Equine Nutrition

Equine Nutrition

Digestive Anatomy & Function • Small Intestine: Major site of digestion & absorption of many nutrients • Parasite control is necessary because it reduces feed utilization & causes colic • Large Intestine: (cecum & colon) has large population of microorganisms (bacteria & protozoa) that ferment the fiber in plant materials

Fiber digestion is dependent on the efficiency of microbial fermentation • Horses don’t digest low-quality forages (cellulose) as well as cattle, so they need immature, high quality hay or pasture • To a degree, the cecum & colon serve the same purpose as the rumen in a cow

Horse’s Needs For Feed: • Need the following ingredients: • Carbohydrates • Fats • Protein • Minerals • Vitamins • Water • Major sources of energy & protein: grains & roughages

Horses receive their daily ration in 2 parts: • Roughage (hay or pasture) • Concentrates ( protein supplement, minerals & vitamins, bran, molasses, dehydrated alfalfa)

Digestible Energy: portion of the gross energy in a feed that is not excreted in the feces • Metabolizable Energy: energy in the feed that is useful to the animal for growth, production, & reproduction • Not lost in feces, urine, & gas

Net Energy: energy fraction of the feed that is left after the fecal, urinary, gas & heat losses are subtracted from the gross energy • More precisely measures the real value or feed • Total Digestible Nutrients: (TDN) term that indicates the energy density of a feed stuff • Takes account the amount of fat, protein, & carbohydrates in the feed

Energy is needed for: • Maintenance • Reproduction • Gestation • Lactation • Growth • Work • Old Ages • Stalling • Overfeeding= Excess fat & can cause stress

Protein: Composed of amino acids used by the horse to build the proteins in its body • Greatest growth when fed protein high lysine • Crude Protein: Total amount of protein in feed • Digestible Protein: More accurate estimate of how much protein the animal is actually able to use

Protein Deficiency: • Foals- smaller, less healthy • Older horses- hair coat & hoof wall may be affected & tissue wasting my color

Macro: Calcium Phosphorus Potassium Sodium Chlorine Magnesium Sulpher Micro: Copper Iodine Iron Selenium Cobalt Manganese Fluorine Zinc Minerals:

Calcium: • Involved in homeostasis (functions that maintain life- blood clotting & muscle contracting) • Makes up 30% of the horses bone structure *Def: leads to rickets in foals

Phosphorus: • Makes up 14-17% of the horse’s skeleton • Required for many energy-transfer reactions & the synthesis of some lipids & proteins • Potassium: • Maintains the acid-base balance & osmotic pressure inside the cells • Examples: forages & oilseed meals= 1-2% corn, oats, wheat= .3-.4% *Def: causes loss of appetite & weight loss

Sodium: • Maintains the acid-base balance outside the cells & regulates the osmosis of the body fluids • Involved in nerve & muscle function • Salt is usually added to feed *Def: decreased elasticity of the skin, tendency to lick sweat covered things, decreased appetite, decreased water intake *Acute Def: stop eating, uncoordinated muscle contractions, impaired chewing, & unsteady gate

Chloride: • Normally accompanies sodium as NaCl or Salt • Involved in acid-base balance & osmotic regulation • Essential component of bile, hydrochloric acid, & gastric secretions • Iodine: • Essential for the production of the thyroid hormones • Regulate basal metabolism • Supplemented as iodized salt

*Iodine Def: pregnant horses may lead to still born or weak baby -baby may have an enlargement on the front side of neck (thyroid) *Iodine Excess: leads to baldness, foals born w/iodine induced goiter, mares milk will contain too much iodine • Iron: • 60% of the iron is in the red blood cells • 20% is in the muscle *Def: anemia *Excess: can kill young animals -don’t give supplemental iron by mouth

Selenium: • Essential for detoxification of certain peroxides that are toxic to cell membranes • Closely connected w/ Vitamin E *Def: causes white muscle disease, weakness, difficulty in sucking & swallowing, troubled breathing, & heart dysfunction *Excess: causes blind staggers -can be ingested from toxic plants -chronic selenium toxicity results in hair loss about the mane & tail & clacking of the hooves

Vitamin A: • Important for good vision *Def: causes night blindness, excessive tearing, thickening of the horn layer of the skin & the cornea, lack of appetite, poor growth, respiratory infection, abscess under the tongue, convulsive seizures, & progressive weakness *Excess: over long period of time= fragile or thick bones, flaking skin tumors, hair & skin loss, depression, lie down on their sides

Vitamin D: • Exposure to ultraviolet light *Def: loss of appetite & slower growth *Excess: calcification of blood vessels, the heart, & other soft tissues, & to bone abnormalities -toxic eating of plant: day jasmine • Vitamin E: • Works w/selenium as a part of multicomponent antioxidant defense system • Reduced by moisture, mold, & grinding of the feedstuff during processing *Def: degenerating skeletal & cardiac muscles -swelling of tongue

Vitamin K: • Role in blood clotting • Water-Soluble Vitamins: • Thiamine • Riboflavin • Niacin • Panthothenic acid • Biotin • Folacin • Ascorbic acid ( Vit C) • Choline • Vitamin B12

Equine Nutrition