Feeding For Condition

The Perfect Condition

Some horses do not maintain their bodyweight easily and it can prove a real challenge to keep them at an ideal weight. Ideally your horse's ribs should not be visible but they should be easily felt if you run your hand along your horse's side. A common complaint from horse owners is that their horse hasn't got enough top line. This is achieved through the horse working correctly and the correct diet of quality protein which helps to build muscle. When assessing your horse's bodyweight and condition, you need to be clear exactly what you are aiming for. Feeding extra calories so that the horse stores excess fat along his top line is not the same as achieving a well-toned top line. Whatever your objectives, monitoring your horse's weight with a weigh tape will allow you to identify any changes to their weight early, thereby enabling you to take remedial action quickly.

What Causes Weight Loss?

Weight loss can be attributed to a number of factors, some of which are feed related. A key factor to the efficiency with which your horse is able to utilise his feed is the condition of his teeth. If these have sharp edges or are loose or uncomfortable, he may struggle to chew his ration and thus be unable to digest it fully. Poor worming regimes can also cause weight loss regardless of what and how much you are feeding. Equally, stressful environments where the horse is constantly being disturbed, or kept out of sight of other horses, may cause loss of condition. If all these can be eliminated and your horse is still not putting on weight, you may need to review your feeding regime, and consider introducing high fibre, low starch conditioning feeds.

Feeding for Weight Gain

When feeding for weight gain it is important to remember that the horse's stomach is only the size of a rugby ball and works most efficiently when supplied with an almost continuous supply of fibre. For horses that need to gain weight, ad lib forage can be fed. This means that your horse should have unlimited access to fibre such as hay and haylage or a quality hay replacer such as HI-FI SENIOR. For underweight horses it is beneficial to find as good a quality forage as possible as the more nutrients and energy it contributes the less concentrates will be required which is better for the health of the horse's digestive system.

If your horse needs help to maintain his weight then extra feed alongside the forage part of the diet will be required. Dengie advocate feeding fibre first and only if fibre is insufficient to meet the horse's requirements should cereal based feeds be introduced. ALFA-A OIL combines alfalfa with soya oil to create a cereal-free feed with an energy level equivalent to a conditioning mix. Oil and fibre are both slow-release energy sources which should help reduce the risk of over-excitable behaviour. ALFA-A OIL contains added vitamin E, an anti-oxidant that facilitates efficient utilisation of oil.

Winter Problems

When the weather has turned cold, many people like to include some form of sugarbeet in their feed to increase fibre intake and provide a palatable and economical method of maintaining condition. DENGIE ALFA-BEET is particularly good as a conditioning beet as it is a 50:50 blend of alfalfa and sugar beet, all of which is unmolassed. This means that the sugar content is very low making it suitable for laminitics that need help to maintain condition all year round. DENGIE ALFA-BEET is convenient to use, with a 3 hour soak time, and is suitable for almost any horse or pony.

Working Horses

Horses that are working hard over the winter may need more energy to support their work, whilst still maintaining weight. Awareness has increased about the importance of fibre in the diet recently, hence the introduction of the DENGIE FIBREMIX range. DENGIE FIBREMIX EXTRA is a medium energy coarse mix, which uses alfalfa as a base to provide a quality source of fibre. Due to the high oil inclusion from linseed and soya, FIBREMIX EXTRA is excellent both as a mix to provide working horses with additional energy but not the fizz, and also to help keep condition on poor do-ers. The inclusion of Yea-Sacc1026 means that overall utilisation of feed is increased, which in turn helps to further maintain condition.

Supplements to Aid Digestion

By including a yeast-based supplement in your horse's ration, you are helping to maximise their ability to efficiently digest feed. DENGIE NATURAL VITALITY DIGESTIVE HEALTH is a live yeast culture (with Yea-Sacc1026) which optimises the environment in the hind gut. This allows the natural bacteria and micro-organisms present to digest fibre more efficiently, thereby helping to maintain condition by increasing the feed value of any fibre based feeds. Yea-Sacc1026 has been passed by the EU as an approved feedstuff for horses. This required a large dossier of research to be submitted to prove safety, efficacy and consistent quality.  You should always check on the back of any digestive supplements containing live yeast that their use has been passed by the EU for horses.

Dengie Natural Vitality Digestive Health Plus is a three phase synbiotic supplement which can be fed all year round at a maintenance dose for increased feed utilisation and to reduce the risk of digestive disturbances. Alternatively, it can be fed for 7-10 days at a concentrated dose during times of high stress such as competition and travel, or during and after dietary changes or colic. Research shows that Dengie Natural Vitality Digestive Health Plus increases fibre digestion above the effect of yeast alone, and so is ideal for poor do-ers or those needing weight gain. The added advantage of good palatability makes
Natural Vitality Digestive Health Plus suitable for fussy or picky eaters.

Top 'Feeding for Condition' Tips

  • Feed little and often: choose high fibre,
  • non-heating feeds
  • Ensure hay or haylage is of good quality ie sweet smelling, free of dust/mould spores
  • Try to allow ad-lib access to a forage source, eg hay or haylage, especially when stabled
  • Feed a yeast culture to encourage efficient fibre digestion in the hind-gut
  • Make sure vitamin and mineral requirements are being met. If necessary 'top-up'with a broad spectrum supplement eg Dengie Natural Vitality Leisure Vits & Mins or Natural Vitality Performance Vits & Mins.

Dengie offers a full technical support service including ration evaluation, nutritional advice and individual yard consultations by their equine nutritionists, Katie Lugsden M.Sc. (Dist) B.Sc. (Hons), Claire Akers B.Sc. (Hons) and Tracey Hammond B.Sc. (Hons).  Call now on 0845 345 5115 to arrange a visit.  Please note we usually ask for a yard visit to include 5+ horses in one location.