Why feeding the individual horse is best

When we have had a particular type of horse for some time, who has needed a particular type of management and/or diet, it can be easy to get stuck in that way and try to apply this to every horse. But, this is not good feeding. Good nutrition and feeding means approaching every horse and pony (or donkey, or mule) as an individual.

An example of a particular type of diet is the low calorie, low NSC (sugar, starch, grass fructan) feeding regime which would be necessary for a native or native cross, PRE, or quarter horse/stock horse who is a good doer and would be prone to obesity and laminitis without a carefully controlled diet. This type of diet, however, would not be suitable for a horse with higher energy and protein requirements.

Feed the horse in front of you

I have worked with several owners with horses who were not good doers, trying to maintain them on the low calorie, low NSC diet that was necessary for a previous horse, but which did not meet their requirements. These horses were too thin, they lacked muscle, did not have the energy for exercise and generally were not thriving.   

It can be daunting to have to give a significant amount of feed that you haven’t had to in the past, but sometimes it is necessary to meet a horse’s nutrient requirements. Furthermore, there are many good concentrate feeds available nowadays which do not oversupply starch, and supply much of their energy from digestible fibre and oil (look out for feeds made for horses prone to gastric ulcers or tying up).

Some owners have become worried about feeding anything but a low calorie diet under 10 or 12% NSC (sugar, fructan and starch) but the point is that this type of diet is correct for horses and ponies who are of the following types:

·         good doers prone to putting on weight

·         overweight horses and ponies (especially if obese)

·         EMS (equine metabolic syndrome ie laminitis, insulin dysregulation (ID))

·         Natives in little or no work (genetically have a higher risk of ID)

·         Laminitis-prone

·         PPID (Cushing's syndrome)

But not suitable for these types:

·         horses in hard work e.g. endurance 50 miles +, eventing Novice +, racehorses, polo ponies in hard work, horses hunting regularly, hard-working stock horses

·         poor doers, especially over winter (horses prone to losing weight and condition)

·         broodmares who are not good doers

·         young growing horses on relatively poor forage

Another scenario I have come across is where a horse has not received adequate forage over winter and lost a significant amount of weight. The owner then feeds the horse a significant amount of concentrate bucket feed the following winter, assuming the horse is a poor doer. The horse then becomes overweight and obese. The owner did not take into account that the following winter they were in a different livery yard, where forage was given out in the pasture, and the horse had ad lib access.

Horses do not read textbooks!

Whilst published dietary requirements for horses do exist and they can be useful to predict what a horse will need in terms of forage and concentrate feed, in reality, the result might be quite different from what was planned or predicted. This is where the ‘art’ of feeding comes in; the ability to observe and measure the horse in front of you, to adapt and adjust their diet to fit them. This applies to all nutrients but particularly to energy intake, and the type of feeds used to supply the energy.

Monitoring the individual horse or pony in terms of their general health, their body condition (body fat level), their behaviour and attitude and their performance (if they are worked) will give you the information you need to adjust their diet appropriately.

We can have better success with our horse’s health, wellbeing and performance if we feed and manage them as an individual and not just in the way we’ve always done with others.