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Equine Grazing Behavior Offers Clues For Forage Needs As Pastures Decline

As the growing season winds down or as drought sets in, horse owners must provide horses with an appropriate alternative forage to fulfill fiber requirements. In most cases, this involves the use of hay, though other products such as haylage or hay cubes are appropriate and sometimes fed.

The question that looms large for most owners is when to offer alternative forage. The pasture reveals a couple of important clues, namely growth rate and plant health.

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Owners will know when pasture growth slows as there will be less need for routine mowing and maintenance. Depending on stocking rate—that is, the number of horses on any given acreage—pasture might withstand a slowdown in growth rate and continued grazing, so long as more land is allotted per horse. A large, seven-acre paddock that comfortably sustained five horses in peak growing season might support three as pasture growth declines.

“Observation of grazing behavior might be a tipoff, too. If horses spend more time grazing, they are likely finding less to eat. In periods of lush growth, you might catch horses resting more often, as it is easier for them to satisfy their appetites and their need to graze,” said Dr. Kathleen Crandell, a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

Plant health is a more obvious indicator. As autumn segues into winter or as rainfall decreases, pasture grasses often turn brown and unpalatable, at which time growth is almost assuredly arrested. Horses will snack on these remnants, but more nutritious forage should be offered.

“Owners ought to offer hay as soon as they feel horses are not consuming sufficient pasture to meet daily forage requirement, which is about 1.5-2 percent of body weight daily,” advised Crandell.

For a 15.2-hand, 1,100-pound horse, that would be 16.5-22 pounds of hay each day. Keep in mind, though, that this amount will likely satisfy the horse's complete forage requirement.

“If the horse is still nibbling away at pasture much of the day, it might need only a portion of this. If the horse leaves hay in favor of pasture, then too much hay is probably being fed at the time. Gauge requirement through consumption,” recommended Crandell.

To maintain weight, many horses, in combination with their forage, will be consuming a well-fortified concentrate feed that supplies all of the protein, vitamins, and minerals required for their well-being. Those that do not should be fed a vitamin and mineral supplement, such as Micro-Max, developed by Kentucky Equine Research and available in the U.S. and other regions. Micro-Max supplies minerals that have been chelated or proteinated, which increases their digestibility and allows horses to derive maximum benefit from them.

One vitamin that is particularly deficient in diets composed of preserved forages such as hay is vitamin E, an important antioxidant in the horse's immune arsenal. The most effective source of supplemental vitamin E is d-alpha-tocopherol or natural vitamin E. Nano-E is a natural-source vitamin E supplement that possesses a unique delivery action, nanodispersion, which allows the vitamin to hit target tissues more quickly than other vitamin E supplements. Nano-E is available worldwide.

Don't know where to begin with supplementation? Complete a simple questionnaire and start the consultation process.

Article reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Visit equinews.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to The Weekly Feed to receive these articles directly (equinews.com/newsletters).

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Peat Moss Or Wood Shavings: Bedding For Asthmatic Horses

The natural dust and molds found in bedding material often intensify the clinical signs of horses with asthma. Bedding materials differ in the inhalable and respirable particles they release, just as they have variable absorptive qualities and aesthetic appeal. While horsemen the world over use straw and wood shavings extensively, the popularity of peat moss often coincides with where it is easily obtained, such as in Nordic and Baltic countries. Finnish researchers recently investigated if the use of wood shavings and peat moss as bedding had different effects on the respiratory health of horses.

Researchers chose 32 clinically healthy riding-school horses for this study. The daily schedule of the horses included 18 hours in a stall, 2 to 3 hours of exercise in an indoor arena, and 3 to 4 hours outside in sandy paddocks. Horses were stabled in identically sized stalls with a common airspace and with the same level of ventilation. Researchers maintained bedding at a depth of approximately 4 inches, with new bedding added each day after stall cleaning to keep the depth consistent. Horses stayed on each bedding material for 35 days. Diets consisted of haylage and pelleted concentrate. Horses ate the haylage off the stall floor. Researchers performed lower airway endoscopy and sampling (tracheal wash and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) for cytological examination at the end of each bedding period.

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While researchers found no differences in respiratory rate or tracheal mucus accumulation between treatments, horses bedded on wood shavings had more neutrophils in their tracheal washes and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The researchers concluded that “between the two bedding materials used in this study, peat caused less neutrophilic lower airway inflammation in horses.”

Asthmatic horses should be kept outside as much as possible, a management strategy that keeps many horses from having severe symptoms of asthma. High-performance horses must often be stabled to accommodate training and competition schedules. In these instances, medical management of asthma should be guided by a veterinarian well versed in the respiratory care of horses. Management decisions are often based on reducing inhalable dust and molds, which includes careful selection of bedding and forages.

Aside from forage type (haylage versus dry hay) or treatment (soaking versus high-temperature steaming), another nutritional consideration is the use of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In a consensus statement from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, experts recommend the use of omega-3 fatty acids as a way to control airway inflammation.^° The most potent sources of omega-3 fatty acids available for horses are marine-derived oils, such as EO-3.

^*Monki, J., M. Sasstamoinen, N. Karikoski, M. Rajamaki, M. Roaekallio, J. Junnila, S. Sarkjarvi, M. Norring, A. Valros, S. Oranen Ben Fatma, and A. Mykkanen. 2021. Effects of bedding material on equine lower airway inflammation: A crossover study comparing peat and wood shavings. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8:656814.

Seeing Reduced Performance In Your Racehorse? Study Suggests Switching Steamed Hay Or Haylage Could Help

Pinpointing the cause of poor performance in athletic horse is often a challenge. If it turns out there could be a respiratory cause, then mild equine asthma (EA) could be to blame. Luckily, the common saying that “prior preparation prevents poor performance” can be taken to heart in such situations. While hay steamers have been marketed to horse owners for several years, new research demonstrates that steamed hay and haylage can make measurable differences in a horse's

Mild EA, the preferred term that replaces inflammatory disease, describes horses with a chronic low-grade cough (defined as having gone on for longer than three weeks), decreased/poor performance, and the presence of tracheal mucous when the horse is scoped. Many underlying conditions can be confused with EA. Those include infectious causes (viral or bacterial), upper airway obstruction (dorsal displacement of the soft palate, for example), and exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. Some veterinarians have even speculated that those conditions may even predispose horses to mild EA.

“The most important factor contributing to mild EA in Thoroughbreds is the small dust particles horses breathe in primarily as a consequence of feeding dry hay,” explained Dr. Laurent Couëtil, section head of Large Animal Internal Medicine at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind.

Dry hay contains fungi, molds, mite debris, inorganic particles, endotoxins, and other inflammatory molecules. This microscopic particulate matter contaminates the horse's breathing zone, causing inflammation in the lower airways.

“Particulate matter measuring less than 4 microns in diameter results in a sharp and significant increase in the number of neutrophils in mucus collected from the lungs,” said Couëtil.

Particles this small cannot be seen to the naked eye but can be measured with specific, wearable equipment fastened to a horse's halter.

Mucus — a hallmark of EA — can easily be collected from horse's lungs via bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and microscopically analyzed. The presence of neutrophils in this BAL fluid indicates inflammation. Other inflammatory cells may also be appreciated, such as mast cells and eosinophils.

The amount of tracheal mucous, which can be scored on a scale ranging from 0 (no excess mucous) to 5 (defined as a profuse amount pooling throughout the trachea) can also be used to gauge the severity of mild EA.

According to Couëtil, studies in both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses have demonstrated an association between severity of mucus score and poor performance. As mucous scores increase, speed of the horse decreases.

“A 2006 study performed by Sue Holcomb showed that horses with tracheal mucous scores of 2 or greater were significantly behind in finishing place than horses with a score of 0 or 1,” Couëtil relayed.

Because forage is the most important source of dust that triggers EA, various tactics designed to minimize dust have been explored. Recently, Couëtil and colleagues conducted a study at an Indiana Thoroughbred racetrack. They demonstrated that racehorses actively involved in training and competition that were fed steamed hay or haylage had reduced exposure to dust by approximately 30% when compared to horses fed dry hay.

In that study, Couëtil's team recruited 69 Thoroughbreds and divided them into three groups based on type of forage fed: haylage, steamed hay, and dry hay. All horses were fed this diet for a total of 6 weeks. On weeks 0 (baseline), 3 and 6 of the study, endoscopy was performed after coming back from the track to assess respiratory function and to grade mucous. In addition, all horses were equipped with sensors to measure respirable particles (less than 4 microns in diameter) for 3 hours after returning from training and being fed.

Haylage is grass that is cut and baled at a higher moisture content (about 30%) than regular hay (about 15%) and is package in sealed plastic films similar to shavings bales. This packing prevents molding of the moist forage and allows preservation of the nutritional value of fresh grass similarly to what is achieved with silage for cows. This moist forage results in a marked decrease in dust exposure when horses eat haylage. For the purposes of this study, trainers were each given a hay steamer provided by Haygain.

Key findings of the study were:

Respirable dust particles (less than 4 microns in diameter) were significantly higher in the breathing zones of horses fed hay. Both the steamed hay and haylage generated the same, significantly lower level of dust particles;
By the end of the study, mucous scores were significantly higher in the hay group. Both the steamed hay and haylage groups had the same, significantly lower mucous scores;
BALF analysis showed that the number of neutrophils, an indicator of airway inflammation, increased significantly as the respirable dust concentration in the horse's breathing zone increased; and
Over time, the number of neutrophils in BALF decreased in horses fed steamed hay and haylage but only reached statistical significance for horses fed haylage.

“In sum, our results clearly demonstrated the benefits of feeding low-dust forages on airway health in just 6 weeks,” Couëtil concluded.

Another conclusion that Couëtil highlighted was that BAL can be performed safely in Thoroughbred racehorses without interruption in racing or training.

“For some veterinarians, owners, or trainers, the idea of a BAL can be off-putting,” Couëtil said. “Many veterinarians are not familiar with the procedure, and others think that a BAL will require resting their horses for an extended period of time after infusing fluid in the lungs.”

The reality is that even if only 50 percent of the sterile saline solution administered is recovered, the rest is rapidly absorbed. Couëtil's study proved that a BAL can be performed without interfering with the training and racing schedules.

“Owners and trainers shouldn't hesitate to perform a BAL in any case of chronic cough, poor performance or when excess mucus is seen by endoscopy after the race,” Couëtil said. “This test can be highly beneficial especially when used in conjunction with the mucous score. The BAL rules in mild EA while endoscopy can help rule out other causes of cough and poor performance.”

One caveat worth noting is that medications are sometimes used for sedating the horse and to decrease coughing during BAL, and it is important to respect drug elimination times prior to racing.

In sum, identifying realistic ways of decreasing airway inflammation, such as a small change in hay preparation, is important because an estimated 80% of Thoroughbred racehorses have mild EA and are not living up to their potential.

Dr. Stacey Oke is a seasoned freelance writer, veterinarian, and life-long horse lover. When not researching ways for horses to live longer, healthier lives as athletes and human companions, she practices small animal medicine in New York. A busy mom of three, Stacey also finds time for running, hiking, tap dancing, and dog agility training.

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