Press
Releases
Short articles on horse management and use
The following is a catalog of short articles intended to assist horse owners in caring for their horses. You will have to scroll through the categories:
Management and Use
Nutrition
Reproduction.
Press releases can be reprinted in newsletters, magazines,and other popular press material or edited to associated press style, etc.; however, you should contact Dr. David Freeman prior to release. Correspondence should be directed to Dr. Freeman, e-mail address: david.freeman@okstate.edu
MANAGEMENT AND USE
MANAGEMENT Horse Owners,
Horse Shoers and Horse Discipline Reviewing the American Farriers Journal reminded me of growing up in Central Texas with an older brother as a farrier. I was the one in charge of handling the horse while he worked on their feet, and somehow according to my brother, to keep the horse from moving, putting its foot down or otherwise objecting to the ongoing activities under or behind its belly. Needless to say, success was varied, and it was all too frequent that we had several labor to management rifes about my abilities. My general defense was that the part I was handling, the head, was not moving, and the rest of the horse was his department. In defense of my brother the horseshoer, it was his career, health and well being that was in jeopardy when we would have the task of trimming or shoeing the 'not so well' trained horse. Some of the horses were just plain unbroken, and apparently the owners figured the horse shoer could train them better to pick up their feet while the act of trimming or shoeing was ongoing. Others were just plain 'petified', objecting with the occasional 'cow kick' or 'lean to', when they felt they wanted to do something else rather than satisfy our needs. The article in the American Farriers Journal listed characteristics of 'Good Farriers' and 'Good Horse Owners', written to emphasize what is reasonable to expect of both parties. It was provided by Kim Hillegas of Feet First Farrier Service in Oak Hill, Fla. It bears passing along: Good farriers will not squeeze, pole, prod, jerk, pinch or otherwise inflict pain to get your horse to pick up its foot, will introduce themselves to your horse and will allow your horse to settle before asking for his foot. Good farriers ask what the horse's job is and takes into consideration what kind of environment the horse lives in, and observes the horse's way of going before and after hoof care. They willingly explain their methods and reasons they use them, admit they cannot do something before they attempt it, and will offer help in finding a farrier with more experience in a situation that warrants it. They know how and when to discipline an unruly horse without abusing it, and are patient and considerate of lame, sore, young, arthritic or similarly compromised horses. The lists ended with good farriers will strive to do a better job than the last person who worked on the foot, even when they are that person. Conversely, good horse owners present a horse with clean, previously picked hooves to the farrier, and will be there when the farriers visits, which keeps the farrier safe. Good owners will already have taught their horse to stand properly, and do not expect the farrier to train their horse to pick up its feet. They understand that the horse can really push and pull on a farrier, and that kicking, biting, rearing pawing, head swinging, pulling back, shifting and leaning are behaviors that require disciplining. Good owners have the ability to discipline the horse for unruly behavior, work with the farrier when disciplining the horse, and accept that sometimes the farrier can administer discipline more timely and effectively. Good owners understand that one bad move by an unruly horse can put the farrier out of business, and works with their horses daily to enforce acceptable behaviors. Obviously, horse behavior and proper discipline rank highly among needs for both good owners and good farriers. It is asking too much of the horse to accept trimming or shoeing if not previously trained to accept the lifting and handling of feet. It is asking too much of the farrier to train the horse to do that in the act of trimming or shoeing. Teaching a horse to tolerate a person holding its leg off the ground takes consistency and repetition, two characteristics common to all training routines with horses. Different people use different methods to teach a horse to lift and then accept the foot being held off the ground. The basics will include routines similar to what follows. When picking up a front foot, start with the inside hand on the horse’s shoulder and slowly move the outside hand down the front of the leg. Once the hand is on the horse’s ankle, the inside hand can apply a small amount of pressure on the shoulder to assist in flexing the leg to raise it. Once flexed, the inside hand can hold the ankle so the outside hand can be used to clean the hoof. Avoid over flexing the knee or pulling the leg to the side of the horse. Some tasks such as shoeing require the worker to hold the horse’s leg between his knees so both hands can be used for work. The process of returning the foot to the ground is the reverse of raising the hoof. Avoid dropping the hoof to the ground, rather place it and return the hand up the horse’s leg. When picking up a hind foot, start the process of raising a hind leg by placing the inside hand on the horse’s hip and running down the rear of the hind leg with your outside hand. Once the hand is on the fetlock or lower cannon bone, raise the leg under the horse until it quits resisting. Move to the rear of the horse while holding the leg with your inside leg and outside hand. Work on the hind foot with the horse’s leg extended behind the horse’s body with the cannon bone and fetlock positioned between your thighs. Return the foot to the ground by placing the inside hand on the horse’s hip, returning the leg under the horse, setting the foot on the ground and running your outside hand up the horse’s leg to the hip. Beginning this training while they are weanlings makes it much easier as compared to starting with them when they weigh twice as much. All of this sounds simple enough, and it is once the horse accepts the routine. To be accepted as routine means you must make it a routine. That means following the steps each time you are picking up a foot, and doing so often. Waiting for the farrier to do so just doesn't make sense. A pictorial guide demonstrating ground handling techniques
is available for viewing on our web site: www.ansi.okstate.edu/e-equine.
Techniques for Safely Handling Horses is one of many production and
management articles listed under OSU Extension Fact Sheets. |
MANAGEMENT Exercise Those Stalled Horses! Don't let cold weather keep you from exercising stalled horses. Aside from the obvious benefit of keeping their mental attitude in good shape, there are many reasons that routine exercise is important to the physical health of your horse. Muscle tone, tendon and ligament flexibility, respiratory system function and the health of the cardiovascular system benefit from daily forced exercise and turnout of stalled horses. Recently conducted research by a number of different researchers adds another dimension to the need to exercise stalled horses: bone strength. Here are a few bulleted statements that summarize findings of several recently published research trials. · Stalled foals (preweaned) had reduced leg
bone and joint development as compared with foals housed in pastures.
Stalled, exercised foals were similar to pastured foals in bone and
leg joint development. Those foals that were stalled without exercise
rebounded in the rate of bone development when subsequently turned out
to pastures. The general conclusion from all these trials is that some type of forced exercise is beneficial for healthy bone of stalled growing horses that are not allowed extended periods of turnout in pastures. So, don't let the cold weather keep you from exercising your horses, especially growing horses that are stalled. |
BROODMARE MANAGEMENT Fescue Toxicosis
and Broodmares Tall fescue is a cool season, perennial bunchgrass that is a predominate grass in pastures in the southeastern United States. Fescue will most likely contain seed-born fungus that produces a toxin that adversely affects broodmares. Removal of fescue from pastures is difficult if not impossible in most situations. As such, it is estimated that hundred of thousands of horses graze fescue pastures that are infected with this endophytic toxin. Problems with broodmares include increased length of gestation (average of 27 days), absence of milk production, thickened and reddish colored placentas and decreased foal viability. The preferred method of dealing with this toxicosis is removing mares from toxin containing hay or grass during the last 60 days of gestation (You will find that recommendations will vary from 30 to 90 days). If left on pasture or hay containing the toxin, contact your veterinarian, as there are products available that will help to prevent or treat these problems. One drug therapy being used, domperidone*, has received positive results from many owners. This chemical is administered as a gel for prevention or treatment, and has been highly effective in reducing the occurrence of fescue-related problems with broodmares. Recommended preventative therapies include daily administration beginning a couple of weeks prior to expected foaling up to the time of foaling, or for several days post foaling for treatment of mares with lack of milk production. Horse producers with mares grazing fescue pastures or consuming fescue hay should contact their veterinarian to discuss preventative options and drug therapies that will best prevent fescue toxicities on their farm. *Equidone, TM. Presented for educational purposes only. OSU does not specifically endorse or warrant product use. Horse owners should contact their veterinarian to decide if and when use is warranted in their horses. |
EXERCISE MANAGEMENT Water Needs for the Exercising
Horse Dehydration causes decreases in performance and if more serious, health problems that lead to shock and death. Minimal daily needs for water have been estimated at 5 to 8 gallons for a mature idle stock horse; however, many factors increase this need. As daily losses of water increase, so does the need for replenishment. One of the major factors affecting how much water a horse needs is the amount a horse loses through sweat and respiration as a result of exercise. These losses are affected by the amount of exercise, the environmental temperature and humidity, and how adapted the horse is to the exercise. Exercise causes the horse’s body to produce large amounts of heat. This heat must be released from the body as it is produced. Otherwise, bodily processes fail and life threatening conditions, collectively termed heat stress and heat stroke, result. A horse sweats to cool its body. Estimates are that as much as 60% of the heat that is generated by exercise is lost through sweat. Water needs can increase 400% over maintenance estimates when horses are working in hot, humid environments. Under maximal working conditions, horses can lose as much as 4 gallons of sweat per hour. Even at more normal working levels, 10 to 15 pounds of water weight can be lost. These levels, if not replaced, can dehydrate the horse’s body to critical levels. Lower levels of unreplenished losses may not be life threatening, but might be the limiting factor to athletic performance. Even water losses as small as two to four percent of body weight has shown to negatively affect human athletic performance. As such, water intake, and the monitoring thereof, is one of, if not the most important nutrient concern of exercising horses. Recommendations are fairly simple: provide a horse a continual supply of fresh, palatable water at free choice levels. The only time it is recommended to possibly restrict water intake is immediately prior to exercise and during immediate recovery from exercise when heart and respiration rates are highly elevated. At these times, limiting water intake to small amounts given frequently may guard against any potential digestive upset from water intake. As many of our athletic competitions require periodic use over several hours, it is also important to encourage horses to drink small amounts frequently during the periods between exercise bouts. Disruptions of a horse’s routine schedule, interaction with unfamiliar horses and surroundings, and changes in water source can cause voluntary decreases in water intake. Several techniques have been used to encourage finicky horses to drink: flavor aids, ensuring salt intake, hand watering, and transporting water supplies from the source the horse is accustomed to drinking. Regardless of how finicky, trainers and owners are recommended to keep accurate accounting of water consumption while at events. Disruption of normal drinking patterns is a sign of impending problems and decreased performance. |
NUTRITION
FEEDING MANAGEMENT Valuing Out Hay Purchases Hay prices go up and up. Harvesting costs, land costs, short supplies all lead to annual increases in the price of hay that are largely unavoidable. Regardless, there are ways for you to keep your costs as low as possible. Buy big amounts. It is common for horse owners on small acreage with small numbers to buy small amounts of hay, several times during the year. Doing so increases the purchase price and puts availability in question. Those who can work out the hay storage area and have horse owning friends with similar needs can purchase large lots from one harvest. Do your own hauling. It is not the most glamorous form of exercise, but it does reduce the cost significantly. Again, for those with limited hauling resources, it will help to have peers with similar needs so trailers and hauling duties can be shared. Develop long term relationships with producers. You do this by making contacts as soon as you can in the 'hay producing season', and meeting the needs of the hay producer. Buyers gathering hay in the field will need to be flexible, as harvest times are dependant partially on short term weather forecasts. Being available to haul hay as it is being baled and paying for it at pick up will be required. Keep in mind that most hay producers don't have much if any margin for loss, so it is important that buyers are on-time, on-site and prepared to haul when the call is made. Store your hay properly. At the least, you will want to protect hay from high moisture from rain, contact with the wet soil, etc. so mold won't become a large problem. Even without the mold issue, there will be some nutrient loss with hay that is rained on during storage. Agronomists have studied the significance of this loss, and can provide you better quantifications. One way to express it is that the better the hay, the more significant the nutrient loss with poor storage. Know what you are buying. You can, with correct sampling techniques, have hay analyzed for nutrient content at forage testing laboratories. It may be impossible to have hay tests on hay you are picking up during harvest, but you can make an educated guess. Presence of large stemmed grass species, undesirable grass species intermingled with improved grass hay and the maturity of the grass at harvest all provide indicators of value. Grass hays with large diameter stem are usually less nutrient dense and digestible. The more mature the grass, the lower the nutrient content and digestibility. Hay producers can tell you if the field had been sprayed for weeds, and if hay had been fertilized. Of course, fertilization doesn't mean hay is necessarily high quality. It means that the plants received supplemental nutrients to grow. If fertilization helped the yield of the field sufficiently to merit cutting at an immature stage of growth, then fertilization means better quality. Don't expect all hay to be sprayed for weeds and fertilized. Some grass species don't respond as well to fertilization as others, and some fields don't merit spraying costs. You can also expect some plants to have more nutrients per pound than others. For example, average quality bermudagrass hay can contain 20% or more nutrients than prairie hay. The difference may not be significant if prairie hay is mainly improved prairie grasses such as small or large bluestem. The same goes for protein content of improved grass hay verses prairie hays. Legume hays like alfalfa will average 20% to 30% more digestible energy per pound than grass hays. Legumes also will contain much more protein per pound, averaging as much as twice the protein content per pound than grass hays. Feed what you need. Although there are alternative diets that can be fed, most nutritionists suggest horse rations contain some form of long stem forage, i.e. hay or pasture. Many feeding plans work on hay or pasture base of a minimum of 1% of body weight per day, and grain horses needing supplemental energy, protein, minerals or vitamins. Less grain can be fed with higher quality forage, so the total diet cost may be less with higher quality hay. Some grain and hay combinations actually over feed certain nutrients. For example, avoid feeding combinations of high protein feeds with high protein hays to horses that don't require large amounts of protein. How you feed hay also affect hay value. Feeding hay in feeders that reduce wastage from trampling can increase the hay accessible for consumption easily by 20% or more. |
FEEDING MANAGEMENT Water Needs During Cold Weather Water intake is important for maintenance of normal body processes. In general, horses should be allowed free access to fresh, palatable water. Ideally, daily water intake should be monitored so variation in intake levels are noted, and related to the general health status of the horse. This monitoring is difficult when using automatic watering devices, when housing horses in groups or when water is available from natural sites such as lakes, ponds and flowing sources. A sudden shift to extremely cold weather may reduce water intake by as much as 14%. The practical significance of variations in water intake during cold weather is questionable, and most likely influenced by feed intakes, individual variation in horses, and length and degree of the temperature change. On one hand, horses have long survived in natural environments with frequent temperature changes. On the other hand, water restriction has been implicated as a contributing factor to colic, and several health professionals have noted increases in colic at times of major weather shifts. Although the old adage of 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink', is quite true, there are management routines that can be implemented to assess intake, and encourage it as much as possible. Horses housed in barns should be expected to maintain more a uniform intake of water as compared to those housed 'outside' where temperature variations are larger. If there is a noted preference, horses may prefer drinking from buckets or other sources with a significant depth of water such as float tanks. The probability and significance of this preference will largely depend on individual horse behavior and contributing management practices. The biggest advantage to buckets is water intake can be monitored. The disadvantage is the need for manual refilling, and in cold weather water will freeze quickly. Although different trials have varying results, lukewarm water is usually preferred over ice water. Again, the general significance of this temperature effect is difficult to assess because of all the variations between horses, weather differences and management. Heated sources of water are essential if the only alternative is ice, so when extreme, freezing weather is expected to last for more than a day, water heaters may be needed. Of course, water heaters are not without potential problems as they are electric, and to avoid risk, horse access to electrical cords and heating elements should be avoided. Alternatives to heating water sources include a variety of automatic, insulated waterers, most with an insulated water container and a flap or ball valve that a horse must push for water access. Horses, when given the alternative, will usually drink several times per day, so having water sources near congregation areas may promote the frequency of drinking. Increases in intake of feed also increases the desire for water, so access to high fiber feeds such as hay when pasture is unavailable has added benefits over supplying a safe, continual supply of feed nutrients. The bottom line is that horses need access to water, and the most recommended way to supply water is a continual, free choice method of drinkable water. Monitoring level of intake is preferred and practical in most individual housing situations. When concerned with water intake, ensure a palatable supply of fluid water, locate the water source in proximity to natural congregation areas, and promote intake by supplying forage supplementation in the same general area of the water source. The need to increase management, above those suggestions, such as supplying a heated source, or moving horses out of weather extremes to enhance water intake, is difficult to universally state. The effect of other management practices, individual differences in horses and the variations in weather are influencing factors that have to be considered. However, farms with repeatable history of colic during times of sudden decrease or low temperatures should assess how water is being supplied, and consider altering management to enhance water intake during cold weather. |
FEEDING MANAGEMENT Cold Weather and Feed Requirements Anyone who has managed animals in cold weather understands that cold stress affects nutritional needs. Horses will use extra energy stored in the body to maintain body temperature when temperatures are cold. The long-term affect is loss of body weight, which can be quick and dramatic if adequate nutrition is not supplied. The first question is how cold is cold? Temperatures that are low enough to make us respond to cold by seeking shelter, shivering and bundling up with clothes may not be cold enough to affect the horse. Physiologically, the temperature below which animals start to spend a significant amount of additional energy to maintain body warmth is the ‘lower critical temperature’. Hair thickness, fat cover, how well the horse has previously adjusted to cold weather (acclimatization), and exposure to wind and moisture will affect the lower critical temperature for horses. This temperature for a horse that is thin with a short hair coat, not use to cold, and exposed to wet, windy weather may be as high as 40 to degrees F. A horse that is acclimatized to cold weather, with a thick hair coat and fat cover may not use appreciably more energy until the temperature drops below 30 degrees F. Nonetheless, as a general rule, the lower end of the comfort zone for horses is lower than ours; so don’t make the mistake of heating barns at similar temperatures as you would your house. Not only is this wasteful, because of ventilation problems in barns closed up in the winter, high temperatures may increase respiratory irritants that cause the horse to cough and congest the respiratory system. As a general rule, a little over 1% increase in the energy requirements is needed to replace energy loss from the cold weather for each degree the temperature falls below the horse's lower critical temperature. If a horse is in good body condition, has a thick hair coat and is well acclimatized to cold weather, its lower critical temperature may be around 32F. Exposure to a period of time that weather drops to an average of 20F means energy requirements would increase about 12%. For an 1100-pound horse, energy requirements are estimated at 16 Megacalories of digestible energy per day to replace the normal energy expended to maintain the body. The increase in energy needs to replace losses in cold weather would increase this amount to 18 Megacalories per day. How to best meet increased nutritional needs will depend on your feed supplies, what the horse is used to eating and how large an adjustment you have to make. In terms of supplying energy, grains have much more energy per pound than hays so increasing grain amount may be most efficient. The additional 2 Megacalories per day could be met by increasing the grain allotment about 1 and ½ pounds as a typical grain formulation for horses will have between 1.2 and 1.5 Megacalories of Digestible Energy per pound. You have to be cautious when adjusting grain levels, so immediately increasing grain allotments to offset energy losses is not as safe as preconditioning the horses by gradually feeding more energy prior to weather extremes. The horse may consume a little extra in the weeks before cold weather is expected, and put on a small amount of fat cover. When exposed to cold weather for several days to weeks, they will most likely lose the small increases in fat cover and enter into the spring in adequate body condition for their intended needs. Many managers meet the increased energy needs by increasing the supply of hay. Hay provides large amounts of fiber. Fiber is less energy dense than the energetic compounds in grains, so more hay would have to be consumed. With the expected energy value in alfalfa, the same example that needed an additional 1-½ pounds of grain might need 2 to 2-½ pounds of alfalfa. As the energy content of grass hay is less, the amount of grass hay to meet additional energy would be more, in this example maybe 3 to 3-½ pounds additional hay per day. Meeting increased energy needs by supplying free-choice hay has some advantages. A continual supply of hay may help keep the body warm by maintaining a fuller digestive tract. The way that horses digest fiber generates significant amount of heat. This heat production in the digestive tract is thought to help keep the horse’s internal temperature warmer. As such, it is recommended to maintain access to long stem forage in the winter, which means you will have to feed hay because most pasture forage is limited in the winter. As long as wastage of hay is not large, many owners find that free choice access to grass hays is an effective way to meet much of the nutrient requirement. The down side to free choice hay is hay supply may not be available and wastage may make it uneconomical. Regardless of how much hay you supply, most winters in Oklahoma will be harsh and long enough to require graining horses to meet energy needs. Again, because feeding too much grain at one time or making large changes in amounts of hay and grain too quickly can lead to colic, horses should be preconditioned for cold weather. Fat cover insulates the horse’s body from cold. Horses exposed to long periods of cold can be expected to lose body condition. Preconditioning horses by increasing their fat cover before the onset of long-term cold weather will partially offset the negative effects of losing condition during cold weather. There are several ways horse owners can lessen the nutritional stress resulting from exposure to cold weather. The most obvious is to provide some form of shelter from wind, rain and cold. Blankets provide insulation for horses with short hair coats, such as those housed in barns under lighting programs to maintain a short hair coat for showing. Blanketing outside horses has the disadvantage of increasing the risk of injury if the blanket hangs on an object. Also, horses exercising in blankets are more prone to becoming entangled if the blanket doesn’t keep its position. Blanketing horses housed outside is also a problem in wet weather, as a wet blanket can have an adverse affect on keeping the horse warm. Many pastures may provide enough natural protection without need for man-made shelters. However, those owners housing horses in areas unprotected from wet, windy weather should provide windbreaks or covered sheds. The cost of windbreaks and sheds will be partially offset by savings from feed costs. Owners have to consider herding instincts and herd pecking orders when deciding on windbreak or shed design. Those areas housing one or two horses that are compatible to one another will allow for an enclosed shed with three or four sides. However, larger groups or those with dominant pecking orders may necessitate a one-sided structure so access is greater for more horses. |
FEEDING MANAGEMENT Recent
Thoughts on Feeding Frequency for Young Horses A review of a paper authored by Equine Specialists at Texas A&M University provided some interesting thoughts on protein needs for young horses. Several points were made suggesting that young horses that are meal-fed a grain and hay ration may benefit from three-a-day feedings. To understand this reasoning, a little background information on nutrition is needed. Young horses really have an amino acid requirement, not protein. Amino acids are the smaller parts of proteins, and the types and levels of amino acids vary between proteins. Some of the amino acids have to be supplied in the diet, as a horse's body can't make them from other substances. These are called essential amino acids. Lysine is an essential amino acid that is needed in the largest amounts for growth, and when lysine is limited, growth is reduced. To be absorbed intact, meaning lysine in the ration is absorbed as lysine in the body, protein must be broken down, and amino acids must be absorbed in the small intestine. What isn't absorbed in the small intestine travels through the digestive tract to the large intestine, where microbes in the digestive tract tear down amino acids. The result is that once protein, or amino acids leave the small intestine, the essential amino acids in the ration are not absorbed as amino acids. Logic dictates that if you are going to the trouble and expense of feeding high quality protein rations, i.e. those with the right amounts of essential amino acids, that you want the horse to digest and absorb the amino acids in the small intestine. When stalled, young horses receive daily ration allotments as meals of grain and hay. When meal fed, large amounts of feed are presented to the digestive tract at one time, instead of the grazing horse that more continually regulates its intake throughout the day. This large amount of feed from meal feeding increases the rate of flow of nutrients through the digestive tract. Increasing the flow may decrease the amino acid absorption in the small intestine. Hence the logic to spread the daily allotment of young horses consuming large amounts of grain into three-a-day feedings instead of the normal two-a-day feedings characteristic of most farm management practices. When is this added labor of feeding three times a day necessary? Those using pastures don't need the added expense of feeding that often. In fact, if pastures are high quality enough and in adequate amounts, yearlings can meet their need for amino acid absorption in the small intestine with little to no grain supplementation. Many young, stalled horses are consuming grain to hay ratios of 70 to 30 by weight of feed, and are fed to grow fairly rapidly. While ration checks would suggest sufficient protein intake, these young horses may be fed so much at single feedings that amino acid absorption is compromised. |
RATION FORMULATION Try Added Fat Rations for Elderly
Horses If they live long enough, many horses will become 'hard keepers'. It is a natural process: the ability and the desire to eat decreases and they can't digest what is given to them as well as when they were in their prime. Keeping weight on an older horse is limited by just how elderly the horse is for its age. One horse may become 'old' shortly after turning 20, and 'go downhill' quickly, while one managed similarly may be 30 and in good body condition. While you can only do so much, you can help most of the older horses by paying particular attention to nutrition. First, as you probably have been told, older horses need their molar teeth inspected routinely, and floated so as level a biting surface as possible is maintained. By 20, many will have enough naturally occurring sharp edges and uneven biting surfaces that much grain is lost, and what is ingested isn't chewed adequately to help digestion. Secondly, the aged horse should be fed smaller amounts of the daily grain allotments more often. Smaller amounts at one time will not overwhelm the capacity of the digestive tract, so rate of flow will be slower, and the potential to be digestive will be greater. A common recommendation for all horses is to split grain into two feedings when feeding more than 0.5% grain as a percent of body weight (5 lbs grain/1000 pounds body weight). When they become aged, it may be necessary to reduce this recommendation to 0.4% grain as a percent of body weight. If large amounts of grain are fed, you may have to feed grain three times a day instead of two to ensure maximum digestibility of what is eaten. More so than that, what is fed has to be very digestible, and many of these horses may lose the desire to eat large amounts. Both of these factors led to the recommendation of using added-fat mixes for aged horses. Fat is highly digestible and very energy dense. Added-fat formulations will typically use corn oil or soybean oil as part of a pellet or as a light coating to a textured mix. Pelleted added-fat mixes are popular for older horses because manufacturers can mix in other feedstuffs into a physical form that helps digestion in horses with less than desirable teeth conformation. Formulated mixes that are marketed to elderly horses will have fairly high concentrations of protein, minerals and vitamins. Increased concentrations help those horses that do not eat very much and horses that have lowered ability to digest feed. The rations also usually will have added-fat. It is easy to tell if a mix is added-fat, many will market products with labels indicating higher fat levels. If not, you can read the feed tag. Grains will contain 2 to 4% fat as a natural part of their makeup. When fat is added to the mix, the crude fat percentage on the feed tag will show levels more in the range of 6 to 10% crude fat. As long as palatability is not a problem, fat at these levels should add a readily digestible energy source without interfering with digestibility of other nutrients. Finally, aged horses will need highly digestible sources of fiber. Hay and pastures have large amounts of fiber, and fiber should be part of the energy source of the horse's diet. Average quality hay or pastures with coarse stemmed plants or mature grass will not be digested very well. On the other hand, well managed pastures with green, immature growth of improved grasses such as bermudagrass and wheat will have more digestible fiber. These type pastures supply a continuous supply of readily digestible energy, which with some elderly horses, quickly increase body condition. At times that pasture forage is unavailable, the horse will have to rely on other fiber sources. Many feed manufacturers have developed 'complete feeds', which add a ground source of fiber to the mix so what is found in the bag can be most, if not all, that is fed. Alfalfa cubes are also an adequate way to supply high quality fiber, and there may be some digestive benefit to ensuring intake of some minimal level of fiber at least the size of the hay particles in cubes. Cubes may be too hard for horses with poor teeth, but this is easily handled by pouring water over the cubes several hours before feeding. This will make the cube is softer and more easily chewed. |
| FEEDS Why Are Fat-Added Rations So
Popular for Feeding Horses? Horses do not have a gall bladder; hence, they do not store chemicals that assist the breakdown of dietary fat. However, the absence of a gall bladder doesn't necessarily mean that horses can't digest fat. In fact, a large amount of research conducted in the last quarter of the 20th century has shown just the opposite. Horses can readily digest upwards of 20% added fat in the total ration. However, palatability and the practicality of mixing fat in rations keep added-fat levels well below these high levels. Also, too high a level of fat (15 to 20% of the total ration) may decrease muscle glycogen stores because of too much replacement of dietary starch with fat. Muscle glycogen is the storage form of glucose, the energy component in starch. Glucose is the preferred energy source to fuel many types of athletic performance. Most typically, fat will be added to the grain portion of the ration. Fat supplemented grain mixes will contain less than 10% total fat as seen on feed tags. Palatability tends to be higher for vegetable oils, and if a difference is noted, corn oil seems to be the most palatable among plant oils. Commonly used plant sources are corn and soybean oil, although many sources, including rice bran and refined dry fat, may be incorporated into horse rations with similar effects. There are several advantages for adding fat and oil to horse diets. Energy supplied by fat replaces that needed from starch, thus lowering the incidence of starch overload colic and founder when horses are meal-fed large amounts of grain. As fat contains more energy per weight than carbohydrate or protein, less feed is required to meet the same digestible energy requirements. Digestibility of fat is higher than most other feedstuffs, so digestibility of the total ration is increased. Further, the digestible energy in fat-added rations is used more efficiently than conventional rations. If enough starch is fed with fat, and if horses are adapted correctly, fat supplementation will allow for more glycogen to be stored for intense athletic performance. Milk fat can be raised when lactating mares are fed fat added rations, resulting in increased growth performance of nursing foals. Apparently, addition of fat does not depress the digestibility of fiber, crude protein, and has little if any negative effect on calcium and phosphorus digestibility. Adding fat will increase the cost of a ration. Even
so, added-fat rations and fat supplements have become commonplace in
the horse feed manufacturing industry. Fat added feeds are most popular
in performance horse rations, broodmare rations and aged horse rations,
all requiring highly digestible, safe sources of large levels of energy. |
PASTURE MANAGEMENT Thoughts for Grazing Small Grain
Winter Pastures Much of the winter grazing on horse farms in the Southern U.S. comes from overseeding or drilling small grains in perennial warm season pastures. Perennial grasses such as bermudagrass and bluestem grow in the warm times of the year and become dormant in the fall. To extend the grazing season, many horse owners will plant cool season annual grasses in the fall. Types of cool season grasses will vary with recommendations on soil types, intended grazing pressure, and geographical areas. Most commonly in Oklahoma, ryegrass, rye, wheat or a mix made from those species are used to extend grazing in warm season pastures. Fall planting of these grasses will usually provide some late fall grazing, but the most significant growth will occur in the spring before the time that the warm season grasses become active again. Each type of forage has individual growing characteristics. For example, rye tends to grow more in the late fall and winter as compared to ryegrass. Many horse owners prefer using a cool season mix because they want to extend the growing season as long as possible. As with any introduced forage, it is best to obtain recommendations specific to your locale as to what agronomic practices are needed to promote forage growth at the levels and times you desire. As such, your local Cooperative Extension Office will be of great help. As with all improved pastures, horse owners need to view cool season forages as a good source of nutrition for their horses. Just how good will depend on how well the grasses are managed for growth. It is best for the plant’s sake that the initial height of the plant is allowed to grow to 4 to 5 inches before intense grazing pressure is applied. Otherwise, the grazing pressure of the horses severely restricts establishment of the forage. Once established, it is best for the plant’s sake to manage grazing so the plant maintains at least a 3 to 4 inch height. Horse owner's need for grazing usually doesn't’t allow for maximizing plant growth and maturity for the plant’s sake. In many situations, especially with overseeding in small acreage, removing horses from the pasture to establish the initial growth of cool season forages is not possible. Even so, with some care, these pastures can still successfully supply a substantial amount of nutrition for the horse. Cool season pastures will respond favorably to controlled grazing. Controlled grazing means removing horses from the pasture for a period of time, thus decreasing grazing pressure and providing a relief period for the forage. The most frequently thought of system is subdividing pastures into smaller portions, and moving horses from one portion to another every few days. This is termed ‘cell grazing’, and its benefits are in promoting more uniform grazing of the pasture and in allowing for more forage production. The other method of controlled grazing is to restrict daily access to pastures. There isn’t a lot of research that has quantified grazing behavior of horses with limited turnout to pastures; however, for the benefit of the grass, it may be best limit grazing to 3 to 4 hours per day. With more forage and favorable weather conditions, half-day turnouts are possible. Like most management practices, the best situations are those that are managed individually, so owners who assess their pastures routinely will have the most success with using cool season annuals to extend grazing season. Use the following guidelines to develop a practical mind set to using cool season forages.
Those owners who prioritize their agronomic practices
for forage growth will have the most success with using pastures as
a source of nutrients for their horses. Your individual needs will dictate
what agronomic practices and grazing management plans will be worth
doing. So, keep an eye on your pastures much like you do your horses. |
EXERCISE AND NUTRITION Mineral Needs for Exercising
Horses The need for additional minerals in rations formulated for exercising horses is largely related to the increased needs for bone development resulting from the stress of training and to replace minerals lost in sweat. Bone tissue goes through large changes after training programs are first initiated. Measurements of bone strength and compounds that indicate bone is actively increasing and/or decreasing mineral content indicate that bone actually loses some of its strength one to three months after a training program is first started. These changes may increase need for minerals, especially calcium, by as much as 35 to 40% over what has been recommended in the past. Horses can produce large amounts of sweat. Sweat contains appreciable amounts of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium. As such, recommendations call for increases in intake of these minerals for horses in hot, humid environments or exercise that promote sweating. The need for additional salt (sodium chloride) is of most concern. Salt should be added at the 0.5% level to grain mixes formulated for exercising horses. Also, exercising horses should be allowed access to trace mineralized salt blocks. These salt blocks contain small amounts of additional minerals such as magnesium, iron and potassium. Some types of intense, prolonged work such as endurance riding may necessitate oral supplementation with liquid or paste electrolyte mixtures. These mixes usually contain small amounts of magnesium-containing compounds like magnesium sulfate, and larger amounts of sodium and potassium. With any increased intake of minerals, water intake becomes more necessary. So, make sure the horse is drinking plenty of water. Recommended Mineral Concentrations in Total Rations
for Exercising Horses Sulfur, % Iron, mg/kg (ppm) Calcium, % Phosphorus, % Magnesium, % Potassium, % |
NUTRITION AND EXERCISE Special Concerns for Feeding
Exercising Horses Nutrition is but one factor in athletic performance. It may be the easiest part to control. However, it will not overcome poor genetics, poor conditioning programs or deficiencies in other areas of management. On the other hand, it can be optimized and should not be limiting to athletic performance. Carbohydrate Overload. One area of concern when feeding large amounts of grain daily is the potential for carbohydrate overload. Grain contains large amounts of starches and sugars, and feeding large amounts of these compounds can cause colic and founder. As a general rule, grain mixes should be limited to levels of 0.5% of body weight at one feeding. Therefore, the high levels of grain inherently fed to exercising horses to meet energy demands should be split into three-a-day feedings. These feeding should be divided into 8-hour intervals. For example, a racetrack schedule might necessitate feeding at 11 a.m. (after morning workouts), 7 p.m. (after daily activities end), and 3 a.m. (several hours before the start of morning exercise workouts). Timing of Feeding. Another concern among trainers is the timing of feeding in relation to exercise. It is good management to allow the horse to digest its ration at least 2 to 4 hours before beginning any physical exertion. This delay would allow the majority of nutrients to pass from the stomach to the intestines of the horse. It is not recommended to restrict the horse's ration before the day of exercise. Restricting the diet for longer than 6 to 12 hours prior to exercise may decrease the availability of energy and as such decrease athletic performance. It is a typical practice to remove long stem forage at the meal immediately preceding running on race day. This removal reduces the amount of forage and water weight the horse is carrying into the race. However, trainers should be careful not to make too many abrupt changes in the ration. While times of races and shows will necessitate changes in the normal routine, emphasizing as much consistency as possible will guard against nutrition adding to the stress of changes in physical and behavioral routines. Body Weight Regulation. Horses like other athletes are individuals and must be managed as such if maximal athletic performance is to be achieved. Horses can be expected to have an "ideal performance weight", and body condition will vary slightly between individuals maintaining their ideal weight. Every trainer has a subjective ability to visually determine body weight, however unnoticeable changes may be large enough to cause differences in performance. For that reason, some racetracks and training facilities provide scales. Comparisons of athletic performance at different body weights, changes in weight before and after performance and general trends of weight changes through a conditioning program assist trainers in regulating the nutritional and conditioning programs for each horse. Balance and Quality of Feedstuffs. Exercising horses must consume large amounts of feed per day to meet nutrient needs. Feedstuffs must be high quality, clean and fresh. It is not sufficient to feed large amounts of low quality or unbalanced rations in hopes that requirements will be met. A properly balanced ration has the necessary concentration of each of the nutrients. Too little or too high an amount and performance may be decreased. Also, levels of individual nutrients can affect the usability of other nutrients. As such, rations are balanced to not only provide adequate amounts of individual nutrients, but also are balanced so the level of one nutrient positively affects the use of another. Individuality. Certain individuals seem to thrive on the atmosphere of training and competing, while others will not be able to perform as frequently or as intensely. Even more so than other classes of horses, those exercising can be expected to be very individual in their acceptance and response to nutritional programs. While consistency of ration and feeding routine of a certain horse is important to guard against conditions associated with irregularity, these routines may be different between similar individuals. The amount of ration needed to maintain the ideal performance weight will vary between similar sized horses performing similar types of work. Trainers must be able to assess these differences and make proper adjustments to the amount each horse is fed. Behavioral differences that affect appetite also will create needs for adjusting feeding times and frequency with certain horses. Just like training and other management routines, the more that is known about the individual habits of a horse, the better a trainer can make the right decisions on its nutritional program. |
REPRODUCTION
FOALING Foaling Date Nearing? Most mares are bred naturally by scheduled breedings with the stallion (hand mating) or through artificial insemination. Knowing the last breeding date and approximating the expected gestation length should get you in the ‘ballpark’ of the expected foaling date. The normal gestation length of mares averages 338 to 345 days. Simply moving ahead 11 months from the last breeding should get you on the early side of expected foaling date. However, gestation length will be variable between mares and even the same mare from year to year. There are several conformational and behavioral changes in the mare that suggest the foaling day is approaching. They should better pinpoint the day of foaling. Some of the more consistent changes in mares that suggest approaching delivery date are provided below. The changes in the mineral concentration of the milk immediately prior to foaling can be monitored with commercially available kits (FoalWatch), and similarly with water hardness check strips found at several commercial outlets such as plumbing supply and home improvement stores. Changes in Mares Suggesting Approaching Foaling Day*
* Not all signs are seen in all mares and signs will differ in intensity and occurrence from maiden pregnancy to those following previous births. |
BREEDING MANAGEMENT Breeding Season for Beginners:
What to Expect Mares to Do Those of us that have been around ‘for a few years’ sometimes forget that many horse owners are new to the horse breeding business. Many owners become involved with breeding horses as an after thought. It just seems to follow that once you own horses for a while, you will want to ‘raise a baby’. Welcome to a whole new world of decisions and important things to know. A few of the more frequently asked questions are provided below. When can I start breeding my mare? Mares are long day breeders. Under natural conditions, they are not reproductively active during the season of the year with short daylight hours, i.e. late fall through early spring. Once the daylight portion of the days lengthen in late spring and summer, mares start the estrous season. They will remain reproductively active until bred or when they move into the anestrous season, or the time of year they naturally do not cycle. I want to breed her so I can have an ‘early
foal’. What can I do to ‘make her come in early’? There is, however, an easily conducted management tool. It is extended daylight. Mares are long day breeders. Given enough time and regularity of schedule, artificially extending day light with a lighting source will move mares into the estrous season. In order to work, lighting programs must be administered for 60 to 90 days before the time you intend to breed her. Lighting programs must be administered so the mare is ‘under lights’ every day. Lighting programs should allow for 16 hours of total light perception per day, so if the sun comes up at 7 a.m., artificial lighting should come on one half hour before sundown, and continue until 11 p.m. Lighting must be regular and controlled; missing several days in a role may negate the effect. Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will negate the effect. Most people with a small number of mares will simply put a timer on stall lights to manage extended lighting programs. So I think she is ‘in season’,
when do I breed her? Once enough follicular growth happens, a mare will start to show signs of heat: she shows interest in stallions, frequently urinates in the presence of teasing stallions, etc. This time period, what we commonly call ‘in-heat’, will last about 4 or 5 days. It is toward the last day of this period that a mare actually ovulates. For best chances of breeding, the mare must be bred sometime between a day and half to up to the time she ovulates. This usually results in a stallion manager timing breedings so mares are bred when she shows signs of heat, every other day until she ‘goes out of heat’. The better the diagnostics, i.e. palpation of the ovaries or visual imaging by ultrasound, the better knowledge of the time of ovulation. I think she’s bred, how do I know?
She didn’t breed, what can I do? All of these questions and answers are well and good to discuss, however, the biggest expectation is to expect your mare to respond differently to any ‘average’ or general recommendation that we can give. Mares are very individualist in their breeding behavior and physiology. I’ve often said that we read the books on what is suppose to happen, the mare never does. Point is that the more past experience you have with your mare, the more success you will have in knowing what to expect from her in the future. |