Nutrition of the Growing Hanoverian - the American Hanoverian ...

their caloric and/or amino acid needs are
being met. It will conclude with the newest
information on oils recommended as calorie
sources and the important differences in
their Omega 6 and Omega 3 levels.
The mainstay of all horses’ diets is the forage
they consume. Understanding how the equine
digestive tract functions optimally and how
forage quality and quantity will help maintain
the health of your horse, reduce the
incidence of colic and keep your horses
growing, reproducing or performing up to
their genetic potential is what every horse
owner should know. With this knowledge
we can assist you in selecting: 1) the best
forage in your area, 2) the appropriate
grain mixture to complement your forage
and 3) meet all the nutrient needs of your
horses. Once horse owners understand that
horses do not have a requirement for cereal
grains, i.e. oats, barley, corn, rice, wheat, etc.,
but they do have an absolute requirement
for forage, it is much easier to grasp how to
successfully manage and feed their horses.
The only reason to feed a grain mixture or
supplement to horses is to make up the
difference between what nutrients are in
your forage and what your horses need to
meet their daily nutrient needs.
Horse Feeds
Horsemen add cereal grains, or grain
mixtures with added vegetable oils, to
increase the calories in their horses’ diet to
increase weight or to maintain their desired
body condition. It is the responsibility of
the feed manufacturer to explain: 1) which
physiological status (growing, reproducing
or performing) their feed mixture is
formulated to be fed to, 2) what type of
forage their grain mixture is formulated to
complement and 3) provide this information
on the tag to allow owners or managers to
determine what the minimum amount of
this grain mixture is to be fed per day to
meet all of the horses’ nutritional needs.
These requirements will vary with a horse’s
size, age, growth rate, reproductive status
and performance level. It is then the
responsibility of the owner or manager to
read the information on the feed tag or bag
and follow those directions. Today, many
horse owners do not realize that if fewer
pounds are fed per day than the manufacturer
recommends as “minimum” on their
feeding directions, the horse is being fed a
deficient diet in certain nutrients.
Table 1: Relative Feed Value (RFV) of Grass, Mixed and Legume Forages
Hay Quality Standards For: Grass, Grass/Legume Mixed and Legume Forages:
FORAGES – Fresh and Dried
Determining Quality
Forages, by definition, are the aerial parts of
the plant commonly fed to livestock. Their
history, as pasture, pre-dates that of man.
Forages supply various levels of nutrients
depending on their type (species) and
maturity at harvest. Today they are consumed:
fresh, as pasture; dried, as baled or cubed
hay; or preserved in silos or plastic bags, as
haylage. Horses have limited ability to utilize
poor quality forages, so it is very important
that owners and trainers understand how
to determine quality as well as the different
types of forages. Since maturity of the plant
affects the digestibility of the fiber and the
availability of its nutrients, it is vital that
immature forages be fed to horses that need
the highest amount of nutrients per day.
This would include: sucklings, weanlings
and yearlings, nursing mares and horses in
moderate to intense training. The first visual
appraisal of all types of forage includes: 1)
the length of the seed head in grasses (boot
stage) and 2) the percent of blossoms in
bloom in legumes (bud stage). Ideally,
grasses should have seed heads less than
one inch long and legumes should have less
than ten percent of the buds in blossom. As
all plants prepare to blossom, the Acid
Detergent Fiber (ADF), which measures
Crude Fiber (Cellulose plus Insoluble
Lignin) and Soluble Lignin, and the Neutral
Detergent Fiber (NDF), which measures
the ADF plus Hemi-Cellulose, increases so
the stem has enough strength to hold up
the seed heads or blossoms. Unfortunately,
as the fiber portion increases, all other
nutrients decrease and become less digestible
and available to the horse.
Analysisb (dry matter basis)
Quality Standard a ADF % NDF % DMI, c % of B. Wt. RFV d
Prime (Prime) 151
1 (Premium) 31-35 41-46 3.0-2.6 150-125
2 (Good) 36-40 47-53 2.5-2.3 124-103
3 (Fair) 41-42 54-60 2.2-2.0 102-87
4 (Poor) 43-45 61-65 1.9-1.8 86-75
5 (Reject) >46 >66