Keeping your horse slim in spring

Over the spring and summer months, horses with unrestricted access to grazing often gain weight due to the greater abundance of nutritious grass at that time of year. This means if your horse is already carrying a little too much weight, it’s time to take action to prevent a regular, yet gradual, progression of weight gain over the years. Furthermore, by keeping your horse’s weight within an acceptable – and normal – range, you’ll be giving his overall wellbeing an important boost because being obese has so many adverse health repercussions that include putting him at an increased risk of developing laminitis.

How can my horse be fat?

It is a common misconception that if a horse doesn’t have much in the way of bucket feed, he also won’t be having much to eat. However, if your horse is on unrestricted, 24-hour grazing or has forage available ad lib, his energy requirements can easily be exceeded, especially if he’s in light work, making weight gain likely.

Putting the brakes on weight gain

Doing something about it is key. The first step is to monitor your horse’s weight by using a weigh tape every two weeks and body fat scoring him every month – but make sure you record this information so you can check progress and note any changes.

Not sure how to fat score or want to refresh your skills? Watch Dengie’s short film: The Principles of Body Fat Scoring Horses.

If you find you need to limit his access to grass, then strip grazing and the use of a grazing muzzle are two ways you can achieve it. Which you choose will be determined by what’s allowed at your yard and which is most practical for you.

The right forage

When it comes to conserved forage, try to select one made from the mature plant – this will feel coarse and stalky – or consider gradually replacing up to half his forage ration with good-quality straw for a lower calorie intake. If straw bales of sufficient quality are difficult to source, you can replace a proportion of your horse’s forage with a low-calorie, chopped fibre feed based on straw, such as Dengie Hi-Fi Lite.

Dengie Hi-Fi Lite combines chopped alfalfa and straw with a light molasses coating and provides just 7.5MJ/kg digestible energy and is 7% sugar, which is typically lower than hay. Hi-Fi Lite can be used as part of the bucket feed alongside a balancer or broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement to balance the ration, or as a total forage replacer if you need to reduce the energy intake from the main forage ration.

What if my horse is laminitis prone?

If your horse is laminitis prone and also overweight, promoting weight loss is vital if you’re to reduce the risk of him developing this debilitating condition. To gain more control over what your horse is eating, try moving him to a ‘no-grass’ area, such as a woodchip paddock. This not only helps you to manage energy (calorie) intake but also allows you to reduce the amount of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) consumed in the form of starch and water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) (sugars including storage forms such as fructan), the levels of which can be very high in grass during the spring and summer. For horses with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), a reduction in NSC intake is advised.

Feeding the horse with EMS

A suitable feed for horses with EMS is Dengie Hi-Fi Molasses Free, which combines chopped and pelleted alfalfa and straw with a light rapeseed oil coating, mint and fenugreek. Hi-Fi Molasses Free is a low-calorie fibre feed at 8.5MJ/kg Digestible Energy and, at only 2.5% sugar and 1.5% starch, it’s one of Dengie’s lowest sugar and starch feeds combined. Hi-Fi Molasses Free can be used as a partial forage replacer at up to 1kg per 100kg of bodyweight or as part of the bucket feed to slow the rate of consumption.

For more information and advice visit Dengie Nutrition Advice & Training Hub or complete the Feed Advice Form for a personalised plan. To speak to a qualified nutritionist, call the Dengie feedline on 01621 841188.