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7
EQUINE MATTERS
Feeding For Fitness
Feeding is key to ensuring a happy and healthy horse. It is
important that we tailor the diet to the horse’s specific requirements
and circumstances. Here we will take a look at some of the most
common scenarios;
Katie hayton BVM&S MrCVS,
Capontree Vets
Veterinary Surgeon
Katie Hayton
The Rules of Feeding
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Feed little and often. Horses are grazers
and the equine gut is designed to receive
an almost constant supply of roughage
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The diet should be based on roughage
e.g. hay, grass or haylage
●
Feed according to size, condition and
workload
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Monitor body condition regularly. This can
include condition and fat scoring, and the
use of a weigh tape or weigh bridge
●
Make dietary changes slowly over the
course of a few days. Horses are hind gut
fermenters and the bacteria in the large
intestine need time to adapt to dietary
changes
●
Keep feeding times the same each day;
horses thrive on routine
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Keep feed and all feeding utensils and
buckets clean
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Avoid fast work immediately after feeding
hard feed or concentrates
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Feed roughage such as hay or haylage
prior to fast exercise to help avoid acid
splash on an empty stomach
●
Provide a constant supply of clean fresh
drinking water
The Good Doer
This is typically a native pony which is often
body condition score (BCS) 3.5 or more
(based on a scoring where 0 = emaciated
and 5 = obese). Early Spring is the ideal
time to encourage weight loss. No increase
in calories, in response to increased work
load, is required for the good doer. The diet
should be based primarily on long fibre. A
balancer is a good idea to ensure all the key
vitamins and minerals are included in the diet
especially if you live in an area of the country
which is low in certain trace elements.
Concentrates are not normally required and
are best avoided as they can lead to weight
gain. To encourage the good doer to eat his
balancer you could feed small amounts of
chaff. It is worth bearing in mind that as
spring progresses the nutritive value of the
grass improves, especially the sugar content.
If your good doer is prone to laminitis, a
smaller barer paddock or grazing muzzle is
worth considering.
F I T N E S S
XLVets Equine practice
Capontree Vets