In This Chapter
- Discovering the importance of water and fiber
- Checking out carbohydrates, proteins, and fats
- Exploring the need for vitamins and minerals
Domestic
horses, on the other hand, can’t eat whatever they want. They’re dependent on
their owners and caretakers to provide them with foods that will get them the
nutrition they need to stay healthy. The consequences of not doing so can be
dire, which is why understanding equine nutrition is so important for horse
owners.
In this chapter, we explain what horses need to eat and why. You discover the importance of water, protein, fats, carbohydrates, and roughage to the equine body, and you find out about essential equine vitamins and minerals. We also describe in detail why all these elements are vital if your horse is to stay healthy. Flip to Chapter Your
Hungry Horse: Feeding Fundamentals for specific information on different types of feed for your horse.
Drink Up! The Importance of Water in a Horse’s Diet
Every living creature, without exception, needs water to survive. This is certainly true of horses, who need to drink anywhere from 10 to 20 gallons or more of water a day to keep their bodies working in good order. As much as 60 to 70 percent of a horse’s body weight is made up of water.
Horses lose much of the water that they drink through the process of digestion and through urination, respiration, and sweating. This water needs to be replenished throughout the day, which is why providing your horse with fresh water at all times is vital.
Horses get their water in three different ways: they drink it, obtain it from moist food, and produce it internally as they break down fats, protein, and carbs during digestion.
Here are just some of the reasons why water is vital to your horse’s body:
- Water is necessary for gastrointestinal health and function.
- The function of muscles and nerves is dependent on water.
- Horses who eat high-protein diets (such as alfalfa hay) require increased water to metabolize their feed. This is also true of horses who have a large amount of protein, salt, and potassium in their diet.
- Normal breathing expels water from the body, and that water has to be replaced.
- Nursing mares need water to produce milk for their foals.
Warning!
Horses who don’t get enough water are at risk of becoming seriously ill and even dying. If your horse loses about 100 pounds of her body weight in water, she’s at risk for fatal dehydration. This is why it’s vital that horses have round-the-clock access to clean, fresh water, and that they’re encouraged to drink it.
Remember
Remember these points when providing water for your horse:
- Always have water available; you can provide automatic waterers, buckets, or troughs in your horse’s enclosure. Make sure to check your buckets or troughs a couple of times a day to be certain that your horse has water.
- If you use automatic waterers, use a bucket style (as opposed to the bowl and paddle type) because most horses like this style better, and will drink more often.
- Check automatic waterers daily to make sure that they’re working. Consider keeping a backup water source in your horse’s stall if you can’t check the system daily.
- Keep buckets, troughs, and automatic waterers clean and free of algae and debris. A good rule of thumb is to clean these devices at least once a week or more if they need it. (Consider locating them in the shade to cut down on the amount of algae.)
- If you’re traveling with your horse and feeding her dry feeds like hay (as opposed to pasture grass), be sure that she has access to water for at least an hour afterward. You can offer water in a bucket during rest stops along your trip.
- When traveling with your horse, make sure that she gets enough water by soaking hay in a hay net before offering it to her. (This trick will help keep her hydrated, but it’s not a substitute for offering water in a bucket.)
- Warm up your horse’s water if the weather is cold; you can use a bucket warmer or a waterer equipped with a heater. Colic is more common in winter months because horses don’t like to drink cold water.
- In the wintertime, ice can form in water buckets. If you live in a cold climate, use a waterer equipped with a heater, or break the ice throughout the day to ensure that your horse can get to her water.
You may notice your horse dunking her hay in her water. Although it makes a mess of the water, it’s actually good for the horse’s body because it provides her with moist feed. Coauthor Dr. Kate has even seen foals learn this behavior by watching their mothers do it.
Remember
If you have a horse who seems to drink too much, she may be sick, or she may be bored. Some confined horses consume lots of extra water to give themselves something to do. If your horse is drinking an excessive amount of water and urinating a lot, call your vet immediately. Her behavior may well be boredom but could also signal a metabolic problem, too.
Keeping Your Horse’s System Working Right with Roughage
Without roughage, your horse wouldn’t live too long. In the wild, horses graze for around 18 hours a day, eating various tough, fibrous plants that they find in their environment.
The equine digestive system was designed to process this type of material. Although human bodies would be hard pressed to digest this tough cellulose, horses are built to do just that. Without roughage and the fiber it provides, their bodies can’t function.
What does fiber do?
Most people know what happens to their bodies if they don’t get enough fiber. No doubt that’s why bran muffins and high-fiber cereals have become so popular.
If people need fiber, horses need it a lot more. Fiber helps keep the intestines working properly, prompting normal motility that pushes particles of digested food through the system in an efficient manner. In other words, fiber helps your horse’s intestines move food wastes through and out of his body.
Which foods are rich in fiber?
Horses who roam free have no trouble finding fiber-rich foods for their diets. The grasses, brush, and even tree bark that they encounter in their environment does the trick. Domestic horses, however, rely on their owners to provide them with the fiber they need.
The most important source of fiber for stabled horses is hay, whereas pasture-kept horses get their fiber from pasture grass. Each of these two sources provides significant fiber (in addition to providing necessary carbohydrates for energy, as we explain later in this chapter). They also satisfy the horses’ innate and powerful urge to chew. Fulfilling that urge by feeding hay or allowing a horse to graze on good pasture makes for a happier, healthier horse.
Tip
Another feed with a lot of fiber is beet pulp. When soaked in water, beet pulp is a good choice as a source of fiber for senior horses who have trouble chewing hay. It’s also great for horses suffering from COPD, because when soaked, it’s free of dust. (See Chapter Tackling Common Ailments for more details on COPD.) Horses seem to love beet pulp, and it provides almost as much fiber as hay does.
How much roughage should your horse have?
Your horse can’t have too much roughage. The more roughage he eats the better. The only caveat is not to feed him so much that he becomes fat. Give your horse as much hay or pasture access as you can while still keeping his body at a healthy weight by providing the right balance of carbs, protein, and fat and by giving him plenty of exercise (see Chapter Exercising for Health).
Tip
A good way to provide roughage without adding too many calories is to feed your horse grass hay. Grass hays in form of orchardgrass, Bermuda, or timothy can provide roughage and may not encourage your horse to put on weight.
Energizing Your Horse with Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat
Your horse can’t live by carbs,
protein, or fat alone. All three of these vital nutritional components must be
present for a horse’s diet to be complete.
Carbs, protein, and fat are found
in different sources of food in varying amounts. In the following sections, we
look at these components, why they’re important, and how your horse gets them.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the primary
source for usable and readily available energy, and all horses need carbs to
function. Carbs, in other words, are the primary fuel source necessary to keep
the machine running! On the other hand, too many carbs can cause a lot of
problems for horses, which is why it’s important to know the best types of
carbs around and the right amount to feed to your horse.
Discovering what carbs do
The building block of
carbohydrates is glucose. In addition to providing the basis for carbohydrates,
glucose components are also important for other roles, such as the
manufacturing of glucosamine, which is so important for healthy joints. Brain
function and hoof growth are also fueled by glucose.
The two basic types of
carbohydrates are simple sugars, like glucose, and complex carbohydrates, like
starches, which are found in pasture grass and grains. The latter must be broken
down into simple sugars before their energy is released in a more easily usable
form.
Horses who are exercising or
growing, or who are in the last trimester of pregnancy or early in lactation,
require more energy in their diet, which can be obtained through carbohydrates.
An excess of carbohydrates can leave a horse with too much energy (often making
her spooky and unmanageable), and in high doses, it can cause laminitis and
other metabolic problems. (See Chapter Tackling
Common Ailments for more information on these
conditions.) Horses who get more energy than they need through carbohydrates
store the excess as fat.
Warning!
Horses with a carbohydrate-deficient diet have to break down fats and proteins to use as energy — even for the most basic of metabolic functions. They become lethargic and can’t perform well. They lose their body condition, and pregnant mares can abort. Stallions lose their sex drive, and youngsters show poor growth.
Choosing from the abundance of carbohydrate-rich foods
Foods high in carbohydrates are
easy to find in the horse world. Because carbs are an easy source of energy,
they’re popular among horse people who want their horses to have some “oomph.”
Sources of carbohydrates include the following:
- Grains: Oats, corn, and barley are three grains that are high in carbohydrates.
- Hay: Alfalfa and orchardgrass can be particularly high in carbs, depending on when the hay was harvested. Hay cut at a later stage of maturity is lower in carbs than hay that’s cut early.
- Pasture grass: Pasture grasses can be high in carbohydrates, depending on the species of plant, stage of growth, and environment. Cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass and tall fescue, produce sugars during photosynthesis, sometimes to excess.
- Commercial feeds: Certain commercial products known as “sweet feeds” and pelleted feeds can be high in carbohydrates. The molasses added to sweet feeds is a significant source of carbs in these products, as is corn.
- Beet pulp: A byproduct in the manufacture of table sugar, beet pulp is dried for storage. It’s available as feed for horses in shredded or pelleted form, and is a good source of carbohydrates, although it can be deficient in vitamin A and selenium. (It should always be soaked in water before being fed.)
Your vet can help you determine
the best carbohydrate to feed your horse based on her individual nutritional
needs.
Figuring out how much to give your horse
Trying to figure out the right
amount of carbohydrates to feed your horse can be complicated. The finer
details of nutritional issues and corresponding energy production can make your
head spin. To top it off, various sources of carbohydrates are available to
your horse, and you want to make sure that you don’t overdose her on carbs.
Remember
The good news is that you don’t need to worry too much about deliberately adding carbs to your horse’s diet. As long as you’re feeding your adult horse a basic diet of good-quality hay or pasture grass, her carbohydrate needs usually will be met. (We discuss feeding hay and pasture grass in detail in Chapter Your Hungry Horse: Feeding Fundamentals.) Exceptions may be if your horse has an extremely fast metabolism, has a slow metabolism, or is undergoing very intense training and exercise. In these cases, your veterinarian can give you specific advice about what to feed your horse to more finely control her carbohydrate intake.
Proteins
Although horses aren’t
meat-eaters (those weird show horses who share hot dogs with their owners
notwithstanding), they still need protein. An essential ingredient to proper
equine nutrition, protein is necessary for a horse’s survival. On the other
hand, too much protein can cause problems. Understanding what protein does for
the body and how much to feed is essential if you want your horse to be
healthy.
Discovering what these building blocks do
Proteins are building blocks, and
horses must have protein in order to construct new tissue. Muscle, hair, skin,
hormones, and hooves — to name just a few parts of the horse — can be healthy
only if a horse is getting enough protein.
Warning!
Horses who don’t get enough protein in their diet develop a rough haircoat and endure weight loss, decreased milk production (for lactating mares), and decreased energy. On the other hand, horses with an excess of protein in their diets drink too much water and urinate a lot. They sweat too much when exercising, which leads to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. For this reason, too much protein can really be detrimental to a hard-working horse.
Getting protein from plants and grains
Fortunately, you don’t need a
degree in nutrition to figure out how to give your horse the proper amount of
protein. All you need is to do a quick study of the protein level of available
feeds.
Horses glean proteins from plants
and grains. Different plants and grains have different protein contents.
Proteins are made up of amino acids in various combinations, so all proteins
are not created equal. That’s why getting your feed from very reputable sources
is crucial.
Here are the protein levels of
common types of high-quality feed:
- Alfalfa hay: Quality alfalfa for horses has about 18 percent protein. Poor-quality alfalfa hay may have 14 to 15 percent protein.
- Grass hay: High-quality grass hay contains 7 to 12 percent of crude protein.
- Soybean meal: With a 44-percent protein content, soybean meal is a good source of supplemental protein when added to feed. This feed is usually most suitable for young horses and lactating mares.
Tip
- Linseed meal: This meal may be a good source of protein for horses who suffer from rhabdomyolisis (also known as tying up syndrome, azoturia, or myoglobinuria) because it contains selenium, which may be helpful in managing this condition in some parts of the country. (For details on azoturia, see Chapter Tackling Common Ailments.) Linseed meal may contain as much as 35 percent protein. However, it’s low in lysine, so it shouldn’t be a horse’s only source of protein (this is especially true for young horses).
Remember
With all these choices, how do you know which type of protein-rich food to give to your horse? The best rule of thumb when deciding what protein-rich foods to feed your horse is to talk to your veterinarian, county extension agent, or local university nutritionist, if you have one.
Consuming the right amount of protein
Remember
A good rule to remember when dealing with protein and horses is that your horse should consume between 8 and 10 percent of her rations in protein. That rule is for adult horses. Young, growing horses — that is, horses who are younger than 2 years old — need more protein than mature horses. Lactating mares also need extra protein to help them produce milk for their foals. Young horses and nursing mares should have 12 to 14 percent of their rations in protein.
Your veterinarian can help you
determine which feeds to use and how much you should give your horse to meet
her protein requirements.
Technical Stuff
Old wives’ tales abound in the horse world, and one is that mature horses in training or those getting a lot of exercise need more protein than idle horses. This isn’t true! Although very active horses may lose a small amount of nitrogen in their sweat, they get all the nitrogen they need from grain energy sources needed to fulfill their requirements. To support this, many astute owners will tell you that grumpy, irritable horses calm down and feel better when their protein levels are at the correct level.
Fats
Fat is a dirty word in the
rider’s vocabulary. Too much of it makes a human portly, and that’s not good
for a horse’s back. But when you’re dealing with horse nutrition, fat is
vitally important, as you find out in the following sections.
Letting fat do its job
The body uses fat to create
energy. Fat also fosters good nerve and hormone production. Fat is also
important for the functioning of all organs, and it helps keep the body from
breaking down muscle tissue to use as energy.
Horses who eat fats are less
likely to have digestive and metabolic problems, such as colic, laminitis,
tying up, and stomach ulcers. This is especially true when compared to horses
who are fed large amounts of grain.
Warning!
Fats are the most calorie-dense form of energy, providing three times the number of kilocalories of energy than carbohydrates and proteins. That’s why keeping a close eye on your horse’s fat intake is important; you don’t want her to become overweight!
Finding the best fatty foods for your horse
Remember
When you’re feeding fat to horses, corn oil is the most economical way to add it. Although corn oil is somewhat messy, many horses love it. Some people prefer to give their horses rice bran oil, but we like corn oil because it has twice the calories per pound than rice bran products. That means that you can feed less of it and spend less money.
Tip
If you shop at a big box store that sells food items in large quantities, you can buy corn oil in big jugs for considerably less than you would pay at your local supermarket.
If you don’t like the idea of
handling oil every day, consider using food-grade stabilized rice bran. It’s
about 20 percent fat, and easily digested by horses. It provides an excellent
source of energy. Rice bran products can be mixed into food or added on top of
feed.
Warning!
If you plan to feed commercial bran, you should know that at high levels, this feed can cause a mineral imbalance in your horse. The body has to compensate for this imbalance by taking calcium from its primary storage source: bones. This can result in a decrease in bone density that will in turn lead to an increase in fractures and injuries. It can also contribute to developmental orthopedic problems in young horses. To avoid causing a mineral imbalance in your horse, don’t feed more bran than what’s recommended on the label.
Another way to provide fat to
your horse is through high-fat commercial feeds. These are often excellent in
content (percentages vary among feeds) and palatability. However, after a
certain percentage, fats require a process called “extrusion” to keep them from
spoiling quickly and to remain palatable. You’ll recognize these feeds because
they’ll remind you of dry dog food. Good extruded feeds can be more expensive
but are worthwhile if your horse won’t eat her fat any other way.
Tip
When storing fat-rich foods, be sure to keep them in a cool environment — they can easily become rancid in the heat. You’ll be able to smell an “off” odor when fats get rancid, and most horses won’t eat it.
Feeding your horse enough fat
Up until about 12 years ago,
experts didn’t think that horses needed much fat in their diets, and that too
much fat was detrimental. Now experts say that horses can tolerate up to 20
percent of their total diet in fat.
Figuring out how much fat to feed
your horse is easy. If you use oil, start with a 1⁄4 cup per day mixed in a
small portion of commercial feed or grain (see Figure 6-1), and work your way
up to 1 cup over a period of one week, increasing in 1⁄4-cup intervals.
Your horse doesn’t need or want
more oil than one cup per day, so adding more doesn’t help her, and it won’t
hurt her. However, more oil per day may decrease the palatability of the feed
(she probably won’t eat it), and it may damage your wallet.
Figure 6-1: Adding oil to a
horse’s feed.
If you prefer to use a commercial
rice bran product or a high-fat commercial feed, follow the directions on the
bag for how much to feed. Don’t overfeed because your horse may start to get
fat!
Understanding the Value of Vitamins
You probably already know that
vitamins are important for people, and they’re just as important for horses.
The body needs these very small organic compounds for metabolic function, for
the clotting of blood, to aid muscle contractions, for heart function, for body
tissue growth, and for much, much more.
Too many vitamins can be toxic,
however, so make sure that you have a thorough understanding of these nutrients
and how they work before you start adding them to your horse’s diet.
Telling the difference between different types of vitamins
Vitamins come in two types:
water-soluble and fat-soluble. These two classes of vitamins are very
different, and are processed differently in your horse’s body.
Water-soluble vitamins
Water-soluble vitamins are
required primarily as enzyme cofactors in metabolism. In other words, enzymes
need water-soluble vitamins to perform their functions in the body. Horses
easily excrete water-soluble vitamins from the body through the urine; these
vitamins aren’t stored for future use.
Here are the most important
water-soluble vitamins for horses (all are present in good-quality hay and
pasture):
- Vitamin C: Horses make their own vitamin C. Vitamin C is produced by the liver, and is also found in green, leafy foliages; fruits; and vegetables.
- Vitamin B (complex): The B complex vitamins include vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, and B12, and the horse’s body produces them. They’re byproducts of the gut’s microbial fermentation.
Tip
Some people give nervous horses B vitamins to calm them. These vitamins help only if the horse is so stressed that his body isn’t producing enough on his own. Coauthor Dr. Kate has never seen vitamin B change behavior in a normal, healthy horse.
- Choline: This B vitamin helps metabolize fat, maintain good cell structure, and preserve normal nerve function.
Fat-soluble vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins are
difficult for the body to excrete and can be easily stored. This is a good
thing in most cases, although if too much of a fat-soluble vitamin is found in
a horse’s diet, it can cause toxicity because the horse isn’t able to eliminate
the excess amount.
These fat-soluble vitamins are
necessary for a horse’s good health:
- Vitamin A: This vitamin is used for vision and the creation of epithelial cells (important cells that can be found in many different parts of the body). It’s also necessary for normal bone metabolism. Vitamin A also plays an important role in reproduction.
Signs of vitamin A deficiency are night blindness, brittle bones, poor haircoat, excessive tearing, and increased respiratory infections.
Horses obtain vitamin A from their diet by ingesting its precursor, beta carotene. Carotene is found in high amounts in fresh green pasture, but it oxidizes very quickly, so the content decreases when hay is cured and stored for more than six months. The only hay that retains a fair amount of vitamin A after storage is alfalfa, and even then, it diminishes over time. Horses aren’t very efficient in converting beta carotene to active vitamin A, so depending on your hay source, you may need to supplement (see the next section for more information).
- Vitamin D: This vitamin is obtained by exposure to sunlight, so horses who are stalled most of the time are at risk for vitamin D deficiency unless they receive supplementation. If a horse spends at least four to six hours a day in a paddock or pasture, he’ll receive plenty of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is important in the normal absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus. Deficiency in this vitamin can result in rickets (distortion of the bones) in young animals, and osteomalacia (softening of the bones) in mature horses. On the other hand, large doses or over-supplementation of vitamin D can lead to calcification of soft tissues.
- Vitamin E: A potent antioxidant (a compound that protects body tissue from damage during the conversion of food to energy), vitamin E is important in nerve function, as well as in other physiological functions in the horse’s body. It’s necessary for membrane stability and red blood cell integrity, and may be important in reproduction. A horse deficient in vitamin E can develop equine motor neuron disease, which is a rare condition of the nerve cells, and equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy, which is a degenerative nerve disease of the spinal cord and brain stem. Horses kept on pasture most of the year seldom develop deficient vitamin E levels.
Vitamin E is usually present in ample quantity in natural feeds, particularly roughages, cereal grains, and especially in cereal grain oils like wheat germ oil. Vitamin E has a special relationship with the mineral selenium. The interaction between these two nutrients may be important in the management, treatment, and prevention of rhabdomyolisis (also known as azoturia or tying up). See Chapter Tackling Common Ailments for more on this condition.
Horses under stress and with heavy workloads may benefit from vitamin E supplementation, and horses with nerve problems or certain muscle function problems — like those that can result from West Nile virus and EPM — may also benefit from vitamin E supplementation. (For more details on West Nile virus and EPM, see Chapter Fighting Infectious Diseases.)
- Vitamin K: This vitamin is important for blood clotting. A product of gut microbial fermentation like vitamin E, vitamin K can also be found in some green, leafy plants.
Horses suffering from a vitamin K deficiency develop bleeding disorders. Too much vitamin K may cause toxicity and can result in liver failure.
Remember
If you’re feeding your horse a very high-fat diet for some reason, be aware that it may increase his need for higher levels of fat-soluble vitamins. Ask your vet whether this should be a concern with your horse.
Adding vitamins to your horse’s diet
Go to any tack and feed store and
you’ll see plenty of vitamin supplements for the “performance” horse. In fact,
a large segment of the equine products industry is devoted to various vitamin
and mineral supplements.
Before you succumb to the
marketing on the label, talk to your vet about how to provide the best diet for
your horse given his individual circumstances. Your horse is best served if he
gets all his vitamins from his diet.
Warning!
A healthy horse on a good diet doesn’t need extra vitamins. When water-soluble vitamins are provided in excess, horses just urinate them out. These vitamins aren’t stored in the body, so feeding them to your horse may make you feel better, but unless your horse is extremely stressed (which may upset the happy GI tract leading to decreased microbial action), supplementation isn’t necessary. Adding fat-soluble vitamins, which are stored in the body, can cause a problem, especially with vitamin A, when over-supplementation could affect the liver.
That said, added vitamins may be
necessary in certain situations, like when a horse is growing, lactating, in
heavy race training, or recuperating from a prolonged illness. In these
situations, higher amounts of some vitamins can be useful. Still, meeting those
vitamin requirements via the diet, if possible, is best.
Remember
If you’re at all confused about whether to provide your horse with a vitamin supplement, talk to your vet. If he or she recommends adding vitamins to your horse’s ration, you can mix them with a small amount of commercial pellet feed (see Figure 6-2).
Figure 6-2: Adding vitamins
to a horse’s feed.
Staying Strong with Minerals
Horses (and humans) need minerals
to metabolize fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. They also need minerals for
their muscles and nerves to function properly and for their bones to be strong.
Minerals come in two different
forms: major minerals and trace minerals. Each serves a unique purpose in the
equine body.
Major minerals
Major minerals, or macrominerals
as they’re also called, are found in larger quantities in the horse’s body than
trace minerals. These major minerals include the following elements:
- Calcium: Necessary for bone strength and repair, calcium is also needed in the horse’s body for the function of cardiac muscles, cell membrane strength, glandular function, body temperature regulation, and blood clotting. Adult horses deficient in calcium can develop lameness or a softening of the bones; young horses can develop brittle bones that easily fracture. Older horses absorb calcium less efficiently than younger horses, so they sometimes need calcium supplementation possibly in equal proportion to phosphorus.
- Magnesium: This mineral is important to bone strength and enzyme performance. Horses deficient in magnesium can experience nervousness and muscle tremors.
- Phosphorus: A close partner to calcium, phosphorus is required for healthy bones and teeth. It also aids in the function of cells and is vital for mares producing milk for their foals. Horses lacking phosphorus can develop lameness that shifts from leg to leg.
- Potassium: Horses need potassium, an electrolyte, to maintain the balance of body fluid. Horses who don’t get enough potassium can become fatigued, have weak muscles, and eat and drink less. Some potassium-deficient horses even show behavior changes and become spooky and restless.
- Sodium and chloride: These two elements together make salt, a vital mineral necessary to the horse’s body function. Considered electrolytes, sodium and chloride are necessary for correct chemistry of the horse’s body fluids. Horses who don’t get enough sodium chloride tire easily, stop sweating, and experience muscle spasms.
Tip
Both of these minerals are easily lost through sweating and urination, so they must be supplemented in the form of a salt block (see Figure 6-3) or free-choice loose salt.
- Sulfur: Necessary to healthy hooves and coat, sulfur also helps in the metabolism of the B vitamins and other important elements in the horse’s body.
Figure 6-3: A salt block provides
sodium and chloride. (Bob Langrish)
With the exception of sodium and
chloride, major minerals may not need to be supplemented to horses who are
eating a good diet of water and quality hay, pasture, or commercial feed. If
supplementation of minerals is necessary, your vet will let you know.
Trace minerals
Trace minerals, or microminerals,
are so called because they’re needed only in very small amounts in the horse’s
body. Although horses need only tiny measurements of these elements, they’re
still vital for the horse’s health and well-being.
Trace minerals important to
horses include:
- Cobalt: Closely tied to the function of vitamin B12 (which we discuss earlier in this chapter), cobalt enables the body to produce this important vitamin. Researchers haven’t seen any problems in horses from too much or not enough cobalt, so horse owners have no need to supplement this mineral in healthy horses; your horse will receive enough cobalt from her feed.
- Copper: Creation and maintenance of the horse’s connective tissue is dependent upon copper in the body. Copper also enables the horse’s body to utilize iron and synthesize melanin, which is pigment in the body. Insufficient levels of copper can cause hind limb weakness and infertility. Horses usually get enough copper in their diets, although copper can usually be added in supplementation without risk of toxicity. Discuss this option with your veterinarian.
- Iodine: This trace mineral aids in the absorption of thyroid hormones, and is necessary for overall good health. Horses deficient in iodine can develop swollen thyroid glands; too much iodine can cause the same problem. Most horse feed contains adequate amounts of iodine, so supplementation isn’t necessary. However, talk to your vet about a possible need to add this mineral to your horse’s diet (particularly if you have a pregnant mare or foal) if feed grown in your area is lacking in iodine.
- Iron: Just as in the human body, iron is used to produce hemoglobin, a vital part of red blood cells. Fortunately, iron is plentiful in most hays and pasture grasses, and rarely needs to be supplemented. In fact, too much iron prevents the absorption of other minerals, such as zinc and copper, and creates a deficiency in these elements. Excess iron is especially dangerous to newborn foals.
That said, horses who have lost a considerable amount of blood can often benefit from iron supplementation. Supplement iron only if your vet has taken a blood test, and the results indicate that your horse has a need for this mineral.
- Manganese: A mineral used for the metabolism of lipids (a type of fat) and carbohydrates, manganese also helps the horse’s body metabolize chondroitant sulfate, which helps joints stay healthy. This mineral is most important to growing foals, who can develop cartilage and bone deformities without it. Your vet will let you know whether your horse needs a manganese supplement.
- Selenium: Working in partnership with vitamin E, selenium is a powerful antioxidant, protecting cell membranes from free-radical damage. Normal, healthy horses need only a very small amount of selenium in their diet, and shouldn’t be supplemented with this mineral unless your vet indicates otherwise. Selenium is present in most hay and pasture grass, although soil in some areas of the U.S. is deficient in it. In these situations, you may need to supplement this mineral.
Warning!
Because horses’ bodies easily become toxic if over-supplemented with selenium, make certain that your horse needs selenium before adding it to her feed or providing her with a mineral salt block that contains it. Your veterinarian can advise you on this.
- Zinc: Enzymes containing zinc help the horse’s body metabolize the important dietary elements of carbohydrates and proteins. A lack of zinc in the diet may cause brittle hooves and a dull haircoat. Hay and pasture grasses contain adequate levels of zinc, so supplementing this mineral isn’t necessary.by Audrey Pavia with Kate Gentry-Running,DVM,CVA
0 comments:
Post a Comment