Page 110 - Barrel Stallion Register 2023

VETERINARY VIEWS
Even with these practices, for horses in dry lot living situations, routine feeding of
a psyllium-based product fed helps move sand through a horse’s digestive tract. Access to free-choice hay (when possible) is an excellent means of moving sand and dirt through the intestines while also giving a horse something to occupy his time and satisfy the need to chew.
RELIEVING BOREDOM
In a natural setting, horses spend intermittent periods grazing throughout the day. Without that option, and for horses
not able to access free choice hay due to obesity issues, boredom can create significant management issues. “Slow feeder” hay nets
or mangers help solve this problem. Not all horses are interested in playing with toys,
but they all like to eat and slow feeders make a horse work a little harder for their forage, keeping them occupied for a good while longer than if fed loose hay.
Another practical solution for feeding a herd of horses in a dry lot is to spread hay piles around the area. This helps prevent dominant horses from interfering with eating by subordinate herd members. It also encourages horses to move from pile to pile to get a little bit of exercise.
ENSURING PROPER NUTRIENT INTAKE
Feeding a mature adult horse 2% of its
body weight in long-stem, good quality forage each day comes close to meeting most energy and protein requirements for maintenance
and a desirable body condition score. Growing horses, those in regular training, or one
that needs more nutrients to maintain body condition may need supplemental concentrated feed. Consult your veterinarian to tailor a feeding program specifically for each individual horse and its particular needs.
Hay analysis describes what nutrients
are available from a specific batch of forage. Changes in type of hay (legume vs. cool-season grass vs. warm-season grass vs. cereal grain hay) offered, the “cutting” of hay or source
of forage may necessitate a new analysis to enable appropriate adjustments to the feeding program. Hay analysis can save on feed costs, especially when feeding hay year-round.
Some times of the year and in some seasons, hay may be in short supply in a local area. There are other useful by-product feedstuffs to provide bulk roughage in the diet as well as other nutrients, especially useful for mature adult horses. The table below shows how some different by-product feeds compare in terms of energy and protein as well as the calcium to phosphorus (Ca:P) ratio. Due to wide variations between different by-products as
well as between batches of the same feedstuff, test the feed for specific nutritional values. Consult with your veterinarian to help fine-tune use of these substitute feed products.
FORAGE SUBSTITUTION ESTIMATIONS USING ALTERNATIVE (BY-PRODUCT) FEEDSTUFFS:
Hay analysis can save on feed costs, especially when feeding hay year-round.
FEED
DIGESTIBLE ENERGY (MCAL/LB)
CRUDE PROTEIN %
CA:P RATIO (IDEAL =2:1)
Beet Pulp
1.27
10
9.1
Cottonseed Hulls
0.77
6.2
1.5
Soybean Hulls
1.02
13.9
3.7
Alfalfa Hay
1.16
22.6
5 – 9.0
Bermuda Hay
0.97
8.8
1.6
Oats
1.48
13.2
0.3
Other forage substitutes are available in the form of hay cubes, haylage, alfalfa pellets, soaked beet pulp, and compressed hay.
Neurologic or muscle disease and immune deficiency problems can occur when there
is inadequate vitamin E intake, a nutrient normally found in green grass. Most modern, commercially-available equine formulated feeds
Vitamin E supplementation is important when green grass is unavailable or during periods of growth, breeding, heavy exercise, or Hay nets will allow for horses to slow feed throughout the day, lactation. A veterinarian or equine nutritionist should be consulted if
as well as keep them occupied. there are concerns about vitamin deficiencies.
108 SPEEDHORSE