is a condition related to diseases and disorders caused by aging, not by a specific number of years spent on this earth.

Understanding these conditions will allow care givers to modify feeding programs to ensure proper nutrition.

Physical Signs

Some common physical signs of aging that require nutrition management are loss of weight, decrease in body condition, loss of muscle tone and mass over the top line, sway backed appearance, chronic diarrhea and dehydration, reduced mobility and agility, greying of muzzle and coat, decrease in coat and hoof quality, reduced fat deposits above the eyes, and dental problems.

Digestive and Metabolic Changes in the senior horse

Decreased Nutrient Absorption

 Exposure of horses to intestinal parasites causes scarring of the digestive tract. These scars result in damage to the lining of the intestine which decreases nutrient absorption. Improvements in de-worming products have delayed and minimized damage from internal parasites, but over a lifetime this damage still occurs. To further compound digestion problems, the horse’s digestive tract begins to lose efficiency with advancing age. Research studies have shown that “Nutritionally Senior” horses require additional protein, phosphorus, and certain vitamins. Proper protein intake is particularly important in senior horses. Senior horses with inadequate protein intake will break down muscle tissue to provide essential protein for other body functions. Muscle wasting is common in aged horses that are not getting the proper amounts of protein in the diet. In creating feeds for senior horses, the protein content of the diet is similar to that which would be fed to a yearling rather than that of a mature horse.

Dental Problems

As horses age their teeth wear down from chewing and grinding their feed. As a tooth wears, an additional tooth erupts from the jawbone in a constant cycle. The process continues until the roots holding the teeth in place become short and the tooth is lost. Old horses often loose teeth and have difficulty properly chewing their feed. Horses begin the digestive process in the mouth by reducing the physical size of feed to a suitable size for proper digestion. Without proper chewing of feed, the horse will not effectively digest its feed. Old horses will often drop or spill grain from their mouths, or they wad up hay or grass into partially chewed balls and drop them on the ground. Inefficient chewing of feed can lead to digestive upset, weight loss and nutrient deficiency. While the loss of teeth cannot be prevented, proper care of the teeth can delay problems. These horses must rely on alternate sources of pasture and hay as their ability to chew is limited. Forage products such as hay cubes, pellets and chopped forage can be used as substitute long stem forage sources.  These forage sources are often fed wet or in a “mash” or “gruel” form to minimize issues of choke associated with inability to properly chew.

Stress

Old horses are very sensitive to stress. This stress can come in the form of changes in temperature, changes in housing, dealing with the pecking order imposed by other horses, or pain. Old horses are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, predominantly cold temperatures. Sensitivity to cold may result from decreased fat cover that acts as insulation to the cold. Sensitivity to cold could also be a result of the senior horse’s inability to chew and take in adequate amounts of fiber. It is the fermentation of fiber in the horse’s hindgut that produces heat to help warm the horse. Senior horses are also sensitive to changes in their surroundings. Changing paddocks, stalls or routine tend to cause weight loss in senior horses. Adding horses to, or taking horses out of, a pasture containing an old horse changes the herd dynamics and sends the old horse to the bottom of the pecking order. This can also lead to weight loss since the old horse is not given adequate access to feed.

Overweight

Not all older horses are hard keepers. Some will hold their weight easily and may actually become too heavy since they are not exercised as often or as intensely as their younger counterparts. These horses may begin to accumulate fat at a rate that may be detrimental to their health. Horses that become too heavy may stress their bones and joints and may aggravate any existing lameness conditions such as arthritis and navicular syndrome. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the horse is meeting all of its nutritional requirements without gaining an excessive amount of weight. Allowing ample turnout time for horses that are not in a routine riding program will provide them with some exercise and allow them to maintain muscle tone and a healthy body condition. Choose forage sources such as Timothy  instead of Alfalfa to reduce the calorie content of the diet

The Diet

Energy requirements: Generally senior horses that are in good body condition are less active than their younger counterparts and only have maintenance energy requirements.  However, if the horse has difficulty maintaining body weight then a higher caloric diet is needed. Protein requirements: Older horses in good body condition have protein requirements that are similar to those of horses at maintenance. Horses that are underweight or have lost muscle mass require higher quality proteins and often increased quantity. Robank^® Golden Years^® is a high fibre, high fat; cereal grain free complete feed specifically formulated for all types of horses especially those older horses requiring a grain free feed.

Robanks Golden Years is formulated using Robanks Signature Balancer Pellets, these pellets utilise the technology of Bio-plex minerals, digestive aids and high quality protein sources, and combined with quality ingredients it makes a feed that is highly palatable and digestible to the horse.

Robank Golden Years is grain free and also utilises beet pulp (super fibre) as an energy source, so is suitable for those horses that require a cooler energy feed.

Robank Golden Years can be fed on its own as it has a high fibre content or hay and chaff may be added if desired. In addition the combination of the chaff and pelleted formulation makes this feed suitable for those horses that may have dental issues.

Summary

The main point to remember when developing feeding programs for senior horses is that these animals should be treated as individual cases and optimized for the specific needs of each horse. Improved internal parasite control, better nutrition, advances in veterinary care, and less strenuous work are leading our horses to live longer and longer. Through good care and optimal nutrition we can improve the quality of life of our senior horses and also extend their lives even further.

During the winter season, temperatures typically fall below that necessary for pasture grass to grow. Pastures become rapidly depleted of natural forage and horses must increasingly rely on their owners to provide them with a nutritionally adequate diet. To properly feed a horse during the winter months several key factors must be addressed. These factors are water, fibre and essential nutrients.

Water should always be the first consideration in the diet for any horse. An adult horse (500 kg) in a cool, comfortable environment that is not working or lactating requires a minimum of 25 – 35 litres of fresh clean water per day. Impaction colic in horses during the winter months is one of our greatest concerns. This form of colic is mainly due to the horse becoming dehydrated because it consumes less water due to cooler temperatures (no sweating), less water availability (frozen ponds, cold water, etc.), and a diet of hay (10% water content) instead of pasture (80% water content). When horses drink cold water during the winter, their bodies must expend additional calories to warm their tissues back up from the heat loss that is incurred, so they instinctively drink less. Warming water or using insulated or heated buckets that keep water temperature above freezing will allow the horse to consume more water. Research has shown that horses drink the most water when the water temperature is between 7 and 20º C. Optimum water consumption will keep the fibre in the horse’s digestive system hydrated, allowing it to be broken down efficiently by intestinal bacteria and to be pliable, and less likely to “ball up” and cause a blockage in the large intestine. The water requirement is higher if the horse is in training, nursing a foal, growing, or pregnant.

Adequate fibre intake is the next consideration in feeding horses during the winter season. It is recommended that horses receive a minimum of 1.5% of their body weight in hay (fibre) per day. For a 500kg horse, this equates to 7.5 kg of hay per day. Horses can consume up to 3% of the body weight per day in hay (15 kg for a 500kg horse) if the hay is of good quality. The fibre obtained from hay is necessary to keep the digestive system of the horse functioning properly. Without this hay fibre, horses will seek out other sources of fibre including bedding and wood fences or trees to satisfy their needs. Adequate fibre from hay is even more critical during the winter months since it is the feed ingredient that keeps horses warm during cold weather. Digestion and fermentation of hay produces heat that helps the horse maintain its body temperature during winter. Unlike hay, consumption of grain does not produce large amounts of body heat during digestion. One problem that may arise with horses during the winter months is chronic weight loss. This can occur either by not feeding enough hay or by feeding poor quality hay to the horse. In both cases the horse will have trouble getting enough calories to maintain body weight. In the case of not feeding enough hay, the simple remedy is to provide all the hay the horse will consume during the day. If the horse is being fed all the hay it will consume and weight loss is still an issue, better quality hay must be fed. Better quality hays typically contain higher calories for example Lucerne compared to grass hay. Other baled hay substitutes, such as hay cubes, hay pellets or “hay extenders” can be fed to replace poor quality hay. Robank Weight Gain is a great way to increase body condition in your horse safely.

Finally, the protein, trace mineral and vitamin needs of the horse must be satisfied. Winter is a critical time to supply these nutrients since pasture, a good natural source of nutrients, is no longer available. The common source of supplemental protein, vitamins and minerals is from fortified grain concentrates. It is crucial that you choose the product that is intended for the type of horse that you are feeding. For example, if you have a pregnant mare you would select a product intended for pregnant mares, not “senior” horses. The next critical factor in choosing a grain concentrate is to make sure you are feeding the recommended amount. If you are feeding 1/3 of the amount recommended, you are getting exactly 1/3 of the intended nutrients for that type of horse. If you feel the amount of feed recommended is too much i.e. your horse is gaining too much weight you should feed a more concentrated product. These more concentrated products are called “supplement or balancer pellets” and are designed to be fed at much lower rates but are still fortified to provide the horse with adequate nutrients. Robank Signature Balancer is an ideal product in this category.

Winter is also the time when the barn may be “closed up” in an effort to make the environment warmer and less drafty for the horse. Good ventilation is more important than providing a little more warmth, so be sure to provide good air flow in your barn even in winter time.