energy
What does the guaranteed analysis really tell you? If you have looked at a feed tag you have seen a guaranteed analysis (GA) of nutrients. It is full of minimums and maximums, crude this and that, and lots of numbers. But what does the GA really tell you about the feed you are considering for your horse? A lot! The GA gives you a tremendous amount of information about the nutrients in the feed. Once you understand how to decipher the GA, it will be... Read More »
Category : Other Topics of Interest | Tips and Topics
Careful management of your horse year-round will help ensure that he remains healthy during drought conditions. In the short-term future, the first and perhaps most elementary and immediate point to consider is nutrition. As the drought in Kentucky and surrounding states rages on, pastures may be brown and their bounty less than nutritious. If you rely heavily on pastures to provide calories for your horse, he may not be receiving sufficient energy... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Fat & Fiber | Health & Management | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Packed with energy Fat is an effective energy source for horses. Pound for pound, fats provide 2.25 times more energy than carbohydrates. In a natural state, horses consume only small amounts of fats, but they digest and absorb them well. Fats are broken down into fatty acids in the small intestine and stored as triglycerides in the adipose tissue of the body. Fat is utilized to fuel long-term, slow work. Some fat is necessary Fat is necessary for the... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Feeding directions are an important place to start. As human beings, we have the ability to manage our own daily food intake, but our horses don’t have that choice. They depend on us to provide the feed they need to survive. In the old days, the components of a horse’s diet were limited to plain grains and basic forages (hay and grass). Modern technology has changed that and now feed manufacturers have a wide range of ingredients at their disposal.... Read More »
Category : Health & Management | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Dietary energy dictates body condition in healthy horses. Too little energy and the horse loses weight; too much energy and the horse gains weight. Typical diets of pasture, hay, and concentrate often do not supply sufficient dietary energy to horses that have increased calorie needs. Such horses include hardworking performance horses, lactating mares, and aged horses. The fat in rice bran contains more calories per mouthful than pasture, hay, or... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
Is Fiber a Carbohydrate? In Clarifying Carbohydrates Part I, we reviewed simple carbohydrates and in Clarifying Carbohydtrates Part II we looked at rapidly fermentable carbohydrates. This Nutritional Minute describes slowly fermentable carbohydrates (fiber) and discusses the concerns associated with all carbohydrates in the equine diet. Slowly Fermentable Carbohydrates Slowly fermentable carbohydrates, or fiber as they are commonly called, are... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Clarifying Carbohydrates Part II There are many types of carbohydrates in equine diets, including simple carbohydrates, rapidly fermentable carbohydrates, and complex, slowly fermentable carbohydrates. Your horse digests each type of carbohydrate differently. Some types of carbs are better for your horse than others. Click here for Clarifying Carbohydrates Part I for information on simple carbs. This time we will reviewing rapidly fermentable... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Clarifying Carbohydrates Part I There are three different types of carbohydrates utilized by horses: simple sugars and starches, rapidly fermentable carbohydrates, and structural carbohydrates. This part of our series will deal with simple sugars and starches. What are carbohydrates and why are they important? Carbohydrates are substances made up of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). Various forms of carbohydrates are made through... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Love takes many forms Approaching the barn you slide the heavy, hanging door back and the deep rumble sets off a chorus of whinnies, nickers, and lip-smacking. You think to yourself, what a nice greeting! The horses are so happy to see you because they love you, right? After all, you’re the one who feeds them. And no horse is happier to see you than the stout, vocal pony at the end of the shed row. Eventually they are all rewarded for their heartfelt... Read More »
Category : Health & Management | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Simply put, horses need energy. Energy is traditionally supplied by cereal grains such as oats, corn, and barley. These feedstuffs deliver energy as carbohydrates or starch. But what if you want to supply more energy to your horse without increasing his feed intake? Feeding a fat supplement is an excellent way to achieve this. Fat is added to the diet because it is an excellent energy source. It contains almost 2.25 times as much energy as an... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
MYTH: Fat is an unsuitable ingredient in the diets of endurance horses. FACT: Fat is not only a perfectly acceptable component in the diets of all performance horses, it sometimes proves to be a necessary ingredient. Due to the intense work that endurance horses perform, many are unable to maintain optimal body condition when fed forages (pasture and hay) and traditional concentrates (textured or pelleted sweet feed). Because fats contain more than two... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
What is a fructan? Fructan is a type of sugar found in cool-season grasses. Instead of being digested in the foregut, fructan passes into the horse’s hindgut, where it ferments and causes the production of lactic acid. If too many fructans are consumed at one time, high levels of lactic acid can accumulate and cause the pH of the hindgut to drop. Even small changes in pH can negatively affect the delicate microflora that live in the hindgut and aid in... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Myths MYTH: Protein is a good source of energy for mature horses. BUSTED: Of the three dietary energy sources—carbohydrates, fats and protein—protein is the hardest for horses to turn into energy. It is inefficiently utilized and produces more heat during metabolism than carbohydrates or fats. A feed high in protein may not be high in energy. Energy is what mature horses need most to perform at optimal levels. MYTH: The higher the crude protein... Read More »
Category : Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
As pastures fade from green to brown, horse owners all over will soon be feeding hay to meet their horses’ energy requirements. A diet composed primarily of forage and the recommended amount of a well-fortified concentrate is all most horses need to maintain their weight. But many horses—like old horses or hard keepers—need more than the basics to stay plump and healthy through winter. To prevent an energy crisis in these calorie-needy horses,... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
