Water and Hay: Essentials for the Winter

 

With the brisk temperatures we are beginning to have and frequent fluctuations of our North Carolina winter weather, it is always good to remember how critical these changes can be to our equine companions.  If you’ve been in the horse business long enough, you have probably encountered a horse experiencing colic due to temperature changes.  Keeping horses warm and hydrated in the winter, as well as in good body condition can be a challenge.  Key factors in achieving this are providing shelter from the wind and rain, along with plenty of clean water and good hay.  Here are some things to consider as the winter progresses.

 

Maintaining ample water intake is the most critical part of ensuring the health of your horse during cold weather.  The horse prefers a water temperature of 45-65°F.  Under normal conditions, horses will consume one gallon of water per 100 pounds of body weight per day.  An 1100 pound horse will consume 10-12 gallons of water daily.  But, as water temperature decreases, horses will consume less.  An 1100 pound horse may consume as little as 1-3 gallons of water per day when water temperature is 32°F. 

 Low water intake is directly related to the increased incidence of impaction colic.  Water intake can be encouraged by increasing the amount of forage being fed prior to a drop in temperature.  The resulting increase of dry matter encourages the horse to drink more water.  Concentrate mashes can also be fed during the actual cold period when water temperature is below 45°F.  Feeding 2-3 gallons of hot water mixed in a mash with a textured or pelleted concentrate mix will provide additional water intake.  To avoid gas colic, allow for the mash to sit for 15 minutes. This will permit the feed to expand prior to feeding.  If possible, offer 10 gallons of water (at 65°F or warmer) twice daily.  Break and remove ice from water tubs, making certain to provide water that is available free choice. 

 

Providing good quality, nutritious hay is another critical aspect to winter management of horses.  This is the time of year where hay supplies can get thin, so planning ahead and purchasing enough hay to get through the winter is critical.  When temperatures get below freezing, winter pasture growth reduces tremendously, and hay is our only forage option.  Horses, along with other grazing animals, need hay to stay warm.  Hay and other forages are digested in the cecum and large intestine of the horse, and this digestion process is the primary source of regulating body temperature. Many horses can maintain their weight through the winter with just an increase in hay consumption.  Those that are harder to keep weight on or older will often need a gradual increase of grain as well. Horses should consume at least 1.5% of their body weight in hay during cold periods.  For example, a mature 1000 pound horse should consume 15-18 pounds per day of hay to meet these temperature needs in cold weather.  It’s important to pay close attention to body condition during these periods, and actually “feel” your horse.  A long hair coat or winter blanket can often cover up thin spots on a horse, so be sure to examine your horse closely and get a feel for where your horse’s ribs, backbone, etc. are and how much fat or “cover” there is over and around them.  If a horse given plenty of hay is having trouble maintaining weight, increasing fat to the concentrate diet may also be helpful.  Many “high fat” feeds are on the market just for this purpose. 

 

These are just a few tips to help you and your horses get through the brisk winter days that are starting and will be here for awhile. For more information and advice, don’t hesitate to contact your veterinarian and/or extension agent. 

 

 

 

Thinking ahead for Breeding and Foaling Season

It is never too early to think and plan ahead, especially when a foal is on the line. Horses are normally bred during the months of May - August and foal during the following spring of the year. Breeding mares are a serious investment of money and time and being prepared for a successful foaling can help ensure safe delivery. This article linked below gives tips to care for the mare during the breeding and foaling season. 

https://extension.umn.edu/horse-health/caring-your-mare-during-breeding-and-foaling

Got Bermudagrass Pastures? Need Spring Forage?

Two weeks ago, most of North Carolina experienced enough cool weather for our warm season pastures to go into dormancy.  This means pastures with perennial grasses like Bermudagrass or Bahiagrass will produce little to no forage until late April or May so it’s time to pull out the hay rings, hay huts, corner feeders!   Horse owners who have the luxury to stack hay to the rafters of their barn will probably have enough to get through winter but those who cannot store large amounts could be hard-pressed to find a decent supply come February.  Some hay producers scaled back on their fertility due to the ballooning cost of fertilizer.  Less fertilizer means lower overall hay yield so there is potential for a limited supply.  The best way to curb our reliance on hay, is to consider overseeding our pastures with winter annuals.  These are forage species that are planted in the fall (ideally September through October) to help compensate for the winter/spring slump that we experience with Bermuda and Bahiagrass pastures.  Winter annuals are a one-shot deal which means come May and June they mature and die.  When planning a winter annual overseed, there are a few things to take into consideration before pulling the trigger.  

Species Selection:

There are several types of forage species on the market so it’s good select the ones that fit both the horse and horse owner’s needs.  Make sure the species you select is frost/cold tolerant.  Grasses such as ryegrass, cereal rye, triticale, and winter oats are some of the most commonly winter annual grasses utilized for horse pastures.   

Site preparation:

Ideally, we recommend soil sampling your pastures before planting any type of forage.  The reports from the soil analysis give us a fertilizer and liming recommendation to bring essential nutrients and soil pH up to acceptable levels.  Considering we are on the later end of the planting window for winter annuals and soil testing is a 2-3 week turn around, I would recommend using a previous report if there was one taken within the last three years and work with your County Extension Agent to come up with a fertility plan “prescription”.  A winter overseed will need some form of starter fertilizer in the fall and then more in early spring as growth increases with warmer temperatures.  Splitting fertilizer applications allows the forage to utilize nutrients more efficiently which leads to thick, lush stands for your horse to graze.  Alternative fertilizers such as poultry litter, and manure are great sources of nutrients and are inexpensive compared to our commercial fertilizers.  The drawback with manures is they are harder to handle and apply without proper equipment.  

Note: Some winter annuals such as annual ryegrass can compete with bermudagrass during green-up in April and May so it is recommended that you devote only a portion of your pastures to a winter annual overseed.

Establishment:

To establish any winter annual forage in warm season pastures, we need to get any excess bermudagrass or bahiagrass growth out of the way.  The best way to do this is through mowing or grazing down grass down to two inches.  Again, since time is of the essence, a mower is going to be quicker than a grazing animal.  After pastures are clipped/grazed down, it’s time to plant your seed. 

There are generally two methods for planting.  First is using a no-till grain drill.  Although this is the best method to overseed your pasture, no-till drills require some horsepower and must be pulled by a tractor.  Several County Soil and Water District offices rent no-till drills for a reasonable fee. If you do not have access to a large tractor or no-till drill, the next option is broadcasting with a spreader followed by dragging with a chain harrow or piece of chain-link fence with weights.  This will help work the seed closer to the soil and increase germination.  For cereal rye, oats, or triticale the recommended seeding rate is 100-120 pounds per acre and for annual ryegrass you should plant 20-30 pounds per acre.  If you are broadcasting, we recommend planting the high rate to increase your chances of establishing a good stand.  If mixing two or more species, reduce the seeding rate of each by 50 percent.  For example, if you want to plant oats and rye together, plant 50-60 pounds of each.

Grazing Management:

Depending on weather conditions, winter annual overseeded in pastures can be slow to establish. Generally, rye, oats and triticale are not ready to graze until February. Ryegrass develops much slower and is usually not ready to graze until mid-March. Start grazing when plants reach 6 to 8 inches and stop grazing before plants reach 3 inches to keep from damaging stands! Winter annuals benefit from rotational grazing systems. Dividing pastures into smaller paddocks and rotationally grazing allows your forage to rest and recover before the animal returns.  This increases forage utilization and lowers the chances of overgrazing.  With adequate fertility and moisture, these winter annuals can produce 2-3 tons of dry matter per acre.   

Overseeding bermudagrass pastures with winter annuals can help compensate for the winter slump in forage production and provide your animal with nutritious feed in the spring.  If you are planning to overseed your pastures for spring grazing, the window is closing quickly!  If you have any questions about pasture management please contact your local Extension office. 

Teff Hay for Horses

 Teff is a warm-season annual grass originally developed and grown in Ethiopia as a grain. Although it’s been suggested to have lower palatability than some other more common grasses, in recent years it has become popular among horse owners in the U.S. looking to reduce the amount of sugar in their horses’ diets.

There is a bit of research looking at the use of teff hay in diets where low sugar, low starch forages are warranted or required and forage intake restrictions are recommended.

Staniar et al 2010: These authors report non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) contents for teff of 5.4% in the ‘boot’ stage and 8.4% in the ‘late heading stage’ of plant maturity. Both really low NSC levels and well below the 10 – 12% threshold considered safe for laminitic/ID/EMS/PPID horses. Variation in NSC levels between samples was also minimal.

Horses in this study ate 1.5% to 1.8% of their bodyweight in teff hay, with the lower intakes being on the more mature hay. Again, this is a good thing as horses on restricted diets are unlikely to eat this hay as fast as more palatable hays like alfalfa, so they should eat for longer periods of time for lower calorie intake.

McCown et al 2012: Reported that when fed to horses unaccustomed to teff and given a choice of either teff and alfalfa or teff and timothy, their intake of teff is lower than their intake of alfalfa (no surprise there) and timothy. BUT, when given access to only teff, intake was about the same as timothy hay. So they don’t relish teff hay, but they are also less likely to overeat it if they are overweight to begin with.

Askins et al 2017: These authors report that horses given free access to teff hay consumed 1.5% of their bodyweight per day which equated to 86% of maintenance calorie requirements. So the finding of lower intake on teff continues.

This study also reports that resting glucose and insulin levels did not change over 10 days while the horses were fed teff. To keep this in context however, ryegrass hay (which can be higher in NSCs) was fed as the control hay in this study and glucose and insulin levels also remained the same on this hay. Unfortunately the NSC content of the hays was not reported.

DeBoer et al 2017: In another recent study, these authors report that cool season perennial grasses had a significantly higher NSC content than teff pasture in summer and fall/autumn, however actual NSC content was not reported.

This research also looked at differences in plasma glucose levels in horses grazing either alfalfa, cool season grasses or teff and found that differences were minimal. However, we know that insulin resistant horses can maintain normal glucose levels, they just need a lot more insulin to achieve this.

DeBoer et al 2018: Authors report that horses grazing teff had significantly lower peak insulin levels when compared to horses grazing cool season grasses in fall/autumn… despite NSC levels not being significantly different between the grasses (the cool season grasses had numerically higher NSC values but when variation was taken into account they were not significantly different). It is worth noting here however that teff was not recorded with an NSC above 10% at any time point where the cool season grasses did reach 12.6% NSC in summer.

Overall, from the research available, teff appears to be suitable for horses who need either a calorie restricted and/or NSC restricted diet. However, if you are going to use teff hay for a metabolically challenged horse, it is still wise to test it to confirm NSC levels.

Adapted from an article by Nerida McGilchrist.

Are Fall Booster Shots Right for Your Horse?

 We've had a few cool nights here in the Carolinas and it finally feels like fall has arrived!  You may be thinking longingly of the rides you'll have without dripping sweat.  Maybe you even have a few fall trips planned?  Calling your veterinarian to schedule vaccinations is probably at the bottom of your list...those shots are only due in the spring right?  

Despite the cooler temperatures, those pesky disease carrying mosquitos we all despise will linger sometimes as late as November.  Mosquitos are known to transmit WEE/EEE (Western/Eastern Equine Encephalitis) and WNV (West Nile Virus).  You probably vaccinated against these illnesses in the spring, but over time, vaccines can lose some of their efficacy, depending on the health & condition of your horse and their environment.  Your veterinarian can tell you if a booster is best for your horse.  

In addition to insect borne disease, there are a number of respiratory infections that plague horses in the fall and winter months.  Two common examples that can be vaccinated against are herpes virus complex (including rhinopneumonitis "rhino") and equine influenza.  Not every horse needs to be vaccinated against these infections, but horses at higher risk for exposure may benefit from a dose of added protection.  Horses you plan to show or travel with this fall or horses stabled at a barn with lots of horses coming and going from other places are considered at higher risk.  Your veterinarian will be able to tell you if your horse falls into this category.  

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has recommendations for vaccine schedules for horses in various levels of work. Having a relationship with a local veterinarian that can help you create a vaccine schedule that fits your horse is the key to successful prevention of disease.  

If your horse is a candidate, talk with your veterinarian and consider fall vaccinations.  You don't want to miss a minute of the best rides of the season!

Parasites: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

Many of us are familiar with the previous standard for deworming horses - a rotational system where a different class of dewormer is administered every 8 weeks like clockwork to all horses on the property. The problem with that, we now know, is that it increases parasite resistance, which in turn decreases the efficacy of those dewormers in the future. Let’s break down how this can happen: 

1. Dewormers are administered and susceptible parasites are successfully destroyed. 

2. The less susceptible (stronger) parasites are left behind, but have now encountered the dewormer and have the opportunity to form resistance to it.

3. Those less susceptible, now more resistant parasites continue to exist in the internal and external environments, and continue to multiply.

4. The same dewormer is administered again, but the parasites are now resistant and unaffected by it.

According to a recent article from PennState Extension**, “small strongyles have widespread resistance to benzimidazoles, moderate resistance to pyrimidines, and early indications of resistance to macrocyclic lactones. Ascarids have widespread resistance to macrocyclic lactones and early indications of resistance to both benzimidazoles and pyrimidines.” The article goes on to say that horses tend to develop immunity to ascarids (roundworms) while young, so small strongyles become the main parasite we worry about becoming resistant in our mature adult horses.

Table 1: Taken from University of Minnesota Extension

Fortunately, horse owners have several tools in their toolbox to reduce and prevent this resistance from building up on their farms in the first place. The proverbial “ounce of prevention” can include: 

1. Manure Management - You’ve probably noticed your horses avoiding grazing in certain areas in the pasture, specifically where they have pooped. This is a natural instinct to avoid parasites. When complete removal of manure from an area for composting is not practical, like a pasture for example, we tend to look towards harrowing or dragging to break up manure and spread it around. This can be beneficial in a dry, hot climate where temperatures have been high and rainfall low consistently for several weeks. This is more helpful for strongyles than roundworms, which can withstand the hot and dry conditions. However, in a moderately warm and moist environment, spreading the manure can be more harmful than helpful altogether. This can take away the horses’ ability to graze around the infected feces. The best case scenario is to be able to keep horses off of a pasture for several hot and dry weeks after harrowing or dragging.

2. Rotational Grazing - Moving horses from one pasture to another in general can be extremely beneficial for the horses as well as the pastures. A period of rest gives the grass time to recover and strengthen its root system before being grazed again, making it heartier overall. What you see on top of the ground in a pasture is typically reflective of what the root system beneath it looks like. Parasites also like to live in the bottom 2-4 inches of the grass, so being able to pull horses off of a pasture when they get down to about 4 inches can greatly reduce their exposure to parasites in the first place. The less parasites they ingest, the less there will be for you to have to get rid of. Stocking density comes into play here as well. It is important to make sure there is enough grass relative to the amount of horses it is expected to support.

3. Fecal Egg Counts (FECs) - These tests are a great way to estimate the current parasite load of your horse at a given time. It is important to ensure that the sample being tested is fresh, uncontaminated, and handled correctly. This test can help evaluate how effective a dewormer was when administered. It is important to note that this test is not perfect. It does not reflect adult worm load or larva, and has been known to miss tapeworm and pinworm infections as well. The main parasite a fecal egg count detects is strongyle eggs. Therefore, it is still recommended to deworm adult horses at least one to two times each year for the parasites that may not have been detected on tests, like tapeworms, pinworms, bots, etc. Fortunately, anthelmintic resistance has not been reported in these parasites as strongly as it has with small strongyles.

4. Knowledge - Understanding the life cycle of different parasites can be extremely beneficial to horse owners when they go to plan their parasite management strategies. Timing treatments and preventative methods to coincide with stages of the life cycle is important. You want to make sure you are conducting FECs, administering dewormer, spreading manure, and rotating pastures, all at the right time to minimize parasite burden. 

Finally, it's important to remember that just like with most other things, horses can vary significantly from one to the next when it comes to factors that influence deworming needs. Things like age, shedding rates, and natural immunity can be so different between individuals that it is virtually impossible to develop an effective one-size-fits-all plan for a farm. Make sure to involve your veterinarian in developing a plan for each individual horse. You can also contact your local extension office for further resources to help with pasture management, conducting fecal egg counts, and much more.

**https://extension.psu.edu/decoding-dewormers-types-resistance-concerns-and-use-for-horses

Common Types of Colic

 Colic is a word that terrifies horse owners. Colic is caused by many factors, including things we usually can’t control, such as a sudden weather change. Luckily, colic doesn’t always have to result in expensive surgery or euthanasia. There are multiple types of colic, and most can be treated if caught early. The four main types of colic that occur in our area are gas, impaction, sand, and twisted gut.

Gas colic is the most common, has the most straightforward treatment, and is usually not fatal. Gas colic can be caused by sudden changes in feed, ulcers, dehydration, stress, and insufficient forage intake. Horses may appear extremely painful, but this usually resolves with pain medication, fluids, and walking. This type of colic can be prevented by feed and environmental management. 

Impaction colic can be caused by feeding lower quality or stemmy feed materials, ingesting foreign materials such as seeds, and improperly chewed food.  This is common in horses who are older or need their teeth floated. Impaction colic can sometimes be treated by a veterinarian administering fluids, mineral oil, and anti-inflammatories. Impaction colic can be fatal if not treated quickly.  Owners can prevent an impaction by feeding appropriate forage for their horse, dental maintenance, and ensuring their horse drinks adequate water. 

Sand colic is common in horses that live in sandy areas, like the Sandhills and Coastal Plains of North Carolina, and who eat their hay off the ground. The sand irritates the intestinal lining causing pain and disruption of digestion. If not treated promptly, the loose sand in the intestines can harden and form stones, which are painful and may cause an impaction. This can be prevented by feeding out of a hay net or raised bale feeder, and giving supplements like Sandclear and Sandpurge.

The final common type of colic is the twisted gut, which occurs when some part of the intestine twists around itself and is almost always fatal.  The twist can sometimes be corrected by surgery if caught early, but often the tissue in the intestines begins dying before surgery can be performed. Preventing the other mild types of colic can help prevent a twisted gut. 

It is important to know the signs of colic so treatment can be started as soon as possible. Talk to your veterinarian to develop a plan so you can be prepared if your horse does colic. 

Signs of colic:

• Kicking at their stomach

• Flank watching

• Pawing the ground/acting anxious

• Bloating

• Excessive sweating

• Rolling

• Not eating or drinking

• Stretching 

• Not passing manure

• Tacky gums

• Heart rate over 50 beats per minute

• Lack of gut sounds using a stethoscope

If you suspect that your horse is experiencing colic:

• Begin walking your horse

• Call your veterinarian to inform them your horse is colicing

• Administer an oral anti-inflammatory medication as advised by your veterinarian

• Remove feed

• Keep horses in an open area to prevent getting caught on something if they roll.

• Ask your veterinarian to come to your farm if

• There is no improvement from walking and anti-inflammatories 

• You do not know how long the colic has been occurring or has occurred for several hours.

• Vital signs are abnormal.

• Gums appear dark red or purple

• If any of the above signs occur for longer than 30 mins.