Are You Killing Your Horse? Overfeeding & the Equine

Are you overfeeding your horse? While often the news stories show horrendous skinny horses all too often the opposite is true. Many veterinarians report a growing number of horses are overfed, some approaching the obese range. For those horses in stalls or paddocks this rests squarely on the owner's shoulders. Over fed horses especially those who don't get out to work as much are more prone to a host of illnesses.

One of the rising diseases seen is founder or laminitis. This can be set in motion from feeding issues long before it is seen in the feet and even longer before the horse becomes lame. Many times we SEE it, and it's done deliberately. The long held adage of "the best color is fat" holds in sale rings of registered horses from show horses to race yearlings.

Overfeeding young horses leads not only to feet and leg issues but may set the horse up for problems down the road. Colic, epiphysitis and other issues can be brought on by over conditioning. Many thoroughbred yearlings look more like quarter horse show prospects based on the conditioning, hardly the fit, lean look one likes to see when purchasing an athlete! Developmental Orthopedic Disease is created by mineral imbalances, too much energy in the diet and not enough exercise.

It's not just yearlings that can be overfed with "fat" to "look pretty" - stallions also are often heavy. Many go from stall to turnout and while they are out they may run and buck for a bit but then settle down and eat. It was well known Seattle Slew was ridden daily well into his 20s as were many others. Sadly today we have 11-12-15 year olds having heart attacks, colic, laminitis and other issues. While it's true that not all of the cases are attributed to feeding, and that many horses want for little, sometimes owners can be killing with kindness.

This is such a factor it points to proper care of broodmares - not too thin or too fat. All stages of life is important and they do not eat or need the same throughout their life.

Too many horse owners feed on volume, not weight. A quart of oats is .85 pounds while a quart of corn is 1.75 pounds and a quart of whole barley is 1.5 pounds. That "corn oats barley" doesn't always say the proportion but the weights vary widely. Feeding management makes a big difference!

Equine Metabolic Syndrome, or EMS, has been in the spotlight more today than at any time. Traditionally the horse earned his living and was worked, often as long as he was sound to do so. Today with more time off and more time to eat with doing less, the horse gains weight. The owner may not see that extra 40 pounds but as fat stores in the abdomen it begins having hormonal effects. The horses then become insulin resistant and the cooker is on waiting for the time bomb of laminitis to set in.

Philip Johnson of the University of Missouri told theHorse.com "Horses evolved to eat native grass and stay healthy. Nowadays, we feed horses like food animals - using improved grassland species and grain."

In nature horses lose weight in the winter, but today's horses are protected with shelter and a continuous food supply so if they gain weight in the summer they don't lose it in the winter. Compounding this some owners feed even more to insure they have enough to handle the weather.

Most idle horses do not need grain. Even horses that are ridden a couple times per week do fine on just hay. Too often we want - and fall for - diets that are "idiot proof". We want the "I don't want to think about it" one scoop solution. This works for thousands of horses - but there's many it doesn't work for and all too often when the damage is seen it's already taken a toll on the horse's health.

Certainly starving horses need attention - but the many overweight ones are no less cruel or health altering. Research, adjust your rations where needed and feed for the horse, not for your convenience.