Question
I recently moved my 18-year-old Paint mare from the West Coast to the Midwest. She is out on decent quality pasture for about 12 hours a day and fed a grass-alfalfa mixed hay in her stall. I’ve been feeding her 1 lb (0.45 kg) of beet pulp and 2 lb (0.9 kg) of a ration balancer feed. In addition, I give her a vitamin and mineral supplement and probiotics. She lost some weight during the trip but is in fairly good condition. My main concern is for muscle and topline, so I recently added an amino acid supplement. I am interested in transitioning her to a feed—possibly a 12-14% protein feed—with a higher feeding rate that might be able to replace the beet pulp. I ride for an hour or two five or six days a week, mostly at the walk and trot. What are your suggestions?
Answer
Some horses require more calories than a ration balancer provides, but the minimum feeding rate of 5 lb (2.3 kg) or more per day of a traditional feed may provide too much energy. In these cases, a combination of feed and a ration balancer or concentrated vitamin and mineral supplement is ideal. You mentioned you are generally content with your mare’s current condition, so this might be the right choice for her.
Let’s look specifically at using a combination of a traditional feed and a balancer pellet. For every 1 lb (0.45 kg) of traditional feed under the recommended feeding rate, top-dressing with 0.5 lb (250 g) of balancer pellet is the general guideline. For example, if a feed has a recommended feeding rate of 5 lb (2.3 kg) per day, but the horse is only getting 4 lb (1.8 kg) per day and maintaining weight well, then adding 0.5 lb (250 g) of a balancer pellet to the diet will raise the protein, vitamin, and mineral fortification to meet the horse’s requirements. Be sure to review the feeding instructions on the specific products when formulating a diet.
When choosing a feed, look for one with a high fermentable fiber content from quality sources (beet pulp, soy hulls). This would be a good way to simplify the diet because beet pulp supplementation would no longer be necessary.
As a performance horse in light work, most of your mare’s protein needs are likely being met with forage when feeding more than 1.5% of body weight. A feed containing 12-14% crude protein would be appropriate for her diet. However, just because the forage and feed contain a certain percent of crude protein doesn’t mean it is supplying high-quality protein, which is based on essential amino acid composition. For example, linseed meal contains up to 40% crude protein, but it is low in lysine, an important limiting amino acid. Soybean meal, on the other hand, is abundant in lysine and other aminos acids, and is considered a high-quality protein source.
Take a close look at the amino acid supplement you’ve chosen, as many on the market do not contain effective levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), which are important for increasing muscle protein synthesis after exercise. The branched-chain amino acids are leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
It is also worth noting that older horses tend to have more difficulty regaining muscle. A combination of proper diet and exercise is often necessary to make improvements. In other situations, loss of topline can be a sign of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID or Cushing’s) or other age-related changes.
Given the mare’s recent changes in environment and diet, supporting her digestive health through the provision of a hindgut buffer is wise. Hindgut buffers, like EquiShure, help maintain an appropriate pH for intestinal microbes. Hindgut buffers are designed to keep beneficial microbes content so replenishment with probiotics is not necessary.
One final element of the diet that can sometimes be overlooked is salt or electrolyte supplementation. Maintaining electrolyte balance in working horses should start with free-choice access to salt or salt added to meals. Horses that are sweating and losing more electrolytes require electrolyte supplementation.
Restore SR is a daily electrolyte that takes a unique approach to electrolyte replenishment. Unlike other products that spike blood electrolyte levels, and therefore stimulate increased excretion, Restore SR provides a time-released source of sodium that is gradually absorbed in the hindgut for more effective replenishment. Australian horse owners should look for Restore.
