Baby It's Cold Outside

The thermometer showed 42°F this morning - chilly for those of us used to the sunny warmth of Southern Arizona but just right for our horses.

Horses thrive in “thermo neutral” temperatures ranging from 40 or 45°F to 65°F.  Above 65, they begin to rely on sweating, with water and salt loss, for cooling.  Under 45 they use energy to maintain their body temperature.  

According to Dr. Robert A. Mowrey, Extension Horse Specialist at North Carolina State University, the standard “critical temperature” is 45°F, with 10 degrees subtracted for wind and another 10 degrees subtracted for rain/wet coats becoming the “actual” temperature. 

On a 45 degree day, if the horse is wet and unprotected from wind the “actual” temperature is 25 degrees - which is cold.  For each degree below the critical temperature the horse requires a 1% increase in calories to maintain a constant temperature.

At 25°F a horse needs 20% more calories than when the temperature is a neutral 45 degrees. That’s 20% more calories, not 20% more forage - how that translates to hay or beet pulp depends on the DE (digestible energy in Mcal per pound) of the forage.  For grass hay with a DE of 0.8 Mcal/lb that would mean an additional 1.2 pounds of hay, with alfalfa hay or beet pulp at about 1.2 Mcal/lb, he would need less than a pound of additional forage.

The calorie increase should come from forage - preferably long stem grass or alfalfa hay, but cubes, pellets or beet pulp also work. This is because the greatest amount of immediate heat maintaining energy is produced by the fermentation of forage in the hind gut.  While additional calories from grain will help retain body weight, grain doesn’t provide the heat-producing fermentation that forage does.

The Cold Weather Feeding Chart and Calculator on my web site can help you determine how much additional forage is needed for your winter temperatures.  The Chart in the pdf file is set for a 1000 lb horse; you can use a percentage of the recommendation if your horse weighs more or less.  Or, if you’re comfortable with spreadsheets, you can download the Excel version (opens with Excel, Numbers or Open Office Calc) and plug in your horse’s weight and the DE of your hay.

These are starting points - your easy keeper may need less and your hard keeper may need the more concentrated calories from alfalfa or beet pulp. And if your horse is a senior or is IR/PPID and prone to laminitis in the winter, don’t forget the boots and leg warmers.  Do use a cooler until your horse is dry after work but think twice about blanketing a horse with a full winter coat - no matter how cold it feels to us your horse can easily become overheated and start sweating under a winter blanket.

Warm regards,

Patti in sunny but chilly Vail, AZ

Links

Cold Weather Feeding Chart (pdf and Excel) http://www.desertequinebalance.com/Files/handy-calculators

Cold Weather Feeding Practices for Horses 

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/vhc/efac/equine/documents/ColdWeatherFeedingPracticesforhorse-B.Mowrey.pdf

Nutritional content averages for feeds - Dairy One Feed Composition Library

http://www.dairyone.com/Forage/FeedComp/disclaimer.asp

A Little Holiday Fun if You'll Be in Arizona

The annual Cascabel Holiday Fair 

and 

Forever Home Donkey Rescue Open House

How is this equine nutrition related?  The donkeys at Forever Home are all on on mineral balanced donkey appropriate diets. Many of these rescues are unadoptable because of hoof problems, chronic medical issues, or other problems related to abuse as roping donkeys.  But they all have an opportunity to regain their health and live out their lives in peace in a protected sanctuary.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop in to meet these delightful creatures and have some community fun in Cascabel.  This makes a wonderful day trip from Tucson or Phoenix!

Warm regards,

Patti in Vail AZ

Links
http://foreverhomedonkeyrescue.blogspot.com/2013/11/2013-cascabel-fair-and-open-house.html
http://www.cascabel.org/fair.html

Vitamin E and Reactivating Desert Equine Balance Group

I just updated my web article on comparing Vitamin E costs, including links to sources and more information to help clarify forms and types of vitamin E.  I hope you will find the article helpful as this is always a challenging topic. 

It's time to reactivate the Desert Equine Balance Group on Google Groups.  The group is focused on Equine Nutrition in the Southwest and related discussions - especially those pertaining to the differences we often see in some area hays (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, West Texas and other arid areas) as they pertain to all horses - not just those who are insulin resistant or have Cushing's disease.  

Changes in weather patterns, growing practices, increased costs of production and shipping and an expanding export market are affecting the availability and quality of forage for our horses and have, in some instances, caused problems for horse owners. Because of these changes and the scarcity of reliable information, together with the ever increasing knowledge level of horse owners, this seemed like the right time to have these discussions.


More and more horseowners are taking nutrition courses, testing their hay and evaluating the results either on their own or with the help of an independent equine nutritionist - vets and feed manufacturers are responding! Horse owners are no longer willing to accept what's printed the label as gospel without seeing the data to back up claims.  Many have committed more hours to equine nutrition education that their veterinarians received in vet school - but to be fair, do we really expect our vets to be the ultimate authority on everything in this age of specialization?


Savvy consumers understand that "controlled starch" may contain well over an acceptable amount for their Insulin Resistant (IR) horse or pony and that the research about the effect of nitrates on horses is practically non-existant.


If you're already a member of the  Desert Equine Balance Group, feel free to jump in with your questions and experiences.  Try to keep things focused on nutrition and no advertising thank you.
If you're not a member and would like to join, go to  Desert Equine Balance Group and click on the Join Group button. If you have a Google account, you can use your gmail address or your Google profile.  (I apologize - I don't know exactly what it will ask if you don't have a Google account - likely they will want you to create one.)

Looking forward to your equine nutrition questions, experiences and answers!

Warm regards,

Patti in Vail AZ

Links

Comparing the cost of providing Vitamin E for our horses http://www.desertequinebalance.com/supplements/vitamin-e

Desert Equine Balance Group on Google  http://groups.google.com/group/desertequinebalance

Omega-3 Supplement Choices

Omega-3 fatty acids are needed by horses for anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory protection.  Natural forage pastures have high omega-3 levels - with omega 3 to 6 ratios of  4:1 to 6:1 - while most other feeds given to horses are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 actions have demonstrated a decreased inflammatory response while actions produced from omega-6 are the opposite; they increase the inflammatory response, increase allergic hyperactivity and increase exercise-induced bronchial constriction.  (Pagan, Kentucky Equine Research.)

While both Omega-3 and 6 are essential, maintaining ratios similar to that of natural forage is likely optimum (Kellon, Nutrition as Therapy) and horses on hay diets with little or no access to good pasture should be supplemented with an omega-3 source. Cured forage rapidly loses it omega-3, and many other popular supplements such as rice bran and black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) are high in omega-6. For example, to "balance" the omega-6 in two ounces of rice bran you would need four to six ounces of flax or four to six Tablespoons of flax oil. It would take six or more ounces of flax to balance the omega-6 in one ounce of BOSS. Flax seed also quickly loses its omega-3 activity after grinding unless refrigerated immediately or milled using a special process to stabilize the fatty acids.

You can estimate the amount of omega-3 and 6 in several different additives using the Excel calculator at http://www.desertequinebalance.com/supplements/omega-3. A PDF version is also included for reference. You're not likely to achieve perfect "natural forage" omega-3 to 6 ratios but this can help you keep a more natural balance and avoid feeding excess omega-6 in additives.

There is also a newly updated chart of products supplying omega-3 fatty acids that you can use to compare daily cost.  The obvious front runners in cost were "generic" flax seed and flax oil. Next in line are three "stabilized" products:  HorseTech's NutraFlax, Omega Fields' Horseshine and Triple Crown's OmegaMAX.   Karron Oil, once a Horse Journal top pick, is currently unavailable in the US.  Platinum Performance weighs in with Equine Healthy Weight, flax oil which uses vitamins C and E as preservatives. Chia seed is fairly equivalent to flax seed in omega-3 content.  It remains pricey but this may be made up for by the convenience of being able to feed chia seeds whole without grinding.

I'm not a fan of giving any animal-based products to my horses so only one product containing fish oil is included.  It has not been conclusively shown that the form of omega-3 in fish oil is well utilized by horses (as it is in humans).

There has been no documented evidence that either flax seed or chia seed can prevent sand build up or clear sand from the horse's digestive tract.  Until this has been clearly demonstrated you should follow your veterinarian's suggestions for sand build up prevention.

I hope you find this information useful - it isn't always simple to balance cost vs need or convenience.

Flax flowers

Best regards,

Patti
Desert Hoofprints in 100+ degree Arizona where flax flowers grow under my bucket washing rack.

Desert Hoofprints Email

Because of both the cost and "commercial" appearance of a newsletter service, I'm changing the way I keep friends and clients updated.  You can now subscribe on my blog to receive email updates - which will let you know when there is something new to learn about or if there have been important changes or updates to articles and files on my website.

I will also be including replies to questions emailed to me or asked in "comments" - if you have a question you'd like me to talk about in a Desert Hoofprints article, you can submit it by email from the home page or send directly to DesertEquineBalance@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy the new format and find it more casual and friendly.

Patti
Making Desert Hoofprints in Vail, Arizona

AZ Regional Mix and AZ First Balance

AZ Regional Mix was formulated as a maintenance supplement to safely provide nutrients known to be typically needed with Arizona and Southwest hays without supplying excess amounts of any nutrient, and not include nutrients usually found in excess in regional hays (such as iron and, often, manganese).

I originally formulated this custom mix for my own horses. Several friends began using it with good results and my trimmer began recommending it to her clients. Rod at HorseTech agreed to call the it AZ Regional Mix and added a section called Popular Custom Products to his website so it could be ordered online.

AZ First Balance is a more intense version, supplying higher levels of minerals and some vitamins, with higher levels of biotin and added lysine and methionine for horses that need a "jump start", while still ensuring nutrient levels are kept withing KER and NRC guidelines for safety. After a cycle or two on First Balance, most horses can be transitioned to the less expensive Regional Mix for maintenance.

Both these flax-based supplements are similar to many of the standard supplements offered by HorseTech but have been "tweaked" to provide a custom supplement that reflects the needs of the Southwest horse.

The cost is comparable (and usually less) than many "off-the-shelf" supplements of similar quality. Despite the "AZ" in the name, these supplements are suitable for any part of the country where iron levels in hay are adequate to high and you want to feed a complete iron-free supplement without grain or alfalfa based fillers.

For a PDF file with a detailed comparison of AZ Regional Mix and AZ First Balance, email me at DesertEquineBalance@gmail.com. The file shows a complete analysis, cost comparison and explanations of each of the ingredients used in these two supplements. (Because these are "custom" formulations made to my specifications, HorseTech does not list the analysis for these supplements on their web site.)


Ordering
• By phone from HorseTech – 1-800-831-3309.
• Specify either CP-082305 AZ Regional Mix or CP-051506 AZ First Balance
• AZ Regional Mix can also be ordered online at HorseTech in the "Popular Custom Products" section at the bottom left of their home page (where you can also find magnesium oxide and spirulina)

Questions and Comments?

If you have questions or comments about anything written here please post them - just click on the Comments field at the end of the article (or at the end of this post) or you can email your comment to me at Desert Equine Balance.

I will answer questions to the best of my ability - if I don't know or if the reply is "my opinion", I will let you know that and we can continue to learn together.

I am not a certified or credentialed equine nutritionist but have spent most of the past six years learning all I could about equine nutrition - mainly by studying the wealth of material in the NRC, the KER library and publications, the Equine Cushing's group (under the guidance of Eleanor Kellon, VMD) and a select few "no-nonsense" websites. Working with owners of insulin resistant (IR), rescue and other problem horses has helped me expand and apply what I've learned.

The information is out there for all to access but for most of us, our first encounter with the basics of equine nutrition is a bewildering array of tables, math and new terminology. I try to use my medical background as a paramedic and RN to translate "nutrition-ese" into plain talk that can help others understand and develop a sound feeding program for their horses.

If I can help someone learn how to interpret feed bag tags and supplement labels, to understand their hay analysis, to develop a better working relationship with their veterinarian, to see the difference between magic bullets and sound nutrition, then all the hours I spend here will have been time well spent.

This is for all the horses who have graciously shared their lives with ours ~

Developing a Horse Ration

The Foundation

Horses evolved eating plains grasses with only nature’s supplements. Our modern horses’ diet today should still be based on grass and hay for the foundation. But forage has changed since horses roamed the plains and our pastures and hay may be lacking in essential nutrients.

There are two simple ways to know what our horse needs

• We can look at what is known about our region and use a supplement that complements “typical” area hay and pasture or

• We can send a hay sample to a forage laboratory for analysis.

Using a regional “average” can work for most healthy horses when we are mainly concerned that the major minerals are reasonably balanced and they are receiving at least the basic requirements for protein, energy, vitamins and trace minerals. It’s a useful approach if hay comes from different suppliers in small amounts.

Horses with special needs related to growth, health, performance, reproductive status or advanced age will benefit from having their ration more tightly balanced to avoid problems.

Interpreting the Results

Using the hay analysis results or a regional average, we can see if the forage meets the horse’s requirements. The guidelines established by the National Research Council (NRC) combined with mineral balancing guidelines based on more recent research, can help us determine what is needed to address deficiencies and avoid over supplementation.

Selecting the Right Supplement

After reviewing the analysis results, we can select a supplement that will complement the horse’s forage. This may be a “Regional” supplement which has been custom blended to work with our area hays, an “over the counter” supplement with appropriate mineral levels, or it may be a “Custom Mix” formulated specifically to work with the hay you had analyzed.

We can also determine if additional concentrates need to be included to improve protein, major mineral or fat content. This could range from a simple hay pellet or straight grain to a commercial concentrate feed.

Goals

Your horse’s ration should

• Provide optimum nutrition for your horse

• Be cost effective

• Fit your feeding program whether you board or keep your horse at home

• Be easy to understand

• Be flexible and portable enough for traveling with your horse

Special Needs

Is your horse “nutritionally challenged”?

There is no “one size fits all” feeding program but there are simple and effective ways to work with hard keepers, “air ferns”, and other horses with special nutritional needs.

Horses with laminitis, Cushing’s Disease, Insulin Resistance or other metabolic conditions may have additional requirements needing a more targeted approach.

Mares and foals have increased requirements for many nutrients which can affect critical developmental phases.

Performance horses often require more of everything - energy, protein, minerals - the right nutrients balanced in the correct amounts to feed the work.

Teamwork

Any nutrition recommendations and suggestions should be shared with your veterinarian and other equine practitioners you may be working with. It’s in your horse’s best interest if we’re all working together as a team.

Herbs
A variety of herbs is often used to improve or maintain the health of your horse. Many herbs have powerful and potent actions similar to drugs and should be used only under the guidance of a certified herbalist (ideally, also a veterinarian). .

I do not suggest or recommend products containing substances that may interfere with herbs but you should be aware of interactions between any herbs or medications your horse is receiving. You should have at least a basic understanding of the purpose and possible side effects of any herbs fed to your horse

~ Education is the basis for Optimum Nutrition and Performance ~

Desert Equine Balance ~ Perla's Story

~ In memory of Perla de Oro ~

I lost my first Peruvian mare, Perla de Oro, because of poor nutrition. What I didn't know at the time was that she most likely was insulin resistant (IR).

Perla was pregnant with twins (the last sonogram showed only one) which she lost at eight months; one was mummified and likely had been dead for a while. The placenta was retained and, despite the best efforts of my veterinarian, she foundered.

Perla had the "typical" signs of IR — overweight with patchy fat, cresty neck, dropped topline, hungry and thirsty all the time. The usual way of dealing with the overweight horse at that time was to restrict intake — so she was put on two light flakes of Bermuda hay with a little senior feed to provide some minerals and vitamins.

While her founder improved (with the help of a natural trimmer and custom Horse Sneakers), she did not lose her fat or cresty neck. But her immune system became severely depleted and was overwhelmed by a salmonella infection. Though she tried to fight it up to the last minute, Perla died a terrible painful death. Since that day I have been plagued with "what ifs" and guilt.

When my Peruvian filly, La Perricholi, began to show a cresty neck and excess fat on a conservative diet of Bermuda hay and small amounts of Strategy, I started to explore the web. When Perla foundered in 1996, I had found Gretchen Fatenhauer's website which has since evolved and expanded. Gretchen was one of the pioneers of the "barefoot horse movement" and became a supporter of Hildebrand Strasser. While many consider Dr. Strasser's techniques controversial, all barefoot horses and their owners owe her and Gretchen a debt in reintroducing us to a more natural lifestyle for our horses.

From there, I came across the Equine Cushings group on Yahoo — created by Robin Siskel and moderated by Eleanor Kellon, VMD. When I joined the group in September 2000, there were some 300 plus members, by November of 2003, there were over 1,000 group members — there are now over 4,000! It was here I learned about hay analysis, mineral balancing, the NRC (National Research Council Nutrient Requirements of Horses), low NSC hay (Non-Structural Carbohydrates or sugar/starch) and how they all come together to affect our horses.

As I began to understand what horses need nutritionally, I developed spread sheets to calculate all the math, shared them with other list members, and tried to help those who were "math challenged". Since then, most of my free time has been devoted to studying and learning about equine nutrition — expanding from the IR and Cushing's horse to helping horse owners in the Southwest develop better rations for their foals and performance horses.

At my trimmer's request, I made a regional supplement I had formulated for my own horses available to her clients and have had the satisfaction of seeing many horses develop the good feet, shiny coat and improved attitude that reflects good health.

This has evolved into Desert Equine Balance — which I hesitate to call a "business" as I haven't really figured out how to make money at it. While I do charge for consults, the greatest satisfaction is in seeing healthy foals, horses becoming fit and athletic and laminitic horses getting a new lease on life — along with their owners gaining a new understanding of equine nutrition.

My path to learning and what I may accomplish for these horses is thanks to the generous sharing of her knowledge and experience by Eleanor Kellon, VMD.

Email Patti at Desert Equine Balance