A cold dry winter, some thoughts on feeding...

It has been a tricky time for horse owners, or anyone with livestock in our part of Victoria for the last 6 or 7 months and there is still a question mark over our upcoming spring. We need rain and then some lovely sunshine for feed to grow and our hay producers to have a great season.

Feed - especially pasture and hay is somewhat non existent, and if you can find it you will pay a premium for whatever you can get. Unfortunately the quality is variable. Be as fussy as you can afford to be.

Cases of colic (signs of abdominal pain) are more frequent due to cold weather and horses not drinking enough. This can lead to intestinal impactions (blockage) and a call to us.

Fibre and forage are an essential part of a horses diet. They are designed to graze around 20 hours a day, so frequent feeding is better than one large feed per day. Their long intestinal tract functions better if there is something sitting in it fairly constantly. So sourcing good quality fibre should always come first. Right now, this is really hard.

You are not alone in this. We are counting bales of hay in our own sheds, making sure we will have enough for mares arriving as well as feeding our own horses. I have moved mine into "weight" groups based on good doers and hard keepers, young stock and pregnant mares.

All have large 20kg vitamin and mineral blocks in their paddocks to help with any imbalances. The young stock, pregnant and hard keepers are hard fed as well as ad lib hay in feeders to prevent waste. The easy keepers and dry mares get less hay (by necessity - not choice) and a high fibre and energy hard feed depending on their condition score. Rugs and shelters also help with the cold.

There is so much information out there but the very basic rules are these:

1. The absolute minimum a horse needs to perform its basic metabolic functions is 1% of its bodyweight daily in dry matter. That looks like 2 to 3 biscuits of low quality grass hay to a 500kg horse. This will not stop it losing weight nor will it provide all of its nutrient requirements - it will simply keep it going for a while. Roughage at a minimum should be 25% of the diet - up to 100% depending on nutrient quality. So if your horse is losing weight, weigh your feed and call for some advice.

2. The maintenance requirement for a 500kg horse (average thoroughbred type) is 68 Megajoules of Digestible Energy per day. Protein should be 7-8% (essential amino acids lysine, methionine and threonine need to be present). Tip: read the back of a lot of horse feed bags.

3. Feed to body condition score! Breeds and individual variation in Body Condition Score, type of work, as well as medical conditions such as Equine Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, Tying Up, Laminitis and Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome all need to be considered when formulating a diet. It is not a one size fits all unfortunately. The Henneke Body Condition Score Chart is a helpful start.

4. Where you can - know your horses ideal weight, and weigh the feed! So many of us overfeed or underfeed through this simple error. Just weigh it all out once and mark your feed scoops accordingly. Same goes for biscuits of hay. In times like these, we do not need to be wasting feed. As a guide, a biscuit of lucerne hay weighs 2kg, good quality pasture hay is about 1.5kg however weigh yours if you can.

5. A horse will usually only consume 2.5% of its bodyweight daily in a ration. So for a 500kg horse this is a maximum of 12.5kg

An example of a maintenance ration for a 500kg horse that we want to keep in body condition score 5/9.

We are aiming for a total ration no more than 12.5kg, with 68MJ of DE, around 7-8% protein and minimum 25% fibre:

Average quality pasture hay 7 kg DE = 8* MJ/kg = 56 MJ DE

Protein is 75 g/kg = 525g

Fibre is 300 g/kg = 2100 g (2.1kg)

Maintenance premix pellet 1.5kg DE = 9 MJ/kg = 13.5MJ DE

Protein is 85g/kg = 127.5g

Fibre is 150 g/kg = 225g

Total DE = 56 + 13.5 = 69.5 MJ

Protein % is 525g + 85g/8500g(total weight fed) x 100 = 7.2%

Fibre % is 2100g + 225g/8500g (total weight fed) = 27%

Total weight fed 8.5kg (ideally divided into 2 to 3 feeds over the day)

*all feed values from personal veterinary notes

This gives you an idea that 4 to 5 biscuits of good grass hay and a small amount of concentrate should maintain your horse, all else being equal. If you only feed hay and your horses are only just holding, you may need to increase it and potentially add a balancer pellet ration to make sure essential amino acids and trace minerals are present. They also contain electrolytes which encourage the horse to stay hydrated.

If work rate changes, then requirements for energy and protein also change, if weather is freezing, requirements for energy change. If you have a pregnant or growing horses requirements are different. There are some mineral balances that need to be kept in correct ratios such as Calcium and Phosphorous, Copper and Zinc. It seems tricky, but once you have the basics down it is not too hard.

Many companies offer feed analysis services, and if you like/prefer a particular brand reach out to them, being mindful you will get a list of their own products.

Please reach out if you need some independent advice. (PS the feed example above does have the correct mineral balance.)

Good Luck, Stay warm :)