horsemanship za

The Value of Beet: A Versatile and Useful Ingredient for Feeding all Classes of Horses

by Dr T Shurlock

The value of feeding sugar beet pulp to horses has been long recognised and, although inconvenient to prepare, does show great versatility. It can be used to replace a proportion of either hard feed or forage, or, in fact, both. It can be used as a top dressing, as an appetent, and to put bloom on working horses. It is a high energy, medium protein product that can be substituted to avoid over feeding specific nutrients, or to supplement shortfalls in others. It can supply substantial amounts of fibre when forage is in short supply or can improve the nutrition of substitutes such as chop'n'chaff. It truly is an extremely versatile and useful ingredient for feeding to all classes of horses.

So why is it so good?

Most raw materials have drawbacks. One would imagine that forage is all a horse needs. However, regular exercising will push a horse's energy requirements above that available from forage and so supplementation is required. Cereals are good energy providers but usage of raw cereals increases the risk of starch fermentation in the hindgut and acidosic problems. Oilseeds (soya, linseed etc.) have high energy but can also over provide protein, as can beans and pulses. Whilst combinations of the above are extremely valuable in feeding of the horse and are the mainstay of balancing forages, the introduction of sugar beet pulp can increase the versatility of these feedstuffs.

How? And Why?

The main answer is in the fibre content of beet. Fibre is a complicated nutrient, which varies greatly in its composition, its function and its value in feeding. To confuse matters further there are a great number of terms that describe various parameters; some terms appear the same but are not and some actually describe the same thing. For example "soluble carbohydrates" is a term much used in human nutrition to express the "healthiness" of a product. Soluble carbohydrates includes some fibres, whilst "soluble fibres", a term also used to denote goodness, does not encompass some soluble carbohydrates.

Heading off Colic: The importance of fibre in your horse's feed

by Dr T Shurlock

Colic is a term, for horse owners, which can strike terror into the most hardened heart. But, to a large extent, this can be somewhat lessened by understanding exactly what is colic, and why it happens. 

Unhelpfully colic basically means a gut pain and there are many reasons why a horse may experience discomfort along the gastrointestinal tract. Some reasons may be relatively harmless but some may be lethal, and so care and action must be taken promptly. Obviously the best care is avoiding the situations where colic arises and to help do this an understanding of the structure and physiology of the gut will help.

Physiology of the Gut

Many articles have been written, pointing out the relative small size of the stomach for such a large animal, and how the large intestine, especially the caecum, is the fermentative powerhouse of the gut. They will also draw attention to the fact that the small intestine is "wrapped" in mesentery (a sheet of thin tissue) anchored at one point only and the large intestine is basically only fixed at the anus. It seems a very weak situation, just waiting for disruption to occur.

However, the design of the gut of the horse is ideal for the horse, or at least what a horse was before domestication. Being a trickle eater, grazing for up to 16 hours a day, it does not need a large stomach, food being constantly moved into the small intestine. As it is a hindgut fermenter, unlike the ruminant, food passing into the large intestine is fairly fibrous and bulky; and it is this bulk that keeps the equine gut healthy.

Food passes down the gut by peristalsis. Waves of contraction force the food along the gastrointestinal tract and, because the diet has a high proportion of fibre, the gut is bulked and the contents can "negotiate" the twists and turns without difficulty. And because there is bulk there will be movement of the gut itself, and so it cannot be firmly anchored at several points. The problem comes when this, ideal, scenario is compromised.

Wet Feeding? Does it matter?  by Dr T Shurlock
Increasingly the nutrition of the horse is becoming more widely understood and accepted, and the benefits of maximising fibre intake has been well received. Companies are producing high fibre mixes to help optimise the utilisation of forage and there is now a comprehensive range of possibilities to maintain the nutrition, behaviour (chewing, trickle feeding) and welfare of the horse.

So why do we need to look at a new concept?

What is different in wet feeding? Your horse has access to water so why do you need to add another layer of complication.  Well, answer me this. How much does your horse drink? The answer may surprise you.  A horse, at rest, may drink up to 7 litres per 100 kg of body weight per day.  A 400 kg horse will drink over three bucketfuls. During exercise up to 15 l of water per hour can be lost as sweat – another two buckets. And it has been shown that as water intake is restricted so intake of feed reduces.  Water is essential, not only to maintain every aspect of the physiology and biochemistry of the body but also to ensure the correct conditions in the gut.

The gut contents (chyme) in a horse, is made up mainly of water in which is suspended food particles and digestive enzymes. Muscular contractions squeeze (and mix) the contents along the length of the gut as the enzymes break down nutrients for absorption and microbes mix with, and attach to, the fibre to release energy. It's only as the chyme passes through the large intestine that most of the water is absorbed and utilised in the biochemistry of the animal.

So, no problem; you have a bucket of water in the stable and you fill it whenever it's water level is low; or maybe you've an automatic bowl. However trial work has shown that water intake from bowls is less than buckets, and if intake from buckets is restricted feed intake and welfare can be compromised.  And water intake is essential. A big drink after a meal is good, isn't it? Yes, but water and feed intake together is better.