The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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26 TheHorse.com THE HORSE September 2017 Be careful not to confuse lower-ESC/ starch hay with poor-quality hay, how- ever. You'll want the quality to be high for good nutrition. "Even resting horses need nutrients," says Daisy Bicking, a Pennsylvania-based farrier who reha- bilitates horses with metabolic disorders and laminitis. "To maintain a healthy weight without getting fat, they just need hay that isn't too high in ethanol-soluble carbohydrates and starches." You can get your hay tested to know what its composition is. But if you can't test it or get access to low-ESC/starch hay, you can soak it in water for 45 minutes to remove most of the sugars, van Eps says. Just be sure to toss the water immediate- ly so the horse doesn't consume it, too. With low-ESC/starch hay, you should be able to feed a normal amount of forage—about 2% of body weight (so, about 20 pounds a day for a 1,000-pound horse), Kellon says, to maintain weight. A horse that needs to lose weight should eat about 1.5% of his body weight in hay per day, van Eps says. Distribute the hay with a slow feeder or a net, says Bicking. This keeps the horse busy and helps regulate his insulin levels. Also monitor how well your slow feeder works. "If there's no hay by morn- ing, you should slow the horse down more," says Bicking. A different kind of slow feeder or doubling the haynet can help slow intake. Dietary Extras While hay is the primary food source for these restricted-exercise horses, they still need a balanced diet of protein, vita- mins, and minerals. These are especially important for the healing process in injured horses, says Bicking. But knowing whether your horse is get- ting enough nutrients is difficult because you can't always judge it by body condi- tion like you can with calories. Again, hay analysis can help. It is "by far the best way to determine how much the horse is taking in from his diet and what the supplement needs are," Bicking says. "A good-quality grass hay will almost always meet, if not exceed, total protein needs, but adding 7 to 10 grams of supplemental lysine may be wise because it's an es- sential amino acid for protein assembly, including the collagen of tendons and ligaments. Horses on hay rather than pasture need at least 1 IU/lb of vitamin E supplemented and minerals, depending on the hay analysis." If your hay is at least a year old, you might need to supplement with vitamin A at 20,000 to 40,000 IU per day, she adds. Vitamin and mineral supplements could be useful if you change your hay regu- larly (and don't get it tested), just to be sure your horse is consistently getting the nutrients he needs during his layup. Unsound and Overweight If you have access to an automatic walker, ask your veterinarian how many hours a day your horse can use it for exercise. ISABELLE ARNON WITH LAMENESS DATA, THE RESULTS ARE Learn more at equinosis.com 1-855-4-LAMENESS (1855.452.6363) Follow us on Social Media How MUCH D I D T H E THERAPY help?