Worried about your horse’s weight gain this spring? Here are some top tips... *Promotion*

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With the arrival of spring, longer days and warmer weather means that grass begins to grow more rapidly and horses and ponies with unrestricted access to grass often gain weight. If you have a good doer now’s the time to put damage limitation measures in place to stop the year-on-year weight gain that can ultimately lead to equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and laminitis.

How can I tell if my horse is overweight?

Assessing your horse’s level of fat cover and comparing it to a body condition scoring (fat scoring) scale is recommended to try and help make the process objective. At Dengie we use the 0-5 scale which is simple to use as it divides the horse’s body into 3 areas, the neck, middle and bottom. A score above 3, means that your horse is overweight or obese, and action should be taken to encourage weight loss.

When body condition (fat) scoring your horse, you are feeling for the level of fat cover under the skin that is covering the skeleton. You then combine this with the overall impression of your horse to determine the fat score. One key area used for fat scoring is the horse’s ribs. If you apply a light pressure, you should easily be able to feel the ribs of a horse that is at a healthy weight. In a horse that is starting to become overweight you will have to apply more pressure to be able to feel the ribs. The fat over the ribs tends to feel quite spongy and you may also start to see pads of fat over the rib cage.

Why should I act on fat?

Whilst not all overweight horses and ponies will go on to develop laminitis, there is a link between obesity and increased laminitis risk which is arguably the most serious consequence of obesity. Not only that but being overweight can put significant stress and strain on your horse’s joints and respiratory system. Even if your horse has never had laminitis, now’s the time to act. Too many people don’t take action until their horse or pony tips into having laminitis and by that time the serious damage is done.

Taking action

Whilst the adage of less energy in and more energy out to achieve weight loss seems very simple, when it comes to putting it in to practice, achieving weight loss is challenging. It is important that you find management techniques that are most suited to your horse or pony but are also practical for you to implement for successful long-term weight management.

Grass – a big part of the obesity issue

The most significant source of energy in the diet of a horse that spends some or all of its time in the paddock is grass. In practice it is very challenging to estimate how much grass is being consumed and not only that but some measures that have historically been used to reduce grass intake such as restricting the number of hours at grass can change our horse’s behaviour so that they are driven to eat more in a shorter amount of time. For this reason, limiting time at grass as the only measure is not recommended as an effective tool for weight management.

Research has identified that strip grazing and the use of grazing muzzles are effective measures for restricting grass access in the good doer or overweight horse. Grazing muzzles can be particularly useful in situations where you don’t have alternative grazing options. Additional measures for grass restriction include the use of track systems, or where the greatest degree of restriction is required, removal from the paddock to a grass-free area.

Forage – select the right forage for your horse

When limiting your horse’s grass access invariably the reliance on conserved forage like hay and haylage increases. If fed to appetite these forages can still provide more energy than the horse in light work needs. Whilst some restriction of the amount of forage fed may be required to encourage weight loss, first and foremost we should focus on using the lowest calorie forage available. This means we can feed more without promoting weight gain and helping to satisfy your horse’s need to chew which has benefits for digestive health too.

At minimum all horses and ponies should have access to 1.5% of their bodyweight on a dry matter basis daily. This equates to 7.5kg dry matter or 8.8kg of hay as fed (assuming 85% dry matter).

In the UK our forage choice is between haylage, hay and straw. Haylage tends to be the most digestible and therefore most calorific option as the grass is cut at an earlier botanical age. Hay sits between haylage and straw in its digestibility and therefore calorie level. One advantage of hay is that it can be soaked in water to encourage the loss of water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) further reducing its energy and sugar level. Straw is the lowest calorie option as it is cut when the plant is mature, and it also contains a larger amount of lignin which is indigestible to the horse. When using typical energy values for straw and average hay, replacing 50% of hay with straw can reduce energy intake by around 20%. If straw replaces even higher energy value forages like haylage the reduction in energy intake can be even greater.

Some people are reluctant to try straw in their forage ration as they have heard that it increases the risk of impaction colic and gastric ulcers. Whilst we do need to be aware of colic risk, the biggest risk is from sudden dietary change, or from a horse that is unable to chew efficiently. If you want to try straw as part of your horse’s forage ration the key advice is that your horse must have good dentition, and that straw must be introduced gradually to the feeding regime.

Research by Jansson et al (2021) has shown that feeding up to 50% of the forage ration as straw is acceptable and doesn’t increase the risk of ulcers. They also found in this study that the use of straw slowed the rate of eating so significantly that the insulinemic response was negligible. This is particularly beneficial for those that have EMS and are laminitis prone, further supporting the use of straw for laminitis and weight management.

Whilst using straw and soaking hay are very useful methods to aid weight control and help to manage laminitis risk, unfortunately there are times when they aren’t a practical option. Lack of availability or poor hygienic quality of straw is common, and some yards do not permit hay soaking. This is where products like Dengie Hi-Fi Lite and Meadow Lite with Herbs can be a more practical alternative.

Hi-Fi Lite combines chopped alfalfa and straw with a light molasses coating. At 7.5MJ/kg DE, Hi-Fi Lite is a low-calorie feed and is a great option to replace forage as it provides more chew time for less calories and sugar than typical UK hay.

Dengie Meadow Lite with Herbs is Dengie’s lowest calorie fibre feed at only 5MJ/kg Digestible Energy. Dengie Meadow Lite with Herbs combines chopped straw and grasses with pea hull fibre, a rapeseed and linseed oil coating, cinnamon, thyme and postbiotics. Meadow Lite with Herbs is low in sugar and starch at 3% and 0.5% respectively making it suitable for those that are laminitis prone and watching their weight.

Once gradually introduced to the diet, Hi-Fi Lite or Meadow Lite with Herbs can be used as a total forage replacer if required. Simply leave in multiple large buckets for your horse to munch on as and when to help increase foraging time.

Energy deficit not nutrient deficit

UK pasture and conserved forage commonly lack the trace minerals copper, selenium, and zinc and although these are only required in small amounts, their importance shouldn’t be underestimated as they are vital for many functions in the body. Whilst the consequences of deficiency may not always be immediately obvious, poor skin, coat, and hoof condition are some of the signs we may see from the outside.

If your horse is on restricted grazing and receiving soaked forages and/or straw in a bid to manage spring weight gain, then nutritional deficiencies can become even more significant. To compensate for nutritional deficiencies in pasture, or from weight management regimes, we can add these nutrients via the bucket feed to ensure our horse gets what they need.

The all-in-one option

Feeds fortified with added vitamins and minerals will provide your horse with a balanced diet if fed at the recommended daily quantity so no additional supplements or balancers are required alongside.

An example of a fibre-based, low calorie feed with added vitamins and minerals is Dengie Healthy Hooves Molasses Free which combines chopped and pelleted alfalfa and straw with a light rapeseed oil coating, vitamins, minerals, MSM, and garlic and supplies 8.5MJ/kg Digestible Energy (DE). Healthy Hooves Molasses Free is suitable for those prone to laminitis and supplies biotin at a level to support hoof quality and MSM for additional hoof, skin, and coat condition as well as joint support.

Keeping it flexible

Using a supplement or balancer alongside a low-calorie fibre feed allows you to adjust your fibre feeding quantities whilst maintaining a balanced ration. When feeding a balancer adding a chopped fibre feed slows the rate of intake, which is particularly beneficial for those with EMS who are laminitis prone. Low energy fibre feeds can also be used to supplement or replace higher calorie forages.

Hi-Fi Molasses Free combines chopped and pelleted alfalfa and straw with a light rapeseed oil coating, mint, and fenugreek. At 8.5MJ/kg DE and only 2.5% sugar and 1.5% starch Hi-Fi Molasses Free is one of Denige’s lowest energy, sugar and starch feeds combined making it very appropriate for those that are laminitis prone and watching their weight.

For more information or if you would like the Dengie nutrition team to review your horse’s diet and help you select the most appropriate feed, get in touch by calling 01621 841 188 or by completing an online feed advice form.

References: Jansson, A., Harris, P., Davey, S.L., Luthersson, N., Ragnarsson, S., Ringmark, S. (2021) Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses—Effects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration. Animals 2021, 11, 2197. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082197