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March 8, 2024

Consistency Is Key for Horses

When it comes to keeping your horse’s gut happy, maintaining a consistent diet is key. While some horses will cope with rapid change and a variable routine, others thrive on consistency and can really struggle when things are thrown out of kilter. Unfortunately for the performance horse, a busy schedule can often unavoidably interrupt consistency and routine. Whether your horse is a meticulous clock-watcher or a Laid-Back Larry, all horses require some element of routine, and every horse’s gut requires consistency. So, how can we achieve this for the performance horse?

Why is consistency in horses important?

In order to digest fibre, the horse relies on the microbial population that resides in the hindgut. Individual microbes within the digestive tract are specialised in digesting a particular nutrient. If the composition of the diet is gradually changed, the microbial population will adapt to reflect this. However, if a sudden change occurs in the horse’s diet, these microbes cannot adapt quickly enough, leading to digestive upset caused by an imbalance in microbial population and potential inability to digest the new diet effectively. These factors form the foundation of one of the golden feeding rules - make any changes gradually.

Every horse is an individual, and while the fundamentals of their gut physiology won’t change, some simply cope better with dietary changes than others. Our nutritionist Briony has recommended that the period over which a ration is changed is recommended at 10-14 days for concentrate feed and 2-4 weeks for forage. The more drastic the change (in terms of nutrient provision), the more gradual change is required.

How can we make sure the ration is consistent for my horse?

When it comes to consistency, planning is essential. Firstly, make sure you can either take ample concentrate and forage with you when competing away OR, if there is a feed (forage or concentrate) that you might need when out competing or staying away, introduce this to the diet well in advance. For example, if your horse normally lives out on grass but you want to travel with horse haylage, try to incorporate haylage into your horse’s daily routine, perhaps offering some prior to riding or while being groomed. Maintaining some haylage in the diet on a daily basis will better equip your horse to cope with increased quantities on competition days. Likewise, if your horse won’t eat when travelling and you intend to provide a soaked beet product at regular intervals, try introducing them to the diet before this (even just a few handfuls in the daily feed will help).

While it is often feasible to bring concentrate feeds when competing, forage can be more of a challenge. For a single day's competition, it should be easy enough to take the amount you need, but it can be more challenging when staying and competing away from home for longer periods. This is where sourcing your forage from a producer that can provide small and large bale options can be handy. It’s also where wrapped haylage and hay options come in handy, providing cleaner options for getting the feed from A to B. Alternatively, getting in touch with your forage supplier and finding stockists of your chosen product in your competing area can be a useful option. If this is not possible, take enough of your current forage with you to mix the current and new forage together initially and provide a prebiotic supplement- this may help maintain intake and reduce disruption to bacteria in the hindgut.

Why buy from a specialised horse forage producer?

While buying from your local farmer is often an excellent idea in principle, for the competition horse in particular, this can sometimes mean less consistency in the quality and type of product. This may also limit your options for obtaining a product when competing away, which can result in inconsistent forage in terms of quality and supply.

At M&T, we understand the specific needs of both you as the owner and your horse. The consistency and quality of the product is our top priority. We go the extra mile by being NOPS (Naturally Occurring Prohibited Substances) accredited –meaning we take every precaution to minimise the risk of NOPS within our products for customers competing under FEI and BHA rules.

Reality

While an awareness of what is ideal practice is all well and good, in reality, a gradual change over of feed is not always possible, particularly for the performance horse. For these situations, or if your horse is more sensitive to ration changes, digestive supplements can offer a helping hand and provide additional support. Prebiotic supplements (those which help maintain the live bacteria and a healthy environment for these to thrive) are ideal for feeding longer term for those looking to provide extra support.

Routine

Where possible, when out competing, try to stick to some routine with regard to feeding.

Before travelling, leave time for your horse to completely finish their feed (concentrate or forage) before doing anything that may alert your horse, such as plaiting up or moving to the lorry or trailer. While this may mean an earlier start, the horse is then likely to digest their feed more efficiently when they feel calm and will therefore be off to a much better start.

Reducing hard feed before and during is recommended for long journeys (more than 3-4 hours). On long trips, replacing any scheduled feed during the journey with a high-fibre alternative can help to promote digestive health whilst keeping a routine.

While there is considerable debate about what is ideal when it comes to feeding before a competition, avoiding high starch concentrate less than 3 hours before competition is generally recommended, and provision of forage is encouraged to help maintain gut motility and water intake.

To learn more about how you can keep your horse in their healthiest form, check out our other blog posts or get in contact with M&T, expert hay suppliers, today.

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