fattylumpkin
Well-Known Member
Debsflo posted a great thread of horses and energy sources, and I wanted to post something a bit more extensive that the easy-doer & native fat/weightloss guides don't necessarily cover, and what the feed companies don't think you need to know.
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Food and basic energy sources:
Carbohydrates: both an immediate and storable source of energy whether it comes in sugar form (sweets, treats, fruits) or starch form (grass, hay, potato, rice, pasta.) Sugars are short chain molecules that break down and raise blood sugars swiftly to give immediate effect. Starches are long chain molecules that are broken down much more slowly and stored as glycogen in the muscles, ready to be used when needed, and don't have the same impact on blood sugar level. The majority of a horse's diet is meant to be made up of slow starches which come from forage.
Fats: a slow release energy form which is broken down by the body after the sugars and starch have been taken care of. Humans can take about half their energy from fatty acids, horses can tolerate up to 20%, but utilize far far less, around 1.5% is their need. The rest is stored in fat cells in the body and released whenever the body feels that its energy needs are high and not being met, or during low energy activity that doesn't require the glucose provided by carbohydrates. In both humans and horses, far too much fat in the diet is excreted.
Proteins: protein is prioritised last, which means that it is the last to be utilized after the carbs and fats have either been used or stored. Protein is essential because it repairs and renews body tissues, but can be used for energy if there's a shortage of the more efficient energy sources - carbohydrates and fats. In this case, the body will break protein down into whatever closest resembles either glucose or fatty acids, and this process takes the longest amount of time, and is an enduring energy source, but insufficient on its own. The breakdown of protein into energy is also messy, and creates a lot of waste products like nitrogen and ammonia which the liver and kidneys have to take care of. It's better if there's enough protein in the diet to repair and care for body tissues, and not a huge amount left over to be turned into energy. In horses, who have difficulty storing protein and are much less tolerate of high levels of sugars and protein in their diet than humans, an excess has been shown to cause insulin and metabolism issues.
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Easy-doers and natives: the protein requirement we're often given for the average horse in only light work is about 10%. Protein needs are subject to workload, age, and many other factors such as pregnancy. But natives are genetic slow burners, their behaviours and physical makeup are designed to both extract as much energy from their food sources as possible and then burn as little of it as possible. Simply put, they are too efficient at storing energy now that so few of them have an 8-hour workload each day. A native horse needs 1.5-2% of their bodyweight in forage to make up their daily needs comfortably and have some left over for work (that goes for both the energy need and the need to spend time chewing) but typically, it's common that natives aren't rationed in this fashion and consume a much higher figure, even double their bodily needs if grass, hay, and hard feed is combined in their diets each day. Even a handful of muesli or other feed packs a significant punch in the diet of a native.
After a lot of reading, my belief is that an adult native horse has a lower tolerance of excess sugars and proteins than the average horse, and an excess of either is going to cause problems, primarily metabolic ones.
Forage ratios for natives & easy-doers
1% or 1kg dry matter/forage per 100kg bodyweight is the minimum dietary requirement of the horse. For a 500kg horse that's 5kg dry matter per day, the absolute minimum daily intake required. However, grass, haylage, and even hay has a certain amount of moisture left in it, so this needs to be adjusted for. Grass is anywhere between 50-80% dry matter (50-20% water content) while hay is usually at 85% dry matter (15% water content) and haylage usually 65% dry matter (35% water content) so if the horse weighs 500kg, and needs minimum 5kg dry matter per day, divide the need by the water content of the forage you're feeding. For example, haylege with 60% dry matter content would be 5kg/0.60=8.33kg, and 55% dry matter content would be 5kg/0.55=9.09kg, so you would need to feed 9kg of haylage to make up the 5kg minimum dry matter need of the horse with a very wet haylage.
Personally I think 1% is way too restrictive for any horse, so here are some quick sums on what forage weights to aim for:
1.5% hay with a dry matter content of 85% per 500kg horse = 7.5kg/0.85= 8.8kg hay per day
1.5% haylage with a dry matter content of 65% per 500kg horse = 7.5kg/0.65= 11.5kg per day
2% hay with a dry matter content of 85% per 500kg horse = 10kg/0.85= 11.76kg hay per day, a good intake to aim at for a native in light-medium work.
2% haylage with a dry matter content of 65% per 500kg horse = 10kg/0.65= 15.38kg of haylage fed per day. That's a lot of happy chew time for the horse.
Measuring protein intake of forage as per need:
You'll ideally need a forage analysis to work this one out, as protein content can vary a lot. But I'll take some averages which are common for forages in Sweden, and I hear that they are roughly equivalent to the UK too.
% crude protein per kg forage:
Grass meadow for horses: 8-10%
Timothy: 9-10%
Lucerne: 15%
Ryegrass: 20%
Alfalfa - 20-21%
If an adult horse is fed a 1% diet (1kg forage/100kg bodyweight) they would need no less than 10% crude protein per kg to reach their daily protein needs of 0.60g of protein per 100kg of bodyweight. However, they should ideally be fed 2% of their bodyweight in forage when in work, ie. double the amount, so the basic protein need is more than being met by timothy. Unless there's some additional factor, for example you're riding more than 6 hours a week, your horse is pregnant, young and growing, or significantly elderly, your native really doesn't need any extra protein, just the right quality of forage.
Grass and the native?
The water content of grass can be very high, up to 50% or as low as 20% in hot dry weather. The native still needs an average of 1.5-2% dry matter per day, but the water content of the grass means that they could need as little as 9.375kg of summer[/] grass with low water content, or as much as 20kg of spring/winter grass with a very high water content! That's a huge variance, which means that it can be difficult to work out exactly how much your horse is really getting nutrition-wise, combined with the fact a horse's individual personality and habits mean they can spend different amounts of time eating when in the field. The presence of a significant amount of clover in the field, or ryegrass, adds yet another variable that is difficult to measure, especially given that horses will seek out tender ryegrasses and ignore the dry fibrous stuff if they can, and they're good at it. The use of grass muzzles are also not my favourite thing, since it's already difficult to calculate how much grass a horse will intake during their time at grass, and all horses react different to the addition of a muzzle, can become frustrated, find it difficult to eat, etc. Lifestyle is another factor that needs to be addressed. A native who spends 10 hours a day out at grass who then comes in to a stable at night to a lovely haynet (4kg in a regular haynet would be required to keep them chewing most of the night) and bowl of alfalfa/feed/supplements is going to be a much harder prospect to manage than one who is dry lotted and fed a strictly rationed amount of forage per day. And we didn't even covers sugar levels!
I'm painting a negative picture of grass overall, but that's not my intention. I actually like and prefer to keep my horse at grass when I can, it's a wonderful social activity which she greatly enjoys, but the risks and complications needed to be mentioned here.
Natives and their wellbeing - the TL;DR version
We owe it to our easy-doers and natives to put their needs first, and this means that conversely, we have to be 'cruel' to be kind. By cruel I mean no treats, no extra alfalfa or lucerne, no muesli, no carrots (okay, just one) and absolutely no grains feeds. It means working them when the weather is frankly s*** and it makes you both miserable. It means not indulging in rugs during winter just to satisfy general opinion or peer pressure, or balancing the need to clip vs. not clip, and then still having idiots pester you about your 'poor freezing pony.' It means weighing haynets down to the last hundred grams, and inevitably having to ignore sad puppy eyes when your native inhales their 2kg breakfast and knows there will be no more before lunch at midday. It means confronting those kindly do-gooders who take pity on them and decide to throw a few flakes of hay into the paddock without your knowledge or permission because 'poor souls, they looked hungry.' It can mean restricted grazing, or time spent in a dry lot with only a few companions.
All of this, wretched as it may seem, is better than the alternative. And to be honest, the more of us who buck the trends, who ignore the siren calls of feed manufacturers, the more knowledgeable the community will become as a whole.
I hope this has been useful
I know many here at H&H already have this stuff down by rote, but it's extremely rare I find a clear article with the native/easy-doers needs in mind, so I wanted to share my thoughts and what I have learned. Anything I've missed, please add!
-----
Food and basic energy sources:
Carbohydrates: both an immediate and storable source of energy whether it comes in sugar form (sweets, treats, fruits) or starch form (grass, hay, potato, rice, pasta.) Sugars are short chain molecules that break down and raise blood sugars swiftly to give immediate effect. Starches are long chain molecules that are broken down much more slowly and stored as glycogen in the muscles, ready to be used when needed, and don't have the same impact on blood sugar level. The majority of a horse's diet is meant to be made up of slow starches which come from forage.
Fats: a slow release energy form which is broken down by the body after the sugars and starch have been taken care of. Humans can take about half their energy from fatty acids, horses can tolerate up to 20%, but utilize far far less, around 1.5% is their need. The rest is stored in fat cells in the body and released whenever the body feels that its energy needs are high and not being met, or during low energy activity that doesn't require the glucose provided by carbohydrates. In both humans and horses, far too much fat in the diet is excreted.
Proteins: protein is prioritised last, which means that it is the last to be utilized after the carbs and fats have either been used or stored. Protein is essential because it repairs and renews body tissues, but can be used for energy if there's a shortage of the more efficient energy sources - carbohydrates and fats. In this case, the body will break protein down into whatever closest resembles either glucose or fatty acids, and this process takes the longest amount of time, and is an enduring energy source, but insufficient on its own. The breakdown of protein into energy is also messy, and creates a lot of waste products like nitrogen and ammonia which the liver and kidneys have to take care of. It's better if there's enough protein in the diet to repair and care for body tissues, and not a huge amount left over to be turned into energy. In horses, who have difficulty storing protein and are much less tolerate of high levels of sugars and protein in their diet than humans, an excess has been shown to cause insulin and metabolism issues.
-------
Easy-doers and natives: the protein requirement we're often given for the average horse in only light work is about 10%. Protein needs are subject to workload, age, and many other factors such as pregnancy. But natives are genetic slow burners, their behaviours and physical makeup are designed to both extract as much energy from their food sources as possible and then burn as little of it as possible. Simply put, they are too efficient at storing energy now that so few of them have an 8-hour workload each day. A native horse needs 1.5-2% of their bodyweight in forage to make up their daily needs comfortably and have some left over for work (that goes for both the energy need and the need to spend time chewing) but typically, it's common that natives aren't rationed in this fashion and consume a much higher figure, even double their bodily needs if grass, hay, and hard feed is combined in their diets each day. Even a handful of muesli or other feed packs a significant punch in the diet of a native.
After a lot of reading, my belief is that an adult native horse has a lower tolerance of excess sugars and proteins than the average horse, and an excess of either is going to cause problems, primarily metabolic ones.
Forage ratios for natives & easy-doers
1% or 1kg dry matter/forage per 100kg bodyweight is the minimum dietary requirement of the horse. For a 500kg horse that's 5kg dry matter per day, the absolute minimum daily intake required. However, grass, haylage, and even hay has a certain amount of moisture left in it, so this needs to be adjusted for. Grass is anywhere between 50-80% dry matter (50-20% water content) while hay is usually at 85% dry matter (15% water content) and haylage usually 65% dry matter (35% water content) so if the horse weighs 500kg, and needs minimum 5kg dry matter per day, divide the need by the water content of the forage you're feeding. For example, haylege with 60% dry matter content would be 5kg/0.60=8.33kg, and 55% dry matter content would be 5kg/0.55=9.09kg, so you would need to feed 9kg of haylage to make up the 5kg minimum dry matter need of the horse with a very wet haylage.
Personally I think 1% is way too restrictive for any horse, so here are some quick sums on what forage weights to aim for:
1.5% hay with a dry matter content of 85% per 500kg horse = 7.5kg/0.85= 8.8kg hay per day
1.5% haylage with a dry matter content of 65% per 500kg horse = 7.5kg/0.65= 11.5kg per day
2% hay with a dry matter content of 85% per 500kg horse = 10kg/0.85= 11.76kg hay per day, a good intake to aim at for a native in light-medium work.
2% haylage with a dry matter content of 65% per 500kg horse = 10kg/0.65= 15.38kg of haylage fed per day. That's a lot of happy chew time for the horse.
Measuring protein intake of forage as per need:
You'll ideally need a forage analysis to work this one out, as protein content can vary a lot. But I'll take some averages which are common for forages in Sweden, and I hear that they are roughly equivalent to the UK too.
% crude protein per kg forage:
Grass meadow for horses: 8-10%
Timothy: 9-10%
Lucerne: 15%
Ryegrass: 20%
Alfalfa - 20-21%
If an adult horse is fed a 1% diet (1kg forage/100kg bodyweight) they would need no less than 10% crude protein per kg to reach their daily protein needs of 0.60g of protein per 100kg of bodyweight. However, they should ideally be fed 2% of their bodyweight in forage when in work, ie. double the amount, so the basic protein need is more than being met by timothy. Unless there's some additional factor, for example you're riding more than 6 hours a week, your horse is pregnant, young and growing, or significantly elderly, your native really doesn't need any extra protein, just the right quality of forage.
Grass and the native?
The water content of grass can be very high, up to 50% or as low as 20% in hot dry weather. The native still needs an average of 1.5-2% dry matter per day, but the water content of the grass means that they could need as little as 9.375kg of summer[/] grass with low water content, or as much as 20kg of spring/winter grass with a very high water content! That's a huge variance, which means that it can be difficult to work out exactly how much your horse is really getting nutrition-wise, combined with the fact a horse's individual personality and habits mean they can spend different amounts of time eating when in the field. The presence of a significant amount of clover in the field, or ryegrass, adds yet another variable that is difficult to measure, especially given that horses will seek out tender ryegrasses and ignore the dry fibrous stuff if they can, and they're good at it. The use of grass muzzles are also not my favourite thing, since it's already difficult to calculate how much grass a horse will intake during their time at grass, and all horses react different to the addition of a muzzle, can become frustrated, find it difficult to eat, etc. Lifestyle is another factor that needs to be addressed. A native who spends 10 hours a day out at grass who then comes in to a stable at night to a lovely haynet (4kg in a regular haynet would be required to keep them chewing most of the night) and bowl of alfalfa/feed/supplements is going to be a much harder prospect to manage than one who is dry lotted and fed a strictly rationed amount of forage per day. And we didn't even covers sugar levels!
I'm painting a negative picture of grass overall, but that's not my intention. I actually like and prefer to keep my horse at grass when I can, it's a wonderful social activity which she greatly enjoys, but the risks and complications needed to be mentioned here.
Natives and their wellbeing - the TL;DR version
We owe it to our easy-doers and natives to put their needs first, and this means that conversely, we have to be 'cruel' to be kind. By cruel I mean no treats, no extra alfalfa or lucerne, no muesli, no carrots (okay, just one) and absolutely no grains feeds. It means working them when the weather is frankly s*** and it makes you both miserable. It means not indulging in rugs during winter just to satisfy general opinion or peer pressure, or balancing the need to clip vs. not clip, and then still having idiots pester you about your 'poor freezing pony.' It means weighing haynets down to the last hundred grams, and inevitably having to ignore sad puppy eyes when your native inhales their 2kg breakfast and knows there will be no more before lunch at midday. It means confronting those kindly do-gooders who take pity on them and decide to throw a few flakes of hay into the paddock without your knowledge or permission because 'poor souls, they looked hungry.' It can mean restricted grazing, or time spent in a dry lot with only a few companions.
All of this, wretched as it may seem, is better than the alternative. And to be honest, the more of us who buck the trends, who ignore the siren calls of feed manufacturers, the more knowledgeable the community will become as a whole.
I hope this has been useful
I know many here at H&H already have this stuff down by rote, but it's extremely rare I find a clear article with the native/easy-doers needs in mind, so I wanted to share my thoughts and what I have learned. Anything I've missed, please add!
Tongue in cheek, but it works for me!