Introduction
Most horse owners tend to struggle with their horses being overweight. With hay nets, slow feeders and all sorts of tricks, it is made possible to provide the horse with constant and steady hay supply without putting on excessive weight. On the flip side: in particular, owners of older horses are worried in the second half of winter whether their horse will make it through to the next grazing season. Or those who have taken on a horse from an animal rescue centre or a young “underweight” horse often strive for any extra pounds on their ribs. There is generally no shortage of advice on “feeding” your horse – from soya to malt beer, many suggestions are offered.
But how can you get your horse through the rest of the winter months with a diet that is appropriate?
Cereal flakes, concentrated feed, grain or beet pulp?
Feeding advice is often based on a lot of sugar or plenty of pectin, or a combination of both. Large amounts of protein are also very popular. But what happens to these nutrients during metabolism? Sugar (e.g. from cereal flakes) is used by horses primarily in their muscles as an energy source for movement. The ability to build fat from sugar is possible, but in most horses, it is rather poorly developed. If you would feed large amounts of sugar, but it is not converted directly into movement (due to age, frozen soil or poor general condition), the horse often metabolises the sugar improperly, causing the resulting ‘waste products’ to be stored in the connective tissue.
This in turn causes more lymph fluid to be retained in the connective tissue. Visually, the horse now looks ‘fatter’. However, it is not muscles or fat tissue that are being built up in this case, but the horse is simply ‘swelling on’. If you reduce the sugar in the feed and stimulate kidney function, then these horses usually get ‘much lighter’ very quickly – as soon as the lymph fluid is drained, all that lovely weight is gone again.
Sugar in the form of cereal flakes, starch (concentrated feed, grain) or even beet pulp is therefore not suitable for building up a healthy body mass.
Pectin
Pectins are also very popular and are added to the feeding trough mainly via sugar beet pulp or apple pomace. These building materials from fruit and young grass are not digested in the small intestine, but in the large intestine. Mainly by protozoa, i.e. micro-organisms that are always found in the horse’s gut. They are always present, but ideally should only make up a small proportion of the entire microbiome.
However, if they are fed a lot of pectin, they can multiply excessively, leading to an acidification of the large intestine due to the metabolic products of the protozoa. These thrive in an acidic environment, but not the cellulose-degrading (and particularly desirable) microorganisms. Pectin feeding therefore permanently disturbs the balance in the large intestine and thus reduces the digestibility of hay – exactly the opposite of what you actually want to achieve.
Despite this, the horses are putting on weight – how can that be? The acids produced by the protozoa do not remain in the large intestine but are absorbed by the horse and must now be laboriously converted and disposed of again. The liver cannot fulfil this task as quickly as more pectins are being fed again. Excess acids is therefore being stored in the connective tissue, which in turn leads to lymphatic retention. The horse swells up.
Same scenario as before, if you change the feed, restore the large intestines and ‘detox’ the horse by stimulating kidney function, the weight will quickly disappear again, and the horse will often be more ‘ribby’ than before. Pectins are therefore not suitable for bulking out either. The same applies to feeding haylage: lactic acid is produced in large quantities in the large intestine, absorbed and also leads to acid and lymph fluid retention in the connective tissue. Horses that have been fed a diet based around haylage will also lose a lot of weight very quickly when you switch to feeding them hay and initiate ‘detoxificaton’ – many owners are then in disbelief how ‘little’ horse appears underneath all the lymphatic deposits.
Proteins
Feeding concentrated protein is also tried again and again: the logic behind it is that the body needs protein to build muscle, i.e. body mass. They are often fed with soya (extraction meal), linseed extraction meal or pea flakes. Building muscle takes a relatively long time and can only be achieved if a horse is worked accordingly. The body only ever stores as much muscle mass as is needed for daily work. If a muscle is not used, it will be lost in about a third of the time it took to build it up. So, if you want to build muscle, the corresponding muscle must be used more.
This is rather difficult, especially with older horses and those that are in poor condition in the first place. The body cannot process excess protein in any meaningful way. With large protein rations, there is also always the risk that parts of it will not be sufficiently digested in the small intestine and will therefore enter the large intestine. Where they promote the occurrence of faulty fermentation, which can lead to a pungently acidic-smelling excrement (ammonia!). The protein that is not converted into muscle mass must also be broken down and excreted by the body. This process produces excess urea, which must be excreted through the kidneys and urine. Older horses in particular often suffer from chronic, underlying renal insufficiency. In these cases, generous protein feeding can very quickly lead to further kidney damage. The body often tries to excrete the urea through the sweat glands in the skin, which is why horses often start to smell unpleasant – as if they had slept in a puddle of urine the night before. Feeding a horse that is too thin protein is also rather difficult and carries a high risk of causing considerable metabolic disturbances.
What is the sensible thing to do?
If horses are too thin, you should first and foremost pay attention to the hay supply.
It should be a high-fibre hay that is always available so that there are no breaks in feeding during which the valuable intestinal flora ‘starves’ – otherwise the next portion of hay will no longer be optimally utilised. Especially older or low-ranking horses often eat too little hay. Additional soaked hay cobs can be offered to increase the hay ration.
Since soaked hay cobs do not need to be chewed, horses consume significantly more per unit of time than they do with hay. This is suitable for older horses and those with dental issues. But even low-ranking horses in a group often chew too hastily and do not eat enough hay if they are shooed away from their feeding place too often. In this case, it is essential to ensure more peace and quiet in the group (by providing more roughage feeding places, offering larger exercise areas or forming smaller groups). Ideally, there should be a separate group with the more timid ones from the herd and plenty of roughage so that they can eat in peace. Otherwise, stress can massively reduce the nutrient yield, and you can’t feed as much as is used up by the constant tension. Additionally, soaked hay cobs can be offered. Some of these lower-ranking horses in difficult groups benefit greatly from being separated out, at least overnight, where they can eat their hay and hay cobs in peace. Hay cobs should always be offered in many small portions as a supplement to plenty of hay.
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Supplementary feeding: What is helpful?
Supplementary feeding of sainfoin has proven effective for this purpose. Sainfoin is a relative of Lucerne, but has a better amino acid profile for horses, so that the proteins can be better utilised in the body. It also contains condensed tannins, which stabilise the intestinal environment and thus have a favourable influence on the utilisation of the entire roughage. Sainfoin therefore provides more protein and at the same time ensures better hay utilisation. Sainfoin can be soaked together with hay cobs. It is best to start with a small amount and increase slowly.
As, unlike concentrated feed, sainfoin is not a source of starch, you don’t have to be so meticulous about the quantities. Start with a ‘’cup full‘’ and slowly increase the amount until you end up feeding between one and three kilograms (dry measured) per day. It is generally well accepted and gets older horses and ‘poor doers’ through the winter much better than hay cobs alone. If the administration of hay cobs and sainfoin pellets is not sufficient, the essential amino acids lysine, methionine and threonine can also be added to improve the protein pattern in the body. The administration of spirulina algae, which not only contains excellent amino acids but also has a detoxifying effect, may also be of use.
In such cases, however, please seek our advice beforehand as to whether these feed supplements are necessary and sensible for your horse.
Conclusion
In addition to providing sufficient roughage, it is particularly important to avoid feedstuffs that disrupt the microbial digestion process in the large intestine.
We humans tend to be impatient: It takes time for a horse to regain its natural weight (neither lymph nor fat). And for seniors, it can be considered a great success if they don’t lose too much weight over the winter!
Any feeding of feed that is not appropriate for the horse’s diet (e.g. haylage, large quantities of concentrated feed, feed rich in pectin, fruit and vegetables, bread, malt beer….) disrupts the digestive process, stresses the metabolism and thus delays regeneration instead of accelerating it.
So: the best way to get the ‘ribby’ horses in the stable through the rest of the winter is with plenty of good hay, hay cobs, sainfoin, mineral feed, salt lick and sufficiently temperate water and hope that spring will come soon. After all, nothing helps horses gain weight better than low sugar grasses in a lovely big field.
If you would like to find out more about supplementary feeding of sainfoin, you may find this article of interest: ‘Sainfoin: a valuable hint, especially for poor doers’
🇬🇧 We are an experienced team of therapists specializing in feed consultation and integrated therapies for horses. With extensive experience in treating metabolic issues, we focus on natural, species-appropriate feeding and proven naturopathic remedies to enhance your horse's health. Benefit from our expertise to ensure the well-being of your horse.
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