Correct Feeding for Weight Management

Correct feeding for weight management in horses can be tricky. The right condition is essential for health and well-being, therefore it is vital to undertake correct feeding for a healthy horse weight. So, Lisa Elliott, MSc – Nutritionist at Castle Horse Feeds,  has broken down some essential guidelines to help your horse achieve and maintain a healthy weight, all year round!

The Underweight Horse

The right nutrition will support weight gain if your horse is underweight. Whilst it’s natural for horses to be slimmer going into spring, if your horse is a poor doer it’s important to maintain a suitable body condition for optimum health.

To effectively gain weight your horse needs extra ‘calories’ or energy that is excess to their requirements. Providing plenty of quality forage is key, so ensure you are feeding the best quality you can find. Fibre provides essential calories for work and condition and spring grass is great for this, so getting your horse out 24/7 will help provide the extra energy needed for weight gain.

Additionally, feeds that supply essential micronutrients and contain sources of highly digestible fibre, such as beet pulp and grass nuts, will help boost condition. Along with sources of oil, such as linseed and soya, this extra-concentrated provision of calories can also have positive effects on hoof condition, as well as the coat and skin.  If your horse is in harder work, providing some micronised cereals can be beneficial to meet energy needs whilst helping to maintain a higher body condition.

Protein will help with rebuilding lost muscle tone, so ensure you are feeding a good quality source such as linseed or soya. Additionally, a lack of water will reduce digestive efficiency, compromising condition, so it’s important that your horse is fully hydrated. Adding 1-2 tablespoons of salt to feed will help ensure optimum salt levels and encourage drinking for increased hydration.

The Overweight Horse

At the other end of the scale, the key to managing an overweight horse is to create a calorie deficit so there are more calories going out than going in. A low-energy, high-fibre, forage-based diet, which reduces calorie intake without compromising on fibre, coupled with an active exercise regime which effectively burns calories and fat is essential to promote weight loss.

Removing the horse from grass during the day when starch and sugars and ultimately energy levels are higher and turning out into a dry paddock or one with little grass can help reduce calorie intake.   An overweight horse should never be starved as this can lead to serious health conditions so it’s important that they get essential fibre from a lower calorie forage like hay.  Oat straw is also great to help with weight management, as it’s very low calorie and can replace up 30 percent of forage.  Some overweight horses may need zero grazing, feeding just hay and/or a low-calorie fibre chop until they become slimmer.

Getting forage tested for starch, sugar and energy levels is ideal. The higher the starch and sugar, the higher the potential calories consumed too, so forage should be less than 12% starch and sugar or Non-structural Carbohydrates (NSC).

Soaking hay is often recommended to reduce NSC, but results can be variable, with reduced hygiene levels, particularly in warmer weather.   Instead, consider feeding a specifically produced low NSC hay.

Whilst a low-calorie forage-based diet is ideal, it won’t provide all essential micronutrients.  Balancers are great because they are fed in small amounts, providing micronutrients without excess calories.  Look for a balancer which is molasses and cereal free to keep starch and sugar to a minimum, but with a high specification of micronutrients for optimum health and well-being.

Feeding to Maintain Weight

With equine obesity on the rise, all horse owners should take responsibility to reduce this UK epidemic. Maintaining your horse or pony at a healthy weight is what all owners should aspire to and is all about balance. Put simply – the calories going in should match those going out and this can be achieved by feeding the correct amount of energy for workload, along with regular weight and condition monitoring. Feeding the overweight horse over winter can also prove problematic as needs change and more often than not, an increase in hard feed is seen.

Many horses in maintenance and light work can do well off just forage like grass and hay and a good balancer, and if this is true of your horse then there is no need to feed anything else.  If your horse is working regularly and does need extra feed, then it’s important to ensure you are feeding the right levels of energy for the work they are doing:

As a general guide for weight managment: horses in light work need lower energy feeds with energy levels around 8 – 10 MJ DE (digestible energy]  per kg, those in medium work need feeds around 11 – 12 MJ DE/kg and horses in harder work will need feeds with 12+ MJ DE/Kg.

Alongside this, regular weight taping in conjunction with Body Condition Scoring (BCS) can help gauge your horse’s weight and give an idea of any changes so you can adjust the diet as necessary.  You should be looking to maintain your horse throughout the year on a BCS of around 5 on a 9-point chart or 3 on a 5-point chart. Horses can perform almost every activity at an ideal BCS , and it represents condition for optimum health and performance.

Essential Tips for Weight Management

• Feed for work done not for what may happen in the future
• Ensure you are feeding the right levels of energy for workload
• If you horse is underweight, increase calorie intake with digestible fibre, oil and cereals as needed.
• If your horse is overweight, reduce calorie intake, and increase calorie output with regular exercise, including active walking and trotting to burn fat.
• Do not restrict forage for an overweight horse – this can be counterproductive and make the horse fatter!
• Monitor your horse regularly to achieve a healthy weight and condition.
• When choosing treats, use a low-sugar and starch option.

If in doubt over your horse’s weight, or feeding routine, we strongly recommend you consult a registered nutritionist, or contact your horse’s feed manufacturer to discuss in more detail.