Tony the cat checking in again.

Hope you all are enjoying the cool weather. I know I’m sure not! The good thing is I can curl up inside the office and keep warm, and sometimes I can even get some hugs from the girls, and their jackets sure are snuggly. Unfortunately for your horsey pals, the indoors are not an option, and since we’ve been talking about nutrition, I thought I’d talk to you a bit about fat in the horse’s diet, and how it can be helpful in getting them ready for this cold weather. The benefits of fat in a horse’s diet have only recently been recognized, and veterinarians and researchers are finding more and more positive things about fat in the equine diet each day. I’ll talk to you about the benefits of fat, where it can be found, and when you should consider adding fat to your horse’s diet.

Until recently, fat has not been given much attention in a horse’s diet because it has long been thought that carbohydrates were the preferable choice for energy. New research and studies have started to argue against this thought process. Horses can digest and tolerate fairly high levels of fat, and fat offers a way of feeding more calories while maintaining a more stable blood sugar level. These added calories not only mean more energy, but also more mass on a horse. This can be extremely important for a horse that has a hard time holding its weight.  In the winter time this can be even more important both for the horse who doesn’t hold weight well, and a horse who is in training and needs a bit of extra fat to keep warm in the colder weather. A horse that is lower in weight is also low in body fat, which works with the hair to buffer the body against the cold. If your horse is already being fed the maximum amount of feed and hay that it can be fed, fat offers the option of adding calories without overwhelming the horse’s system.

Fats are available in a variety of forms in the equine diet. Most feeds do have a percentage of crude fat in them, but it is not in the highest forms available. With the new-found appreciation for fats, owners have been looking for ways to feed fats to their horses, which means that feed and supplement companies have also been looking for new ways to introduce fat into the horse’s diet. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to add fat into the equine diet is to add vegetable oil to the horse’s feed. Generally this has to be done gradually to ensure palatability, but it is an extremely effective way of adding fat to your horse’s diet. It’s also a great way to get their coats nice and glossy. You can also add raw or ground flax seed to the horse’s food to increase the fat intake. Flax seed can be found at most local feed stores, or even at your local health food store. Flax is also high in omega fatty acids. These are as good for your horse as they are for you! Fats are also available in supplement form in pellets and in powders, which can be purchased through any major company that carries supplements.  Some of these alternative forms are better for the picky eater.

Fat can help the horse who lives outside and has trouble with weight in the winter, the horse who doesn’t want to eat a large volume of grain, and even the Senior horse with poor dentition. Remember that fat also offers the horse a way of having extra calories and extra energy without affecting their blood sugar, which means their system will stay more stable, but they’ll have the energy they need for daily activities. Scientists are continuing to research fats benefits on the horse’s body, but so far, the results are great. If you would like to find out if fats might be what your horse needs, or if you have any concerns about your horse’s diet, feel free to ask Dr. Lacher, Dr. Bourke or Danielle to come out to help you assess your horse’s diet and needs.

Until next time, may your litter box always be clean, and your food bowl full.

Tony the Cat Checking in,

So in my last blog, I took some time to talk about the basics of horse nutrition. This time, I’d like to talk to you about the fiber needs of horses. Personally, I don’t see why they can’t just eat tuna like us cats, but to each his own I guess. Horses are meant to use fiber as their main form of fuel, which means they need a lot of it in their daily diets. Not only does fiber provide energy, but it also keeps their digestive system functioning properly. Horses need to have at least 50% of their diet in fiber, and will get most of their daily energy needs from that. What’s interesting is that horses can’t actually digest the fiber on their own! The fibers are broken down by intestinal bacteria living in the horses’ digestive tract. The bacteria break down the fiber into Volatile Fatty Acids, which the horse can digest. So where do horses get all of this fiber? Most of your horse’s fiber needs can come from adequate forage throughout the day, but there are also some alternative fibers available in the case of low forage options. Let’s talk a little about what fiber is made of, and then I’ll talk about those fiber options.

Fiber is made of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. If you have ever sharpened your claws on a tree, you’ll know that the bark is pretty hard and rough. That rigid material is the lignin and it cannot be digested by horses, or their gut bacteria. It makes for great claw sharpening though! The digestible fiber materials are the cellulose and some hemicelluloses.  These are found in the leafy parts of plants, and are known as insoluble fibers. Now, because they are insoluble, the bacteria in the gut have to break them down to make the energy horses need. A portion of the fibers won’t be digested though and these still help the horse maintain gut function.

Forage is the best way for a horse to attain the fiber that it needs for energy. As I said before, a horse needs at least 50% of its daily diet to be fiber, which means they need the majority of their diet to be forage if possible. Forage options include pasture grasses, Coastal hay, Timothy, Alfalfa, Peanut hay, and other grass options. These can be fed in a number of forms. Pastures can be free choice, but hays are available in a variety of feeding options including round bales, square bales, cubes and pellets. Young, freshly cut hays are the best options for keeping the horse healthy and providing them with the energy they need. The younger hay is higher in digestible fiber than older or later cut hay. For those that don’t have easy access to pasture or hay there are some other options that can supplement the fiber in a horse’s diet.

One of the most popular and best fiber alternatives is beet pulp. Beet pulp comes in a dehydrated form and is generally soaked in water before fed to the horse, which makes it easier to chew and can help prevent choking. Other options include bran (available in oat or rice options), chaff which is made from oat and barley straw, and Grain hulls. Unfortunately the last few options don’t provide as many of the energy needs as forage or beet pulp would. Chaff and grain hulls are low in energy, and are generally better used for easy keepers who need to be kept busy munching, but who do not need to gain any weight. Some complete feeds are also now being made with higher fiber content by adding forages to the feed. Fiber alternatives are best fed in several smaller meals throughout the day to keep the horse’s gut moving slowly over extended periods of time as it would in a natural grazing environment.

Next week, I’ll be talking about fats and proteins and their place in a horse’s diet. Until then, may your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full.

Tony the Cat Checking in,

So in my last blog, I took some time to talk about the basics of horse nutrition. This time, I’d like to talk to you about the fiber needs of horses. Personally, I don’t see why they can’t just eat tuna like us cats, but to each his own I guess. Horses are meant to use fiber as their main form of fuel, which means they need a lot of it in their daily diets. Not only does fiber provide energy, but it also keeps their digestive system functioning properly. Horses need to have at least 50% of their diet in fiber, and will get most of their daily energy needs from that. What’s interesting is that horses can’t actually digest the fiber on their own! The fibers are broken down by intestinal bacteria living in the horses’ digestive tract. The bacteria break down the fiber into Volatile Fatty Acids, which the horse can digest. So where do horses get all of this fiber? Most of your horse’s fiber needs can come from adequate forage throughout the day, but there are also some alternative fibers available in the case of low forage options. Let’s talk a little about what fiber is made of, and then I’ll talk about those fiber options.

Fiber is made of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. If you have ever sharpened your claws on a tree, you’ll know that the bark is pretty hard and rough. That rigid material is the lignin and it cannot be digested by horses, or their gut bacteria. It makes for great claw sharpening though! The digestible fiber materials are the cellulose and some hemicelluloses.  These are found in the leafy parts of plants, and are known as insoluble fibers. Now, because they are insoluble, the bacteria in the gut have to break them down to make the energy horses need. A portion of the fibers won’t be digested though and these still help the horse maintain gut function.

Forage is the best way for a horse to attain the fiber that it needs for energy. As I said before, a horse needs at least 50% of its daily diet to be fiber, which means they need the majority of their diet to be forage if possible. Forage options include pasture grasses, Coastal hay, Timothy, Alfalfa, Peanut hay, and other grass options. These can be fed in a number of forms. Pastures can be free choice, but hays are available in a variety of feeding options including round bales, square bales, cubes and pellets. Young, freshly cut hays are the best options for keeping the horse healthy and providing them with the energy they need. The younger hay is higher in digestible fiber than older or later cut hay. For those that don’t have easy access to pasture or hay there are some other options that can supplement the fiber in a horse’s diet.

One of the most popular and best fiber alternatives is beet pulp. Beet pulp comes in a dehydrated form and is generally soaked in water before fed to the horse, which makes it easier to chew and can help prevent choking. Other options include bran (available in oat or rice options), chaff which is made from oat and barley straw, and Grain hulls. Unfortunately the last few options don’t provide as many of the energy needs as forage or beet pulp would. Chaff and grain hulls are low in energy, and are generally better used for easy keepers who need to be kept busy munching, but who do not need to gain any weight. Some complete feeds are also now being made with higher fiber content by adding forages to the feed. Fiber alternatives are best fed in several smaller meals throughout the day to keep the horse’s gut moving slowly over extended periods of time as it would in a natural grazing environment.

Next week, I’ll be talking about fats and proteins and their place in a horse’s diet. Until then, may your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full.

Tony the Cat, checking back in again. The girls have been talking a bit about horse nutrition over the past couple of weeks, and I thought you guys might be interested in some of the facts, and what they mean when it comes to feeding your riding buddies. As you probably already know, horses are herbivores; which means their diet consists of plants.  Horses are adapted to eating up to 20 hours a day! I need more cat naps than that. Because they eat so regularly, they are also adapted to eating small amounts of food at one time. The average horse’s stomach holds about 1-3 gallons of food. That’s not very much when you think of how big they are! To make matters even more interesting, horses can’t regurgitate. If they get too full, or they eat something that is toxic to them, it cannot come back up. This can lead to a multitude of problems, including colic and ulcers. Following the stomach is the small intestine. The small intestine is 50-70 feet long, and is where most of the digestion of easily digested nutrients occurs.  The Cecum follows the small intestine, and can hold 7-8 gallons. This is where fiber fermentation begins.  Last but not least is the large colon, which has four parts and which is where most impactions occur. This is where the final stages of fiber digestion occur before the leftovers are sent to the rectum to be disposed of. Horses are technically known as hind gut fermenters; which means they have a simple stomach and most digestion occurs in their intestine, especially the large intestine. They also have no gall bladder, so they generally can’t have a diet high in fats. Fats are digested through the lymph system in horses, and distributed through that system as well.   Now that we’ve covered the basics of the anatomy of a horse’s digestive system, let me go a little more in depth on their requirements.

Mature horses generally require 3.4 megacalories (that’s 34,000 calories) of food per 100kg (1kg = 2.2lb) of body weight. That requirement fluctuates depending on the amount of activity the horse is involved in each day.  An 1100 lb horse will normally require at least 16.4Mcal per day.  The horse’s daily requirements can be as much as doubled depending on how much riding is done. Pleasure horses generally will only have a slightly raised requirement of calories per day. A horse in heavy competition training would need up to double. Around 80% of the calories consumed should be from grazing and roughage. Horses’ diets rely heavily on carbohydrates and fibers found in vegetation. If your horse has limited turn out, then you should ensure he or she is getting plenty of quality hay. Concentrates should be the minority in a horse’s diet. Some fiber alternatives can also be fed when grazing roughage is low. These include beet pulp, and various cubes. Horses get some proteins and fats from their roughage as well, which is again why a plentitude of forages should be supplied.  Forage options besides good pasture include coastal hay, Timothy blends, oat blends, Alfalfa, peanut hay, and various other grasses. Alfalfa is available on its own, but is also one of the more common blends with Timothy grasses and oats. Hays can be obtained through feed stores and directly from growers, and you should search for good quality sources. Hay should be low in dust, relatively dry, with medium long cuts. Alfalfa and blends that include it will be greener and are richer. They should be introduced gradually to ensure the horse’s system can adapt properly. Coastal hays and peanut hay are aged a bit more, and can include some green but will generally take a more yellow huge with age. They tend to be drier and not quite as nutrient dense.

All of this talk of food can sure get a cat’s appetite up, I hear a food bowl calling my name. In next week’s blog, I’ll talk more about fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and their effects on the horse’s body. At the end of this blog series, I’ll also provide a few extra reading sources in case you’d like to study nutrition further. In the meantime, may your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full.