Winter Feeding

North Carolina is known for mild winters; however, there are still a few things that horse owners should think about in order to keep their equine friends happy and healthy during these colder months. 

It happens every year during the winter, some horses put on extra weight and some start to look too skinny.  The best way to tell if your horse is getting enough food (or too much) is to monitor their Body Condition Score (BCS).  Most horses require 1.5 – 2 % of their body weight in forages and feed a day to maintain the proper BCS (which most experts agree is a 5 on a scale from 1 to 9).  This means that for a 1,000 pound animal, they will need to consume 15-20 pounds a day.  Of course, a majority of that should come from forages.  Horses that are “easy keepers” may require a little less to maintain their BCS and older horses, horses with certain medical problems or those that are just plain harder to keep may require a little more to stay at their ideal weight.  Likewise, horses that are kept in a stall during the colder winter months might not need as much as horses that are on pasture all winter.  The following article from the University of Maine describes body condition scoring and what to look for when doing so.  The main thing is to just be aware of your horse’s BCS and how it changes throughout the winter. 

http://umaine.edu/publications/1010e/

With all this talk on feeding, don’t forget the water!  Cooler months usually lead to periods of inactivity, changes in diet and drinking less water than normal.  All of these have the tendency to raise the incidence of impaction colic.  A typical horse should drink between 8-12 gallons of fresh water a day to ensure that the normal bodily functions continue to stay “normal”.  Horses like their water between 45-65°F and free of ice.  This is often hard to do during the coldest months of the year.  To guarantee that your horse’s water is adequate, check buckets at least twice a day, emptying the icy cold water and replacing it with fresh, warmer water.  If twice a day water checks are not feasible, then you may want to check into some automatic de-icers.  Most experts advise that you continue to offer access to free choice mineral/salt blocks throughout the winter months, as this will also increase their intake of water.

For more information on winter feeding, body condition scoring your animal or anything else mentioned in this post, please don’t hesitate to contact your local Cooperative Extension Center.     

Botulism in Horses

Over the past couple of weeks, two calls have come into the Extension Office concerning botulism in horses.  Because these calls came so close together, this subject should probably be addressed.

Botulism is a deadly disease caused by the toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.  This is a potent neurotoxin that impairs nerve function, which can cause paralysis of muscles.  Therefore, this disease is often deadly.

C. botulinum is an anaerobic (lives without oxygen), gram-positive, spore forming bacterium.  The clostridium family can cause several different diseases such as botulism, tetanus, blackleg and malignant edema.  These can be rapid, severe and deadly diseases that sometimes show no clinical signs; the animal is simply found dead.

The bacterium and its spores are widely distributed in nature. They are found in soil, sediments of streams and lakes.  They can also be found in the intestinal tracts of fish and mammals. The bacteria will produce toxins under conditions of decaying plants and animals.

Adult horses can be get botulism in two ways: 1) By consuming feed or forage containing the pre-formed toxins of C. botulinum (known as forage poisoning). 2) Through wounds contaminated with the bacteria, generally puncture wounds.

Botulism from forage poisoning can occur when animals eat forage that has spoiled or any type of feed that has been contaminated by a decaying animal.  Spoilage can occur when hay is baled at too high of a moisture content.  Additionally, hay that has been fed or has spilled onto the ground and has mixed with soil and feces provides a greater risk for horses contracting botulism.  If dead animals accidentally get baled into the hay, botulism can occur.

The clinical signs of botulism in horses include weakness; decreased muscle tone of the tail, eyelid, and tongue; trembling; dilated pupils; lying down; difficulty in swallowing; drooling; and green or milky nasal discharge.  Horses progressively get weaker, and once the diaphragm muscles become involved, respiratory failure occurs, and the horse dies of asphyxia.  The disease can hit suddenly and result in the death of horses that were perfectly healthy the day before. Botulism causes a flaccid paralysis, unlike tetanus that causes a rigid paralysis.

Treatment for botulism is an administration of an antitoxin.  This should be done early in the clinical signs to have any chance of success.  However, treatment is costly, difficult and often too late.  Therefore, it is better to prevent the disease.

Prevention includes being diligent about feeding a good, quality hay and other feedstuffs.  Any questionable feed should be eliminated.  Additionally, there is a botulism vaccine.  Talk with your veterinarian about an appropriate vaccination schedule for your horses. 

An additional article can be found here:

http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/local-assets/pdfs/Equine%20botulism%20fact%20sheet.pdf

An audio entitle "Preventing Botulism in Horses" can be found at this link:

http://news.ca.uky.edu/audio/preventing-botulism-horses

 

The above article was originally written by Fernanda C. Camargo, Bob Coleman, Laurie Lawrence, Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Kentucky; adapted by Kim Woods, Person County Cooperative Extension

 

 

 

 

Equine Dentistry

About a year ago, there was an article in this blog that dealt with equine dental care.  It’s time to refresh a bit about why it is important to be sure that a horse’s teeth are well maintained.  For starters, most of us want our horses to stay with us for as long as possible.  Making sure they receive good dental care is one piece of the puzzle in keeping them happy and healthy into old age and longer.  As the Center for Equine Health at UC-Davis points out in its December 2011 Horse Report, Equine Dentistry is not just floating teeth.  Good oral health cannot be separated from the health of the rest of the horse. Dental care should start at a young age, and carry on with regular check-ups.  Problems can then be identified and dealt with pro-actively before serious problems develop. 

Current research is showing that equine teeth that function normally and have normal grinding patterns actually wear more slowly and last longer.  The better the teeth are maintained, the longer the horse can grind forages and feeds.  That in turn affects the ability to digest the forage and grain that is ingested.  Nutritional problems such as chronic colic, weight loss and nutritional deficiencies can develop if forages and grains are not chewed properly.  In time, oral pain can become a bad problem, with the horse suddenly not performing well.  When this happens, a visit to the vet clinic may be in order.  Check out Dr. Lloyd Heron’s blog for a discussion on the equine tooth extraction process.  Just looking at those photos makes one think that equine dental care is another place where an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.  My translation is that it is better to spend a little money now and then on dental care for the horse than to wait until there is a really big problem and pay a big vet hospitalization and surgery bill later.

Regular dental care will make sure that problems such as sharp enamel points lacerating the cheeks or tongue, retained caps (deciduous teeth that are not shed), hooks and ramps forming on the first upper and last lower cheek teeth, lost and/or broken teeth, abnormally long teeth, and/or infected teeth or gums are identified and dealt with early.  The UC-Davis newsletter has a pretty good discussion on equine dental care.  It also has some good photos of problems identified in a dental exam.  It and Dr.Heron’s tooth extraction discussion are worth reviewing.

To sum it all up, good dental care is vital to the overall health and well being of horses.  Good dental care will help ensure that horses reach and enjoy their golden years.  With it being pretty common for horses to live into their 30’s, let’s be sure that their teeth are up to the task of chewing and grinding their forages and feeds properly in those later years.

The Growth and Feeding of a Weanling Horse

Weaning results in changes to the nutritional environment of the rapidly growing young horse. During this critical period, skeletal development is still occurring. The skeletal system includes the bones, cartilage, tendons and ligaments, all of which are critical components of the framework that will support athletic production later in life. For the weanling to reach its full potential as an adult, you must manage its total nutritional environment. This publication answers some of the questions related to the nutritional management of weanlings that you, as a horse producer, should be considering.

What is my weanling’s nutritional environment?

The varying components of a weanling’s nutritional environment include environmental temperature, day length, physical stress, and nutrition. Individual farms can have “micro-environments” that you should factor into the development of your comprehensive farm nutrition program. Research at the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center has connected the rise and fall in growth with similar seasonal patterns seen in day length, environmental temperature, and pasture quality. This highlights the importance of monitoring these variables and taking action to increase or decrease supplemental feeding before changes in weight or condition occur in the animal. The goal is to maintain a relatively smooth growth curve.

What will my weanling be doing?

The purpose of the horse and the available facilities affect how you house and exercise your weanling. Research has shown that pastured weanlings experience greater bone growth than young horses kept in stalls possibly due to the self-regulated duration and intensity of exercise and a more consistent feed intake. You can address this by giving stalled weanlings access to plenty of turnout, potentially combined with exercise. Horses managed on pasture often grow at a slower rate, which requires less intensive management. Weanlings kept on pasture often are supplemented with grain. They can be fed individually in stalls, where feed intake can be precisely monitored, or they can be group fed using individual feeders spread out around the pasture to support the proper intake for each horse.
Those showing or marketing young horses usually prefer to stall weanlings individually. Stalled weanlings often are managed for faster growth and require closer observation to detect skeletal development issues before they become problems. Also, weanlings kept in stalls will need forced exercise programs to manage appropriate bone and muscle growth. Most research recommends exercise periods of short duration to condition growing bones and muscles. During this time, you should watch young horses carefully for signs of mild soreness or joint swelling, indications that the exercise may be too intense and causing damage. Allowing stalled weanlings time for free exercise may aid in sound bone development; however, you should not allow the sudden bursts of physical activity seen in horses kept in the stall too long. Turning them out after their daily exercise program may help moderate their activity level.

How should I prepare my foal for weaning?

There are many options when choosing the appropriate time and method to wean. Most farms wean when foals are between 4 and 6 months of age. Weaning before 3 to 4 months usually requires that you provide some form of liquid milk replacer or specially designed foal pellet, as the foal’s digestive tract is not fully able to utilize forages and grains.
Weaning can be a very stressful time for a foal, particularly if it is weaned abruptly, if multiple foals are weaned at the same time, or if it is confined to a stall in order to begin an exercise program. Preparing a foal for weaning will help reduce the stress experienced when you remove the mare. Creep feeding is one tool you can use to prepare the foal for the transition from suckling to weanling. This is particularly true if the foal has been denied access to the mare’s feed while suckling, as can be the case if the mare’s bucket is too high for the foal to reach. A foal accustomed to eating grain while with the mare is more likely to continue eating and experience reduced stress during weaning. As a rule of thumb, a foal about to be weaned should be consuming approximately 1/2 to 1 pound of feed per month of age each day, so a 6-month-old foal could be consuming 3 to 6 pounds of weanling feed per day. A foal for sale or showing is more likely to consume more feed than a foal that will not be working until it is more mature.

What do I feed him now that he’s weaned?

After weaning, the young horse no longer has access to milk and relies on forages and concentrates to supply the nutrients and energy required for growth. The horse owner has a great deal of control as to what is fed in the barn. A quality grass or grass/legume-mixed hay with a low acid detergent fiber (ADF, 30 percent to 35 percent) and a crude protein content of between 10 percent to 16 percent is suitable for the weanling. Straight alfalfa forage does not contain balanced energy, protein, or minerals (particularly calcium and phosphorus), so feed it with care. Introduce concentrate slowly and use it to correct any nutrient deficiencies, particularly energy and lysine (protein), that may be lacking in the forage. Ideally, more than 50 percent of the ration should be made up of forage, but in some cases you may feed more concentrate than forage.

How do I monitor growth? How do I know if my weanling’s growth is optimal?

Growth can be defined simply as an increase in size over time. It is important to monitor growth because most owners have, as a long-term objective, some sort of athletic purpose for their animal. Skeletal and muscular development are important components of athletic potential. Generally,horse owners monitor growth by measuring changes in body weight, wither height, or body condition. Body weight, which incorporates the growth of all tissues in the body (fat, muscle, and bone), can be tracked by using a weight tape, while wither height gives a closer indication of skeletal development. Skeletal development is the most important aspect of development during this time; therefore, other more precise measures may be useful. Research at the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center indicates that forearm length and front cannon circumference are pertinent measures of skeletal development (Figure 1). Forearm measurement is useful because it represents a bone that grows a considerable amount (approximately 15 cm in Thoroughbreds) and gives a good indication of skeletal development. Cannon circumference is a measurement that has been used by horsemen for many years to evaluate “bone” maturity or development. Growth should be consistent across all these measurements. Sudden large increases or any decreases should be an indicator of potential problems.

 

What is my weanling's body condition score?

Body condition scoring (Figure 2) can be an important tool to indicate whether the nutritional needs of the growing weanling are being met. Body condition is a subjective evaluation of subcutaneous fat deposition, and uses a 9-point standardized scale with a 1 being poor condition and a 9 being extremely fat. There are numerous factors that influence the condition of a weanling, but generally an animal of this age should have a condition score of between a 4 and 6. A condition score of 4 is described as having a negative crease along the back with a faint outline of ribs discernable. The tailhead prominence depends on conformation, but fat can be felt around it. The hip bones are not discernable, and the withers, neck, and shoulders are not obviously thin. A 6 is described as having a slight crease down the back. Fat over the ribs feels spongy and around tailhead feels soft. Fat is beginning to be deposited along the sides of the withers, behind the shoulders and along the sides of the neck. Evaluate and record body condition every two weeks so that you can detect any change in condition early.

 

 

Adapted from Feeding and Management of Weanling Horses for Healthy Skeletal Development,

Virginia Cooperative Extension Service
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/406/406-007/406-007.html

Caring for the Older Horse: Common Problems and Solutions

Horses have relatively long life spans compared to other livestock and companion animals, often living into their late 20s and early 30s. Many horses have productive careers into their 20s. In fact, in many disciplines, horses do not peak until their teenage years. Good nutrition, maintenance and veterinary care allow horses to lead longer and more productive lives. However, as horses age, their needs change and additional care may be required to keep them as healthy as possible.

The older horse can often be cared for and managed well as long as the owner and/or caregiver understands the special needs a horse may have as it ages. It is important to recognize that there is not a predetermined age when an individual horse becomes “old.” Like people, individual horses age at different rates. As caregivers, we can have an effect on some areas of aging, such as dental and hoof care, but little effect or control over others, such as genetics, previous care and previous use.

The key to caring for an older horse is to understand how the horse’s body changes as it ages and how these changes impact the horse’s health requirements. Important areas to consider when caring for the older horse are nutrition, lameness, vision, immune response and hormone changes. This publication will address changes in the aging horse’s body that impact its requirements, possible ways to meet these requirements and solutions to problems that may occur. It is important to recognize that not all older horses have problems; some are maintained easily without much change in routine. However, some horses begin to have problems as they age and are referred to as geriatric. These horses may require special attention and a change in management.

Nutrition

Nutritional needs of aging horses will vary greatly between individuals. Some older horses may never need drastic diet modifications, whereas others will require a special diet to help them maintain good health and body condition. In both situations, the goal is to provide adequate nutrition.

Dental Care

As horses age, it can become harder to meet their nutritional requirements. One reason for this is poor dentition. Proper and routine care of the horse’s mouth by a qualified equine dentist will help the horse maximize nutrients from the food he is eating. Horses chew in a circular motion from one side of their mouth to the other. This motion naturally wears away the horse’s teeth. Over time, this chewing motion will lead to sharp points developing on the outside of the horse’s upper molars and the inside of the horse’s lower molars. Regularly keeping the horse’s teeth filed down (known as “floating”) one or two times per year will improve his chewing ability and digestion.

Some older horses may not even have teeth. When a young horse first develops molars, they are very long and folded into the dental socket in the jaw. The length of the entire tooth is around 5 inches in a young horse, and only a small portion is visible above the gum line. Over time, chewing wears away the tooth, which continues to push upwards above the gum to replace the worn part. This cycle continues throughout the horse’s life, but by the time he approaches his 30s, most of the tooth may be worn down to the roots. This leaves older horses with little ability to chew and digest foods they would ordinarily eat. Changing the type of food the horse eats can easily alleviate this problem. Some feed companies make senior horse feeds, which tend to be softer in texture than ordinary horse feeds. Concentrates fed in the form of pelleted feed can be wet down and softened to make a gruel that is easy for the horse to chew. Forage can be provided in the form of hay cubes or pellets (made of either alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix), which can also be wet down and softened for the horse to chew easily.

In general, reducing the food’s particle size and feeding foods that can be wet down and softened will greatly improve any nutritional problem the horse may have due to chewing difficulties. While dentition problems are usually relatively easy to manage, if the horse is not cared for properly (e.g., turned out to pasture with no additional care) it may quickly become emaciated due to an inability to eat the available food.

Nutrient Absorption

As they age, some horses may become less able to glean nutrients from what they eat due to reduced nutrient absorption, lowered ability to digest fiber and reduced gastrointestinal motility. Some of these problems may be due to intestinal damage from parasites if the horse was not kept on a regular parasite control program throughout its life. Lifelong parasite control is critical in maintaining the horse’s health and longevity.

Feeding Strategies

Regardless of the reason, it is important to provide geriatric horses that are having difficulty maintaining their body condition with highly digestible, high-energy feeds. One commonly used practice is to feed older horses beet pulp in some form. Beet pulp is a highly digestible fiber source. It is sometimes incorporated into commercial feed or can be bought separately to be wet down and fed in addition to grain.

Another way to improve digestibility is to select commercial feeds containing grains that have been processed by crimping, cracking, rolling or steam flaking, which breaks the grain’s seed coat so that the horse may better digest it. Supplementing fat may also increase the energy content of the diet since fat is a highly digestible energy source. Commercial feeds are often formulated to contain added fat. Grain mixes without added fat typically contain approximately 3% fat. Many feed companies now market grain mixes with fat contents as high as 14%. If the horse owner does not wish to use one of the commercial feeds formulated with added fat, fat can be top-dressed to the horse’s grain. Many feed companies market fat supplements such as stabilized rice bran or extruded pellets with added vegetable oils. Some horse owners also choose to add fat to the horse’s diet by pouring some type of vegetable oil over the horse’s grain. However, it is critical to not increase the energy content of the diet without also ensuring that other nutrient needs are met. When feeding a commercially formulated feed this is not typically a problem; however, when top dressing the horse’s grain with a fat supplement, make sure that other nutrient requirements are also being met.

A horse fed added fat will need less feed to maintain its condition; therefore, protein, vitamin and mineral content should also be increased. Additionally, rice bran supplements that do not have added calcium can cause calcium : phosphorus imbalances in horses on grass forage. Care should also be taken to not feed vitamins and minerals in such excess as to cause toxicities. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) are stored readily in the body and, over time, can lead to toxicities. Excesses in certain minerals can interfere with absorption of other minerals. When adding supplements to the horse’s diet, whether it be fat, vitamins or minerals, it is important to be sure that imbalances are not created in other nutrients. The simplest way to do this is to feed concentrates that have been commercially formulated or to feed supplements that have been commercially formulated to match a particular feed.

Before adding supplemental fats, vitamins or minerals to the horse’s diet it is important to do a simple blood analysis to ensure that the horse has proper kidney and liver function. Horses with liver dysfunction will not tolerate added fat in the diet. Providing feeds with high protein and /or calcium (e.g., alfalfa, beet pulp) can aggravate the kidneys in horses with kidney disease.

It is also important to feed good quality grain and forage that is free of mold and dust. Moldy, dusty feeds can cause gastrointestinal tract problems such as colic and are generally not easily digestible. Older horses often are more susceptible to respiratory irritation, and feeding dusty feeds will only aggravate these conditions. Horses that suffer from persistent respiratory problems may benefit from having their hay soaked for 15 minutes prior to feeding to control dust. Feeding hay that was cut at the appropriate time is also important. Hay that is too mature when cut has an increased lignin content, and can become indigestible. This hay often appears to have a very high stem content and should be avoided in older horses that already have decreased forage digestion.

Overweight Horses

Not all older horses are hard keepers. Some will hold their weight easily and may actually become too heavy since they are not exercised as often or as intensely as their younger counterparts. These horses may begin to accumulate fat at a rate that may be detrimental to their health. Horses that become too heavy may stress their bones and joints and may aggravate any existing lameness conditions such as arthritis and navicular syndrome. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the horse is meeting all of its nutritional requirements without gaining an excessive amount of weight. Allowing ample turnout time for horses that are not in a routine riding program will provide them with some exercise and allow them to maintain muscle tone and a healthy body condition.

Metabolic Disorders

Some horses may develop metabolic conditions as they age, which can lead to unhealthy obesity. This is commonly caused by imbalances in hormone levels (such as insulin) that cause diseases such as Cushing’s, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. These conditions often develop in older horses (about 20 years old). Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in horses are similar to diabetes mellitus in humans. Horses with Cushing’s produce excessive amounts of cortisol from their adrenal glands. Cortisol has many functions in the body, including maintaining blood pressure, modifying the body’s inflammatory immune response, regulating the function of nervous tissue, regulating muscle tone and connective tissue repair, and regulating the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats by controlling insulin levels in the body. The excessive amount of cortisol produced in horses with Cushing’s disease leads to many problems, including recurring laminitis, muscle atrophy, susceptibility to disease, slow wound healing, excessive hair growth along with failure to shed, and lethargy. If any of the above symptoms, including excessive obesity, are noted, a veterinarian should be contacted as soon as possible. Cushing’s can be controlled with medication if it is caught early. Horses with metabolic disorders can be managed with routine hoof care, vaccinations, de-worming and a specialized diet. A routine exercise program may help prevent disease onset or improve the lives of individuals already suffering from metabolic disorders.

A common management practice for horses with Cushing’s disease, insulin resistance and/or metabolic syndrome is to feed them a diet with a low glycemic response. The glycemic response of feeds is a representative number to convey how much of a glucose and insulin spike a particular feed elicits in the blood, and is strongly correlated to the amount of sugar and starch present in the feed. Feeds that are high in sugar and starch will cause blood glucose levels to rise sharply and quickly, followed by a spike in insulin levels. For horses with metabolic conditions such as Cushing’s, this spike in insulin is particularly undesirable. Feeding a diet with a lower starch content (i.e., feeding more highly digestible fiber and fat) will keep insulin levels in the bloodstream stabilized. Additionally, hay can be soaked in water for several hours and the water drained off to further remove sugars from the horse’s diet.

It is important to be sure that the horse’s diet meets all of its protein, mineral and vitamin requirements as these nutrients are critical for muscle tone and tissue repair, wound healing, and prevention of infection and illness. Horses with Cushing’s, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome can be managed by feeding a diet that meets their nutritional requirements but has little starch and sugar – for example, good quality forage, highly digestible fiber sources (e.g., unmolassed sugar beet pulp, soy hulls), fat supplementation if needed to maintain weight, and protein, vitamins and minerals in the form of a ration balancer.

Lameness

One of the most common soundness problems seen in older horses is arthritis, which can begin at any stage of life but often worsens with age. Although it is uncertain whether arthritis can be prevented, it can often be managed with considerable success.

There are numerous feed supplements marketed for use in improving joint function. These supplements may contain chondroitin sulfate, glucosamines, hyaluronic acid, msm, yucca or a combination of these ingredients. Use of joint supplements may have beneficial effects on some horses that already have arthritis and other forms of joint disease; however, very little scientific research has been done in vivo to test these products. Equine joint supplements are not FDA approved and therefore are not regulated. Because of this, there is often considerable variability in these products. Some horses do appear to respond favorably to supplementation while others do not respond at all. For horses that do not improve with the use of joint supplements, another option is injectable joint products that typically contain substances thought to replace joint fluid or improve cartilage regeneration. Examples of products that may be found in injectable form include polysulfated glycosaminoglycans or sodium hyaluronate (trade names Adequan and Legend). A veterinarian may recommend injecting a particularly bothersome joint with steroids and/or hyaluronic acid for direct and more immediate relief. These injections may improve joint flexion and reduce pain within days, and benefits may last for months or years before having to be repeated.

Other potential lameness-causing conditions for older horses are problems related directly to the feet, often caused by lack of proper care or lack of adequate hoof horn growth. As horses get ridden or worked less, their hooves often become neglected. Many older horses don’t grow high-quality horn because of lack of use and a decline in their ability to extract key nutrients from feeds. Poor hoof quality and imbalanced hooves can exacerbate arthritic conditions and lead to soft tissue injuries. While an older horse may not be working and performing like he once did, routine proper hoof care is still essential to maintain health and soundness.

Summary

The problems and solutions discussed in this publication are meant to serve as guidelines for managing an aging horse. Horses vary greatly from individual to individual, and there are no hard and fast rules for caring for horses, geriatric or otherwise. Understanding the underlying reasons for problems that might arise in aging horses will help both owners and caregivers to make educated management decisions. It is important to recognize that while older horses may not be as productive or useful as they might have been in their youth, routine veterinary, dental and hoof care, along with proper nutrition and parasite control, are critical to keep these horses healthy for the remainder of their lives.

http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_ID=7878