The Importance of Forage on Equine Behaviour
A horse's digestive system evolved to eat almost continuously small amounts of low quality forage for 14 - 18 hours per day, while in constant locomotion. In natural settings a horse would not fast for more than 3 hours at a time as its stomach continuously produces stomach acid. Saliva buffers stomach acid, but unlike in humans (who can have their mouth 'water' when as much as thinking about food), saliva in horses is only produced while chewing. Horses are selective grazers and when the pasture is large enough they will get enough excersise for optimal gut motility. Chewing hay takes much longer than chewing concentrates and requires much more saliva. When forage is reduced in the horse's diet to make room for concentrates (which are more energy dense than hay, reduce the bulk in the digestive tract thus giving the horse that desired athletic appearance) the total time that the horse is eating is greatly reduced. Although concentrates may be required for extra energy, at the very minimum 60% of the horses' daily ration should consist of long stem forage. One can imagine that when the horse's needs for eating almost continuously are not being met, changes in behaviour will occur. Digestive upset due to high acidity (which often results in ulcers that mostly go undetected) negatively influences behaviour and so does boredom. Simple management changes like better balancing of rations, more frequent feeding of lower quantities, extending the time the horse eats by introducing slow feeder hay nets may show dramatic changes almost instantly.
More info will follow .....
More info will follow .....
More About Feeding Hay
Hay comes in many qualities, but the most important is that the type and quality of the hay matches the horse's requirements and not only nutritionally!
Round Bale Facts
Round bales can be very convenient and economical, especially when feeding a large number of horses, but there are a lot of negatives in using round bales as well, here's my list:
Negative aspects:
By: Mila Bon, 2013
Negative aspects:
- Round bale hay is high in organic dust and endotoxins according to Amanda House (2010)
- Inhaling of organic dust, mould and endotoxins when horses bury their muzzle in the hay may result in RAO (heaves), even more so when the air is cold. (Note that heaves may develop over time, your horse may seem fine at the moment eating from his round bale.)
- Inspection of a round bale is difficult
- Risk of botulism if a dead animal is trapped inside the bale
- Risk of mould if the bale sits on the ground and/or is uncovered
- Difficult to monitor or control intake
- Multiple hay stations are preferred to prevent competition, but then it will take longer for the round bales to be consumed and thus more risks of mould and nutrient loss (preferred is 3-7 days according to Dr. Reece Myran)
- nutrional quality can vary significantly between the "core" and the "crust" (Dr. Reece Myran, 2012)
By: Mila Bon, 2013
How to Estimate Pasture Intake
Pasture intake estimates are based on dry matter (without the moisture) intake, which is between 1.5 - 3% of the horses' body weight.
Lush pasture is about 20% dry matter, but more mature pasture has a higher percentage of DM.
If I take a 500kg horse at maintenance and 1.5% intake then I have to calculate as follows:
500 kg x 1.5% = 7.5 kg or 500 kg x 0.015 = 7.5 kg
7.5 kg / 20 % = 37.5 kg or 7.5 kg / 0.2 = 37.5 kg
To meet its dry matter intake the horse will need to eat 37.5 kg lush pasture 'as fed' and this is the Estimated (Lush) Pasture Intake.
So far so good, as long as pasture is the only food. When pasture is combined with hay or concentrates it will be a little different:
DM for hay and concentrates that the horse receives per day is easy to calculate and these numbers need to be added up as a total for dry matter that is being fed to the horse, besides from te pasture. Then deduct the DM that is fed in hay and concentrates from the total DM the horse should get per day and that will be the dry matter in pasture.
If the same 500 kg horse gets 4 kg of hay at 89% and 1 kg of concentrates at 90% that will be:
4 kg x 89% = 3.56 kg or 4 kg x 0.89 = 3.56 kg DM in hay
1 kg x 90% = 0.9 kg or 1 kg x 0.9 = 0.90 kg DM in concentrates
+ ----------
Total DM hay + concentrates 4.46 kg DM
Total DM needed per day 7.50 kg DM
Total DM hay + concentrates -4.46 kg DM
------------
3.04 kg DM
3.04 kg / 20 % = 15.2 kg or 3.04 kg / 0.2 = 15.2 kg of estimated (Lush) Pasture Intake 'as fed'
Lush pasture is about 20% dry matter, but more mature pasture has a higher percentage of DM.
If I take a 500kg horse at maintenance and 1.5% intake then I have to calculate as follows:
500 kg x 1.5% = 7.5 kg or 500 kg x 0.015 = 7.5 kg
7.5 kg / 20 % = 37.5 kg or 7.5 kg / 0.2 = 37.5 kg
To meet its dry matter intake the horse will need to eat 37.5 kg lush pasture 'as fed' and this is the Estimated (Lush) Pasture Intake.
So far so good, as long as pasture is the only food. When pasture is combined with hay or concentrates it will be a little different:
DM for hay and concentrates that the horse receives per day is easy to calculate and these numbers need to be added up as a total for dry matter that is being fed to the horse, besides from te pasture. Then deduct the DM that is fed in hay and concentrates from the total DM the horse should get per day and that will be the dry matter in pasture.
If the same 500 kg horse gets 4 kg of hay at 89% and 1 kg of concentrates at 90% that will be:
4 kg x 89% = 3.56 kg or 4 kg x 0.89 = 3.56 kg DM in hay
1 kg x 90% = 0.9 kg or 1 kg x 0.9 = 0.90 kg DM in concentrates
+ ----------
Total DM hay + concentrates 4.46 kg DM
Total DM needed per day 7.50 kg DM
Total DM hay + concentrates -4.46 kg DM
------------
3.04 kg DM
3.04 kg / 20 % = 15.2 kg or 3.04 kg / 0.2 = 15.2 kg of estimated (Lush) Pasture Intake 'as fed'