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Horse Nutrition
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The inclusion of oil and fat in the horses’ diets has been a common practice for over 20 years. Their main benefit are energy supply and improved digestive transit. But they also provide essential fatty acids, increased absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, reduced caloric gain, increased energy efficiency and reduced dust in the feed ration, helping to prevent upper respiratory tract diseases. In sport horses, increased energy requirements are one of the most noticeable effects of...
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Bermudagrasses are one of the most important grasses used in the U.S. for horse grazing and hay feeding. Despite the abundant research on these grasses and their popularity among producers in the cattle livestock industry, there are many myths surrounding their use as horse feed. This publication will present the general facts and characteristics of bermudagrass. It will provide the distribution (acreage), botanical description, forage production and quality comparisons for Coastal and...
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Compared to other classes of livestock, there seems to be more myths and wives' tales when it comes to feeding horses. Many of these myths are long-held "traditions" that have been passed down unquestioned from horseman to horseman. Some myths are based on fear of causing harm to the horse. Other myths stem from lack of understanding of either the feed or how the horse may digest it. Over the past 30 years, many of the myths and wives' tales associated with the feeding of horses...
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We used a commercial product that caused massive amounts of calcium carbonate calculi in the horses' small and large intestines, and cecum. On necropsy, the gut looked like the horse had eaten a sack of Quikcrete. Eight horses died, 2 went to surgery and survived, but had copious amounts of these gravel looking stones that had to be laved out . Everyone we have talked to is totally stumped on how this occurs in the horses digestive tract. Our water and gay has...
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Introduction Equines evolved primarily as grazers, consuming grass and grass-like species as the major components of the diet (Hubbard and Hanson, 1976; Salter and Hudson, 1979; Waring, 1983). Whilst consuming this natural diet, the majority of energy was obtained through bacterial fermentation of plant materials in the enlarged caecum and colon (Frape, 1998; Leek, 1993). As horses were domesticated and used for work and sport, however, cereal grains were incorporated into...
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Following the success ofAberystwythUniversity’s inaugural farming app, farmGRAZE, earlier this year, a second app has now been launched on iTunes which is aimed at the equine sector.
horseRATION is the first app to be aimed specifically at equine nutrition and allows the user to accurately calculate the amount of feed their horse needs.
Taking into account weight, workload, body...
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Humans suffering from ulcers are often aware that this condition is either caused by the food they eat or their working conditions, these circumstances are similar to horses which develop Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS). Horses are very sensitive to physical as well as psychical stress impacts, such as intensive training, races, changes in feeding or environment. Other strong psychological factors, such as shipping and relocation, can be stressful to the horses. ...
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Insulin resistance in horses is a complex pathophysiological condition that appears to underlie several chronic conditions often encompassed by the term "equine metabolic syndrome", including laminitis, obesity and hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (Geor and Frank, 2009). There is much interest in the effect of insulin on bone metabolism, as the skeleton is increasingly regarded as an endocrine organ that affects energy metabolism and has a role, through...
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Insulin resistance is becoming more prevalent among horses worldwide and is associated with a range of metabolic disturbances (Geor and Frank, 2009). Nutrition has a major impact on insulin kinetics and metabolism (Schmidt and Hickey, 2009), but most research has concentrated on the effect of dietary carbohydrate on insulin metabolism and much less emphasis has been placed on the effects of dietary protein and fat (Geor and Frank, 2009; Schmidt and Hickey, 2009)....
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Nutrition consultants have been a fact of life in the dairy and beef feedlot sectors of animal agriculture for a long time. In those enterprises where profit margins are slim and production response to feed formulation is measurable, consultants have more than been able to justify their fees by showing increases in the milk tank or increases in amount and efficiency of gain. Putting a number on the value of nutrition in general and specifically on the value of nutritional...
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Significant micronutrient deficiencies have historically been described in humans with particular diseases and although less prevalent, clinical signs of deficiency have also been reported in the horse (Lewis, 1995). However, recently more subtle associations between certain micronutrients and maintenance of health and performance have been alluded to. Research into the role of antioxidants, which are often directly or indirectly supplied in the diet, is a growth area in human nutrition and...
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Many people use a visual inspection to get a good idea of the quality of hay they have. There are many different things that one needs to pay attention to when visually inspecting the quality of hay. The first thing you need to check is the type of hay, for example alfalfa, grass, etc. This can tell a lot about the nutritional value of the hay. Legumes (alfalfa, clovers, lespedeza etc) have rounded or pinnate leaves and are higher in protein and minerals than...
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"Easy Keepers" are horses that will maintain or even gain weight under conditions where other horses will lose weight. They are often considered a pleasure to own because they need less feed to maintain an appropriate body condition; however, these horses can easily become obese, which leads to other potentially life-threatening conditions. The challenge becomes meeting their nutritional needs in protein, vitamins, and minerals, without over-feeding...
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Florida has an estimated 500,000 horses, third only to Texas and California as one of the leading horse states in the U.S. The predominant breed of horse in the Florida is the American Quarter horse, which is closely tied to the state's agricultural industry. Horses have traditionally been used for herding cattle, but recent increases in horse population in Florida is mostly attributable to increasing popularity of pleasure horses, including miniature-type...
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Horses are non‐ruminant herbivores designed to utilize forages as the primary component of their diet. They have a non-compartmentalized simple stomach and an enlarged hindgut that accommodates fiber digestion. When fresh forages are unavailable, or when horses are confined to stalls or dry lots, conserved forages (hay) may be fed to meet their nutritional needs. Equine nutritional needs are based on requirements for digestible energy, and the six major classes of nutrients;...
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Not all horses need grain. However, there are times when a horse needs additional nutrients or energy beyond what a daily supply of hay can provide. Deciding on what type of grain, feed, or nutritional supplements to buy can be confusing. The decision can be easier by learning how to interpret the feed tag or label on the bag.
By law, certain information must be on the feed tag. Reviewing the product's name and product's purpose statement is a good starting point for making a...
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Most Universities and equine nutritionists are encouraging horse owners to have their hay analyzed, especially if the quality of hay is a concern, or the horse is having nutritional problems. However, most horse owners need help interpreting the results of their analysis.
When your sample is returned, there will be two columns of numbers; As Sampled and Dry Matter. As sampled reports nutrient in their natural state, including water. Dry matter reports nutrients with the water...
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Mare's colostrum (first milk) is a rich source of antibodies that protect the foal from infection until the foal's immune system is fully developed. Unlike humans, horses do not receive any antibodies through the placenta prior to birth and therefore are dependent on colostrum. Absorption of colostrum from the foal's gastro‐intestinal tract peaks within 6 to 12 hours after birth. By 18 to 24 hours of age, absorption is minimal. In general a, 100 pound foal requires a minimum of 2 to 3...
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While yeast products have been around for many years being added quite regularly to beef, dairy and poultry feed, it is only recently that the use of yeast culture has been considered for addition to horse feeds.
What is yeast culture? Yeast culture by definition is the dried product composed of yeast, and the media it was grown on, dried in such a manner as to preserve the fermenting activity of the yeast.
The benefit of the yeast culture comes from the metabolites produced...
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Distiller's grains have become a staple in some bovine diets, but a Kansas State University researcher is not recommending that they be used in horse rations.
"People have asked 'can I feed dried or wet distiller's grains with soluble (DDGS) to my horses?'" said Teresa Slough, equine nutrition specialist with K-State Research and Extension.
Given the information researchers have so far, Slough said she would not recommend feeding DDGS to horses.
There has...
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