How To Maintain A Race Horses Appetite

Talk to any trainer and they will tell you that getting horses to eat is sometimes their greatest challenge. Horses can go off their feed for any number of reasons with a loss of appetite often seen more commonly in horses in the later stages of a racing campaign. We all know the old saying ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink’, but the same needn’t apply to feed. While we can’t make a horse eat there are certainly things you can do to maintain or improve appetite. The following article looks at some of these strategies in detail.

Feed plenty of forage

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is needed to maintain appetite in horses and it is well documented that a vitamin B1 deficiency will cause a loss of appetite in many species of animals. While Vitamin B1 is added to most feeds and supplements horses also rely on the bacteria in their hindgut to produce a large portion of their daily requirement of this vitamin.

To produce vitamin B1, the hindgut bacteria need fibre to ferment and fibre is supplied by forages including hay and chaff. As a rule you should feed an absolute minimum of 1% of a horse’s bodyweight in hay and/or chaff per day, which equates to around 5 kg/day for the average sized thoroughbred (this can be reduced in the 2 days leading up to a race). Feeding enough forage will improve vitamin B1 production and help to maintain or re-establish a good appetite.

Don’t feed uncooked corn or barley

Feeding uncooked (whole or cracked) corn and barley will result in a majority of the starch from these grains being dumped into a horse’s hindgut. The starch is rapidly fermented by bacteria that live there and during this fermentation process a compound called thiaminase is produced. Thiaminase destroys any vitamin B1 in the hindgut before it can be absorbed by the horse ultimately resulting in a vitamin B1 deficiency and a loss of appetite.

Feeding cooked grains means the starch in the grains will be digested in the horse’s small intestine, thereby reducing or preventing the production of thiaminase. If you are feeding uncooked corn or barley and your horses have manure that smells acidic (like vomit) try switching your grains to cooked grains to improve appetite.

Don’t oversupplement

Sometimes horses go off their feed simply because their feed doesn’t taste nice. Feeds that are too salty from salt and electrolytes or too heavily laced with B-vitamin supplements are notoriously unpalatable, so when it comes to adding supplements, add only what your horse needs. If you are not sure what your horses do or don’t need, seek professional help from a qualified nutritionist to put together a balanced yet simple and tasty diet.
Also use trial and error on horses with poor appetites to work out if there is a particular feed or supplement the horse doesn’t like. Start with a very simple ration with just one or two ingredients you know it will eat and then gradually add extra feeds or supplements to it until you find one or more that the horse would prefer not to eat.

Watch out for mould

Moulds in hay and grains can produce toxic compounds called mycotoxins. One side effect of mycotoxin consumption is a loss of appetite. Carefully screen your hay and buy chaff and grains from a trusted supplier to avoid mould in your feeds.

Processed feeds that are not manufactured correctly (for example they may be bagged too moist or stored in damp conditions) are also prone to mould growth and are a potential source of mycotoxins. Be sure to buy feeds from a trusted manufacturer who makes their feeds under strict quality control standards.

Of course it is not always possible to avoid all mould as some moulds aren’t obvious to the human eye or nose. If you are having problems with loss of appetite and have ruled out other causes, you might consider having your feeds and forages screened for mycotoxin contamination. There are also mycotoxin binders available on the market that may help. Ask your feed supplier or nutritionist for their recommended product.

Avoid ulcers

Horses with gastric ulcers tend to go off their feed. The saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ certainly applies to ulcers, so feeding plenty of hay, keeping a horses environment as stress free as possible (including keeping talkback or racing radio to a minimum in the stables) allowing turnout time if possible and feeding a small amount of lucerne immediately prior to training will all help to prevent ulcers. Of course if a horse already has ulcers you should work with your veterinarian to resolve them as quickly as possible.

Don’t medicate feeds

We all know most medications taste horrible and we certainly wouldn’t like it if someone was mixing medicine through our dinner. If you are using medications it is best to keep them out of the feed bin as you don’t want your horse associating feed time with foul tasting medications.

Cleaning Up

It isn’t always going to be possible to determine why certain horses go off their feed. Likewise it isn’t always going to be possible to get a horse back onto feed without giving it a spell. But if you feed enough hay and chaff, use cooked grains, don’t add unnecessary supplements to feeds, manage your horses to reduce the risk of ulcers and keep medications out of the feed bin you will make sure that you aren’t disrupting the gut in a way that causes a horse to go off its feed and keep your feeds tasty. Those factors combined will give you the best chance of having horses that will lick their feed bins clean.

EasiPerformace

Stamina

The Pryde’s EasiFeed range of quality feeds includes EasiPerformance and Stamina. These feeds are designed specifically for racing thoroughbreds with extruded (cooked) grains to keep the hindgut healthy. Pryde’s feeds are also designed with taste in mind. EasiPerformance and Stamina both contain honey and they are fortified with all the vitamins and minerals racing horses need including electrolytes and antioxidants, meaning you don’t need to add anything extra, so your feeds will stay nice and tasty. All Pryde’s feeds are manufactured under the strictest quality control measures with moisture content stringently controlled to prevent mould.

Pryde’s EasiFeed recommend the following diets for racing thoroughbreds. Diets are based on a 500 kg horse in full work:

Complete SweetFeed + EasiOil

Usage (per Day)

Product

4-6 kg

Pryde’s EasiFeed Three or EasiPerformance

400 ml

Pryde’s EasiOil

1.5 kg

Oaten or Grass Hay

2 kg

Lucerne Hay

1 kg

Oaten Chaff

0.5 kg

Lucerne Chaff

Concentrate SweetFeed + EasiOil + Grains

Usage (per Day)

Product

1.5 kg

Pryde’s Stamina

2.5 - 4.5 kg

Any combination of Pryde's EnergyPak (corn), Pryde's PowerPak (barley) and/or oats

400 ml

Pryde’s EasiOil

1.5 kg

Oaten or Grass Hay

2 kg

Lucerne Hay

1 kg

Oaten Chaff

0.5 kg

Lucerne Chaff

With feeds and supplements to suit any preferred method of feeding, contact Pryde’s EasiFeed for a full assessment of your race feed regime. Call 1300 732 267, email info@prydes.com.au or visit our Feed Selector

Dr Nerida Richards
Equilize Horse Nutrition Pty Ltd

Oils: Good, Bad, Indifferent?

Oils: Good, Bad, Indifferent?

Dr Nerida Richards

Racing horses have enormous requirements for energy that are traditionally filled using high grain rations fed together with chaff and hay. However, feeding large amounts of grain does come with its own set of issues which can include colic, hindgut acidosis, nervous or fiery behaviour, tying up and loss of appetite. Oil has gained popularity in recent years as a substitute source of energy for racing horses, but does it work, how much can be fed, are all oils equal in the benefits they can provide and do they cause any health issues of their own?

A little bit goes a long way

The biggest benefit oils provide racing horses is their very high energy content relative to grains. Oils contain nearly 3 times more energy than oats, with 400 ml of vegetable oil providing as much energy as 1 kg of oats. The real benefit in this is you can reduce the size and sheer bulk of feed a horse has to consume without reducing calorie intake, allowing you to get enough ‘feed’ into horses with poor appetites. The end result being these horses can hold their weight and continue to train and race for longer than they otherwise would on a more traditional diet.

Reducing heat load       

Oils generate less heat during the digestion and metabolism process than an equivalent amount of grain or forage. Feeding oil also means that you can feed less grain and still meet energy requirements. Combined, this means that high oil diets place less of a heat load on working horses, reducing electrolyte losses and the amount they need to sweat to stay cool, a big bonus for racing horses, especially those training and racing in hot environments.

Saving glycogen

Fatty acids from oils are the preferred fuel for muscles during slow and medium pace work while glycogen is the only source of energy a muscle can use during fast work. Once a horse runs out of glycogen its muscles fatigue and the horse will have to slow down. Feeding oil in diets provides a source of fatty acids for muscles to burn during the warm up and slower phases of racing, meaning muscles are able to conserve valuable glycogen to fuel the sprint to the line where it matters most.

Problem solving

‘Problem horses’ and particularly those that tie up or get excited and nervous on high grain diets will often benefit from rations that provide a portion of the dietary energy from oils. It is thought that the positive effects seen in these horses on high oil diets is due more to the reduction in grain intake as opposed to the addition of oil, but using oil in the diet allows you to reduce grain intake without compromising energy intake and performance.

Oils aint oils

All oils contain virtually the same amount of digestible energy, but there are other differences you may want to consider when looking to purchase an oil, including:

Essential Fatty Acid Content: Horses need the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in their diet. Grains are naturally high in Omega 6, so it is preferable to choose an oil with some omega 3 content for racing horses. The table below shows the amount of omega 3 and omega 6 in some commonly used oils. Linseed and canola oil contains the highest omega 3 fatty acid content of the natural vegetable oils.

Essential Fatty Acids

Horses need the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in their diet. Grains are naturally high in Omega 6, so it is preferable to choose an oil with some omega 3 content for racing horses. The table below shows the amount of omega 3 and omega 6 in some commonly used oils. Linseed and canola oil contains the highest omega 3 fatty acid content of the natural vegetable oils.

Palatability:

Processing Method: Oil is extracted from oilseeds in two main ways; cold pressing where oil is squeezed out of seeds, often in a water cooled environment to keep the oil at less than 60°C; and solvent extraction where a solvent like hexane is added to extract oil from seeds. The oil is then heated to remove the hexane. Cold pressed oils tend to be higher in quality as more of their essential fatty acids and natural antioxidants are left intact in comparison to solvent extracted oils.

It takes time

Horses need time to adapt to digesting and metabolising oils. Oils should always be introduced into a diet slowly, starting with ¼ cup of oil per day and increasing this by ¼ cup every 5 days until you reach the full amount you want to feed. Introducing oil into a diet too quickly can result in soft manure and reduced fibre fermentation in the hindgut.

It will take a minimum of 3 weeks before a horse starts to really benefit from the oil in its diet and it could take up to 3 months before the full benefits of oil are realised.

How much can you feed?

Horses can be fed up to 20% of their total energy intake as oil, which in real terms means just over 3 cups of oil per day for a 500 kg horse in full work. While this level of oil is useful for horses that tie up, very few horses are fed this much oil per day. Feeding between 1 and 2 cups of oils per day is enough to give horses the benefits discussed above without making diets messy, unpalatable or unnecessarily expensive.

Good Stuff

Oils are ‘good stuff’ for racing horses. They reduce reliance on grains, make the amount of feed a horse needs to eat smaller, keep horses cooler, allow horses to conserve muscle fuel for sprinting, give horses that tie up a safer and more effective source of energy and provide essential fatty acids in the diet.

For the best results, introduce oils slowly into the diet and select oils based on; their omega fatty acid content with oils containing some omega 3 fatty acids preferred; palatability, be aware that some oils including linseed and fish oils can be unpalatable; and method of processing, with cold pressed oils preferred over solvent extracted oils.

The Pryde’s EasiFeed range includes EasiOil, a high quality, 100% Australian Cold Pressed Canola Oil. EasiOil is perfect to be used in racing rations to reduce your reliance on grains and add energy with less bulk to diets.

Two example diets based on a 500 kg horse in full work are:

Complete SweetFeed + EasiOil

Usage (per Day)

Product

4-6 kg

Pryde’s EasiFeed Three or EasiPerformance

400 ml

Pryde’s EasiOil

1.5 kg

Oaten or Grass Hay

2 kg

Lucerne Hay

1 kg

Oaten Chaff

0.5 kg

Lucerne Chaff

Concentrate SweetFeed + EasiOil + Grains

Usage (per Day)

Product

1.5 kg

Pryde’s Stamina

2.5 - 4.5 kg

Any combination of Pryde's EnergyPak (corn), Pryde's PowerPak (barley) and/or oats

400 ml

Pryde’s EasiOil

1.5 kg

Oaten or Grass Hay

2 kg

Lucerne Hay

1 kg

Oaten Chaff

0.5 kg

Lucerne Chaff

Feeding racing thoroughbreds can never be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. For professional help with putting together a feeding program for horses in your stable, please contact Pryde’s EasiFeed on 1300 732 267, email info@prydes.com.au or visit or Feed Selector

Beware of Cracked Corn

Dr Nerida Richards

Cereal grains like corn are an important part of a racing thoroughbred’s diet. Cereal grains contain starch, which is digested and absorbed by the horse as glucose. Glucose is the muscle fuel of choice for fast sprinting and is essential to allow a horse to build and replenish muscle glycogen supplies. If muscles run out of glycogen they fatigue quickly, so providing glucose from the diet is critical to maintain performance.

Corn is something you will find in nearly every racing stable. In fact, a survey of racing thoroughbred feeding practices (Richards et al 2006) found that over 70% of trainers fed corn with an average of 1.7 kg being fed per horse/day. Corn is an excellent source of energy and a rich source of starch for horses.

The ‘Dark Side’ of corn             

While corn contains more starch than other grains (corn is 70% starch on average, while barley is 60% and oats just 40% starch), the starch in corn is not well digested by horses. Less than 30% of the starch contained in whole or cracked corn is digested by enzymes in the small intestine and absorbed as glucose. The rest travels undigested to the hindgut where it is rapidly fermented by bacteria. The volatile fatty acids (VFA) produced during this fermentation process are absorbed by the horse and used for energy, so the horse does still gain some benefit, however the fermentation of starch in the hindgut has many downsides, including:

• Lactic acid and VFA accumulation – rapid starch fermentation favours bacteria that produce lactic acid and large amounts of VFAs. These acids accumulate in the hindgut and cause the gut environment to become acidic in a condition known as ‘hindgut acidosis’. Horses with hindgut acidosis will often have soft droppings that have an acidic or pungent smell.
• Loss of appetite – the starch fermenting bacteria produce an enzyme called thiaminase that destroys vitamin B1. Vitamin B1 is crucial for maintaining appetite. Horses with hindgut acidosis will often have poor appetites and experience weight loss.
• Reduced fibre fermentation – the acidic hindgut environment will either kill off or inactivate the bacteria that ferment fibre from hay and chaff. Hay and chaff form an important source of energy for racing horses. Loss of the ability to digest fibre leads to weight loss and may also further exacerbate vitamin B deficiencies.
• Laminitis – hindgut acidosis is well known to cause laminitis.
• Behavioural changes – horses with hindgut acidosis will also exhibit changes in behaviour including chewing timber and eating bedding. It is possible that acidosis also causes nervy behaviour in some horses.

The Australian thoroughbred industry survey showed that more than 90% of corn fed to racing thoroughbreds was fed either cracked or whole. 27% of horses had a faecal pH of less than 6.2, indicating hindgut acidosis was occurring in more than a quarter of horses surveyed.

The only feed related factor that could be attributed to the low faecal pH in these horses was the amount of corn fed to that horse each day. The more corn a horse was fed, the lower its faecal pH dropped. In other words, corn was causing hindgut acidosis.

Is corn off the menu?

Not at all! Corn is and will always remain a valuable feed ingredient for racing horses. The trick to feeding it is to make sure it is fed cooked. Cooking corn rearranges the starch to make it much more digestible in the horse’s small intestine. Cooking corn and changing its main site of digestion to the small intestine instead of the hindgut will provide horses with more glucose to fuel muscles and removes the negative impact uncooked corn has on the hindgut.

Corn can be cooked by extrusion or micronising processes. Both cooking methods use heat to change the structure of the starch to make it easy to digest. While both methods of cooking provide a far superior feed when compared to cracked or whole corn, extruded corn is the most digestible.

In combination with heat, extrusion also uses moisture and pressure to cook the corn, resulting in more digestible starch. Studies (Richards 2003) have shown that more than 70% of the starch from extruded corn is digested by small intestinal enzymes in 15 minutes compared to just under 35% of starch from micronised corn and less than 15% from cracked corn.

Starch Digestion Rates

A very similar trend occurs in barley, meaning barley should only ever be fed cooked as well. Oats is a different story altogether, with horses seemingly capable of digesting uncooked oat starch quite easily.

What does this all mean?

Cereal grains are an important part of a racing thoroughbred’s diet, providing energy in the form of glucose to fuel muscles, especially during fast work. However, grains like corn are not well digested in a horse’s small intestine so feeding them uncooked ultimately leads to the rapid fermentation of starch in the hindgut, hindgut acidosis and its related problems including loss of appetite and weight loss. Cooking corn changes the structure of the starch it contains making it almost 5 times more digestible than uncooked corn starch. The end result, racing horses will get more energy from the corn with less chance of any negative impact. So if you are going to feed corn, feed it cooked!

The Pryde’s EasiFeed range of racing feeds contain fully extruded corn and barley for superior digestibility, together with other high quality extruded ingredients like full fat soybean and lupins, blended with cold pressed canola oil and honey. With feeds and supplements to suit any preferred method of feeding, contact Pryde’s EasiFeed for a full assessment of your race feed regime. Call 1300 732 267 or email info@prydes.com.au