Feeding tips and precautions to assist horse health through Winter

By Larissa Bilston, B.AgrSc (Hons1) Equine Vit & Min Nutritionist

Even a small feeding or horse husbandry change can provide significant health benefits to your horse this winter.

Respiratory Problems
Avoid feeding dusty or mouldy hay as these can exacerbate respiratory problems and cause digestive and toxicity issues. Wherever possible it is best to provide feed at ground level so that the horse can eat with a natural posture (they were designed to graze from the ground). Steaming or soaking hay for a few minutes can be useful for minimising dust. (If you are feeding an overweight or laminitic horse and wish to reduce the starch and sugar content of the hay, you need to soak hay for half an hour in hot water or 1-4 hours in cold water but beware of leaving it wet too long and growing mould).

Feeding to prevent diarrhoea
Acute (sudden, severe) diarrhoea can be caused by bacterial toxins in mouldy hay, some pasture species or old or poorly stored grain; by feeding too much grain; by sudden changes in diet; or stress and use of painkillers.

Chronic (ongoing) diarrhoea can be caused by sand in the digestive tract, intestinal worms or starch overload. If your vet is unable to diagnose the cause, try the following: Feed on a mat to limit sand intake; encourage drinking, implement a deworming program as advised by your vet; reduce starch and increase dietary fibre; try changing hay but make all feed changes gradually over 3-4 weeks.

Use probiotics and prebiotics, provide B group vitamins, including a high dose of B1 (thiamin). Toxin binders containing yeast cell walls or aluminosilicates are also worth a try especially if you suspect mould in your feed or aflatoxins in the pasture.

A nice warm bran mash?
As humans we love the smell of a nice warm bran mash on a cool night but we’re not doing our horses any favours by feeding these occasionally because the hindgut microbes can’t adapt for a once-a-week feed. Make dietary changes very gradually (take 2-3 weeks to introduce a new feed) and a few days to introduce a new supplement. In addition, bran has an inverted calcium to phosphorous ratio so if you do choose to feed it, make it part of a daily ration with added calcium to balance the mineral ratios correctly.

Boosting immunity
Omega-3 oils help to prevent the formation of damaging free radicals in the body and stabilize the immune system so their inclusion in the feed can improve general health as well as improving skin, hooves and shine. Omega-3 rich sources suitable for horses include green grass, linseeds, chia seeds and fish oils. The recommended feeding rate is 60g of whole or freshly ground linseeds or 30ml of stabilized linseed oil per 200kg of bodyweight or approximately 2ml of fish oil per 100kg of bodyweight. Chia seeds are lower in omega-3 and need to be fed at about 30% higher than linseeds.

Omega-3 supplementation is particularly important when hay and grains form the majority of the diet, and access to omega-3 rich fresh grass is limited.

Selenium and Vitamin E work together as antioxidants to neutralize free radicals and strengthen the immune system. When choosing a vitamin supplement, compare Vitamin E levels because it is often included in very low levels even though most horses are deficient in this vitamin. Even the freshest green grass often doesn’t contain enough Vitamin E to meet horse requirements, especially for horses in regular work.

Vitamin C, which the horse can produce in its own body is also a powerful antioxidant but sick, aging or stressed horses may require more than the body can make. Care must be taken to gradually introduce supplementary Vitamin C and wean the horse off it slowly when the extra dietary source is no longer required.

Many Australian soils are selenium deficient, so this mineral is often added to horse feeds. Be careful not to double dose on selenium through different feed sources as this is one mineral where toxicity levels are relatively low.

A note of caution regarding garlic
Although garlic is often promoted as being beneficial for horses, it contains allicin which is good for people but a known toxin to horses. Garlic’s antimicrobial action harms the beneficial microbes in the hindgut. Feeding garlic long term can cause Heinz body anaemia leading to lowered endurance, energy level and immune function in horses.

Keep up the water intake
Some horses don’t drink enough water during colder weather, which isn’t good for their health. You can encourage drinking by always providing fresh clean water that is not too hot or too cold. Keeping water under cover can help keep it clean and manage temperature fluctuations. Empty and clean the water trough every few days to avoid algae, bird droppings, dead insects and the like building up in the water. Feed approximately 10g of salt per 100 kg of horse bodyweight to encourage healthy levels of water intake but check the salt content of hard feeds when calculating how much to add.

A nice warm stable?
Stabling and confinement increases the risk of ulcers, enteroliths and colic. Horses need frequent movement to be relaxed and for their gut to function properly. If you need to stable, ensure your horse never has an empty haynet. If you are stabling to keep a horse under lights for a show coat, consider an extra rug and letting him out of the stable when you turn the lights out.

Feed roughage for mental & physical health
Many horses do not get enough roughage in our man-made environments. This is particularly true for horses kept in stables and small yards as well as during drought or winter if your pasture growth becomes very slow. Horses need to be able to eat hay, chaff or grass approximately 23 hours every day. When they go without food for hours horses become very stressed and unsettled leading to behavioural problems, ulcers, colic and bolting feed.

Most horses need to eat a total of 2% of their bodyweight in dry matter. Dry matter is the weight of a feed if you put it in the oven on low heat to dry out all the moisture it contains. Fresh grass is low in dry matter and high in water (15 - 30% dry matter; 70 - 85% water) compared to hay (85% dry matter) and grain or pellets which are high in dry matter (90%) and low in water (10%). So if you have a 500kg horse, you need to provide 10kg of dry matter from food. This can mean as much as half to two thirds of a bale of grassy hay a day or free access to a large bale of hay when pasture is poor or not available.

Of course, if your horse is working hard and needs the extra energy provided by grain or pellets, less hay is required but the total intake can increase to 2.5% of bodyweight. (e.g. 2kg pellets and 9.5kg grassy hay to provide the 10kg of dry matter necessary).

Story from Horse Deals magazine June 2017

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