Feeding a horse is actually 'farming'

Bacteria. The horse is home to an enormous vat (the Cecum) of bacteria and when you feed your horse its important to keep the bacteria in mind. Upset these little guys and your horse (and your bank balance) will pay the price. Here's why:

About the Cecum

The cecum is a blind sack approximately four-feet long that can hold up to 40 quarts (approx 10 UK gallons) of food and fluid.

The cecum is a microbial inoculation vat. The microbes break down feed that was not digested in the small intestine, particularly fibrous feeds like hay.

Feed will remain in the cecum for about seven hours, which gives the bacteria time to start breaking it down. The microbes will produce vitamin K, B-complex vitamins, proteins, and fatty acids. The vitamins and fatty acids will be absorbed, but little if any protein.

The microbial population in the cecum is somewhat specific as to what feedstuffs it can digest.

If a change of feed occurs, it takes about three weeks to develop a microbial population that can digest a new feed and maintain a normal flow through the cecum.

A general rule for safely changing feeds:

Week 1: Feed a mix of three-fourths of the old ration and one-fourth of the new ration.
Week 2: Feed a mix of one-half of the old ration and one-half of the new ration.
Week 3: Feed a mix of one-fourth of the old ration and three-fourths of the new ration.
Week 4: Feed all new ration.

Be aware that sudden switches between different feed qualities result in rapid changes to the bacterial mix and the sudden death of the less favoured bacteria.

Death of large numbers of bacteria will, in turn, lead to the release of large amounts of endotoxin from the bacteria.

If this happens your horse could get laminitis or colic which are the two leading causes of death in the domestic equine. So much unnecessary death, so easily preventable.

A future blog will have a look at the stomach and digestion more generally. And probably more about the evils of sugar! :-)

The elephant in the room is made of molasses

On January 15, 1919 in Boston, US, molasses killed 21 people and several horses. And molasses is still contributing to the death of horses today and every day.

An emotive statement perhaps - but if you understand equine physiology and throw in a splash of economics you can see how the case can be made.

Molasses is a by product of sugar production. And thanks to Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations I learnt that sugar production has grown by over 50% in just over 20 years*. The same sort of time frame which has seen an explosion in the addition of molasses to horse feed.

About 75% of global sugar production comes from sugar cane. The yield of molasses from sugar cane is 3.5-4%. That is a lot of molasses; has to go somewhere and for the moment horses and their owners are an easy, profitable market.

Horses are paying the price with their health. And their owners are paying twice over – once for the molassed feeds and again for the increased vets’ bills.

The impact of a diet too high in sugar is not just the big obvious things like laminitis. There are all sorts of minor symptoms which go unnoticed or are dismissed as trivial or behavioural, when really we are making the horse sick. Have you ever noticed a horse with any of the following:

- Has, or has had laminitis
- Poor feet (crumbly, contracted, or won’t hold a shoe
- Has stress rings on their hooves (also known as grass rings)
- Footy over stones, ruts or hard ground
- Walks like a duck behind (or as if it has a full nappy)
- Has non specific lameness issues
- Is 'off', moody, grumpy or irritable
- Doesn't look you in the eye, or even looks away
- Has a dull coat
- Smells unpleasant generally or has gas issues
- Produces 'cow pat' style droppings
- Is particularly spooky or hard to manage
- Is cresty, has cellulite or excessive body fat
- Gets swollen legs when stabled
- Has a swollen or greasy sheath (gelding) or greasy teats (mare)
- Is 'lazy', reluctant or naps

Just think – it might be the sugar in their diet. But until its taken out you will never know for sure.

Of course it’s not just molasses which is to blame; any diet and/or management regime which doesn’t respect the equine digestive system can cause trouble.

Horses are not designed to eat large quantities of sugars or simple starches. They are miracles of evolution (or day 6 depending on your point of view), perfectly designed to live well and prosper on large volumes of high fibre, low nutritional value, plants, while still retaining the ability to run really fast from a standing start, over a fair distance and turn on a dime (sixpence).

The downside of this brilliant piece of biological engineering is that while a horse's digestive system is perfectly fitted for its purpose, it isn't particularly adaptable and it doesn't work anything like a human's.

So what should we give a horse? It’s really very simple, go back to basics, respect nature feed:-

- Ad-lib high fibre, low sugar, mixed forage (hay or haylage)
- Free choice access to natural sources of minerals
- Free choice access to good quality water

If your horse is working hard or is a poor keeper you can add things like:-

- Micronised linseed (excellent source of amino acids and omega 3)
- (Low sugar) Sugar Beet (Kwik Beet is the lowest in the UK at 3%)

Some horses will benefit from free access to beneficial herbs. My old horse was always better when given access to dried nettles, which she loved. Another horse always feasted on roses after a work out.

Just bear in mind that some plants are really high in sugar, so you need to know your plants and restrict access as appropriate. I knew one horse that adored Elderflowers and berries but her legs always swelled afterwards, probably because of the sugar content.

I’ll write more about diet specifics in another post, as this one is long enough already!

* On average between 1988 and 1990 global sugar production was 109 879 000 tonnes. For 2010 the projected figure is 165 131 000 tonnes.

About time - heels decontracting at last

Near fore, off fore, near hind, off hind - in order.

At last the heels in front are starting to decontract. It isn't something that should be forced, you have to listen to the foot, follow the live sole plane and let the foot take the time it needs to heal.

Forcing a foot can make the horse lame or take it in the wrong direction - trust the hoof to know what is needed. But of course, look after the gut to prevent laminitis and treat any foot infections as required. The aim with the trim is to only remove what natural wear would have taken off if the horse were living in an optimal environment with optimal exercise.

The heels on the fronts are arguably too long, but taking them any shorter would mean invading the live sole plane which is unacceptable. The owner has been briefed to look out for the sole turning chalky in the seat of corn area.

Madam has been an interesting case - because if you just looked at the outer hoof wall you'd think her feet were fabulous (and in many respects they are). But it has taken an age to get her feet to this stage and if you look at the undersides with a 'barefooters' perspective you can see that her feet can be better still. And we are not being totally aesthetic here - we are looking for function over form.

I suspect Madam's heel contraction is linked to her sugar intake. We had got them to partly decontract last winter, only to have them close right up again in the summer when she had an overload of sugar. It's something to keep an eye on.