metabolic | Horse Racing Free Tips

Endocrine Issues: Designing A Diet For A Metabolic Mare

Question: My 17-year-old Morgan mare weighs about 1,200 pounds and is in moderately fleshy body condition, just right by my estimation. I ride purely for pleasure, usually at the walk and trot. On days I don't ride, I longe her. She's fed 13 to18 pounds of soaked hay daily, 3 pounds of unmolassed straw/alfalfa chaff, a vitamin and mineral supplement, and biotin. She maintains her weight on this. Her hooves are strong, but her coat does not shine as it should. She has equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) with bouts of mild laminitis. This year she was extremely sensitive to the grass and has spent long stretches in her stall following a laminitic episode that was more severe than usual. Despite these laminitis flares, she has no radiographic changes to her coffin bones. She's added something new to her list of ailments lately, though: occasional mild colic. What else can I do for her from a nutritional perspective?

Kentucky Equine Research responds: A diagnosis of EMS with laminitic episodes can make diet formulation a challenge, though you seem to be on the right track. Her basic ration, which consists only of forages and vitamin and mineral fortification, is appropriate given her body condition. You are wise to offset the potential soluble carbohydrate content of her hay by soaking it prior to every meal.

In reference to future grazing, however, continue to proceed cautiously and under the direction of a veterinarian that is familiar with the mare's endocrine-related problems. She has shown that she is becoming more and more sensitive to pasture grasses, so her time spent grazing might be restricted, even severely so, in the future. Some horses with metabolic disorders cannot handle grazing at all, regardless of season, time of day, or pasture composition. For these horses, a drylot that allows them to exercise as they wish with suitable preserved forage at their disposal is an option. With respect to pasture and hay, try to keep the level of nonstructural carbohydrates below 12 percent.

Two high-quality supplements from Kentucky Equine Research might also help, especially if you believe she may be able to tolerate some grazing in the future, even if it's limited by a grazing muzzle of another means of restriction. EquiShure is a time-released hindgut buffer that supports digestive health by minimizing disruptions in the microbial population brought about by diet or management changes, including those prompted by grazing. EquiShure stabilizes the pH of the hindgut and reduces the incidence of recurrent colic in some horses.

Another research-proven product recommended to reduce inflammation and support a normal endocrine response is EO-3, a marine-derived supplement that provides the specific omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, which are known to have many health benefits. Further, EO-3 will likely add shine to her coat and may keep certain skin problems, such as scratches, from developing.

Ask the Expert: Fall Grazing

Owners and caretakers of metabolically challenges horses are often aware of the health hazards ingesting lots of fresh, spring grass can bring on their charges, but grazing horses on lush pastures in the fall is fraught with its own set of perils.

Frost damaged pastures can have higher concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates, leading to an increase in the potential for founder and colic, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings disease and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. To help prevent these health issues, at-risk horse owners should wait up to a week before turning horses back onto a pasture after a killing frost. Subsequent frosts are not a concern as the pasture plants were killed during the ﬁrst frost.

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Why do nonstructural carbohydrates increase during the fall? During the day, plants carry out the process of photosynthesis. In this process, they make carbohydrates as an energy source for the plant. A second process, respiration, is carried out when the plants use up the carbohydrates they produce during the night for energy. Plant respiration slows down when temperatures are near freezing. As a result, the plants hold their carbohydrates overnight. Freezing can stop respiration and lock the carbohydrates in the plant for over a week. Thus, plants tend to contain more carbohydrates in colder temperatures or after a frost. Often, horses will prefer forages after a frost due to the higher carbohydrates levels.

Research: Riding Equivalent To Jogging, Soccer In Energy Expenditure

Despite the fact that horseback riding is a popular sport, there is little information available on horseback riding as a physical activity. The objective of this experiment, conducted at Texas A&M University, was to quantify energy expenditure of participants during three riding tests: a 45 minute walk-trot-canter ride, a reining pattern ride and a cutting simulation ride while wearing a telemetric gas analyzer.

Average metabolic equivalents of task and heart rate responses were greater for riders during the long trot portion of the walk-trot-canter and cutting rides compared to the overall walk-trot-canter ride. When the walk-trot-canter ride was evaluated by gait, average metabolic equivalents of task increased as gait speed increased. Riders engaged in cutting and reining experienced more-intense exercise in short durations, while walk-trot-canter riders has a greater overall total energy expenditure due to the duration of the activity. Interestingly, all three riding activities were similar in peak metabolic output compared to activities like jogging, and playing soccer and rugby.

This study highlights the importance of horseback riding as a viable tool to support health through physical activity. As gait speed increased so did the intensity of work output by the rider, suggesting it is possible for health benefits to be achieved through horseback riding, particularly if riding at the more intense gaits.

For more information, read the abstract at the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

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Study: Hungry Ponies May Want To Hibernate

If you've ever jokingly referenced having “the urge to hibernate” when the weather turns cold, you're not alone! Interestingly, ponies may feel the same way—especially if they don't have enough to eat.

Animals that hibernate experience a decrease in both their heart rate and their body temperature when winter weather hits; their metabolism also slows. Drs. Lea Brinkmann, Martina Gerken, Catherine Hambly, John Speakman and Alexander Riek created a study to se if ponies had similar physiological adaptations.

The research team used 10 Shetland ponies and studied them through the year, measuring each pony's vital signs and using blood tests to check metabolic rates. During winter months, they fed all 10 ponies a diet that met 100 percent of their maintenance needs. They then divided the ponies into two groups: one group received meals that met tall their metabolic needs and the second group was put on a diet that provided only 60 percent of the pony's energy requirements.

The team discovered that the ponies on the restricted winter diet had lower metabolic rates and their body temperature dropped. The scientists say that these changes, which are similar to changes hibernating animals experience, compensated for a decreased energy supply during the time of year when energy is needed to maintain warmth.

The pony's behavior didn't change, but the reduction in metabolic rate and temperature enabled them to minimize the effect of limited energy stores.