Racing Horses on Forage-only
Forage is the preferred and ideal diet for most classes of horses, but can it meet the needs of the performance horse with high energy & nutrient demands? To help us in our quest, we spoke to Dr Brian Nielsen, a licenced racehorse trainer and Professor of Equine...
4-Step Guide to Safe Weight Gain
Is your horse showing a bit more rib than you like to see? Is he or she losing the fat layer along the spine that is often referred to as topline? Have you tried everything, but your horse never seems to gain weight? In this article, nutritionist Larissa Bilston...
Let’s Talk About Horse Poo
Anyone who has ever had to look after a horse for any length of time knows that they produce a lot of manure. In fact, a 500kg horse defecates about 4-13 times a day, producing 15.5 to 22.5kg of faeces and urine daily, which adds up to 8 metric tons a year! While...
Feeding the ‘Hot’ and ‘Fizzy’ Horse
Most horse owners have heard the terms ‘feeling their oats', ‘high’, ‘fizzy’, ‘hot’ and ‘hyper’ all used to describe the effect grain or certain feeds seem to have on the behaviour of some horses. Does feeding management or individual feed ingredients really...
Feeding Foals, Weanlings and Yearlings
Fewer topics in equine nutrition stir more controversy than feeding the growing horse. Many factors add to the confusion of providing nutrition throughout these critical stages of life. For example, growing horses may have different commercial end points. Some will be...
Study of bacteria in ponies’ guts sheds light on ageing and obesity
The complex community of tiny living cells (microbes) living in the horse’s gut may provide valuable information about ageing and obesity, a new study has revealed. Initial findings have suggested that obesity in ponies may have a greater effect on gut microbes than...
Understanding Obesity in Horses
Obesity has been defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems. Now, let’s talk about equines specifically. Horses...
Feeding the Senior Horse
The nutritional management of the senior horse is challenging as there is no set criteria that defines ‘old age’ or the ‘senior’ horse. The nutrient requirements of senior horses differ from other classes of horses because of the changes in metabolic and digestive...
Body Condition Scoring: A Practical Guide for all Body Types
Body condition scoring is one of the most important and useful skills an owner can have when it comes to monitoring the health and welfare of their horses. And while the way we ‘condition score’ horses is uniform no matter their breed, certain breed traits should...
Effect of Soaking Hay on Nutrient Content and Hygiene Quality
Soaking hay in water to reduce the sugar content of hay is very common and, for many people with horses diagnosed with laminitis, insulin resistance, polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) or obesity, it's become a routine part of their daily horse-keeping duties....
Benefits of Feeding Fats to Horses
Enhancing horse productivity and wellbeing has drawn considerable interest in feeding fat supplemented diets to horses. Much of this interest has been prompted by a significant amount of research on the subject over the last 10 years. Whilst several unknown aspects...
Feeding Horses During Drought
Droughts are part of life for horse owners in Australia. Each drought brings its own set of difficulties. How well you survive drought will depend on the initial plan of action and the modifications undertaken to your strategy as the drought progresses. Planning and...
Study Reveals High Starch Diet can Affect PPID Diagnosis
New research has shown the equine diet and, more specifically, a starch rich food, can influence adrenocorticotropin hormone or ‘ACTH’. This could potentially lead to an incorrect disease diagnosis in some horses when ACTH is used to test for Pituitary Pars Intermedia...
Feeding for Coat Shine
Everyone wants to see their horses with a sleek, glowing coat and not only for aesthetic reasons, but also because the quality of a horse’s hair coat is directly related to his overall health. Providing the horse with plenty of roughage and a balanced diet along with...
Dispelling Myths on Probiotics for Horses
Dispelling myths on probiotics for horses... Horse catalogues and feed stores are loaded with a wide range of pre- and probiotics. But do they really help the horse? In a presentation entitled ‘Hindgut Microbiome’, Dr Wendy Pearson, an assistant professor of equine...
Mycotoxins in Horse Feeds
Mycotoxins are poisonous compounds that are naturally produced by certain types of moulds (fungi) which can contaminate horse feed and pasture plants. Although contamination of commercial horse feeds is not very common in Australia, it can occur, particularly under...
Ralentiza la alimentación de tus caballos durante la noche
Según un investigador irlandés, para mantener la salud digestiva y el bienestar general de tu caballo, debes considerar alimentar a tus caballos de cuadra de forma lenta durante la noche para imitar mejor los comportamientos naturales de alimentación. Read this...
Managing and Feeding Horses During Drought
Managing and feeding horses during drought: Drought conditions in various parts of Australia have coupled with the arrival of the non-growing (winter) season. Grass has turned yellow or brown and the pastures are being eaten down with only bare soils left. If you are...
The Super in Super Fibres
You may be familiar with ‘super fibre’ products, such as sugarbeet pulp, soyhulls and haylage, but what makes these products stand out as superior sources of digestible energy amongst their traditional forage counterparts, hay and chaff? The short answer is they have...
Monitoring Your Horse’s Condition
Monitoring Your Horse's Condition - According to recent studies, horse owners are missing early signs their horses and ponies are becoming overweight until they are dangerously obese. This means they are putting their horses at risk and making weight loss programs...
Feed Balancers: Much More Than Simple Nutrition
Very well-established in countries like the United Kingdom, where forage-based diets have been the traditional norm, feed balancers are becoming very popular in Australia as more and more horse owners get in step with the fibre-feeding mantra and move towards...
How Much Salt Does my Horse Need?
How much salt? Providing your horse with adequate salt each day can go a long way in supporting your horse’s health, welfare and optimal performance. But too much salt can cause digestive upset.
Feeding for Weight Gain
Feeding for weight gain: Some horses do not maintain their bodyweight easily and it can prove a real challenge to keep them at an ideal weight. Ultimately, your horse’s ribs should not be visible, but they should be easily felt if you run your hand along your horse’s...
Does Soaking Hay Really Reduce Carbohydrate Content?
Hay is the primary component of the equine diet. In recent years, with the increased incidence of metabolic disorders, such as laminitis and insulin resistance, the carbohydrate content of hay has come into question. Pasture-associated laminitis is currently thought...
Developing a Healthy Topline
Developing a Healthy Topline How to get your horse that perfect topline is what we are all after, but first we must understand what a topline is! The topline of the horse includes the withers, back loin (or coupling) and croup. Strength of topline and loin muscles...
Making Sense of Taste and Smell: Part 2
Equine flavour preferences. Ever wondered why horses have such big, long noses? How important are smell and taste when it comes to preferences and food choices? And, do you think horses use their senses of smell and taste in the same ways we do? In this two-part...
Making Sense of Taste and Smell: Part 1
Making sense of taste and smell. Chemical senses. Ever wondered why horses have such big, long noses? Well, just like in the Little Red Riding Hood tale: All the better to smell with! But, how important are smell and taste when it comes to preferences and food...
Forage, the Key to Horse Health
Forage, such as hay and pasture, is critical for the health and wellbeing of all horses. Understanding the design, function and reliance of the horse’s digestive system on forage is the first step in appreciating the critical value of forage. Knowledge of what’s in...
Feeding the Broodmare
Feeding the broodmare. The feeding program of the broodmare is an important management aspect. Feeding can affect the fertility, milk production, and the skeletal development and growth of the foal. Understanding the nutritional needs of the maiden/barren, pregnant...
Taking the Guesswork Out of Choosing Hay: Part 4 Choosing the right hay for your horse
Choosing hay for horses. In the previous edition we presented an example of forage testing of four types of hays and reviewed the results of the laboratory analysis. In this last part of the series about choosing the right forage for your horse, we continue...
Taking the Guesswork Out of Choosing Hay: Part 3 Hay Testing
Hay testing With thanks to SGS Agriculture & Food Laboratories for providing the analysis specifically for this series. Conserved forages can comprise a large part of the diet of horses; therefore, it is important to review the type and quality of all the roughage...
Taking the Guesswork Out of Choosing Hay: Part 2 Choosing Roughage
Choosing quality roughage. Managing your pastures to provide enough forage for your horses would be ideal; however, in reality not many horse owners have the capacity to maintain horses on pasture as well as harvesting roughage/hay to preserve for lesser times in the...
Taking the Guesswork Out of Choosing Hay: Part 1 Feed Properties
In previous articles we have discussed a number of aspects relating to pasture management, and provided an overview of a number of common grass species found in horse pastures in Australia. In the Pastures for Horses series we touched briefly on non-structural...
