Feeding your horse and his well-being

The horse is a monogastric animal who, in his natural state, utilises grass and woody plants to feed and cover his nutritional requirements. Horses in their natural state spend on average 16 hours /day eating continuously. Like other herd animals, horses prefer to eat at the same time as the rest of the herd. Their natural feeding behaviour consists in moving slowly, with their head carried low, grazing in areas of short grass pasture land.

Horses have a small, non-elastic stomach, which predigests food. It then empties into the small intestine when it is full (around 12 litres). When fed on a large ration, the stomach empties during feeding. This means that digestion of the food ingested is diminished. Following enzyme digestion in the small intestine, food transits to the large intestine where specialised micro-organisms (bacteria) ensure that the previously undigested  fraction is utilised, this can increase the risk of colic, diarrheoa, and laminitis.

Colic (digestive tube afflictions) are provoked by :

• A sudden change of diet, a diet which is too rich in concentrates
• Meals of concentrates of too high a volume
• Poor quality hay
• Ingesting poisonous plants
• Restricted access to water
• Bad monitoring of digestive parasites

A link has been established between an excess of concentrated feeds and gastric ulcers. To limit gastric problems and abnormal behaviour, hay should be the basis of the horse’s diet. Forage naurally has more fiber content, and larger fragments of food than hard feeds, and this increases chewing time. This prolongs the time spent eating. The benefits are twofold :

• Increasing salivation time and the amount of saliva produced improve the pH of the stomach limiting the onset of ulcers.
• The activity of ingesting food reduces boredom, thus limiting the appearance of stereotypical behaviour

Quantity

When given ad lib, horses will consume between 7 to 15 kg of dry matter (DM). For example,  a 500 kg horse on maintenance feed can ingest :

• 60 to 80 kg of young grass with 15 % DM content
• or 12 kg of meadow hay with 85 % DM content

Feeding ad lib reduces stress. It has a positive impa    ct on well-being and behaviour. Moreover, horses appear to eat as much hay during the daytime (8 a.m to 8 p.m) as at night (8 p.m to      8 a.m). It is therefore appropriate to give at least two rations of hay (morning and evening). In this way the distribution of the ration is adapted to the way the horse consumes his food and limits waste. The quantity to be given can be adjusted with regard to what is left in the stable.

Combining digestion and exercise

Large rations (of hard feed or hay) before a competition requiring intense effort (endurance racing, advanced cross country course) alter the thermoregulation and cardio-vascular functions of the athlete.

The time the ration is given appears to be more important than the type of feed. Totally refraining from feeding before the competition increases the risk of gastric ulcers. In a study it was demonstrated that providing forage 2 to 3 hours before exercise did not seem to affect performance, or glycaemia (blood sugar rate) during exercise of moderate intensity. Then again, giving small quantities of forage (1 to 2 kg) between 1 and 3 hours before a competition is recommended to limit gastric problems of top level horses.

Quality

The nutritional value of the forage should also be taken into account, and supplemnted with hard feed or a mineral and vitamin supplement, depending on the horse’s nutritional requirements, relative to his activity and physiological condition.

According to a study, most users consider that forage has little nutritional value, and is only given to « keep the horse happy ». However a diet based solely on forage with a good nutritional value can cover the requirements of an adult horse even one subject to intense efforts. Better communication about the importance and the quality of hay is needed.

Giving different types of forage

One study shows that providing different types of forage (classical forage + chopped forage bricks) increases ingestion time. In addition, it gives the horse constant access to food, which limits the boredom factor and the appearance of stereotypical behaviour. When consumed in moderate quantities, straw does not pose any particular digestive problems.

On the other hand, it has also been demonstrated that chewing wood  in the stable (mangers, doors) is often associated to diets rich with too much hard feed. Providing forage (hay and straw) can restrain this type of behaviour.

In the same way, using other types of bedding instead of straw increases the risk of abnormal behaviour. Straw bedding, unlike wood shavings also favours lateral decubitus. But it especially leads the horse to constantly be looking for food, which limits boredom.

Give access to grazing

It appears obvious that frequent access to pasture is beneficial for stabled horses. Going out in a paddock is a time for the horse to relax, as he can roll and move around freely. He can also have more frequent social contacts with other horses than when stabled. The availability of grass will also entice the horse to graze calmly, compared to a sand paddock in which he will just let off steam (and risk injury) rather than chill out.

Haynets

Ingestion time is twice as long when hay is given in a haynet, rather than on the ground. French and Dutch studies have shown that using nets with small mesh slows down the intake of hay and increases chewing time by 5min/kg of hay, thus lengthening the time the horse spends eating.

However some nets force the horse to bend their heads, which can have a harmful effect on the spine and muscle tissue. Horses also « nuzzle » (horizontal rubbing of the nose) more when in presence of small mesh nets.

The authors of these studies also indicate that when the mesh is too small, horses refuse to eat their hay.

It is also a good idea to favour the horse’s natural posture when feeding, which is head bent down towards the ground. This limits the risk of blockage of the oesophagus (even for hard feed where the greedy horses do not chew much). This position also promotes elimination of inhaled dust, due to the trachea being pointed downwards. Take care not to use haynets too close to the ground however, especially for shod horses, or when tacking up, as they could get caught up in the mesh.

• A chest placed on the ground covered with a grid which goes down as the hay is eaten,
• Suspended nets,
• Hay racks either with or without seperate partitions.

They are suited either to an individual or group way of life.

Automatic feed distributor

An increase in cortisol levels (hormone indicating stress) has been observed in horses when the neighbouring horses are fed before they are served. Automatic feeders could limit the stress factor by enabling all the horses to be fed at once. Automatic distribution systems or self-locking racks for feed are both satisfactory from a well-being point of view, as they limit stress and injury.

They should however be designed so that the horses need to engage forward to eat and cannot move sideways thus preventing the dominated horses from accessing the feed. Care should also be taken to ensure enough places in the forage area with regard to the number of horses living together.

The presence of several piles of hay leads them to search for their food, and causes fewer abnormal behaviour patterns.

Moreover, increasing the number of meals per day, or even choosing to feed solely based on forage decreases stereotypical behaviour. 

In a study, foals in a control group were compared to foals benefitting from an enriched environment at weaning, both socially (turned out with other horses for several hours a day), and through food search situations (several meals of concentrates per day hidden under the hay or spread out in the straw). Other tactile enrichments (brushes fixed to the wall), auditive enrichments (music), and smells (emission of natural aromas) were provided in the stable housing the « enriched » foals. These foals neighed less, showed fewer signs of excessive alertness, and fewer aberrant behaviour patterns than the control group of foals (no enrichment provided). They were also seen resting more often, than foals in standard individual loose boxes. Enrichment therefore decreases the foal’s emotivity and improves well-being.