HORSE NUTRITION

The members of Equidae family viz horses,

donkeys, mules and ponies played an important role,
since time immemorial, in the service of mankind.
Horses are used for riding, racing, pleasure,
exercise, work, polo etc. commercial and recreation
activities.
Light horses are horses used primarily for riding,
driving, showing, racing, or utility on a farm.
A light horse is capable of more action and greater
speed than a draft horse, which is a large breed of
horse used for work.
In many countries of the world, especially in
Europe, horse are also used as source of meat
for human consumption.
In some countries, horsemeat sells for more
than beef and amounts to 4-6% of total meat
consumption.
Many are used as pets, in parades, shows
circuses and other activities.
 Ponies are very popular, especially with
children.
Ponies are used in many research studies on
feeding and nutrition.
The pony is defined as being under 14 hands, 2
inches by the American Horse Show Association.
BREEDS OF HORSES:-

India possesses nine horse breeds, out of

which six breeds are well recognized.
These are Marwari (from Rajasthan),
Kathiawari (from Gujarat),
Spiti (from Himachal Pradesh),
Zanskari (from Ladakh),
Manipuri (from Manipur) and
Bhutia (from Sikkim, Darjeeling, Arunachal
Pradesh and Bhutan).
 STRATEGIES IN DIFFERENT
HERBIVOROUS ANIMAL:-
Horses are specialized herbivores adapted to
life on open grasslands.
Though the horse is a herbivorous animal, it
differs greatly from the ruminants in the
anatomy and physiology of its digestive tract.
Ruminant animals developed a complex
stomach of rumen, reticulum, omasam, and
abomasum.
The weight of the digestive tract and its
contents represents approximately 37.5% and
45% of the ruminants animals total weight (in
sheep and cattle respectively) as opposed to
3.7% in dogs, 8% in humans and 14% in pigs,
all simple stomached animals, while in horses it
is approximately 20% of total weight.
Reticulo-rumen provides conducive
environment to rumen microorganisms to attack
the feed where it stays for up to 5-7 days.
The digestive system, or the alimentary canal,
in the horse is about 100 ft long from the mouth
to the anus.
It takes about 65-75 h for feed to proceed from
the mouth to the anus.
Feed passage time in equine is quicker than in
ruminants, 36-48 h compared with 72-96 h, on
a similar diet.
The entire tract can be divided into two
functional parts: the foregut and the hindgut.
The foregut functions similar to pig, which is also a
simple stomached animal.

The function of the hindgut is qualitatively similar

to ruminant animal, though efficiency wise it is
incomparable.

That’s why, the horse is somewhere between the

pig and the ruminant in its utilization of feeds.

 Ruminants are foregut fermentors while horses are

hindgut fermentors.
ENERGY REQUIREMENTS OF HORSES:-
The energy requirements are expressed as digestible
energy (DE).
A deficiency of energy in the young horses results in
a poor growth rate.
In mature horses, it results in weight loss, poor
condition, and performance.
A lack of enough to eat is a common form of the
malnutrition with many horses.
Energy status can be determined by weighing
animals regularly, and also by using subjective
‘conditioning scoring’ system to monitor the status
of body condition.
Based on body fitness with scores ranging
from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very fat), most horses
should be maintained at a score of at least 4 and
not exceeding 7 (ICAR 2013).
Equine family consists of different type of
domesticated animals having varied mature
body weight, for example horses with 200 kg,
400 kg, 500 kg, 600 kg.
Environmental temperature has a large impact
on the energy requirements for maintenance,
especially if horses do not have a shelter.
MAINTENANCE:-
Maintenance energy requirements of
horses weighing 600 kg or less were estimated
from the following equation (NRC 1989).
DE Mcal/day = 1.4 + 0.03 BW (BW= Body Weight)

Greater than 600 kg body weight

DE Mcal/day = 1.82+ 0.0383 BW – 0.000015 BW2
The older horses can be treated as a maintenance
animal.
However, it needs to be monitored for weight
gain because of decreased activity.
Adjust the feeding accordingly.
A stalled horse has a lower requirement for
energy.
It is better fed with larger quantities of
roughage to keep it occupied in eating or else
stalled horse is likely to develop bad vices. 
GESTATION:-
The most important period during gestation is
the last 90 days.
The 1978 NRC reports indicated that energy
requirements during the last 90 days are 12%
greater than for maintenance.
The voluntary intake of hay will decrease as
the foetus increases in size.
Therefore the energy density of the diet
should be increased during the last 90 days of
pregnancy.
Estimates of DE requirements for the ninth,
tenth and eleventh months of gestation were
formulated by multiplying the maintenance
requirements by 1.11, 1.13 and 1.20,
respectively (NRC 1989).
Pregnant mares:
 9 months, DE = 1.11 (maintenance DE)
 10 months, DE =1.13 (maintenance DE)
 11 month, DE = 1.20 (maintenance DE)
 LACTATION:-
The DE requirements of lactating mares depend
upon the composition and amount of milk
produced.
Mares of light breeds may produce as much as 24
kg of milk per day at peak lactation, which occurs
at about 8 weeks after parturition.
But the average milk production is probably
within the range of 12-18 kg daily.
The mare converts the digestible energy in the
feed into milk energy with about 60% efficiency.
Ponies have an average daily milk production of
4 and 3% body weight during early and late
lactation respectively.
Horses are estimated to produce milk at 3 and
2% of their body weight during early lactation
and late lactation respectively.
The 1989 NRC report used the same assumption
that it takes 792 Kcal of DE per kg of milk
produced as used in the 1978 NRC report.
Foaling to 3 month:
200-299 kg of BW;
DE = (maintenance DE) + (0.04 BW x 0.792)
300-900 kg of BW;
DE = (maintenance DE) + (0.03 BW x 0.792)
3 month to weaning:
200-299 kg of BW;
DE = (maintenance DE)+(0.03 BW x 0.792)

300-900kg of BW;
DE = (maintenance DE) + (0.02 BW x 0.792)
GROWTH:-

The energy requirements for maintenance and

growth rate were calculated by using the
following equation.
DE, Mcal/day = Maintenance DE + (4.81 + 1.17
X – 0.023 X2 ) (ADG)
ADG = average daily gain, kg; X is the age in
months.
The DE requirement per kg of gain increases
with the age of the foal.
It is calculated as 4.81 + 1.17 X – 0.023X 2.
Working horses:

light work DE = 1.25 (maintenance DE)

 Moderate Work DE= 1.50 (maintenance DE)
Intense Work DE = 2.00 (maintenance DE)

Working horses : CP=(40) (Mcal of DE/day)

 Dietary protein requirement:
The
 dietary protein requirement of the horse is a function of
the needs of the animal, the quality of protein available and the
digestibility of that protein.
The protein needs of the horse decrease as it reaches mature
size.
When they reach maturity, however all horses have about the
same protein requirement.
Protein requirements increase during the last one third of
pregnancy and during the lactation.
CP requirement are calculates assuming that;
(1) milk contain 2.1 and 1.8 % protein is early and late lactation
respectively:
(2) Digestible protein (DP) is used with an efficiency of 65%
for milk production;
Equation for calculating daily protein requirements

Estimation of CP requirements, g/day

Maintenance: CP=(40) (Mcal of DE/day)
Stallions: CP=(40) (Mcal of DE/day)
Growing horses:
 Weanling: CP=(50) (Mcal of DE/day)
 Yearling and long yearlings: CP=(45) (Mcal of DE/day)
 2 year olds: CP=(42.5) (Mcal of DE/day)
Pregnant mares: 9-11 months; CP=(44) (Mcal of DE/day)
Lactating mares:-
Foaling to 3 months:-
200-299kg of BW;

CP = (maintenance DP) + (0.04 BWx0.021x1000)/0.65

0.55
300-900kg of BW;

CP= (maintenance DP) + (0.03 BWx0.021x1000)/0.65

0.55
3 months to weaning:-
200-299kg of BW;

(maintenance DP) + (0.03 BWx0.018x1000)/0.65

CP =
0.55
300-900kg of BW;
  (maintenance DP) + (0.02 BWx0.018x1000)/0.65
CP = 0.55
 CONCENTRATES:-
FEEDSTUFFS

Bengal gram is the most popular feed of horses

in the Indian subcontinent.
It is usually fed as a single concentrate feed after
soaking in water overnight.
CEREAL GRAINS:-
Oats, barley and maize are the principle cereal
grains for horses.
Of the three, oats are preferred because they have
the lowest energy and highest fiber levels.
Oats can be fed whole or crushed because oat
grain are quite soft and easily ruptured during
mastication.
Barley and maize are hard grain and should not
be fed whole.
Barley may be rolled, flaked or boiled while
maize is fed as flaked maize.
BRANS:-
Fibre in equine diet is important to maintain a
stable hindgut environment that is less susptable
to acidosis.
Wheat bran by tradition is a much favored feed
for horses. It has less energy and more fibre,
protein and minerals than the wheat.
But feeding high levels of wheat bran is
associated with Big Head disease or Miller’s
disease or bran disease in mature horses due to
its poor Ca to P ratio i.e. high in P and low in Ca.
 PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS:-
Soyabean meal is almost certainly the protein
supplement of choice due to its high lysine content.
Groundnut cake is alternative.
Linseed seeds are toxic and must be boiled in water
before feeding.
Linseed cake of expeller and ghani pressed type may
be used instead.
Feeding linseed produces a glossy coat (bloomy hair
coat) due to the relatively high level of unsaturated
fat.
The same effect can be achieved by very much
conveniently by incorporating any vegetable oil such
as olive oil, maize oil, sunflower oil etc.
OTHER FEEDS:-
Its include young grass, Molasses, Beet
pulp, Dried Molasses, sugar beet pulp etc.
Succulents such as carrots may be fed up to
2 kg per day.
ROUGHAGES:-
A horse can eat fresh grass at 10% of its body weight
everyday.
Requirements for maintenance as well as part of
production can be supplied through ad libitum
feeding of good quality fodders as a single feed or the
mixture of fresh leguminous and cereal fodders in the
ratio of 3:1.
Lucerne leaf meal is a rich source of protein,
calcium, phosphorus, carotenes and other micro
nutrients.
Lucerne, berseem, cowpea, oats and maize green
fodder are excellent for horses.
Their hays are also popular in feeding of horses.
 Green legumes may cause bloat in cattle, buffalo
or sheep, but not in horses.
Pasture grasses such as dub (Cynodon dactylon),
pongola, timothy are popular.
Straws and stowers are the poor quality fodders.
Soyabean hulls or soyhulls are being used as a
source of fibre in place of hay.
Soyahulls are readily degraded in the equine
digestive system by microorganisms in the ceacum
and large intestine.
 Feeding of foal

Feeding of foal starts in utero with feeding the

pregnant mare a well balanced diet to supply all
the nutrient to the developing foal in the womb and
to enable the mare to be a better milk producer
after foaling.
Antibodies are not provided to the foal by mare
during gestation period because antibodies are too
large to pass through the mares thick placenta.
Immunity for the foal is available only through the
antibodies in the mares first milk.
One should help the foal to suckle, if there is
need to do so, then do as soon as possible after
birth.
If foal is restricted to milk alone, it soon
becomes anemic as milk is deficient in iron,
copper and other nutrient.
This is the reason why good creep feeding is
recommended at 3 weeks of age.
The creep feed is kept in creep, which is an
enclosure with openings for the foals to get in but
not the mares.
Supplemental feed for suckling foals should be
provided at least once daily, more often if
warranted.
The creep feed plus the milk the foal gets from its
mother should be designed to provide a well-
balanced diet.
The creep feed given to the foal should be kept
clean and fresh so that no mouldy or sour feed is
consumed.
At 5-6 weeks of age, a foal should be consuming
creep feed at the rate of 0.5% body weight.
By weaning time, the foal should be consuming
2.27-3.64 kg of creep feed/day.
One of the most important advantages of creep
feeding is to accustom foals to eating concentrates
before they are weaned.
Creep-fed foals are less susceptible to the stress
of weaning.
 Feeding the Orphan Foal
A foal with proper care can be raised on cow’s milk.
In case the foal has not secured Colostrum from its dam,
hypodermic injection of horse serum is usually given.
As mare’s milk contains less fat and more sugar
compared to cow’s milk, the milk should be modified for
a very young foal.
Hence use the milk from cows in their first part of
lactation and those giving milk with less fat content.
It is suggested to add 150 ml lime water to 600 ml cow
milk along with one teaspoonful of sugar.
On the first day, the foal should be fed at hourly intervals
with milk warmed to 1000 F using nursing bottle.
During the first two weeks, Normal healthy foals
should be fed every two hours and during the
second two weeks they should be fed every four
hours.
They should then be fed four times a day until
weaning.
The amount and frequency of feeds needed will
vary according to the size, age and health status of
the individual foal, but initially foals should be
fed about 150 ml.
Each week the amount fed should be increased to
the maximum that the foal will eat without
scoring.
FEEDING THE WEANLING (Horses that are 6 month to 1 year of age):-

One of the most critical times in the life of a

growing horse occurs between weaning and about
1 year of age.
 Foals which have been given a creep feed and
are already used to consuming concentrate
mixture are better prepared for the shock of
weaning.
Studies indicated that light horses reached about
45, 66 and 88% of their mature weight at 6, 12
and 18 month of age.
After weaning the foal should be increased in
concentrate mixture 1-1.5 kg and 1 kg forage
per 100 kg body weight.
The ration should provide 18% CP, 0.85% Ca and
0.75% P.
The concentrate ration constitutes 65 to 70% of the
total ration fed to weanlings.
The remainder of the ration would be a hay with at
least 12% protein.
It has been suggested that dietary imbalances may
be the causative factors in a variety of
developmental orthopedic diseases in young
FEEDING THE YEARLING (Horses that are 1 to 2
years old):-
If the horse reaches a year of age and is well grown, and
has sound feet and legs, it has successfully passed a critical
period in its life cycle.
Weight gains will decrease during the second year of the
foal’s life.
But the foal is still growing and should continue to be fed a
high quality ration.
The horse should be placed on a feeding programme of
1 to 1.5 kg of forage and 1-1.5 kg of concentrate mixture
per 100 kg of body weight.
Concentrate mixture should contain 16% CP, 0.8% Ca and
0.65% P, while forage should have at least 10% CP.
The level of feeding can vary considerably
depending on how the horses are to be used, the
kind and quality of ration, and the response of the
horses to the feeding programme followed.
The long yearling (1.5 to 2 year old) requires a
little less protein, Ca and P than the yearling.
The roughage intake is about 60% of the total
feed intake as compared to 40% concentrate.
 Long yearling not used for racing or high
performance can be fed largely on roughage, but
the roughage should contain at least 11% protein.
FEEDING THE BREEDING MARE AND STALLION:-

Filly is female horse until it is 3 years old and

mare is female horse after 3 years age.
Colt is male horse until it is 3 years old and
stallion is male horse after 3 years age while
gelding is castrated male horse.
Mares and stallion that become obese decrease
in reproductive efficiency.
Mares restricted in energy intake have impaired
reproductive efficiency.
FEEDING THE PREGNANT MARE:-

The most important period during gestation is

the last 90 days.
This is the period when growth rate of embryo
is the greatest.
About 60-65% of the weight of the foetus is
grown during this period.
The products of conception accounts for 10-
12% of the body weight of the mare.
During the last 90 days of gestation, the mare will
gain 50 kg weight at the rate of 0.55 kg per day.

 The foal weighs approximately 40-45 kg at birth.

The concentrate mixture should supply 16% CP,

1.0% Ca, and 0.9% P.
The concentrate should form 35% of the total
ration.
 Feeding the lactating Mare
A few days before the foaling mare should be
provided a bulky diet to reduce constipation
problems and allowed 7 to 10 days after foaling.
Proper nutrition is very critical since the mare
needs to recover from parturition, produce
enough milk, and rebreed successfully.
The mare has to be fed enough balanced feed to
produce milk as well as to maintain her body.
Lactating mares should be fed 12-14% protein diet.
Peak milk production usually occurs at 6-12 weeks
after foaling.
It then gradually declines until the foals are weaned
at about 6 months of age.
Horses are estimated to daily produce milk
equivalent to 3% and 2% of body weight during
early lactation (foaling to 3 months) and late
lactation (4 to 6 months of lactation), respectively
(Cunha, 1980).
A 500-kg mare may produce over 16 kg of
milk/day.
During first 3 months of lactation feed intake
increases.
The dry matter intake increase from about 1.5 - 2.0
% of body weight to 2.0 - 3.0 of body weight.
The concentrate part of the complete ration will be
45 %.
After 3 months, milk production decreases and
according the level of feed decrease.
The dry matter intake is about 2.0-2.5 % of body
weight and the concentrate mixture forms 40 % of
the total diet.
FEEDING THE STALLION:-
During the non breeding season, a high-quality
pasture/forage will supply a large part of the feed for
the stallion.
Concentrate feeds should be fed in small amount to
supplement the forage and to keep the stallion in a trim,
thrifty condition.
A free choice minerals supply provides opportunity to
obtain minerals not present in adequate amounts in feed
consumed.
Two or three weeks before the breeding season begins,
the concentrate feed given to the stallion should be
increased so that it will gain a little weight.
This is similar to flushing practice in ewes/ sows
and is important for the stallion to have good
libido and fertile semen.
During the breeding season the stallion should
need more energy, protein, minerals, and
vitamins.
This is accomplished by feeding a higher level of
concentrate in the diet.
The concentrate mixture should be fed at the
rate of about 1% DM of the body weight, the
remaining being green and leafy forage or hay.
The total diet should contain about 13% protein
and the stallion should not be allowed to get too
fat or too thin.
The stallion should receive some exercise but
excessive exertion may reduce libido
Feeding and Health-related problems-
Laminitis- Laminitis is defined as an
inflammation of the lamina on the inner hoof wall.
It affects the feet, cause extreme pain, a high
fever, and the horse has a difficulty in moving or
walking.
Founder is another name for laminitis. It may be
due to many cause.
Avoid overfeeding or irregular feeding of
concentrate grain mixture to horses. Whenever the
quantity of concentrate is increased, it should be
increased gradually.
Eating too much grain results in a high
production of lactic acid in the horse’s intestinal
tract. The lactic acid damages the gut wall and
allows bacteria to enter the blood.
Colic can also cause laminitis by direct damage
to the intestinal wall, such as with a torsion
( twist of the intestine). The wall will die in that
area and allow bacteria to get into the blood to
cause laminitis.
Colic-
Colic refers to abdominal pain.
The horse has a small stomach and it fed too
much it cannot relieve the distended stomach by
vomiting and thus colic may developed.
 If the distention is too great, the stomach may
rupture and cause death.
 Lactation tetany
Tetany is a condition in which there are
localized, spasmodic contractions, twitching or
cramps.
It is occur due to the fall in the calcium level in
the lactating mare as a result of loss of calcium
in to the milk.
Lactation tetany is prevented by feeding of low
calcium ration during last 2-5 week before
foaling followed by high calcium ration.
Low calcium ration is also increase the
efficiency of intestinal calcium absorption.
 Tying-up or exercise related muscle problems or
Azoturia
It is also known as Monday morning disease or external
rhabdomyolysis.
It is due to excessive feeding of concentrate diet even on rest
day.
 After next day of rest such horses exhibit this condition
where the muscle of loin and hindquarters seize up and
leading to stiffness and pain and ataxia.
Vitamin E and selenium supplement may improve muscle
strength and reduce the incidence of azoturia.
For prevention of this condition, reduce the concentrate diet,
if the horse has no work warm up and cool the horse properly,
make any changes in the diet gradually and leave the horse for
free grazing.
 HYPOMAGNESAEMIC TETANY:-
Feeding fertilized spring grass may cause
hypomagnesaemic tetany (grass staggers) in
animal due to the very poor availability of
magnesium.
OSTEOCHONDROSIS:-
A high incidence of osteochondrosis, epiphysitis
and other skeletal disorders are found in grazing
horses, where forage and feeds are deficient in
copper and zinc.
HEAVES:-
 Heaves or pulmonary emphysema
results in a loss of elasticity in the lungs and an
accumulation of air in the lung tissue since it can
not be expired properly. The horse has difficulty
breathing, may show a nasal discharge.
ENTEROLITHS:-
 Enterolith are also known as calculi
or stones. The presence of nidus (nails, pins,
needles etc.) Calculi found in the intestines of
horses are primarily composed of magnesium,
ammonium and phosphate.
Wood chewing:-
It is known that animals, which are short of
minerals will eat dirt and chew wood and other
object. Therefore, the first step is to prevent this
from occurring and to make sure the diet is
adequate in minerals.
Some horses chew each other’s tails when they
are fed only a completely pelleted diet.
This may be due to a lack of enough roughage.
 THUMPS OR SYNCHRONOUS DIAPHRAGMATIC
FLUTTER(SDF):-

SDF, that is contraction of the diaphragm in

synchrony with the heart, may occur owing to
electrolyte losses as a result of physical exertion.
PRUSSIC ACID POISONING AND CYSTITIS:-
Immature sorghum, sudan grass and sudan-
sorghum hybrids contain a glycoside which may
breakdown to prussic acid or hydrocyanic acid
in the digestive tract.
The sorghum-sudan hybrids and sudangrass
hybrids may also cause a disorder known as
cystitis (urinary tract inflammation). This
diseases causes continuous urination and
incoordination in gait and the mares appear to
be constantly in heat. 
 NITRATE TOXICITY:-
Horses are less susceptible to nitrate toxicity
than are ruminants.
Intake of nitrate in excessive amount may cause
acute toxicity
Ingested nitrates are converted to nitrites.
Nitrites are absorbed and convert blood
heamoglobin to mathaemoglobin.
This compound prevents the blood from picking
up oxygen from the lungs.
These sign include colic, diarrhoea, frequent
urination and sign of hypoxia.