The best way to kill parasites on pasture is with dry heat. Since parasites don’t actually “live” in the soil, proper spreading of manure in fields combined with cooperating weather is best. Spread/drag empty fields when temperatures are above 80 degrees and sunny, with no rain in the forecast. The Strongyle larvae cannot survive high heat without any moisture. If fields are dragged, manure piles will be spread and dry quickly, and will not hold moisture for the parasites to live. Parasites will not survive on grass or soil alone unless another horse comes along that is shedding parasites and starts the cycle again.

As for the horse with the Strongyles, it sounds like the parasites are resistant to anthelmenthic. It is best to work with your veterinarian to develop a deworming program based on routine fecal egg counts and dewormer rotation.

Any roofing company can help you with this. Look into having “snow guards” installed on your roof. These are used to deflect large sheets of snow from sliding off and will make them melt instead. Some types of guards are called ‘snow deflectors’ and others are called ‘snow spikes’.

Junipers are indicated as toxic in many plant references. Therefore, I would tend to err on the side of caution and avoid planting any juniper species near a paddock or arena.

Depending on the slope length and gradient of your bank, you might consider terracing or geotextiles in combination with grass plantings for stabilization. I suggest you contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office or the local soil conservation district and seek their advice for steep slope planting. The NRCS staff has specialists that deal with erosion and sediment control.

In establishing a hay field or pasture, the first order of business should be to conduct a soil test followed by adjustment of nutrient and pH levels so that the soil is optimal for growing pasture grasses. Weeds often thrive in poor soil conditions; therefore, improving the soil can actually help control them.

It is important to control the weeds as thoroughly as possible before harvesting hay. Ideally, the grasses will out-compete the weeds; planting into a stand of tall weeds will likely not yield good results. Once the weeds are under control, it is time to seed. If all 14 acres are going to be grazed and hayed at the same time, a pasture mix is better than a single species; in New Jersey, mixes containing Kentucky bluegrass, orchardgrass, and endophyte-free tall fescue grow well. If there is acreage that will only be hayed and never grazed, other less persistent grasses like timothy may be appropriate.

To answer the question- yes, horses must be kept off for one growing season. The grasses’ root systems won’t be well developed until then, and the horses will pull the plants right out of the ground while grazing. Trampling will also affect the seedlings’ survival.

For a productive grass stand that lasts several years, it is also important to keep the horses off of the pasture when weather conditions are not ideal- such as very wet, dry, or frozen. If you can spare an acre or two for a stress lot, horses can be kept there and fed hay when grazing conditions are not ideal.

The following fact sheets provide more information on planting fields for horses in New Jersey.

Establishing and Managing Horse Pastures

Equine Pasture Management “A Year-Round Approach”

The reason pine shavings are not preferred as a bedding source is solely due to the fact that they are not good to spread on pasture land or crops or when used for composting. The relatively large particle size and higher lignin content makes wood bedding materials less biodegradable than straw bedding. When used in composting, the process will take much longer and have less mass reduction than with a straw product. Different woods vary slightly; however, most of the shavings sold are pine. Pine is popular because the soft wood is more absorbent. There are a number of pelleted wood products now that at least are more readily composted due to their smaller particle size.

Your newly planted pasture will do best if you leave horses off of it for one full growing season. If you let horses graze it before that, the grass roots will not be well-developed and the horses may easily rip the entire plant out of the ground, wasting the effort you put into planting the pasture. The field can be mowed when grasses are 6-8″ tall. Mowing before grasses go to seed will keep the plants in the vegetative leafy state and help thicken the stand. You should use this same principle when you graze the field: graze when grass is 6-8″, remove horses when grass is 3-4″. This management system will ensure a long, productive life for the grass you just planted. This frequent mowing will also do a good job controlling weeds. Make sure you take soil samples and send them to a lab to be tested for soil quality. You will receive a report that should tell you if you need to add fertilizer or lime. These applications, as recommended by the test results, will also improve the productivity of your newly planted pasture.

Your primary objective in repairing pasture is to establish the forage grass as quickly as possible so that it will out-compete the weeds. The first thing I recommend is taking a soil test. This will help ensure that the soil pH and nutrients are at optimum levels for pasture growth and establishment.

Types of grasses and seeding times will depend on your area of the country, so talk to your local Cooperative Extension office for more specific recommendations. For example, the recommended dates for seeding forage grasses begins on March 15th for southern New Jersey. Try to begin forage grass establishment as close to the recommended date for your region as possible. This will allow the grasses to hopefully establish well before the possibility of drought.

The following links have recommended species for pasture planting:

https://esc.rutgers.edu/publications/stablemgt/fs103.htm

https://esc.rutgers.edu/publications/stablemgt/fs368.htm

Also, when grazing your pastures, consider a rotation program along with a mowing plan to prevent the weeks from spreading.

Mud is a problem that plagues us all. Even the most strictly managed equine facility can harbor mud under certain conditions. Mud not only creates an unpleasant and annoying environment for us but can be a health hazard for our horses as well. Problems like thrush, abscesses and fungal infections are caused by muddy conditions. Mud also increases breeding of flies and mosquitoes that could transmit disease, creates unsafe footing that can lead to unwarranted lameness, and creates polluted water runoff from pastures. Prevention is the best cure for mud; however, since we can’t control the weather we need to control the amount of rain that flows through our paddocks and pastures. Below are some tips to help control mud.

Good pasture management is always a good place to start controlling mud. Keep bare spots to a minimum by avoiding overgrazing, controlling weeds, overseeding if necessary, and limiting turnout time when conditions are poor.

Installing gutters on all barns and buildings will divert the storm water away from manure-filled pastures and paddocks. Make sure these gutters are capable of handling the average rainfall in your area. When using gutters and downspouts make sure they are protected from animal wear and tear.

Installing a ‘sacrifice lot’ is a good way to prevent the horses from using a pasture when the conditions are too wet. This area is a fenced dry lot with shelter, water, and feeders, so the horses can be turned out and fed hay, but not allowed access to the pasture. In order to help prevent pollution of runoff through the sacrifice lot, manure and old hay should be picked from the area every 1 to 3 days. This will remove the organic matter that is used to convert soil to mud. Maintain a grass area of about 25 feet around the sacrifice lot to serve as a filter for any runoff.

Horses should be fenced out of streams, ponds, creeks, and other wetlands. Providing stream crossings will help limit the amount of erosion they will create. Key horse areas around the farm should have mud or dirt removed and replaced by a firm material, e.g. concrete, gravel, crushed stone, etc. Most important areas will include areas around gates, waterers, feeders, barn entrances, sheds and shelters.

When creating new paddocks or pastures try to locate them 100 feet from any stream, river or other wetland. Try to locate higher ground for your dry lots and have them sloped away from run-in sheds or barns.

Summary of Mud Management Tips:

• Avoid overgrazing of pastures
• Practice good pasture management
• Install gutters and downspouts on buildings
• Install dry wells around buildings to filter water away from paddocks
• Create a ‘sacrifice lot’ to limit the pasture turn out time
• Fence off ponds, and other wetlands
• Create stream or river crossings
• Install an impervious surface around heavy traffic areas
• Install a laneway that can withstand heavy traffic of both animal and machine

This is partially correct. Mowing with the horse in the field is not a problem. Eating the cut grass will not cause problems; if you think about it that is how they make hay- the grass will dry in the sun. However, if it is overly long and is thrown into “windrows” by your mower, the clumped hay might ferment if it is hot and humid. In that case, rake the clumps to disperse them. Since you do have pastures to rotate, you might want to start doing that. Put the mare into pasture one, let her graze it down, then move her over to pasture two while you are dragging to spread the manure (if you have not picked it up regularly). Then let pasture one recover until pasture two is ready to be rested.

The standard height (on the “take half, leave half” rule) for mowing is about 3-4 inches, depending on the type of grass you have (bluegrass can be about 3 inches; orchard/timothy, etc should be 4 inches). Then you let it recover to about 6-8 inches and graze it back down to the 3-4 inch height. Since you have only one horse on what sounds like an acre or so, you might be mowing not just to keep the grass at the same height, but also to keep it from getting too tall and going to seed. Remember, the shorter you mow (or graze), the more of the grasses’ growing points will be removed and the longer it will take the grass to recover. If more than 80% of the grass is grazed or mowed, almost all of the growing points will be removed, which will lengthen growing time. Please look at the Equine Science Center’s fact sheets on-line for more information. They can be found athttps://esc.rutgers.edu/publications/pasture_management.htm

If the hay is good quality (not moldy or moist) and stored off the ground (on a pallet or tarp) under adequate shelter you can keep it over 2 years. However, the fat-soluble vitamins A and E will be drastically reduced after a year, especially if sections of the hay are exposed to sunlight. This is easily corrected by feeding it with a standard multiple vitamin supplement. If you are additionally feeding 4 to 5 lbs of a commercial grain/pellet mix per day you should be fine, for these mixes are usually fortified with more than enough vitamins and minerals.

This is a very interesting question. I often wished that we had a ground cover that horses simply would not eat. Unfortunately, if a plant is edible, horses will usually browse on it. Once horses have removed vegetation from a hillside, it can be difficult to obtain a good stand of vegetation due to the resulting soil erosion. It is best to prevent horses from continuously grazing steep slopes by fencing off the area. If the horses need to use the hill to get to grazing areas at the top, you will need to provide an access lane.

To reclaim the area, I would seed it with a grass mixture. Perennial ryegrass mixed with a small amount of white clover will germinate faster than other perennial grasses – in two weeks if conditions are right. You could also include several other grass species such as endophtye-free tall fescue, orchardgrass, and bluegrass. Birdsfoot trefoil can be added to the mix as well. It is a legume that establishes quite quickly and tolerates low pH soils. Horses will browse on it, but it is not a preferred forage.

If the hill is really steep and the soil badly eroded, you may want to include a small amount of annual ryegrass. This will germinate in several days and may help prevent the perennial grass seeds from washing off of the slope until they have time to germinate. If the hill is not too steep and rocky, it is best to seed the area with a no-till drill to place the seed in the ground. Another option would be to spread the seed and cover it with a fine layer of straw to help hold it if the area is not too large.

Once the grasses are established – which may take a year – then you can graze the area sparingly.

Pressure treated wood is okay to use, and using an electric wire will help deter them from chewing and cribbing. The treatment is so the posts will last longer – unless you use locust wood, which is longer lasting than treated wood. As for the top rail you can use rough-cut oak, which works well but is more expensive and is getting harder to obtain than treated wood.

The electric wire should definitely go on the top rail to prevent chewing and cribbing, however, if your horse likes to eat through the fence one more strand between the middle and bottom board will help, hopefully preventing them from going completely under the fence as well. Just be careful that your horses don’t get their legs caught up in the bottom wire. The best option is to use a 4-board fence approach. See pictures below for recommended options.

Wire Fence with Boards         Wood Board Fence

Using hay will provide a cover on the soil which will help slow the erosion. When we work on soil erosion problems we use what is called the universal soil loss equation; part of the equation considers the cover on the soil. Putting hay on these areas will serve as a cover. This may slow down the rate of erosion, but might not cure it.

I would suggest contacting your local soil conservation district or USDA NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) office. They are usually listed in the phone book with the government agencies. They can help you solve the erosion problem beyond just using a temporary measure.

It is recommended to turn it off immediately. If this device really is a charger/energizer made for an electric fence, it will pulsate the current which allows someone to let go when there is no charge. Without the pulsating charge, it will end up electrocuting things or someone could get “stuck” to the electric source. The problem is unlikely to be the capacitor or a fuse. The capacitor is what increases the voltage – electric fences can be up to 12,000 volts from a 110 volt outlet. If the fuses are blown, there would not be electricity coming out. If it is truly a charger/energizer, then the energizer has gone bad and all there is now is an A/C charger. With the continuous charge, a fire could start if weeds come into contact with the wire.

The charge an electric fence has depends on the charger and the total fence length. Our fences are typically around 6,000 Volts. If a significant amount of weeds are present, the charge will noticeably decrease (4,000 Volts). Usually if the charge decreases, there is a short in the line (it will decrease 1,000 to 2,000 Volts). What makes the fence work is that the charge is pulsatile, using very low amperage (<10 milliamps). A horse will receive less of a shock if the soil is really dry. Ground rods (negative charge) are located near the charger. Without moisture in the ground, the circuit is not completed. To know how powerful the charger is, disconnect the fence and test directly at the charger (+) to the ground (-) rod. When the fence is reconnected, the charge should not be very different (chargers are rated by how many miles of fence they can run). Anything less than 3,500 volts would be considered ineffective.

Depending on how long ago the manure was dumped there, it might not be an issue any more. Horses usually will not graze in areas where there is fresh or recently deposited manure. That is why in some fields you will notice areas of tall green grass (“roughs”) whereas other areas have been overgrazed (“lawns”). However, if it has been over a year since new manure was applied to the piles or if it was dragged through the field, it probably will not be a problem, though if it was not properly composted, parasite eggs such as ascarids may have persisted. I would advise taking a soil test to determine if fertilizer is necessary to give the grasses maximal growth potential. You can locate your local cooperative extension office by selecting your state on the Cooperative Extension System Offices’ national map. An extension specialist in your local office should be able to help you find a nearby soil testing lab. Also submit samples of your horse’s feces to your veterinarian to get them checked for parasite eggs about one month after you put them on the affected field.

The Agricultural Management Practices for Commercial Equine Operations state that “fences should be located such that horses are unable to cause damage to neighboring properties. Although it is an acceptable practice to construct fencing on a property line, consideration should be given to setting new fencing back from the property line. Setting back the fencing can serve several purposes. It may prevent horses from causing damage to trees and shrubs on neighboring properties, facilitate mowing and fence repair, and prevent neighbors from having access to the horses without trespassing on the farm owner’s property.”

In the past, fencing was frequently constructed on property lines to form a boundary between adjacent farms and to maximize pasture use. Today, situations have changed, and with increasing pressure placed on livestock operations in residential areas, common sense dictates that consideration should be given to setting new fencing back from property lines. Recommended fencing setbacks are the same for drylots and pastures, however, management strategies recommended for drylots are more stringent than those suggested for pastures. By definition, pastures must be maintained in order to contain at least 70% vegetative cover. If the vegetation falls below 70%, then the pasture is treated as a drylot.

As stated in the AMP: “Drylots should be well-drained so that the animals are not standing in mud. Drylots are frequently constructed with a stone base and covered with natural clay or crushed stone. Measures may need to be in place to control erosion of stone, soil, and manure into areas that will impact water quality. These measures may include diversions, filters, and buffer areas.” Grass buffer strips around drylots can remove nutrients and help prevent runoff of manure and soil onto adjacent properties.

“Manure should be removed from drylots on a regular basis. If the overall farm density is fewer than 3 horses per drylot acre and the drylot vegetation is maintained between 50% and 70%, then manure should be removed from deposition areas at least once a month. If the overall farm density is 3 or more horses per drylot acre, manure should be removed from deposition areas on a weekly basis.”

The Natural Resource Conservation Service can supply you with technical assistance in erosion control and drylot construction. If you need further assistance with nutrient and pasture management issues, contact your local Cooperative Extension office.

It is appropriate to have a minimum of 400 square feet for each adult horse being housed in a dry lot.

Large amounts of legumes (clover and alfalfa) in pasture are thought to contribute to laminitis because they are typically higher in energy than most other grasses. They also can accumulate more starch which is one of the culprits in causing laminitis in some horses. However, grasses themselves can also be a problem, as they accumulate sugars and starches during the day and use them for growth overnight. Therefore, sugar content is lowest in the early morning unless there has been an overnight freeze (the sugars do not get used up by the grass overnight so they are still high in the morning). The sugar content is also highest in the spring and fall. Sugar content is important because a high-sugar or starch meal causes an increase in the hormone insulin, which can cause problems in horses with metabolic disease (such as insulin resistance or Cushing’s). You will need to take all of these factors into consideration when grazing your horses. If you have a horse that is prone to metabolic disease, the best time to graze it would be the early morning hours before the grasses have a chance to accumulate sugars, unless there has been a freeze overnight. When introducing horses to lush spring pasture, do it gradually until they are up to their normal turnout time. You can also use a grazing muzzle to limit intake.

You should evaluate each horse individually. Easy keepers like chubby ponies are often more prone to metabolic disease, which can lead to laminitis. Also monitor your horses’ weight and body condition regularly so that you will know if something is wrong- look for cresty necks or unusual fat deposits. Some horses may never be affected by high sugars or starches in grass, i.e. most Thoroughbreds, therefore grazing on clover is not a problem.

You will also need to evaluate your pasture. Clover generally takes over when grasses are overgrazed, so lots of clover could mean you need to over seed and take better care of your grasses through liming and fertilization based on soil tests.

It is important to note that pennies made after 1982 are 97.5% zinc and only coated with a thin layer of copper. There has been limited research showing that if copper pennies or piping is put into galvanized metal water tanks some of the copper and zinc from the tank will leach out into the water. Similar research has not, to our knowledge, been done with plastic tanks. Copper sulfate (bluestone) is commonly recommended to treat irrigation ponds and swimming pools for algae. High intakes of copper, especially, can increase the need for other minerals, such as selenium. Small ruminants, such as sheep and goats, are very sensitive to copper excess.

A North Dakota State University publication “Livestock and Water” (AS-954, July 1999) by Greg Lardy, Beef Cattle Specialist and Charles Stoltenow, Extension Veterinarian advises, “In troughs or small tanks, a safe dosage is one level teaspoon of copper sulfate per 1,500 gallons of water.” So for a 40-gal tank, even an eighth of a teaspoon of copper sulfate would not be appropriate.

Be aware, though, as you alter your trough management, that copper can be toxic to horses if overfed. Horse water should contain less than 0.5 mg/liter copper.

Another important point is that algae needs sunlight to grow, so if you can relocate your trough to a shady area, you should have less trouble with algae.

Typically, we recommend 1 to 2 acres of well-established pasture per horse if you feed only pasture during the growing season. However, it really depends on your soil type, weather, pasture grasses and individual horses’ requirements. The nutritional value of pasture grasses can vary significantly during the growing season. If you manage the pasture with fertilization, mowing, and rotating you could probably get away with less. Water and a salt block should always be freely available to your horse. Contact your Cooperative Extension office at your state’s land grant university for state-specific information.

The best way to kill parasites on pasture is with dry heat. Since parasites don’t actually “live” in the soil, proper spreading of manure in fields combined with cooperating weather is best. Spread/drag empty fields when temperatures are above 80 degrees and sunny, with no rain in the forecast. The Strongyle larvae cannot survive high heat without any moisture. If fields are dragged, manure piles will be spread and dry quickly, and will not hold moisture for the parasites to live. Parasites will not survive on grass or soil alone unless another horse comes along that is shedding parasites and starts the cycle again.

As for the horse with the Strongyles, it sounds like the parasites are resistant to anthelmenthic. It is best to work with your veterinarian to develop a deworming program based on routine fecal egg counts and dewormer rotation.

New Jersey actually does not have any laws that address the practice of spreading near property lines. The law is that manure storage (the permanent pile) must be at least 100 feet from surface waters. It is recommended that the storage be at least 50 feet from property lines, but again that is for storage and not spreading. However, laws do come into play when manure runoff contaminates surface water. If contaminated runoff is coming on to a farm, then farm owners should talk to neighbors and explain why the runoff is a concern. There are a few practices manure spreaders could adopt to reduce this runoff: 1) leave a 15 foot buffer between the property line and the manure spread, or 2) constructa berm on the side where the water runs off. If steps are not taken to reduce the runoff, it could be a municipal issue. If a farm has more than 7 Animal Units (1AU = 1000 lbs of animal weight), it is required to have an Animal Waste Management Plan and adhere to the five general requirements of the law. Click on “Agricultural Waste Management Practices” for more information. On this webpage, the “What is Required” pdf provides basic information.

New Jersey Legislature required the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to develop a comprehensive animal waste management program in order to provide for proper disposal of animal waste, establish standards for storage, handling, and disposal, and establish penalties for non-compliance. The draft underwent an informal industry review in 2004, and three public meetings were held in 2005 for input from the public. An Animal Waste Advisory Committee, made up of farmers, Rutgers University personnel, New Jersey Farm Bureau, and state government, reviewed the rule before it entered a 60-day public comment period in 2008. It was approved by the State Board of Agriculture on February 9, 2009.

There are two parts to the rule: the first is the five General Requirements that apply to every livestock farm in New Jersey.

• Requirement 1 states that animals in confined areas shall not have uncontrolled access to waters of the state. A confined area is one that does not have vegetative cover, such as a dry lot, exercise yard, “paddocks” and stables. A true pasture with 70% or more vegetative cover is not considered a confined area.
• Requirement 2 states that manure storage areas must be at least 100 feet away from state waters.
• Requirement 3 states that manure must be spread in accordance with the principles of the NJDA BMP Manual and the USDA-NRCS Field Office Technical Guide. The BMP manual may be found here: http://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/anr/pdf/BMPManual.pdf and the FOTG may be found here: http://efotg.nrcs.usda.gov/efotg_locator.aspx?map=NJ.
• Requirement 4 states that no livestock that have died from a reportable contagious disease listed in N.J.A.C. 2:2-1.1 or as a result of an act of bio-terrorism shall be disposed of, composted or made part of any land application without first contacting the State Veterinarian.
• Requirement 5 states that any person entering a farm to conduct official business related to these rules shall follow bio-security protocol.

The second part of the rule is the creation of an Animal Waste Management Plan (AWMP) by any farm which is required to do so. Farms are divided into four categories based on the number of Animal Units (1 AU = 1,000 pounds of animal weight, or 1 average sized horse) and Animal Density (number of AUs per acre). Farms receiving manure may also need to file a plan. Every farm in every category is responsible for following the five General Requirements as well as:

• 1 to 7 AU: Encouraged but not required to develop and implement a self-certified AWMP.
• 7 to 399 AU: less than or equal to 1 AU/acre: Must develop a self-certified AWMP and submit a Declaration Page to their local Rutgers Cooperative Extension office.
• 7 to 399 AU: greater than 1 AU/acre: Must develop a high-density AWMP and submit the plan to their local Soil Conservation District for approval.
• 300 or more AU: Must develop a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) in consultation with Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), a Technical Service Provider, or other appropriate agent, and submit the CNMP to the local Soil Conservation District for review and approval.
• Farms receiving less than 142 tons of manure/year: Encouraged but not required to develop and implement a self-certified AWMP.
• Farms receiving 142 tons or more of manure/year: Must develop a self-certified AWMP and submit a Declaration Page to their local Rutgers Cooperative Extension office.

All farms were required to comply with the five General Requirements by March 2010, complete their AWMPs (if required) by September 2010, and complete all BMPs in their AWMP by March 2012. There are penalties for noncompliance; however, a farm owner will not be penalized for submitting an AWMP after the deadline. Any farm owner who would like assistance in preparing an AWMP can contact their local Rutgers Cooperative Extension, NRCS, or Soil Conservation District office or the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. A paper or online template to create an AWMP is available for download at http://njaes.rutgers.edu/animal-waste-management/preparing+your+awmp.asp.

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions when you have so many horses in an urban/suburban area. The easiest solution with so many horses would be to bed with straw. If you did this I am sure you could dispose of your manure with Pennsylvania mushroom growers at no or low cost.

If this is not an option, then composting may be if you have enough space and an appropriate site. A proper compost site should be level, well drained, and at least 100 feet from any bodies of water. Storm water runoff should be controlled and there should be an abundance of vegetative cover or buffers surrounding the site to prevent any contamination of surrounding water bodies, wetlands and the environment. It should be built on an impervious base. This can be earthen but more likely will have to be concrete depending on the soil type, drainage, etc. You can get advice from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) about composting sites. Unfortunately, you will still have to dispose of your compost off-site. This may necessitate other regulatory approval. Farmers can produce their own manure compost for spreading on their own farms, but as soon as it is disposed of offsite (above a certain amount) it will be regulated and may require a permit. There is discussion on the state level to ease the regulations on manure composters disposing of their product off-site.

Depending on what you use for bedding, the manure may have more fertilizer value. If you bed heavily with wood products (shavings, chips, etc.) the product will have value as a soil amendment providing organic matter to the soil, but will not be as valuable as horse manure without bedding. Unfortunately the wood products can make the nutrients in the horse manure less available in the soil. Straw-bedded manure would be somewhat more valuable but would also be available for disposal on mushroom farms.

The upshot is that if you bed with wood products and if you don’t have much space for a composting or storage facility, you may not have a lot of options other than what you are already doing. I would suggest you contact the local NRCS; they will visit your farm and may have some helpful suggestions.

Depending on its location and management, horse manure could be a concern to water quality; however, I consider it to be a small if not insignificant concern given your situation.

It is unlikely that horse manure from horses on trail rides poses a great risk to ground water. Nitrogen present in urine will most likely be volatilized to ammonia gas very quickly and lost into the atmosphere. Nutrients in feces will be associated mostly with organic matter. Nitrogen will be converted (mineralized) to ammonium or nitrate slowly over several years. Nitrate could leach to the ground but it would be a slow process, and given the number of horses, would probably be an insignificant source. The leaching risk from other nutrients (phosphorous, potassium) would be much less. Your main risk to water quality will come from runoff, not leaching, particularly if your trails follow streams and/or cross streams regularly and if runoff from steep hillsides leads to water. Then there will be a greater concern.

My suggestion is to take precautions to prevent contact between horses and water (streams, lakes, etc.). I realize that this is not always possible, but if you can, design or modify trails in such a way as to prevent defecation in streams, and minimize the risk of contamination around streams by the use of vegetation, buffers, etc.

I would agree with your assessment that the risk is low, especially given the small quantities of horse manure that you are dealing with. Wildlife (deer, elk, etc.) and livestock (beef cows, sheep) may be more of a water quality risk on public lands than trail-riding horses.
I have included below a brief overview of pathogens in horse manure and risks to humans.

Pathogenic Microorganisms in Horse Manure

Salmonella

According to the National Animal Health Service, Salmonella is believed to be present in horses at very, very insignificant levels. According to this report, Salmonella was found on 0.08% of the operations sampled and in 0.02% of the horses in the northern region of the United States, including New York and New Jersey. What this translates to is 1 in 125 farms had at least one animal shedding salmonella but only 1 in 500 horses shedding salmonella. (Please see Salmonella in the US Horse Population, 2001, USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cahm/Equine/eq98salm.pdf).

E. coli

While E. coli from a number of species, including humans, can cause intestinal disease under certain conditions, no incidence of human disease from E. coli of equine origin has been documented. The bacterial pathogen of greatest concern is E. coli 0157:H7. Research conducted at the University of California has indicated that insignificant amounts of E. coli 0157:H7 were found in adult horse intestines. For more information, you can contact Dr. Rob Atwill at the University of California at Davis, Veterinary School, or Dr. Patrick McDonough, Cornell University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia

Cryptosporidium is present only at very low levels in horses. One study found 0.33% of horses were carrying Cryptosporidium parvumand in the same study they found 0.66% of horses carrying Giardia. This means that 1 horse out of 300 was carrying Cryptosporidiumand 2 horses out of 300 were carrying Giardia. Work done by other researchers has also found low levels of Cryptosporidium andGiardia. (Please see the following publications: Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigations, “The prevalence of shedding of Cryptosporidium and Giardia spp. Based on a single fecal sample collection from each of 91 horses used for backcountry recreation.”Volume 9, pages 56-60, 1997.Proceedings of the 15th Equine Nutritional Physiology Symposium, “The prevalence of Cryptosporidium/Giardia in the trail horse population utilizing public lands.” Proceedings, pages 223-237, 1997.)

Another paper looks at the use of buffer strips to filter Cryptosporidium and shows that when slopes were less then 20% with good ground cover (they used tall fescue grass), and when the length of the buffer strip was 3 meters in length or greater, this was sufficient to remove 99.9% of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. (See the article at the Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, “Transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts through vegetated buffer strips and estimated filtration efficiency,”Journal number 68, issue 11, pages 5517-5527, 2002.)

Campylobacter

I know of no linkage between campylobacter in the horse gut and human health. The Merck Veterinary Manual, Eighth Edition, 1998, makes no reference to Campylobacter disease in horses.

Leptospirosis

Not a bacteria, Leptospira is a spirochete that can infect horses, occasionally causing abortion or uveitis (an eye infection). It is not transferred in the feces but in other bodily fluids, e.g. urine. No known incident of human disease as a result of equine infection. Proper control of water runoff and maintenance of pastures as well as appropriate animal health treatment will eliminate any risks. For more information contact Dr. Rob Atwill at the University of California at Davis, Veterinary School, or Dr. Patrick McDonough, Cornell University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for more information.

While horse manure may not be attractive, it should not be harmful to human health nor pose a significant health risk to people when they come across it on trails.

Have you tried approaching your neighbor to discuss your concerns? They may not be aware that the poor care for their horse is a problem. Get someone knowledgeable about horse care (local extension agents, 4-H leaders, etc.) to assess the situation with you.

You need to check with local officials regarding regulations on keeping livestock in residential areas. Townships that do not ban all livestock vary in their regulations. The table below gives a general guideline for minimum recommended distances from manure accumulation:

Minimum distances between manure accumulation/storage/composting areas and other activities

Sensitive Area Minimum Separation (Feet)
Distance (feet) from property line 50-100
Residence or place of business 200-500
Private well or other potable water source 100-200
Wetlands or surface (streams, pond, lakes) 100-200
Subsurface drainage pipe 25
Water table (seasonal high) 2-5
Bedrock 2-5
(Adapted from On-Farm Composting Handbook, NRAES 54, 1992)

Please remember that these are suggestions. You also might want to go to your township and let them know of your concerns, especially if your neighbors are resistant to changing their practices.

E. coli is ubiquitous in the environment, so it is hard to tell if your neighbors’ horse was responsible. In general, horses do not excrete the most toxic forms of E. coli, nevertheless any coliform is of concern and you should make your test results known. Your neighbors probably share the same acquifer as your well so the contamination should be of concern to them too. Some kind of berm or buffer to channel all waste away from your property will need to be installed. In addition, any manure that is stored should be at least 100 feet from property lines and/or any water sources.

The free roaming horse is also a major problem in a densely populated area. Not only is it a potential danger to you and your children but also to the horse, which could wander onto a road or other areas where it might get stuck by a motor vehicle or injured. It is very likely that unfenced livestock will violate township ordinances. If nothing changes, you may want to consider fencing in your own backyard for your children’s safety.

Below are some general guidelines that are used for placement of manure storages. It wasn’t clear from your note whether your storage is 32 feet below (underground) the storage or whether 32 feet of land separates your aquifer from the manure. If the aquifer is 32 feet under the dump site, I would guess there is less risk than if 32 feet separated the dump site from your property line or water source. Of course distance to water table and bedrock are probably much different in Florida than in New Jersey. I would suggest contacting your State Department of Agriculture division that deals with animal waste storages. They could give you better information about setbacks, property line distances, etc.

In general horse manure will have fewer odors than other types of manure (hog, dairy, poultry). If stored relatively dry, odors should be negligible. However, if wet or if another wet biological material is added, then odors will be much worse. Regarding health risks, although horses have been shown to carry fewer pathogens such as toxic E. coli, Salmonella (shedding of Salmonella is negligible), or protozoa such as Cryptosporidium, I can understand your concern and would take whatever precaution is necessary. I suggest getting your water tested to determine if any of these pathogens are present. Your county public health department should be able to do this for a fee. They can test for various bacterial or protozoal pathogens and determine if there is a risk or not.

My suggestion is to take precautions to prevent contact between horses and water (streams, lakes, etc.). I realize that this is not always possible, but if you can, design or modify trails in such a way as to prevent defecation in streams, and minimize the risk of contamination around streams by the use of vegetation, buffers, etc.

As a University program, we cannot recommend the use of “home remedies” which are not scientifically tested for safety and effectiveness, especially around horses. However, after a bit of research on using vinegar as an herbicide, I have come across some University-published information that would be useful. Kitchen vinegar is a solution of 5% acetic acid and 95% water and other compounds. This solution is too weak to control mature plants; it may injure very young seedlings. However, it does not go through the plant, so it only injures above ground parts of the plant and has no effect on the roots. This means that the plant may regrow. You can find stronger acetic acid solutions, but since they are highly acidic, they are corrosive and dangerous to handle. It is recommended to find a commercial product that has been tested and approved for this purpose. There are a few commercial herbicides out there that contain acetic acid. See the links below for University-published information on using acetic acid as an herbicide. As you may be aware, one product that is very effective at killing all vegetation that it touches is glyphosate. This will quickly take care of your weed problem and it does not persist in the soil. Whatever you choose to use, make sure you read and follow label directions carefully. With any pesticide, the label is the law.

Oregon Department of Agriculture

“Fact Sheet for Vinegar/Acetic Acid Recommendations.”

University of Illinois Extension

“Using Vinegar as a Herbicide.”

All nitrogen fertilizer materials are salts and have the potential to burn grasses. Urea is an unstable form of nitrogen. The nitrogen in urea quickly hydrolyzes to ammonium and will volatilize into the air and be lost until at least 1/2 inch of rain falls. The conditions for your application sound ideal, since you received rain immediately after the application.

Because all of the nitrogen in urea is in the ammonium form, it has the potential to temporarily “burn” grass. Spring nitrogen recommendations for pastures are normally 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre – so 100 pounds of urea should be sufficient. Higher rates increase the chance of burning the grasses. The effects are temporary, and with repeated rainfalls, the grass should recover and start to benefit form the nitrogen that was applied.

It is essential to know exactly what weed this “prickler” bush is before you spray anything. A given herbicide will vary in its effectiveness on different weeds. The type at your Co-op may not be the appropriate herbicide for this specific weed. Get a positive identification on the weed first, and then find out which herbicides are most effective. Your local county Cooperative Extension agricultural agent can help determine the best herbicide for your pasture.

In most (if not all) states, pesticide applicators must be licensed. Pesticide is a broad term which includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. In New Jersey, one must take an exam administered by the Department of Environmental Protection- Pesticide Control Program to obtain a license, which is valid for five years. Training manuals can be purchased from your county Cooperative Extension office. One may either attend courses and workshops throughout the five-year period to accumulate a certain number of recertification credits. This enables an individual to maintain a valid license status. Another method would be to simply retake the exam at the end of the five-year period. If one does not intend to spray pesticides regularly, it may be more time and cost effective to hire a licensed pesticide applicator for a one-time application for the “prickler” bushes. Commercial applicators for hire have more extensive licensing requirements.

Check with your state’s Department of Agriculture; it should have the pesticide applicator guidelines listed online. Another option would be to contact the Cooperative Extension office in your county. County agents should be able to answer questions and offer guidance and suggestions on procuring the services of licensed commercial applicators.

No fertilizers or weed control products that are labeled for lawn use should be used on grasses that are used for grazing. They are not labeled for pasture use and it is illegal to use these products on pastures or lawns that are used for grazing.

Lawn fertilizers are frequently time-released products. The nitrogen is often encapsulated to allow a slow release of fertilizer. Slow release nitrogen fertilizers can remain in the soil for many weeks. Nitrogen is toxic and horses should not graze in areas that have received fertilizers marketed for lawns.

Lawn weed control products also cannot be used on grasses that are being grazed either. The products have not been subjected to the rigorous testing that is required when the products are used for pastures.

If you truly need to graze your lawn, then you should manage it as a pasture and only use agricultural fertilizers and herbicides that are labeled for pasture use.

Horses should be removed from pastures when nitrogen based fertilizers are being applied and should not be returned to the pastures until adequate rainfall has removed the fertilizer from plant tissues and leached all nitrogen from the soil surface into the ground. Generally, approximately ½ inch of rainfall is sufficient to dissolve granular nitrogen; less is needed when the fertilizer is in liquid form. Under ideal circumstances, it is best to leave the horses off of the pastures for at least 2 – 3 weeks after fertilizing the grasses to allow time for the grass to regrow.

Liquid fertilizers are becoming increasingly popular. The major disadvantage when comparing liquid fertilizers to dry formulations is that they are generally higher in price and usually have a lower analysis. Remember that when making calculations of liquid fertilizer, the analysis is given on a weight percentage, NOT on a volume or “per-gallon” basis. Most fluids weigh between 10 and 12 pounds per gallon. As an example, if you choose a liquid fertilizer with a 10-34-0 analysis that weighs 11.4 pounds per gallon, the gallon will contain only 1.14 pounds of nitrogen (11.4 x .10) and 3.87 pounds of phosphorus (11.4 x .34). Approximately 48 gallons of this liquid fertilizer would be needed per acre to supply the 50 pounds of nitrogen that is recommended for spring applications to pasture grasses. Depending on the productivity of your pastures and your grass species, additional nitrogen applications should be considered in early and late summer. Conducting a soil test will allow you to determine if you need to add lime to maintain proper pH conditions or add any potassium or phosphorus to your pastures.

It sounds like your pastures are in need of some care. For several reasons outlined below, we do believe that it is worthwhile to invest in improving your pastures. It is recommended to apply lime and nutrients as shown in the soil test. Fixing the soil’s pH and nutrient levels encourages grass growth rather than weed growth; many weeds thrive in poor soil conditions. It would also be wise to eradicate the weeds because certain common weeds can be toxic to horses. See this fact sheet for more information on toxic plants: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS938 Maintaining a healthy stand of grass is also environmentally friendly, because when your horses defecate and urinate in the pasture, they are depositing nutrients that can flow off your farm in rainwater and potentially contaminate local water bodies. Having a well-vegetated pasture, or even a vegetated buffer strip around your pasture, allows the plant roots to take up the nutrients deposited by your horses before reaching waterways. In terms of your horses, many easy keepers benefit from a grazing muzzle for at least part of the day, which allows them to drink water and perform normal grazing behavior, while not actually consuming enough grass to put on weight. When horses eat overgrazed pastures, they prefer the very short young grasses because they contain the most sugar. Especially for an overweight horse, this is not ideal. Allowing the grass to mature before letting your horses graze will increase the fiber content of the grass, making it more appropriate for your horses to eat if they are easy keepers. When implementing new feeding management practices, you should use a weight tape and/or body condition score your horses every few weeks to monitor for weight loss or gain. It sounds like this setup could benefit from a rotational grazing system. Briefly, you would establish a “sacrifice lot” with the shed and water that horses can access at all times, and you would not try to grow grass there. Then you could split the remaining acres into two or three smaller lots and give them access to one at a time. This way, you can control your horses’ pasture access without stalling them, plus you will improve the grass stand by letting it rest for a few weeks (approx. 21 days) after being grazed. Once horses have grazed down one smaller section, you move them into the next section and allow the first to regrow. You can also remove the horses from pasture when it is too wet or frozen so that they do not damage the plants. Many farm owners use lower-cost electric tape to section off larger pastures. The “Establishing and Managing Horse Pastures” fact sheet contains more information on best pasture management practices and rotational grazing.

There are many weed control products that are safe for use in a pasture when applied according to the label instructions. The first step in determining which herbicide to use is to first properly identify the weed species you are trying to control. Once you know what weed species you are trying to control you can develop a control strategy. For instance, you need to know whether you are trying to control winter annual or summer annual weeds, or perhaps a perennial weed. The time to apply herbicides for effective control is different for each of these weed types. Also, herbicides vary in their effectiveness in controlling individual weed species. Most pasture owners in our area are looking to control broadleaf weeds; however, you should contact your Cooperative Extension Agent for help in identifying the weeds in your area. Just remember to follow all the instructions and grazing restrictions listed on the herbicide label.

Yes, there are herbicides you can use on horse pastures that do not require a long grazing restriction (see first 2 links below). However, it is most important to select an herbicide based on the type of weed you are trying to control. Some herbicides have greater efficacy on certain weeds, and do not control other weeds at all. For information about this, contact your Cooperative Extension county agricultural agent for weed identification and recommendations for your specific situation. Remember that some of the herbicides listed are restricted use and must be applied by a licensed applicator. It is also important to note that on pastures, regular mowing can be a very effective form of weed control. Mow weeds before they go to seed and many will die out, while grasses will thrive with the extra mowing. However, you do need a good stand of grass to replace the weeds, so make sure your pastures are healthy and soils are tested and limed/fertilized according to the soil test results. Good, lasting weed control is a matter of maintaining pastures so that the grasses out compete the weeds. Otherwise you will find yourself spraying frequently.

Rutgers Fact Sheet

Grazing Restrictions for Pasture Herbicides

Penn State Extension

Grazing and haying restrictions for grass forage and pasture herbicides

Finding your county Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agent

Rutgers Fact Sheet

Establishing and Managing Horse Pasture

Equine Pasture Management “A Year-Round Approach”

Fertilizing and liming pastures is a very important component of pasture management. There is no risk to horses as long as the correct protocol is followed as outlined below:

Soil Testing Pastures
It is always advisable to conduct a soil test on pastures before applying fertilizer so that you are only applying nutrients that are necessary for the forage in your particular pastures. A soil test kit can be obtained from your local Cooperative Extension office.

Liming Pastures
Pastures can be limed with ordinary limestone without removing the horses from the pasture. It may be advisable to remove horses from limed pastures until rain has removed the limestone “dust” from the forage leaves, but agricultural lime has no toxic properties.

Fertilizing Pastures
Horses should be removed from pastures when fertilizer is being applied to the pastures. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is toxic and horses should not be allowed to graze pastures until rain has completely removed all of the fertilizer from the leaf surfaces and carried it into the soil. Ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers bind to soil particles but are quickly (within 2-3 days) converted to nitrate nitrogen when the soil is warmer than 50 degrees. Nitrate nitrogen is quickly leached from soil. Generally it takes about ½ inch of rainfall to dissolve the fertilizer. Therefore, as a general rule of thumb, horses should be removed from fertilized pastures and not returned until at least ½ inch of rainfall has occurred and the fertilizer is no longer visible on the soil surface. Best management practices dictate that after fertilizing pastures, horses should not be returned to the pastures for 2-3 weeks in order to provide ample time for the pasture grasses to grow and recover from grazing.

Sources of nitrogen fertilizer
Pastures should receive an application of 50 lbs. of nitrogen per acre in spring and late summer. There are many different chemical and physical forms of nitrogen fertilizer. The nitrogen in urea (46-0-0) is completely water soluble and is readily available to plants upon application to the soil. If ½ inch of rain does not fall after application, significant loss of nitrogen will occur from volatilization. Therefore, urea should be used only if rainfall is imminent.

Other sources of nitrogen, including ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate as well as complete fertilizers such as 10-10-10 or triple 15 are not subject to volatilization and will remain on the soil surface until rainfall leaches the fertilizer into the ground.

A note of caution: Turf -type fertilizers should not be used for horse pastures since the nitrogen is specially formulated so that it is released very slowly. Slow release fertilizers can exist on the soil surface for several weeks.

Laminitis
As far as laminitis being caused by fertilizers, there is no evidence that pasture grasses that are fertilized correctly cause laminitis. It is important to introduce horses to new pasture slowly since any abrupt change in diet can trigger digestive problems that can result in laminitis. If your horse has foundered in the past, you may want to restrict access to pastures. Two periods of time to be especially careful in grazing laminitis-prone horses are in spring and fall. If you think back to your biology classes, you will recall that grasses produce sugar through photosynthesis during the day. At night plants use up some of the sugar through respiration. It has long been known that the sugar content of pasture grasses is higher in the afternoon than in the morning. If nighttime temperatures in spring and fall drop below 45 degrees, respiration slows or stops and the sugar remains in the grasses. Fairly high sugar contents can occur in cool season grasses if several cold nights occur in succession and are followed by bright sunny days. This is a normal process that does not affect most horses. However, there is some discussion and research occurring at present to determine whether the high sugar concentration in pasture grasses caused under specific environmental conditions can contribute to laminitis in horses that are predisposed to metabolic problems.

The best way to find out how much fertilizer your pastures need is to take a soil test. Your grasses, just like your horses, need certain nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) to keep them healthy and the only way to know what may be missing in your soil is to get it tested. It is a simple and inexpensive process which may actually save money that might have been spent on unnecessary fertilizer. Go to the Rutgers Soil Testing lab website for instructions on how to take a soil test and where to send it. http://njaes.rutgers.edu/soiltestinglab/. If you are not in New Jersey you can do an on-line search for your state’s Cooperative Extension Service soil testing lab.

You can also go to our website and read other answers to questions regarding fertilizing pastures.https://esc.rutgers.edu/ask_expert/ate_fpmfh.htm.

When trying to make a fertilizer solution from a granular fertilizer it is important not to exceed the solubility of the fertilizer. You want to avoid materials that do not dissolve into the solution. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer has a solubility of 984 pounds per 100 gallons of water. This results in about 3.3 pounds of nitrogen per gallon. This would require about 15 gallons of material per acre to get 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre. However, I am afraid that applying that much material per acre will likely result in burning and possibly killing the vegetation. The material would best be applied as a granular broadcast across the pasture. If you really want to apply a liquid you could mix a test batch and apply it to a small area of the pasture to see if vegetative burn does occur.

Unfortunately, there are no herbicide products that are labeled for Cheat or Downey Brome. Cheat is a winter annual grass, so control would have to be on a pre-emergent basis, and unfortunately we have no herbicides labeled for hay or pasture that fit that situation.

Controlling a grass weed in a grass pasture is an extremely difficult situation. Plowing up the field and restarting will offer some challenges also, I am afraid. It is my guess that you have a seed base within the soil, so there is a possibility of the Cheat becoming re-established. If you think the stand needs to be re-established, you will want to do everything you can to insure a healthy and vigorous stand of orchard grass, so that the orchard grass out-competes the Cheat. I would suggest taking a soil test to ensure that the soil pH of the field and the nutrients in the soil are in the optimum range. I would start out with a vigorous, quality seed, and make sure the seed bed is adequately prepared for forage seed establishment.

Removing one species of grass selectively from a grass mixture can be extremely challenging. An herbicide that is selective for grass control will likely kill the brome grass as well as any other desirable grasses in the meadow. Therefore planting will likely require a complete renovation. This can include plowing, disking the ground and preparing the ground for planting. Another alternative would be to kill all the vegetation with a non-selective herbicide such as glyphosate and no-till the fescue into the meadow. A word of caution regarding the fescue you choose – make sure it is a grazing type fescue that is free from endophytes. Many turf varieties of fescue contain endophytes.

Ammonium nitrate has a nitrogen/phosphorous/potassium (or N-P-K) ratio of 33-0-0 and ammonium sulfate is 21-0-0. Since pastures should receive 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre at green-up in spring, you will need to apply approximately 175 pounds of ammonium nitrate per acre and 250 pounds of ammonium sulfate per acre. Ammonium sulfate supplies a small amount of sulfur to the soil, which may or may not be deficient in your soils. All nitrogen fertilizers will increase soil acidity and ammonium sulfate has a slightly higher acidity equivalent than ammonium nitrate. You should be sure to maintain your soil pH above 6.5. Urea (46-0-0) is another option for pasture fertilizer use. Urea is unstable and will volatilize fairly quickly. You should only use urea if the weather forecast calls for rain in the near future.

Alsike clover in your pasture can be treated much the same as other broad leaf weeds. There are products such as Banvel, Cimarron, and Milestone that can be used, but it is recommended to follow the recommendation on the label of the herbicide or check with your local extension office before considering what one to use. A recommendation for herbicides in New Jersey may not be appropriate for other states. Some herbicides approved for use here may not be approved in your area. Also, there could be differences in production practices that may need to be considered. Also be aware that most herbicides that will kill alsike clover will kill all other clovers.

If this horse is on a balanced diet and does not have any specific problems, then it most likely does not need any additional supplements.  What makes a balanced diet?  Good quality forage and free choice water and salt are the essentials.  If the horse requires more energy (for exercise, pregnancy, lactation, etc) than forage alone can provide, then concentrates such as commercial feeds can be introduced, which you already have.  Commercial feeds, when fed in the amount recommended on the bag, already contain the proper balance of vitamins and minerals for a horse on good quality forage.  What is good quality forage?  For maximum nutrition value, hay should be soft and leafy instead of rough and stemmy.  This indicates that it was cut at an early stage of maturity and contains more energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals, compared to mature hays which contain more fiber.  The hay should also be free of mold, dust, weeds, and foreign objects.

It is also important not to mix the commercial feed with other feeds, such as oats or other commercial feeds.  This disturbs the vitamin and mineral balance that was formulated to be ‘just right’ in the original feed.

There are some cases where supplementation is necessary for optimal health.  For example, joint supplements containing glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate or hyaluronic acid are proven to be effective for some horses with joint problems.  However, they have not been proven to have any preventative powers, so feeding them to a horse without any joint problems would probably be a waste of money.  Hoof supplements containing biotin are effective for rebuilding crumbly hooves.  Biotin is a B vitamin which activates production of keratin, Iodine is essential for thyroid hormones that develop all tissues, Methionine is responsible for keratin production within the hoof, and Zinc contributes to the health of the hoof & reactions controlling metabolism, all of these should be included in a good hoof supplement.

Other supplements have no scientific research to back up their efficacy, therefore if you decide to try them, the key is to use it for several months before deciding if it is working or not.  None of the intended effects can happen overnight, especially with hooves.  Some of these supplements include calming aids, digestive products, immune stimulators, muscle builders, herbal products, etc.

To begin, make sure the horses are getting 2% of their body weight in feed, and at least 1.5% should be forage.  This means the grass hay you currently are feeding plus any additional alfalfa.  If baled alfalfa is too expensive, try alfalfa cubes.  Cubes are better for digestion than pellets because they act more like long stem hay and will not be consumed as quickly as pellets. Cubes also seem to be a bit more economical.

Another option to try is rice bran, which is a high fat supplement that also is high in fiber.  The whole bag might be expensive, but since it is recommended to feed one pound per day it will last for a while. The high level of fat will help increase weight as well as improve coat condition.  Either option would help with weight gain in these horses.  If they are 1000 pounds each, try feeding 10 pounds of the grass hay with 5 pounds of alfalfa and add any grain and rice bran on top of that.  Alternatively, feed a full 20 pounds of the hay combination, with just a small amount of additional rice bran or grain.

The first thing to consider when a horse is on layup is that it does not have same energy requirements as it does when it is in training or competition.  Especially since this horse is an easy keeper, it is important not to overfeed. If a horse in layup is fed at its normal training ration, it will be harder to maintain weight, and if it does gain weight it will be more difficult to slim down once it begins training again.  Make sure the majority of the horse’s ration is a good quality grass hay.  This can be fed free choice to allow the horse to eat all throughout the day and prevent boredom, which can encourage vices like cribbing or weaving.  In addition to good quality hay, supplement the rest of the ration with a balancer pellet if the horse doesn’t need any additional calories to maintain weight. Since this horse is an easy keeper and not exercising, it sounds like grain would not be necessary.  Balancer pellets are a good solution because they are concentrated enough to provide all the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy healing process, and they don’t have a high level of calories to cause weight gain.  Balancer pellets are manufactured by many different companies; some are high in protein to help balance out grass hay diets, others are low in protein to help balance out alfalfa diets; but either way most are meant to be fed at about 1 pound per day for an average 1,000 pound horse.

Between the good quality hay and the balancer, this horse should have all the nutrients it needs for a speedy recovery.

In winter in the Northeast, the grasses go dormant and are no longer growing.  Growing grass utilizes sunlight to create sugars during the day, then uses the sugars for growth overnight.  The forage this mini is eating is mostly fiber at this point, and especially if there is not much of it in the field then there is little need for a muzzle.

Some preliminary samples taken at Rutgers have shown that pasture in the winter is lower in nutritional quality than in the fall, plus there is less biomass available.  If a farm owner wants to test his or her own pasture forage for nutritional content, he or she can take samples (about 10-20 handfuls per pasture, mixed together) and send them to Equi-Analytical Labs (http://equi-analytical.com/).  Just remember that sugar content fluctuates throughout the day, so if comparing samples from different months, make sure to take them at the same time of day each month.  The results will also vary throughout the year and by the height/maturity of the grass, so don’t rely on a single sample to gauge a pasture’s nutritional content year-round.

In general, grazing muzzles should not be fitted tightly enough to restrict breathing.  They should hang loosely from the nose.  If you are worried about your mini’s breathing, you should loosen the muzzle.

One other consideration is that horses trampling pastures during the winter damages the grass plants and reduces their ability to regrow in the spring.  If these pastures are quite productive and used for hay, it would be best to leave the horses in a different area (if available) during the winter.  We refer to this as a “sacrifice lot”- you are sacrificing the grass in one smaller area to preserve the grass in more valuable pastures.  During this time, feed hay as forage.  Hay samples can also tested for nutritional quality if one is concerned about sugar content.

For more information on pasture management, we have several useful fact sheets at njaes.rutgers.edu under Publications. You can also check the Equine Science Center website esc.rutgers.edu for many answered questions in the Ask the Expert section!

There are many good references available on toxic plants. I have provided you with a list of my favorites below. Let me warn you that weeds and toxic plants are present on virtually every horse farm. I have worked on pastures on over 200 horse farms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and every one of them contained at least one species of toxic plants, shrubs, or trees.

The horse, as a species, has survived with toxic plants in its environment for a long time. Plants do not contain toxins in order to kill grazing animals. They are poisonous so that the animal will be exposed to the toxin, remember that the plant is not good to eat, and avoid it the next time. Toxins in plants generally taste bitter and sometimes have an offensive odor that causes animals to avoid browsing on them. Healthy animals that are well fed and have forage (hay and/or pasture) available to them rarely consume toxic plants. The most common reason for livestock poisoning is undernourishment. In early spring, late fall, or during periods of extended dry weather, animals may eat plants that they would not normally consume if other forage were available. Occasionally, individual animals may eat poisonous plants accidentally or when craving variation or special nutrients in their diet.

Below are several tips to assist you in reducing the risk of plant poisonings in horses.

• Adopt good pasture management practices to keep your pasture grasses thick and healthy. Many toxic plants produce berries that are transported to new environments by birds and mammals that feed on the berries. Bare spaces in pastures provide light and soil contact needed for seeds to germinate. Thick grasses help prevent weed seedlings from becoming established in pastures.

• Fertilize your pastures based on soil test results and rotate paddocks to allow grasses to recover from grazing. Many toxic plants, such as buttercup and milkweed, can survive on poor fertility soils. Pasture grasses require a good fertility program in order to proliferate.

• Mow your pastures at the height required for the species of forage present. Some toxic plants will not survive if they are clipped off on a regular basis. Mowing will also reduce weed seed production.

• Carefully check rock outcroppings and fence lines for toxic plants and trees. Many toxic plants such as nightshade will grow in these unmowed areas.

• Feed hay outside when pasture grasses are not productive to prevent horses from chewing on tree bark, twigs, and leaves in an attempt to increase fiber in their diet. Trees such as black locust, red maple and cherry are very toxic and can lead to fatal results.

• Do not allow horses to have access to woodland and wetlands. Many toxic plants grow in these environments.

• Learn to identify poisonous trees, shrubs, and plants in your areas. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office to get a list of toxic plants that are commonly found in your area. Your county agricultural agent may be able to assist you in identifying these plants. If you live in the northeast, Poisonous Plants of Pennsylvania is an excellent resource that is available at cost through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA. Another excellent resource is A Guide to Plant Poisonings of Animals in North America by Anthony Knight and Richard Walter, available through Teton NewMedia, Jackson, Wyoming

• Some good web sites include:
  • Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s harmful plant page
    http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/harmfulplants/default.asp
  • Cornell University Poisonous Plant Database
    http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/comlist.html
  • Colorado State University Guide to Poisonous Plants
    http://www.vth.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/
  • Purdue Toxic Plants by Degree of Toxicity
    http://vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/bytox1.htm

It is more likely that this person has toxic plants in his or her dry lot or pastures and the horses are now eating them because the drought conditions have killed all other good forage. Toxic plants generally have a bad taste and horses will avoid them unless there is nothing else to eat. If there are severe drought conditions, most edible plants are probably dead, leaving just the toxic ones that are hardier. It is important to turn out horses with plenty of hay if the pasture does not have adequate forage cover. A hungry horse is more likely to sample toxic plants.

That being said, there are some plants that accumulate nitrate in drought (or other stressful) conditions, such as lambsquarter, redroot pigweed, kochia, goosefoot and curly dock. Nitrates are normally not poisonous, but they can cause problems and death at very high levels. Sorghum/Sudan grass and Johnson grass are two forage plants that can become toxic in drought conditions due to nitrate and cyanide accumulation. You must also consider the hay they are eating- if drought conditions are widespread, these grasses can be toxic in locally made hay as well. Hay can be tested for nitrate levels- horses should not be fed hay with more than 2% nitrate.

Fruits such as tomatoes, which are healthy and enjoyable for us, actually pose a threat for horses and donkeys. The tomato plant is part of the Solanaceae plant family, which is toxic and includes potatoes, deadly nightshade, and horse nettle (referred to as wild tomato). The leafy and green portions of the tomato plants contain atropine, which slows the gut of the horse down. This causes colic in equids, which can be lethal. Hyoscyamine, also present in these plants, affects the nervous system. Hence, there is a decrease in saliva production, a decrease in the motility of the intestines and increased heart rate is also observed. The pupils begin to dilate as well. The hyoscyamine also has a direct effect on the digestive system, causing the equid to experience colic, as previously stated, constipation, and/or hemorrhagic diarrhea.

If the animal is displaying signs of muscle tremors, dilated pupils, and decreased intestinal motility, the animal may be treated with physostigmine. If the animal has been found right after the plants have been consumed, one may also orally administer activated charcoal, which will act as an adsorbent.

If adequate amounts of forage and well-maintained grass are available for them to eat, your donkeys should not consume any poisonous plants. During periods of drought, though, when lush grass may not be available for consumption, they may eat these normally unpalatable plants. To ensure that your donkey does not eat the tomatoes just make sure there is plenty of other grass or hay to eat. If they have that as an option they should not disturb the tomatoes in the garden.

Yes, Red Maple leaves are toxic. However, usually this is when they are in the stressed state prior to dying (e.g. leaves on a fallen tree limb lying in a pasture). This is the point when the leaves are not only toxic but very tasty because they have stored a lot of sugar and are sweet and palatable. Once the leaves have fallen off the tree in the autumn they are dead and no longer palatable for the horses. By this point they will usually not hunt out leaves and consume them because the remaining grasses are much more palatable to them. If a horse consumes a few leaves here and there it is not enough to be a problem. However, putting an exact amount on what they need to consume is not possible either. No research has been done on this. However, clinical veterinary findings of poisoning cases usually directly involve downed tree limbs that have been cleared of all their leaves. It is advisable to make sure your horses have plenty of grass or hay or other forage to deter them from eating leaves or anything else they typically would not consume.

Plums are not generally listed as toxic to horses; however they are a Prunus species, along with cherries, apples and peaches. On all of these trees, the stems, leaves and seeds can produce cyanide when wilted or damaged, plus your horse could colic from gorging itself on the ripe fruit or choke on a pit. Symptoms of poisoning include brick red mucous membranes, slobbering, increased respiration and weak pulse, convulsions and rapid death (for wild cherries, the most toxic of the family). I would recommend removing the trees, or fencing the horse far from them so that any fruit or leaves which fall to the ground cannot be eaten. If a branch falls into the horse’s pasture with leaves still attached, they will begin to wilt, making them very tasty and very toxic. However, if the horse likes to eat plums, take the seed out before you offer it the fleshy part.

Although we consider horses to be grazing animals, there is growing evidence that indicates that horses may have evolved to be browsers. They are grazers because we confine them to pastures that are planted in grasses and they do not have access to anything else. Left on their own, horses would primarily eat grasses, but would also browse on herbaceous weeds, trees, vines, and shrubs. Therefore a general rule of thumb is that if a plant is not toxic and horses have access to it, there is a high probability that they will browse on it. Trees, shrubs, and ornamental plantings should be planted outside of the pastures and set back far enough that future plant growth will not provide horses with opportunities to consume or nibble on the plants.

Bright colors are often associated with toxic plants and serve to warn animals about a plant’s toxic status. Many brightly colored ornamentals, such as foxglove, wisteria, lilies, daffodils, rhododendron, etc. are highly toxic to animals. Therefore it is not a good idea to plant ornamental plants within reach of livestock.

If you wish to plant trees to supply shade, plant the trees outside of the pasture and set them back far enough that the animals cannot browse on them as they grow. Horse will strip bark off of the trees if they are placed in the pasture and may girdle the tree and kill it. If you must plant the trees in the pasture, construct a fence around the trees to prevent access to them.

Native red maples (and ornamental red maple cultivars) are highly toxic to horses. Although sugar, silver and Norway maples contain some of the toxin that is found in red maple, the concentration is so low that they are not considered to be toxic to horses. Maples grow fairly rapidly and are attractive shade trees.

Many other trees are acceptable as perimeter plantings. Other trees to avoid due to their toxic properties include black locust, horse chestnut, oaks, and cherry.

Oak can be moderately toxic to horses. However, cattle are the species most often affected by oak toxicosis. The reason why horses aren’t more affected is because of their unwillingness to consume the leaves and acorns. There are some horses that may find the taste palatable. If provided with plenty of good hay or pasture, most horses will not choose to consume the oak detritus. So if you are turning your horses out into an arena where there is only sand and some oak leaves and acorns, I would consider throwing them some hay to consume instead of giving them the option of the oak parts.

Oak is most dangerous early in the spring when the leaves and buds are the highest in toxicity and there is little else to eat. Autumn is another at-risk period, when acorns and leaves fall and better forage dies. Therefore, management plays a key role in preventing oak toxicosis. The toxin in oak is also present when dry, so feeds that contain oak are not safe.

The toxins in oak are called gallotoxins. They are converted in the body to tannic acid, gallic acid and pyrogallol, all of which are very toxic to the kidney. Typically, a significant amount of oak needs to be consumed over a period of time before clinical signs appear. It is the resulting kidney failure that causes the clinical signs. Signs can develop over 2 to 14 days, or signs may be present with the animals becoming progressively worse over many weeks. The number of animals affected in the herd can vary greatly, but of those showing clinical signs, up to 80% may die. Signs of oak poisoning can include depression, lack of appetite, emaciated appearance, poor or rough hair coat, dependent edema (fluid buildup under the skin under the neck, abdomen or on the legs), digestive disturbances (both diarrhea and constipation have been reported, with mucus covered or tarry stools), increased drinking, passage of copious amounts of urine which may contain blood, and death.

All parts of the mustard plant, but especially the seeds, are toxic to horses. It is unknown how much seed must be consumed to show toxicity, but it is best not to take any chances.

The mustard seeds will also live dormant in the soil of your hayfield for quite some time, so you will continue to have issues with this weed. The best time to control mustard is before it flowers. In the spring, you can spray 2,4-D or dicamba before the mustard flowers and you should get adequate control for the rest of the year. You will have to do this yearly until the seed supply in the soil is gone. If you let the mustard go to seed just once, the seed supply in the soil will be replenished. The 2,4-D and dicamba will be effective on most broadleaf weeds, but may also damage clover. However, we have found that clover generally comes back pretty quickly.

For herbicide recommendations specific to your area, you should contact your county Cooperative Extension agricultural agent. Always carefully read and follow the instructions on any herbicide label.

Mulberries are not known to have toxic potential to horses. However, it is important to keep in mind that even plants considered to be non-toxic can still produce minor stomach upset if ingested – especially if they are consumed in a large quantity. They are sweet and are probably like a treat to him. If there is a way you can try to clean up the berries from the pasture or try to avoid them, that might be a good idea, however, they probably will not cause more than digestive upset.

Junipers are indicated as toxic in many plant references. Therefore, I would tend to err on the side of caution and avoid planting any juniper species near a paddock or arena.

Depending on the slope length and gradient of your bank, you might consider terracing or geotextiles in combination with grass plantings for stabilization. I suggest you contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office or the local soil conservation district and seek their advice for steep slope planting. The NRCS staff has specialists that deal with erosion and sediment control.

Horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) is a very common weed that grows in crop fields, pastures, and is frequently found in hay. Plants can easily be recognized by their deeply lobed leaves that are prickly on the underside. The stem of the plant is pubescent and also contains numerous pickers. Flowers are purple, yellow, or white and the fruit is yellow/orange in color and looks like small tomatoes. Horse nettle is in the nightshade family (a very large family that also contains ground cherry, and black and bitter nightshade). Our cultivated potatoes and tomatoes are also in this family.

Virtually all horse pastures contain some toxic plants or shrubs. The toxins in the plants serve to deter browsing and have a bitter or acrid taste to prevent the horses from consuming the plant. Healthy horses that have access to adequate forage in pasture or as supplemental hay rarely consume toxic plants. The prickly surface of the leaves and stem of horse nettle further serves to discourage animals from consuming this plant. It would be important to actually see your horse eating the plant or discover significant evidence of browsing before assuming that your horse has been eating horse nettle.

If you see your horse consuming horse nettle in pasture, remove your horse from the pasture. Mowing can be used to reduce the spread of horse nettle, but since it is a perennial weed, mowing will probably not eliminate the plant. Herbicides can be used to remove the toxic plant but need to be used when the plant is actively growing. The best time to control horse nettle in the northeast is when it is flowering or in late summer.

Horse nettle contains a steroidal alkaloid called solanine that blocks the action of cholinesterase on the central nervous system. Symptoms of poisoning include decreased salivation and intestinal motility, which can lead to colic, constipation and bloody diarrhea. Animals also sometimes exhibit signs of trembling and paralysis. Some veterinary and teaching hospitals are capable of screening blood for the presence of a specific toxin, in this case solanine. This will confirm your suspicion that your horse is consuming the plant.

Solanum carolinese (horse nettle), also known as a form of nightshade, carries a very toxic substance composed of glycoalkaloids. Due to its composition, horse nettle’s glycoalkaloids can cause GI irritation, since they are so poorly absorbed by the GI tract. Even though the plant does lose some of its toxic characteristics when dried out, the toxins are still present within the plant. Therefore, the plant poses a very dangerous stance to horses ingesting them within their food source. Horses usually steer clear of this dangerous plant, but if the hay source has been highly processed, it becomes more difficult for the horse to sort out the plant from the hay source itself. Also, since the given situation mentions that the berries are still present on the plant sample found, that fact alone makes the plant seem even more toxic, and therefore more dangerous for the horse. Researchers say, “green berries are more toxic than red or black berries, which are more toxic than leaves, which are more toxic than stems or roots” (http://www.aun.edu.eg/distance/pharmacy/poison/black_nightshade.htm). Therefore, the toxicity can range from high to semi-low depending on the ripeness of the berries on the plant. The toxicity of a given species can vary widely due to environmental conditions, part of the plant or degree of maturity. Some reports conclude that one to ten pounds of ingested plant material were deadly for horses.

Some symptoms one should be on the look out for are dilation of pupils, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and loss of muscular coordination. The plant basically affects the central nervous system and the GI tract, because of its glycoalkaloidic composition. Some other signs that may warn you that your horse has been potentially poisoned by horse nettle are if the horse enters a sudden state of depression, appears to be affected by apparent hallucinations, and if the horse goes into convulsions. If the animal had been consistently ingesting the contaminated hay, their apparent symptoms of ingestion would be depression, diarrhea, and/or constipation. In order to keep your horse safe, check your hay supply frequently for potentially dangerous plants. Horses naturally avoid these plants when grazing, so it should not have to be removed from grazing areas.

Horse nettle in a hay field (assuming we are talking about a grass hay field and not an alfalfa-grass mix ) can be controlled with the use of a commercial herbicide. It is a perennial weed, so early fall is a good time for control. Control can even be attempted in early spring when there is active plant growth. However, I would strongly advise contacting your local extension agent at your state’s Land Grant Institution to make sure that the product you select is labeled for use in your state. If not, it will not be legal for you to use. The labels must also be checked for grazing restrictions and pre-harvest intervals. Again, I recommend checking with your local extension service for control recommendations.

It does appear that Holly is moderately toxic to horses. Some of the symptoms would include digestive upset, or colic, more severely leading to tremors or seizures. The toxic parts of the plant include but are not limited to the berries. I would recommend not planting Holly trees where horses can gain access to them. Most horses will not eat trees if given a choice of other fresh hay or forage; however, some horses can acquire a taste for anything. Most toxic plants are unpalatable and give off a bitter taste and/or smell.

Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) and water hemlock (Cicuta species) grow abundantly throughout the United States. They prefer moist areas and will reproduce prolifically if left unchecked. They are especially abundant in the spring, a time when enough forage may not be available. They may also be more palatable while growing and can grow to be anywhere from two to eight feet tall. A purple-spotted hollow stem with triangular pinnate leaves is observed on the plants. Small white flowers appear in early summer, arranged on the stem in an umbrella-like fashion. The small, gray-brown seeds are egg-shaped and ridged. The leaves and stems are the most toxic part of poison hemlock before the seeds develop. These plants have a tap root with a pungent odor.

Poison hemlock and water hemlock look similar and are typically mistaken for one another. Water hemlock leaks a yellow, foul-smelling liquid when cut. The poisoning symptoms of the two plants are also similar, but treatment for each tends to be different. Therefore, in cases of suspected poisoning, it is important to properly identify the plant.

Hemlock poisoning presents many symptoms, including nervousness, salivation, frequent urination and sometimes birth defects. Symptoms of poison hemlock poisoning progress in a predictable order. Within two hours after ingesting the plant, the affected animal first becomes nervous, then uncoordinated, and finally starts to tremble. Following this excitatory stage there is a depressed state in which the respiratory and heart rates fall, causing the extremities to become cold. The animal’s entire metabolism then starts to slow down, making colic or bloating possible. The animal can remain in this state for several hours or even days and then recover. Large doses of the plant may cause paralysis.

A lethal dose of poison hemlock is four to five pounds of leaves. In fatal poisoning cases, the animal will die five to ten hours after the first symptoms are seen. Death is usually caused by respiratory failure; the mucous membranes will be cyanotic (blue) due to a lack of oxygen.

The toxicity of poison hemlock lies in its alkaloid content. Alkaloids in hemlock plants block the reflexive movements of the spinal cord.

With water hemlock, cicutoxin, and cicutol, potent unsaturated alcohols, are found in all parts of the plant. The roots are highly poisonous at all stages of the plant’s life cycle. Horses eating as little as 2 ounces of the root could potentially die. Milder symptoms of water hemlock poisoning include excessive salivation, teeth grinding, and eventual convulsions leading to muscle degeneration and heart failure and respiratory paralysis.

There is no treatment for hemlock poisoning, but a veterinarian should be called immediately if you suspect that an animal ingested either hemlock. The veterinarian will provide supportive care to treat the symptoms that present. In order for the horse to recover, the toxin has to be eliminated from the gastrointestinal tract.

The best way to deal with hemlock poisoning is to prevent it. This can be done by mowing down the plants or pulling them up by the roots. Hemlock is hardy, so it may be difficult to eliminate. If herbicides (like 2,4-D) are used, the animals will have to be removed from the treated area until the herbicide is washed away and the plant removed because treated plants may be more palatable.
For more information on hemlock, see:

Rutgers NJAES Harmful Plants Gallery

Indiana Plants Poisonous to Livestock and Pets: http://vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/by_alpha.htm

Guide to Poisonous Plants: http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/index.cfm

It depends on what kind of millet is being harvested. Pearl millet is generally considered safe for horses. However, foxtail millet contains a toxin that can damage kidneys, bones, and joints. All types of millet can build up nitrates, which are harmful to horses; therefore it is important to have the forage tested for them before feeding.

If the foxtail barley is causing sores in horses’ mouths, you should discontinue feeding it and get a new load of hay from a different field without foxtail barley. I do not know of any proven method to treat the existing hay to eliminate the foxtail barley seed heads. If making hay with a ‘bearded’ variety, it should be replaced with a ‘beardless’ variety that would be safer for horses to consume.

A picture, and more information, is included on this Colorado State University webpage dedicated to foxtail barley. It is safe to graze the plant or cut it for hay UNTIL the seed head develops; it is the seed head which has barbs and irritates the mouth. It can also irritate eyes and nostrils.

Crown Vetch or Coronilla varia L. is in the pea (or Fabaceae) family It is toxic to horses if consumed in large amounts because of the presence of nitroglycosides. Not much more is known about its toxicity. Hairy Vetch has also been reported to be toxic. The toxic component is primarily found in the leaves, growing stems, and seeds.

Symptoms of toxicity include decreased appetite, incoordination, staggering gait (initially in the hind quarters), irregular heartbeat (with consumption of the seeds), and rapid or difficult breathing (especially if methemoglobin levels are high). Eventually in severe cases, toxicity may result in death.

Poisoning can be avoided by preventing horses’ access to crown vetch. Horses that have ingested crown vetch can be treated by adding alfalfa to their diet and should not have access to the plant. I would recommend that the barn owner spray an herbicide around the perimeter of the fence to eliminate the plant and the potential risk of poisoning. You cannot be too careful!

Yes, Horse Chestnuts or Buckeyes (trees) are toxic to horses. The toxicity level is moderate to high. The poisonous parts include leaves, seeds, young sprouts; poisoning is more common in spring due to early sprouting. The symptoms of toxicity include gastrointestinal irritation and neurological signs.

All species of cherry trees are toxic to horses. The seeds, leaves, and bark are the most toxic parts of the plant; fruits are the only relatively safe part. As for the leaves, usually the toxicity is worst when they are in the stressed state prior to dying or are wilted (e.g. leaves on a fallen tree limb lying in a pasture). This is the point when the leaves are not only toxic but very tasty because they have stored a lot of sugar and are sweet and palatable.
Once the leaves have fallen off the tree in the autumn they are dead and no longer palatable to horses. Dried leaves will also contain much less toxin than freshly wilted leaves. By this point, horses will typically not hunt out leaves and consume them because the remaining grasses are much more palatable to them. If a horse consumes a few leaves here and there it is not enough to be a problem. However, putting an exact amount on what they need to consume is not possible either. No research has been done on this. Clinical veterinary findings of poisoning cases usually directly involve downed tree limbs where the horses have cleared off all the leaves.

It is advisable to make sure your horses have plenty of grass, hay or other forage to deter them from eating leaves or anything else they typically would not consume. Cherry leaves contain a precursor to cyanide which binds and interferes with the cellular use of oxygen. If an animal does consume a large enough amount of this toxin, it will basically suffocate. Early signs of poisoning are hard to catch since they come on very rapidly. Death is usually the first sign that something is wrong. If anything is suspected a veterinarian should be called immediately. An antidote can be administered, but it needs to be done as soon as possible.

It does appear that the Carolina Sweet Shrub is toxic to livestock, including horses. The toxins found are Calycanthin and related alkaloids. Most horses will not eat enough to cause toxicity, especially if they have plenty of other good quality forage. However, if you have a choice, it should not be planted in an area that is accessible to horses, or the shrub should be removed from this area.

Pasture composition constantly fluctuates in response to changes in environmental conditions. 2005 appears to be the “year of the buttercup” judging by the concentration of buttercups in local pastures and the number of requests for information about the plant that we have received.

There are many species of buttercups found in New Jersey. Some species prefer wet conditions, other survive in dry pastures. Buttercups are perennial plants that over-winter as corms and reproduce by seed. They are very common in the state and are found in virtually all pasture situations. They thrive in low fertility soils and in overgrazed pastures.

Buttercups can be toxic to livestock, but are extremely unpalatable. Animals that are healthy, well-fed, and have access to plenty of pasture or hay rarely consume buttercups or other toxic plants. The fresh leaves and flowers of all buttercup species are toxic when consumed fresh, but the plants lose their toxic properties when dried in hay. If the plant is consumed, horses will exhibit signs of severe gastritis, marked by increased salivation, decreased appetite, colic and diarrhea. In severe cases, poisoning may lead to convulsions and death.

The best defense against buttercups, and all weeds for that matter, is to maintain a healthy stand of forage grasses. Cool season grasses such as bluegrass, perennial rye, orchardgrass, brome and timothy grow rapidly in spring. Fertilizing grasses and rotating pastures to encourage the grasses to remain thick and healthy allows them to out-compete weeds by preventing bare spots and shading the ground. Thick pasture grasses allow little room for the establishment of weed seedlings. Frequent mowing will also reduce buttercup seed production.

Since buttercups are perennials, once they are heavily established in a pasture, it may be necessary to use an herbicide to remove them. It may take several herbicide applications to reduce the population of buttercups. You may want to contact a local crop production service representative or hire a commercial applicator to apply herbicides. Turf type “weed and feed” products are not labeled for use on pastures.

Fortunately, Ally/Cimarron is a very safe and effective herbicide for controlling buttercups. Ally is a liquid, soil-applied herbicide that moves into the plant through the root system. Ally can be applied in spring or early summer at the rate of .1 to .3 oz per acre. There is no grazing restriction for Ally and horses can be returned to the pastures immediately. It is also possible to tank-mix Ally with liquid fertilizers in spring. Ally should only be applied to grasses that have been established for at least 6 months. For timothy, at least 12 months is desirable and tall fescue should be established for at least 24 months. Ally is very persistent in the soil, therefore crop rotation guidelines must be adhered to. Ally should not be used if you plan to overseed the pastures, since the herbicide will remove new grass seedlings as well as the weeds.

A combination of 2,4-D and Banvel can also be used to reduce buttercup populations. These products are also applied as a liquid but translocate through the plant to the roots. The best time to kill buttercups with this herbicide combination is in spring, before flowering, or in late summer, when the plants are moving food from the leaves to the roots. Grasses should be well established before applying 2,4-D/Banvel, but pastures can generally be overseeded 4-6 weeks after an application of these products. There is a seven day grazing restriction for certain formulations of 2,4-D and different manufacturer’s products may have various grazing restrictions. Always carefully read the label before using any pesticide.

Remember that Ally and 2,4-D/Banvel are broadleaf herbicides that will also eliminate existing clover plants in pastures.

For assistance in identifying and controlling weeds in pastures, contact your local Cooperative Extension Office. Use pesticides only when necessary at the correct rate and time. Read the complete label and follow all precautions listed. Where trade names appear, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.

The burs in burdock can irritate the inside of a horse’s mouth, leaving sores. The burs have spines with hooked edges, which is why they catch on animals’ coats, and if chewed, can catch in the horse’s mouth. If they get caught in the horse’s forelock, they can injure the eye. It is also not recommended to feed horses hay with burs in it.

Burdock leaves are not a problem if there are no burs present on the plant at the time of cutting, but it is safest to remove them from the field. Some recommendations suggest spot spraying them with 2,4-D in June and July. However, it is wise to check all local regulations before applying any pesticides and follow the directions on the label. Burdock reproduces only by seed, so if you can remove them before they go to seed, you should control them easily.

Yes, it appears that Brazilian Pepper trees are toxic to horses. Granted it depends on how much is consumed, but it can cause colic and eventually be fatal if enough berries are eaten. Some sites report that if a horse rubs against the tree it may also cause skin irritation and inflammation. I would recommend that, if removing the trees is not an option, horses be fenced off from access to the them. Or, at least make sure they have free access to good quality hay so they are not scavenging for things to eat.

Boxwood is toxic and if consumed will cause neurologic signs, colic and potentially even respiratory failure in horses. All parts of the plant are toxic. Some extremely toxic ornamental plants to avoid at all costs when planting around areas where horses have access include: yew, foxglove, oleander, mountain laurel, and rhododendron/azalea. Thoroughly research and investigate any plant before planting near horses. If a plant is even mildly toxic, it is recommended that the plant be avoided. It is possible that your horses will never attempt to touch or eat it, especially if there is plenty of good grass for them to consume; however, it may offer you greater peace of mind in knowing that nothing on your farm could potentially be toxic.

Additional resources for information on plants toxic to horses include:

Database of Toxic Plants in the United States
University of Pennsylvania Poisonous Plants website
Cornell University – Department of Animal Sciences: Plants Poisonous to Livestock
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Plants Toxic to Animals

The bark and wood of the black walnut tree contain the toxin juglone, which has been thought to cause edema of the lower legs and even laminitis. Since your horses will be in a drylot paddock, they are more likely to “sample” anything they can get their teeth on. I would strongly suggest trimming the branches that overhang the paddock back at least 10 feet from the paddock. You could even contact a woodworker or cabinetry shop to see if they might be interested in buying the trimmed wood if the branches are really large because black walnut is prized for wood working. Do watch for leaves (though they do not seem to be as toxic) that might blow into the paddock in the fall. The sawdust from the trimming should remain on the outside of the fence and therefore will not be an issue. Another safeguard will be to feed the horses free choice hay in the paddock in feeders that are well away from the tree.

Nothing on the list is on the major “hit list” of toxic plants – but the following plants on your list have the potential to be toxic to livestock:

• Lobelias – The cardinal flower and great blue lobelia contain nicotine-like alkaloids. If ingested in quantities higher than .5% of bodyweight, they can cause death. Even though these plants are very attractive, I would avoid these if possible.
• Wild iris can cause gastritis and diarrhea.
• Switchgrass contains alkaloids that can be toxic to horses – not other livestock. This occurs when horses graze switchgrass pastures. Ingestion of occasional plants should not be a problem. If the pastures are managed well and not overgrazed, the switchgrass will not extend into the pastures. Cool season grasses should be able to out-compete it.

None of the other plants have been reported to be toxic. The aster family contains very safe plants. Dogwoods and willows are safe shrubs.

Horses are very good at avoiding toxic plants if they are healthy and have adequate forage available. The toxins in poisonous plants generally have a bitter, acrid taste and odor, which helps the horses avoid the plants. Having said that, I think it would be good to avoid planting anything toxic in or near the bioretention basins especially since this could aid in the spread of toxic plants downstream.

Prunus species include peaches, plums, apricots, cherries and chokecherries. There is a great deal of information about the toxicity of wild black cherry. Beach plum (Prunus maritima), which is also in the prunus family, is a fruiting shrub native to coastal dunes of the Northeastern United States. Prunus maritima is not listed specifically in any poisonous plants database, but many other members of the genus are listed and all have the same warning about the ingestion of leaves, twigs or seeds. These parts of the plant contain compounds that are highly toxic and may be fatal if eaten. Therefore, it is best to take a conservative approach and have your horses avoid any potential contact with this plant.

After researching the literature on bamboo and its toxicity to horses, mixed results were found. Some literature lists it as safe while others list it as toxic. It likely depends on the variety you are dealing with, but there is little information available on the topic. A plant known as Nandina, Heavenly bamboo, or Chinese sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica) is toxic to livestock, though it is not actually bamboo.

The article, “Poisoning of Horses by Bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris,” in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science is about 16 horses that were poisoned by ingesting large amounts of Golden bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) in Brazil. Diomedes Barbosa, J., C. Magno, C. de Oliveira, M.D. Duarte, G. Riet-Correa, P. V. Peixoto, C.H. Tokarnia. 2006. Poisoning of horses by bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 26, Issue 9, Pages 393-398.

For these reasons, the safest approach would be to make sure your horses do not graze any bamboo if you do not know the species present. If your pastures are lush with safe pasture grass species, your horses should graze that instead. There are over 1450 species of bamboo in the world, and it is likely that most of them are not toxic. If you do decide to graze the pastures, you should familiarize yourself with the signs of Golden bamboo poisoning from the article above. The authors noted that once removed from the bamboo, horses recovered.

Alsike clover does have excellent winter hardiness, so it could still be alive in the pasture. Alsike is poisonous at ALL times, unlike other clovers which can get a fungus during weather extremes that makes horses salivate excessively.

The best option would be to keep the horse in the corral through the winter and beginning of spring until the pasture can be renovated. Kill the clover with a broadleaf herbicide or go through the pasture with glyphosate (when the clovers are tiny seedlings) to kill everything and start over with a new pasture mix seeding. Talk to a local agricultural professional who can recommend the correct herbicide for this situation. If Canadian regulations are similar to those in the U.S., one may need a license to apply certain chemicals. Remember that clover
generally does not need to be seeded; it makes its way into pastures on its own. Since that is the case, keep an eye on your pastures because clover WILL reappear, and you will need to check that it is not alsike.

The goal of this reply is to educate the horse public on the potential problem with horses consuming alsike clover:

Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) is found most frequently in Canada, but has been included in some commonly used pasture mixes in the US. This plant is adapted to cool climates and heavy, poorly drained clay soils.

It grows 15-30 inches tall, and has a small ½-inch diameter pink flower that forms at the ends of secondary branches from the main stem. It should be differentiated from red clover, which has a larger flower, hairy stems and leaves and a white inverted “V” on the leaf. Alsike clover is known to cause two syndromes, photosensitization (short-term exposure) and “big liver syndrome” (long-term exposure). There is also a potential for nitrate poisoning. The more common and acute lesions related to photosensitization are characterized by:

• reddening of the skin exposed to sunlight, followed by either superficial or deep dry necrosis of the skin
• edema swelling and discharge, resulting in crusty inflamed areas. This occurs specifically in the unpigmented pink-skinned areas of the face.

Possible symptoms of nervous and digestive disorders, including colic and diarrhea and oral lesions related to alsike clover poisoning may also be observed.

The long-term consequence of alsike clover consumption is “big liver syndrome,” appearing as a progressive destruction of the liver with increased connective tissue (appears as an enlarged liver). It appears that this is related to the accumulation of a still-unknown toxin. The primary tests for evaluating liver function and hepatic disease measure the serum enzyme activity of aspartate amino transferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) and lactic dehydrogenase – 5 (LDH-5). Liver biopsy may be required to characterize the degree and type of liver damage and provide a prognosis.

Alsike clover poisoning does not appear to occur every time it is consumed. It is thought that the toxicity may be caused by a mycotoxin which is either created by a fungus growing on the plant, or created/accumulated by the plant under stressful growing conditions. However, horse owners should still take the following precautions:

1. Alsike clover should not be fed to horses in amounts greater than 5% of the feed.
2. Seed mixes intended for horse pastures and hay should not contain alsike clover.
3. Horse owners should be able to recognize the different red, white, and alsike clovers so that poisoning can be prevented.

Unfortunately that is an old myth about feeding young horses which began in the mid 1970’s and has persisted despite numerous scientific studies proving it to be false. Protein is necessary for proper growth of young animals. If one stops feeding young horses the protein they need, growth will be stopped or slowed. The growth process is what causes the developmental problems due to abnormalities either in the ration (usually mineral imbalances) and/or conformational defects (whether it is bone or tendon, etc.). If growth is stopped, the problems do not get worse. This is what low protein diets will do for young growing horses. If the underlying causes of the growth abnormality is not corrected, once the young horse is fed a ration that will support growth, the problems will re-appear. Young growing horses need higher levels of protein in their rations, than do adult horses, for optimal growth. Some of the developmental issues will come and go normally (i.e. epiphysitis or physitis, mild flexure “contracture” problems). Research on growth has shown that young horses need a 14-16% protein diet, but that high sugar/starch feeds should be avoided. One can easily meet their needs with good quality grass/alfalfa mix hay, a lower sugar/starch commercial ration formulated specifically for the young, growing horse, or if they are very easy keepers, oats work as long as the alfalfa is at least 1/2 of the hay in the diet. A vitamin and mineral supplement can also be added if necessary.

If your horse is in good body condition but the growth is stunted, it may be lacking primarily protein and calcium. I’d strongly suggest adding in some alfalfa, but do it very slowly. If the horse is indeed protein and calcium deficient, and too much is added too quickly, the horse will go through a growth spurt and potentially develop epiphysitis and/or contracted tendons. Add about 1 lb of alfalfa (in the form of either pellets, cubes or hay), divided into two feedings. Keep feeding this amount for two or three days, watching the horse’s legs carefully for signs of swelling around the joints or flexure deformity. If no problem occurs, add in another pound per day. Continue this routine until the horse is consuming 4 to 6 lbs of alfalfa per day divided into several feedings.

When a horse becomes a weanling there is a lot to consider. Now that the foal doesn’t have its mother’s milk to depend on for much of its nutritional needs, we need to supply them in the form of forages and concentrates. One of the most common mistakes we make is not feeding a high enough concentration of the critical nutrients (protein, calcium, phosphorus and some trace minerals) to provide for optimal growth. Weanlings require higher amounts of these nutrients on a per pound basis than an adult horse does and cannot eat enough of an adult formulation to meet their needs.

Protein especially is one nutrient that is needed in higher amounts than for mature horses. It is a myth that too much protein will cause developmental problems. It has actually been scientifically proven to be just the opposite. If weanlings do not get adequate protein in their diets, growth can be stunted and developmental problems are more likely to occur. To provide adequate protein for a weanling, alfalfa and or an alfalfa/grass hay mixture should be used as the majority of the diet. Alfalfa, along with being high in protein, is also a good quality protein, so it will have the correct balance of the important amino acids that a growing horse needs (e.g. lysine and threonine).

Calcium and phosphorus are other minerals that need to be in a specific ratio for the young growing horse. A 2:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio is best. This is easy to accomplish if there is alfalfa in the diet; alfalfa has up to a 5 or 6:1 ratio, which is fine, however, under no circumstances should there be less calcium than phosphorus. An inverse ratio will cause the excess phosphorus to interfere with the absorption of calcium into bone.

Zinc, copper and selenium are also minerals that are needed in a particular balance; however, if the young horse is on good quality forage and a commercial grain supplement, there is no need to worry about any deficiencies. Feed companies have already fortified their grain- based products to provide adequate quantities. The only extra supplement that would be necessary is free choice access to a plain white salt block.

It is recommended that young horses eat at least 2% of their body weight in dry matter (feed without the water content). Weanlings should be offered at least 1.5% of their body weight in good quality forage and/or free access to good quality pasture. Depending on the quality and nutrient balance of the forage or pasture, concentrates formulated for growth (also known as “mare and foal” formulations) may be needed at 0.5 to 1.0% of their body weight, divided into two or more feedings a day.

The key to keeping the young horse healthy is to monitor its body condition. Learning how to body condition score is a good idea and there are many on-line sites that can help provide you with a guide. However, weekly evaluations will help you determine if you are feeding adequate energy needed to maintain a healthy body condition. A quick rule is if you cannot see, but easily feel the horse’s ribs, its diet is right where it needs to be. If you can start to see ribs or are unable to easily feel ribs, you may need to increase or decrease the feed accordingly.

If you maintain a balanced diet using these few guidelines, no other supplements should be necessary. However, as the horse grows and becomes a racehorse in training and actually starts racing, small changes may be necessary to increase the amount of energy in the diet, decrease some of the protein and balance the various minerals. As always it is best to work with a veterinarian that is comfortable giving nutritional advice or an equine nutritionist to properly balance your horse’s diet before making any drastic changes.

There will be no adverse effects from feeding an occasional piece or rind from a watermelon. However, as with anything, if it is not supposed to be a usual item in the horse’s diet you always run the risk of them getting gastrointestinal problems (colic) from feeding too much of an unusual thing. So you are safe if you stick with using it as a treat every now and then, but don’t make a practice of feeding them a whole watermelon daily.

There appear to be two schools of thought on whether or not an injection of vitamin B complex will increase appetite. The vitamin B complex, specifically thiamin (B-1) and B-12, is responsible for the metabolism of the horse’s nutrients such as fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Symptoms of equine thiamin deficiency include abnormal slowing of heart rate (bradycardia), muscular incoordination (ataxia), localized muscular contractions visible under the skin, periodic hypothermia of the extremities, skipped heartbeats and loss of appetite and weight. There are no reported cases of vitamin B-12 deficiency in horses.

Other B vitamins that assist with the nutrient metabolism are riboflavin (B-2), and pantothenic acid (B-5). Riboflavin is required for the health of the mucous membranes in the digestive tract. Panthothenic acid assists some of the glands and hormones that aid metabolism of nutrients.

If your horse is experiencing Vitamin B deficiencies then an injection of the Vitamin B complex will definitely help by boosting the metabolism and allowing the horse’s body to use the food it is eating. But if your horse is healthy and not experiencing any deficiency then an injection of Vitamin B would most likely not do much for the horse, because the nutrients should be making their way through the system properly. In fact, if your horse is not deficient, an injection of Vitamin B complex would likely be a waste of money because Vitamin B is water soluble and any excess of it will be excreted in the urine almost immediately.

We are not sure of your location; however, the best solution to finding hay appropriate for your horses would be to locate a good quality cool/warm season grass hay harvested before it became too mature. Grasses harvested before full maturity have more leaves than stems and higher protein/energy content. If living in the northeast, one can find a quality timothy or orchard grass. If living in the south, look for a good quality warm season warm season like Bermuda grass hay (some call it ‘coastal’ hay). In the western states Brome grass or oat hays may be more available. Another alternative would be to look for a clover mix hay for the higher energy/digestibility the hard working Oldenberg needs.

The horses described in this question should eat about 2 – 2.5 % of their body weight per day and most of that should be forage (pasture or hay). The remainder of the energy needed can be made up with grain. The horse that is in more work (and therefore needs more energy) can also be supplemented with a good quality grain mix. Remember to pick a grain that is formulated for its situation (i.e. adult maintenance versus intense exercise).

These feeds are actually not that different. A 2% difference in protein, when factored into the entire diet, is not a significant a change. Slowly use the ‘pound-per-pound’ method (remove a pound of the old, add in pound of the new) over the course of a one-to-two week period. The biggest question, however, is what the final amount of grain should be – 12 pounds per day is a lot! Begin with eight pounds of the old feed at the new facility and start switching as the horse becomes acclimated to the pasture. Be sure to monitor its body condition. Introduce these adjustments slowly and if the horse starts to gain too much weight, cut back on the grain and supplements, not the hay or access to pasture. Any changes in diet will probably not be evident for a few weeks, maybe even a month, if the changes are slight. Keep track of changes with a weight tape and body condition score every other week.

Since mentioning that the horse could gain more weight, another method to decrease the amount of grain needed would be to add more fat to the diet above the 6% already in the feed. On an overall percent of the diet, when factoring in that the diet is mostly hay, 6% is still not that much. Therefore, one could supplement about six pounds of grain with one-to-two pounds of rice bran. Rice bran is high in fat and fiber, horses love it, and it really helps improve body condition. Adding rice bran may enable one to reduce the total amount of grain in the diet.

As for the pasture, introduce this to the horse slowly since it is not accustomed to lush grass. Begin this new routine by letting the horse graze for approximately an hour on the first day in the early morning, then gradually increase access to the pasture. Always start in the early morning hours when the grasses have their lowest sugar content until the horse reaches its full amount of time on the pasture. For example, it might take one-to-two weeks for the horse to fully adapt to a 12 hour turn-out. If monitoring the horse’s time on pasture is difficult one can also consider a grazing muzzle which will reduce the horse’s grass intake.

Bottom line is, selenium blood concentrations are notoriously difficult to assay and there are no good scientific studies of the efficacy of supplementation, and the amounts “needed”. It is well established to be toxic in relatively low amounts (as little as 5 mg per day can cause mane and tail hair loss and horizontal hoof cracks that can lead to sloughing of the lower hoof wall). One should worry more about over- than under-dosing.

‘Normal ranges’ depend on the lab used and units in which they are displayed. Many reputable forage/diagnostic labs refuse to even attempt the assay because it is so unreliable. It is a waste of money to do the blood tests unless there is an apparent issue such as chronic tying up, muscle problems, and other indications that there might really be a problem. Feeding really poor quality hay or living in a region well established to be extremely selenium deficient like southern Florida or western Oregon may warrant a blood profile for selenium concentrations. As long as your horse is performing well, and is fed a reasonable, well balanced ration, supplementation should not be necessary.

If you haven’t already, you should have them checked by a veterinarian to rule out any problems which might affect their ration options before changing their ration.

Before you look at feeds, you should first look at the forage your horses are getting. Remember that a horse’s ration must be balanced around forage: good pasture and/or good quality hay fed at the rate of at least 1.5 % to 2 % of body weight per day (about 15 to 20 pounds for a 1,000 pound horse). Especially since they are all aged, have their teeth checked carefully for problems that would prevent them from prehending and chewing properly; if chewing hay is an issue, you could consider using hay cubes or pellets soaked in water as the primary forage source. Be aware they can eat up to 3% of their body weight in forage dry matter per day. If they are given free access to forage and still not maintaining adequate weight, then you will need to consider adding in a higher calorie concentrate.

The feed you choose will depend on each horse’s condition. Your rescues are on the older side. If they were still healthy and active, they could stay on regular adult feed, but if they are showing their age, you could start them on an extruded “senior” feed, which may be more easily consumed and digested. There is no “magic age” when you need to switch a horse to senior feeds; instead you must evaluate each horse individually. You need to consider teeth, body condition, and any medical issues (determined by a veterinarian) they may have. Assuming that liver and kidney function is normal, look for a feed with high fat and fiber (about 7 – 10 % fat, 10 – 14 % protein, and over 8 % fiber), formulated for the type of horses you are feeding, in this case, older horses that need to gain weight. Don’t mix and match products.

Be sure to introduce new feed slowly. Substitute a pound of the new for a pound of the old feed until you are totally switched over. Without knowing the horses’ breeds and how much feed they are currently eating, it is hard to estimate the total amount that should be provided at each feeding. The average 1,000-pound horse’s stomach can handle no more than 5 pounds of feed at a time. Take a bathroom scale to the barn and weigh a scoop of what you are currently feeding against a scoop of the new feed.

The need for supplements will also depend on each horse’s condition after being on the new feed for a few months. Beet pulp is a good source of extra fiber but not a necessary component of a horse’s diet. Corn oil and rice bran are good sources of fat and will help to put

weight on your horses if the basal ration is not working; however, pick only one or the other-do not use both! If you choose a high-fat commercial feed, you may not need to supplement extra fat in any form. If you choose to supplement corn oil, you could start with ¼ cup per day and increase it over a few weeks up to 1 cup per day. If you choose rice bran, you could start with ½ pound per day and increase it over a few weeks up to 1 or 2 pounds per day, depending on the size of your horses. If the older horses are experiencing joint pain or arthritis, you could also look into a joint supplement.

Horses at maintenance need about 8 to 10% of their diet to be protein. This will increase very slightly if exercising. If breeding, lactating or growing, the need can increase up to 16% at times. Feeding excess protein will not create a problem unless the horse has existing kidney problems. High-protein diets will cause high levels of ammonia to be excreted in the urine. If horses with kidney problems consume high levels of protein they could develop additional kidney complications. However, healthy horses should not have a problem eating high-protein diets. It is crucial that they be provided with free access to fresh water. Usually, diets high in alfalfa or another legume hay will contain excess protein (alfalfa can have protein levels as high as 25%). Most grass hay will contain enough protein to be adequate for maintenance horses; however this varies greatly depending on the quality and maturity of the hay.

“Crude protein” refers to the total amount of protein in the feedstuff. It does not represent the amount of protein that is “digestible” to the horse. Digestibility of protein varies between roughly 65 – 85% depending on which feedstuff is being digested.

From the sounds of it, the colt developed “wobbler’s syndrome.” Its cause can be partially nutritional, but it also has genetic and trauma components. Our draft crosses grow rapidly, but as long as their mineral needs are met we have had very few problems with growth abnormalities.

Based on our 7 years of data on this type of horse, my recommendations are:

1. Feed the mare a good quality grass/legume mix (alfalfa/clover) hay and, in the last few months of her pregnancy, a supplement designed for broodmares with extra minerals and low calories. There are several on the market. You don’t want her too fat.

2. Once she foals, offer her the same concentrate feed that you plan on using for the foal (see below) in amounts that maintain her body condition (for the draft mares that may be as little as a couple of pounds per feeding if the hay is free choice and good quality). This way, if the foal steals her grain, it is still getting a balanced ration.

3. For the foal, start creep feeding a feed formulated specifically for growth (14 to 15% protein, and added minerals) as early as 1-2 months (preferably NOT a sweet feed) and look for some of the newer products that are higher in fat and fiber.

4. READ THE FEED LABELS! There are some “growth” products out there designed to be fed without hay or pasture – they will NOT contain the right concentration of minerals if you limit feed them with hay or pasture! We have tested alfalfa-based “Total Mixed ration cubes” fed as the sole source of nutrition for two years now and they worked exceptionally well, especially for the Draft cross types. But the weanlings did not do as well on them if they had access to pasture too. (Unfortunately the cubes are not yet available here in the east.)

There are many good products out there, but gain, be sure to read the labels. Feed 1 pound per month of age per day divided into 2 feedings up to 6-7 months. Do not feed more than 3-4 lbs of concentrates per feeding (6-8 lbs per day) after they are weaned.

 If the foal is fat (can’t feel his ribs, deep crease down his loin, bulging fat neck), cut back on the grain but do not completely eliminate it. Watch for signs of epiphysitis (enlargements just above the fetlock or knees) – that is an indication that he needs fewer calories and more minerals.Do not let anyone try to tell you that the recommendation above has too much protein – It is a well-disproven myth that protein causes developmental problems. Do not feed a concentrate that is not formulated specifically for growth. Just because a product has 14% protein does not mean that it has the minerals needed for bone growth.

Bread and whole grains are perfectly fine to include in your horse treats. Whole grains used in breads and cereals such as oats, sunflower seeds, rye, etc., are fine. Most nuts (peanuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc) should be fine as well in small amounts. Since you are making treats that will be fed in small amounts (less than 1 lb a day to the average size horse), any of these in moderation should be fine. However, please note that anything consumed in large quantities (over 0.5 % of the horse or pony’s body weight) that is not normally in the ration may cause gastrointestinal distress (colic).

The mare’s nutrition does greatly affect her milk quality. The protein, fat, vitamin and mineral content of the milk is indicative of the composition of her feed. Her total amount of milk produced is determined by her nutritional status and how many calories she is consuming.

Lactating mares should consume about twice as much energy as they would normally need at maintenance (when they are not pregnant or lactating). They also need about 14% protein in their diet along with higher levels of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus (just to name a few).

Calcium and phosphorus are critical for the developing foal. As a foal grows it will lay down bone first. A lot of bone development takes place in the womb, but after birth this is where calcium and phosphorus are needed most. Also after birth, most of the growth is in the form of muscle, which is why adequate protein is crucial. Then, after all the developing bones and muscles’ nutrient needs are satisfied, any extra nutrients are used to lay down fat. Typically, if you are not supplementing a foal’s diet with any creep feed or other source of nutrients they will still need their mother’s milk for adequate growth of bone and muscle.

If molasses doesn’t work, try applesauce in his grain with the supplement! That might help. He also might need a few days to get used to the new taste. If you don’t give him a choice between food with or without the supplement, after a couple of days he will figure out that he has to eat it!

Your situation is a very common one that can be turned around by strict management. The lunging will definitely help him; I usually encourage as much exercise as physically possible for both you and your horse. The next step is to reduce the amount of feed intake per day without jeopardizing the vitamin and mineral balance. When feeding all-hay diets it is easy to know where to start because you can weigh the hay and then start cutting back a pound at a time. Most horses should eat around 2% of their body weight (e.g. 20 lbs for a 1000-lb horse). With overweight horses, I usually start by restricting their feed to 1.5% of their body weight or even 1% if the obesity persists. Managing pasture intake can be a bit more difficult as it is hard to determine how much the horse is actually eating. You can restrict pasture intake in a couple of ways depending on your farm setup:

1. Turn out in a dry lot instead of on pasture. By restricting access to pasture by 6 to 12 hours a day you are reducing pasture intake by about ¼ to ½ of the total dietary intake.
2. Keep the horse in a stall, sand arena, or round pen if a dry lot is unavailable. This is not as preferable as Option 1 and may lead to behavioral problems and/or gastric ulcers. Providing low-quality grass hay for the horse to munch on is probably better than leaving it alone in the stall with nothing to do.
3. Use a grazing muzzle. This is the last resort and should be used if a dry lot or stall is not an available. Grazing muzzles are made so the horse can have limited access to grass but still be able to drink. This is a good option if the horse must be outside all day long.

The main concern with limiting intake to this extent is the possibility of creating vitamin and mineral deficiencies. To avoid this, feed a daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. Most companies make a supplement formulated for the average horse. The key thing to look for is a pelleted formulation. That way, you can supplement the product without needing to use grain as a carrier. If your horse will not eat this product alone, a small handful of moistened beet pulp (without molasses!) is the best carrier.

Dietary changes should always be made slowly. Decide on your management practice and make the total changes over the course of about 1-2 weeks. Gradually remove the turn out time, or increase the time the horse is muzzled. During the course of the weight loss is it best to monitor weight using a weight tape (available from any feed store) every other week. This will let you know if the horse is losing the right amount of weight or if you need to decrease turn out time even more. Once the right amount of weight is lost you can slowly increase pasture or feed intake until he starts to maintain his appropriate weight.

There is no scientific evidence that the high iron commonly found in New Jersey well water is a cause or risk factor for laminitis. The article mentioned cites correlations only, no evidence of causality. We had a similar problem with the well water at Rutgers in the early 90’s. The research horses were all in good general health despite the metallic scum on the water buckets, and none of them foundered. The research horses did, however, have low (though within normal limits) red blood cell counts that responded to supplementation with copper (15 mg per day) and zinc (30 mg per day). As suggested in the article, the high iron might interfere with copper and zinc utilization, but if one is providing a commercial feed or supplement, almost all of them contain added copper and zinc. Read the labels on the feed bag to be certain. It may be wise to ask a veterinarian to monitor the horse’s red blood cell count for a few weeks after the move.

Another potential problem is that the horse might not like the taste of the high iron water and may not drink enough to maintain optimal hydration during the first week or so. If you can get it accustomed to a masking flavor, like peppermint oil or apple juice in its water (not electrolytes) before the move, adding it to the new water may help. Watch closely for dry feces. Soaking its hay in the water will also help increase its intake and acceptance of the new flavor.

There is a nutrition myth that hay must be fed before grain. However, this does not have an impact on horse health. The only time it might make a difference is with horses that bolt their grain. Feeding hay first will help slow their eating down as well as slow down their digestive process. However, no research has shown that feeding hay before grain will have any other impact on horses.

The exception to the rule is for horses that consume ½ or more of their diet as grain. This is not recommended. In this situation, feeding hay first will help — but it is always recommended to divide the meals into smaller feedings throughout the day. This may also help horses with a history of colic.

It is hard to give an exact recommendation without knowing a bit more about your horse. For example, what is his body condition? Is 1600 lbs a good weight for him, or is he overweight? What amount are you feeding now?

 If he is at a good weight and not increasing or losing weight I would stick with what you have been doing. When not exercising, most horses do well eating 2 % of their body weight each day. Assuming that 1600 lbs is an adequate weight for him, you would feed 32 lbs of feed/day in his case.

 Most non-exercising horses that are easy keepers, as most draft horses are, can also get by with a forage-only diet. If you try this route, remember that his forage intake (the pasture he is turned out on and hay when in a stall) should total 32 lbs. For example, if he is outside for 1/2 of the day on grass, then the other 1/2 of his meal should be 16 lbs of hay. If he is outside all day long I would only feed the hay if the grass in the pasture is poor. In this case, you can get by with about 4 lbs or so depending on how much he will eat.

 There are so many unknowns here that it is hard to give an exact recommendation, but I would try to stick with a forage-only diet and watch his weight. Draft horses can be prone to obesity, especially if not exercising.

Unfortunately, without knowing how much and what type of feed he gets, how often and how long he is exercised, what type of riding you do, and whether or not he is fat, thin, or gets any turn out at all, I can’t make very specific recommendations. Here are some general guidelines:

Horses kept in stalls should be offered at least 1.5 to 2% of their body weight in hay per day (15-20 lbs for your horse), assuming they are in good body condition and the hay is of good quality. To minimize waste and reduce boredom the hay should be offered in 3 separate feedings of 5 to 7 lbs. This is usually done with a breakfast, lunch and dinner-type feeding. They should have free access to a salt block and clean water at all times. Concentrates such as sweet feed should be offered only in amounts needed to maintain good body condition in addition to the hay and may not even be necessary if the horse is an “easy keeper”. I tend to recommend high fat (8-10%) and fiber (>12%) pelleted feeds for such horses because the sweet feeds contain a lot of sugar that seems to make some horses a bit hyperactive. Most horses seem to do well on only 1 to 2 lbs of concentrates per feeding.

If you suspect your horse might have foundered you should definitely get a veterinarian out to see him. Foundering horses, depending on the severity of the founder, will act as if their front feet hurt – rocking their weight back on their hind legs to take the pressure off their front feet. They may or may not be willing to walk or trot. If it is severe they may lie down more than usual and be unwilling to walk at all. If it is acute (sudden) their feet may feel warm. If it is very chronic, you will see raised ridges around their hooves and a dishing (concave) appearance to the front of the front hooves. Again, you must get a veterinarian out to see the horse!

I have a couple of suggestions you can try. First, it is important to know that horses need to consume about 2% of their body weight, so your 2000 lb horse needs to eat about 40 lbs of food every day! I would start out by getting a kitchen or bathroom scale to measure the amount of feed he is currently getting, hay and grain included! Since I am not sure how much your can of grain or fat and fiber feed weighs or how much your 4 sleeves of hay weigh, I am going to make a lot of assumptions here. Once you weigh the feed you will be able to get a better idea of what you need to do.

My first suggestion is to check the hay quality. Make sure he is getting a high quality grass forage; the type doesn’t matter as much as making sure that it doesn’t consist of a lot of stems or seed heads. The hay should be softer with more leaves than stems. This will basically tell you that the hay has more nutrients in it (i.e. more protein, vitamins and minerals) than something very coarse and stemmy. If you determine that the hay quality is decent, I would suggest increasing the amount of hay he is getting fed daily to AT LEAST 1.5% of his body weight (or 30 lbs). If he is already at this amount with the 4 sleeves twice a day, you can increase that to 35 lbs. If he is not consuming all the hay you are providing, you may have to try another forage source to make up for what he will not eat. In this case I would recommend hay cubes (either grass or alfalfa) or beet pulp. You can feed either moistened and in the same amounts you would need to make up the difference in the total 30 to 35 lbs. The other 5 lbs of the diet can be your fat and fiber with oats, split over multiple feedings.

Try this for a few weeks and monitor his condition. As with any horse, you should not be able to see his ribs, but you should be able to easily feel them when running your hand down his side. His top line should also have a fat cover without bulging or rippling. If his condition still does not change you can add rice bran to his grain feeding with the fat and fiber feed. This will increase the fat content in the feed again and will create more energy for weight gain. For a horse as big as yours you can feed up to about 4 lbs/day if necessary. However, you need to be careful when adding fat to the diet; please increase the amount slowly over the course of 2 to 3 weeks (which is the standard time for ANY change in feed).

I think the hay might be the problem. Since you have already checked her teeth and deworming program, I have a couple of suggestions you can try.

First, it is important to know that horses need to consume at least 2% of their body weight daily, so if your horse is about 1,000 lbs she should be eating about 20 lbs of feed every day. At least half of that should be hay or another form of roughage. Start out by getting a kitchen or bathroom scale to measure the amount of feed she is currently getting (including hay and grain). Once you weigh the feed you will be able to get a better idea of what you need to do.If she is not receiving an adequate amount of feed, my first suggestion is to check the hay quantity. Horses should be offered at least 1.5% of their body weight in hay daily. I would add a high quality grass forage or a grass alfalfa mix. The hay should be soft with more leaves than stems. (Grass hay should not have a lot of large seed heads.) This will indicate that the hay has more protein, vitamins and minerals than hay which is coarse and stemmy. If you determine that the hay quality is decent, make sure she is getting at least 1.5% of her body weight (15 lbs for a 1,000-pound horse) in hay.

Depending on how much exercise she is getting weekly you should try to keep the hay around 5 lbs per feeding. Since weight gain is the goal, you can try top dressing it with a fat supplement. This will add more calories than 16 quarts of sweet feed. My favorite fat supplement is rice bran, because horses rarely reject it and it is high in fiber. Adding rice bran will increase the fat content in the feed and will create more energy for weight gain without the effect of a high sugar diet (or no hyperactivity). Your horse could probably get about a pound or two per day, but because different types of rice bran vary it is good to follow the recommendation on the bag. “Stabilized” rice bran is fortified with a higher level of calcium since natural rice bran is typically low. However, since alfalfa cubes are high in calcium this shouldn’t be much of an issue for you.

Remember, you need to be careful when adding fat to the diet. You should increase the amount slowly over the course of 2 to 3 weeks. This is the standard time for any change in feed.

Try this for a few weeks to a month and monitor her condition. As with any horse, you should not be able to see her ribs, but you should be able to easily feel them when running your hand down her side. Her top line should also have a fat cover without bulging or rippling. If her condition still does not change, or she still is not eating, I would try adding an extra flake or two of hay or bump up to 3 lbs of rice bran. Remember to do so slowly and be patient; weight gain takes a long time.

Putting on weight is one problem; getting him to want to eat is another. It is hard to give any exact recommendations without seeing him or at least knowing how thin he is. The ideal Body Condition Score (BCS), on a scale of 1 to 9, is a 5. If he is really thin (BCS = 2, very little to no fat over neck, withers, shoulder or tailhead, and ribs are easily visible with no fat cover), you need to start feeding very slowly. I would recommend this protocol:

Feed low quality hay to start (high fiber, low protein)

• Day 1-3 = 50% of total energy needs (about 10 lbs), spread this over feedings every 4 hrs
• Day 4-5 = 75% of energy needs (about 15 lbs), spread over 4 feedings
• Day 6-10 = 100% of energy needs (about 20 lbs), spread over 4 feedings
• Day 10-30 = 100% of total energy needs. Increase hay quality (use a good quality grass hay or alfalfa mix) over 3 feedings
• Note: it takes about 2 months to change 1 BCS (or about 50 lbs).

If the horse is over a BCS 3 (tailhead prominent but vertebrae cannot be visually identified, ribs with slight fat covering but still easily seen, shoulder, neck and withers with fat cover) then you can begin to add grain in the first week, but I would wait until the good hay is meeting 100% of his energy requirements for his current body weight (about day 10). You probably won’t notice much weight gain in the first thirty days, but it should take off after that. It does take time to ramp the anabolic processes back up.

I don’t recommend straight alfalfa – they don’t need that much protein (10 to 12% is fine). An alfalfa mix would be preferred for its palatability, energy and protein, but be careful not to overwork his kidneys. I highly recommend finding a feed that is high in fat and fiber instead of one high in soluble carbohydrates. Most feed companies have at least one on the market. These are very palatable feeds that he should enjoy eating. If you are still having problems getting him to eat the hay, try adding alfalfa/grass mix hay cubes. They can be broken up and soaked to help soften them. But he really should be eating as much hay as he wants in about two weeks.

I have no direct experience with feeding fish extracts to horses, but there should be no risk with this type of product. The protein quality should be fairly high and highly digestible to horses. According to the 2007 NRC (Nutrient Requirements for Horses), fish meals contain 68.5 to 71.2% protein. They are an excellent source of lysine, which is good for growing race horses. They also contain 5 to 10% fat, which is a good energy source for them as well. I was surprised to see the meals are also high in Calcium (4 to 5%) and Phosphorus (2 to 3%), which would also be good for growing bones. (Menhaden and anchovy are the only fish extracts studied in horses.)

All in all, the fish meals would appear to be a good source of desired nutrients for racing/growing horses; if they will eat them. I do not think they would confer an “extra” advantage when racing, other than allowing balancing for optimal nutrient intake.

Fiber is a carbohydrate. The main building block of carbohydrates is glucose, a simple sugar. Starches (e.g. most of the carbs in grains like corn) are just long chains of glucose linked together in a fashion that is easily metabolized, or absorbed (transferred from the gut to the blood stream) in the small intestine. Sugars and starches like this are digested (broken down to glucose by enzymes) and absorbed. Fermentation (an enzymatically-controlled transformation of an organic compound) by bacteria and other microbes only occurs in the cecum and large intestine.

Fermentation is mainly required for products composed of more complex carbohydrates, e.g. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (the types of fiber found in hay and pasture). These possess glucose chains which are linked together in more complex ways and are therefore more difficult to break. Thus, they must be fermented by bacteria instead of digested by enzymes.

Beet pulp and rice bran are high in rapidly fermentable carbohydrates which have a combination of starches and celluloses that can be absorbed and fermented.

It sounds like what happened is that when the horse was finally being fed the right nutrients in a balanced diet, it felt better and had more energy! It wasn’t necessarily the fat and the protein in the feed; it was just the feed in general. Fat is a good energy source for underweight horses because it has more calories per gram than carbohydrates; however, it has a much slower release of energy than carbohydrates, so it doesn’t cause the same burst of energy that feeding something like corn would. Protein is not really ever used as an energy source (only 15% of our total energy normally comes from protein) unless the body has no other choice (i.e. starvation or certain diets like the human Atkins diet). So the protein in the feed is definitely not the problem. Excess sweating is actually a good thing; the time you need to worry is if the horse doesn’t sweat enough. It probably isn’t used to this much work or having this much energy to be utilized towards work.

Adding oats to the feed you are giving the horse isn’t the best idea. What you are doing is essentially diluting the nutrients that are concentrated in the commercial feed. The high fat, protein and other vitamins and minerals are now much lower in the total feed because oats are not as concentrated. As long as the horse has access to plenty of pasture or good quality forage, you should not be at risk for any nutrient deficiencies because most forages contain more than adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals for an adult horse. Watch that the horse doesn’t start gaining too much weight. You probably can back down on the grain you are feeding assuming the horse is now in good body condition.

This is basically correct. Calories from protein utilization usually account for only 10% of the horse’s total energy expenditure, which is minimal. If provided in excess of actual amino acid needs, protein is broken down and utilized as an energy source, but it releases a fair amount of heat and ammonia in the process that must be eliminated. Fat is a very energy dense calorie source, so feeds like rice bran (26% fat) or a vegetable oil (100% fat) are good at adding energy density to a horse’s diet. But the normal horse ration has only 3% fat and horses do not have a gall bladder to help regulate the digestion of fat. You can add up to 10% fat to a horse’s ration, providing up to 25% of its total calories, but the amounts of fat fed must be increased slowly and carefully. Volatile fatty acids from the fermentation of fiber in the large intestine and soluble or simple carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are the most common sources of energy for horses. Fiber sources (pastures grasses and hays), though not as calorically dense as the sugar/starch sources (grains), should be the main source of energy in any horse’s ration. Indeed, for most horses, grasses and hay contain only 12% protein, 3% fat and 20% soluble carbohydrates, which will be more than adequate to meet their nutritional needs. Sugars and starches from grain- based concentrates are easily broken down to glucose and used directly for energy or stored as body fat and, in much smaller amounts, glycogen which is also used for energy. However there is increasing scientific evidence that feeding large amounts of grain (over 4 or 5 lbs per day to an average sized horse) has drawbacks, such as contributing to the formation of stomach ulcers, increasing the risk of colic and perhaps other metabolic problems and behavioral vices. To increase your horse’s energy level, feed good quality hay/pasture, perhaps some grain-based concentrate, and make sure you have a proper conditioning regimen for your discipline.

Eggs are an excellent source of protein, as we all know. One egg per horse per day would definitely not hurt-if you can get them to eat them! I don’t know if it would be easier to feed them raw (which would be easier to mix into feed) or hard boiled (to reduce the risk of salmonella). The shells could even be ground up as a calcium supplement. I believe they used to feed eggs to horses in England and Ireland.

The best thing to do here is to try to slow down the dominant horse’s eating habits. A good way to do this is by placing either large round stones (3” to 5” around), or small salt blocks in the bucket with his feed. This will force him to sift around the rocks to get to the feed and will slow down his rate of consumption, allowing your other horse to consume his feed in more time. If he gets frustrated and leaves his food for the other horse’s you may want to consider tying him near the bucket for the duration of feeding time. This of course is dependant on how well he ties! If he has any tendency to back up and break halters, etc. this would not be a good option.

Another thing that could help is to supplement his feed with hay cubes. They are a great fiber source, so they would not hurt at all, and they take a longer time for the horses to consume. This works the same way as the rocks in the feed bucket – only now the horse is actually consuming something.

It is probably good old sodium chloride (salt) that is missing. Provide your horse with a container of loose salt (preferably non-iodized), but limit access to only 2 to 4 ounces at a time. If it really is a salt deficit, your horse might overeat initially. Gradually increase access until your horse is no longer craving it. The trace mineral blocks provide other trace minerals that your horse does not need in large amounts. If it eats enough to correct salt deficit, that will be in excess of other mineral needs. Plus the blocks are fairly abrasive, which is not a problem with everyday use, but if salt needs are high, it is difficult for a horse to easily lick enough off and they will start to bite at the block.

The other possible deficiency is phosphorus or calcium. Start the horse on some alfalfa hay or pellets and give it a bran mash. Since the horse is already at an adequate weight, it is recommended to gradually cut out all of the grain and replace it with timothy/alfalfa hay cubes.

The “heat increment”, or metabolic heat generated in the body tissues (muscles, etc.) during the process of energy utilization is highest for protein, moderate for starches and very low for fats. The heat of fermentation that is “lost” in digesting fiber and any other carbohydrate source that reaches the large intestine is not as big of a concern. This is because it is generated primarily in the intestines and does not affect the larger muscles as much as the direct heat generated in the muscles during exercise does. (It does help keep them warm in winter!).

It is important to know that corn does not produce heat. It actually has a lower heat increment than oats! The fermentation of fiber in the large intestine generates a lot more heat than is lost in the process of converting the starch in corn to glucose. Putting it through the metabolic pathways is where a bit of heat is generated each time a chemical bond is broken, but the actual ‘heat’ is not significant.

In extremely hot or humid weather, horses with heat dissipation problems run a potential risk of adverse effects from feed heat increments. If your horse is unable to sweat (anhydrotic), obese or heavily muscled, or dark-colored, performing fairly intense exercise (lots of trotting or faster paces) for 30 minutes or more can put it at risk. If your horse falls into this category, feeding free choice good quality grass hay, water and white salt might ease the load a bit.

To minimize the internally-generated heat that needs to be dissipated primarily through sweat loss in the summer, avoid excess protein (10-12% max) and excessively fibrous hay. Fresh pasture is lower in fiber, therefore it requires less fermentation and will not create as much heat. If the horse needs more calories to maintain weight, consider a higher fat (10-12%) concentrate or high fat supplement, but beware – hot, humid summer weather may turn your supplement rancid quickly. A half-cup to a cup of corn oil will do just as well and be less likely to go rancid since you can seal and refrigerate the bottle.

The grasses in your region usually have a calcium:phosphorus ratio of at least 3:1. Even grass hays in the Front Range of the Rockies tend to have at least 1% calcium, which, if the mares are eating at least 25 lbs a day, would give ~120 grams of calcium. I assume you are feeding horses which are between 1100-1300 lbs adult weight. This would exceed their calcium needs by about 3 times, so supplementing beet pulp for the added calcium would probably not be necessary.

They will require between 26 to 32 grams phosphorus total in their ration to meet their needs but could tolerate up to 60 grams total safely. So assuming only a small portion of phosphorus is provided in the grasses (~0.15% = 18 grams in 25 lbs) you easily supplement up to 3 lbs of straight wheat bran (1.18% Phosphorus, gives you only ~18 grams) which should meet their needs. However, I am also assuming you will also feed a grain-based concentrate balanced for broodmares mares in their late pregnancy/early lactation that would also contain added calcium/phosphorus so you could feed less bran. It would be safest, however, to get your hay analyzed to determine if the calcium and phosphorus content is close to these estimates.

“Bread” is a rather wide category – just look at the aisles in the grocery store. Everything from high carbohydrate fortified white bread to rye and high fiber/low carb breads with a wide variety of flavors, nutritional contents, etc. is out there. That being said, most breads are grain-based, which is what we feed horses anyway. They tend to be high starch – indeed, the standard for determining glycemic index (blood sugar response) in human medicine is based on white bread.

However, because there are a wide variety of recipes out there, I hesitate to generalize over all types of breads for horses, since, to my knowledge, there have been no feeding trials conducted using even white bread in this species. “Bakery waste” (day old products or batches that didn’t come out just right) is frequently used as a mainstay of hog and cattle rations in some areas. Some commercial feed companies have even included bakery waste in their horse feeds in the past. The only reason it is not commonly done now is for fear of getting poppy seed or chocolate in the mix too, which can cause positive drug tests in performance horses.

Since commercially available breads are meant for human consumption, they will not contain known toxins or impure ingredients and frequently are supplemented with added vitamins and minerals (including safe amounts of selenium). They can actually be more nutritious than plain grains commonly used for horses! Wheat is a grain not commonly used in horse rations due to price and concerns about potential problems with glutens in its raw form. Although wheat flour is a main ingredient in most bread, it is acceptable, especially in the baked, processed form of bread. Unless fortified with calcium, breads may not have a good calcium to phosphorus ratio, but this would not be a problem in most cases if they were fed with good quality hay or pasture. In very old horses the lower calcium intake might actually be good! Day old bread and bagels are commonly fed to horses in Europe as a treat or cheap supplement to their rations.

My main concern with feeding a lot of bread to horses would be the potential lack of fiber, leading to wood chewing and perhaps gastric ulcers and a possible calcium deficit. Before everyone starts raiding the stores for their day old bread and bagels, let me give the following recommendations:

1. Avoid breads that contain poppy seeds or chocolate, especially if competing with the horse.
2. Try to get the high fiber/low carbohydrate fortified types of bread.
3. If planning to feed more than a few slices a day, start slowly. I’d probably restrict intake to 1-2 pounds a day unless there is a special case, like a toothless horse.
4. If the horse is prone to laminitis or is glucose intolerant I would not recommend feeding anything but high fiber/low carb breads in very limited quantities (no more than one or two slices a day, and not all at once!).
5. If feeding over 5 pounds of bread a day, consider getting a nutritional analysis of it (especially if feeding a mixture of “waste” bread) and consulting an equine nutritionist to make sure it is balanced.
6. Stay away from the high sugar/high fat donuts unless you have a horse that:
   • Is not glucose intolerant
   • Is a bit thin and needs to gain weight!

I strongly feel that hay should be the majority of the diet. Many horses can survive without any extra supplementation at maintenance if their hay is of good quality. Analyzing hay is difficult because many barns get a variety of hay and don’t usually have one load of hay which lasts all season. Technically, to be sure of your hay’s quality you should test every load; however, that is not practical. If a barn has a load of hay that will last all season they can have it tested. (See the Rutgers Fact Sheet on analyzing hay for horses.)

However, if you know the species of grass in the hay and the basic quality (poor, good or otherwise) you can get a rough idea of its average nutrient content from the databases at Equi-analytical.com.

Most horses should eat 2% of their body weight daily (total diet). Hay should be at least 1.5% (if not more) of that ration. For example, an average-sized (1,000 lb) horse should eat about 20 lbs of feed each day, 15 lbs of which should be hay. The rest of the diet can be grain, etc.

Most horses, if they are exercising moderately, can get by with about 2 to 5 lbs of a commercial mix per day. I usually recommend a high-fat feed (about 10%) for exercising horses. There are many on the market nowadays. However, some horses are easy keepers; they don’t need much grain and could probably get by without it. If they are demanding more food, you can feed beet pulp. By adding a pound or two of dry beet pulp (which can be moistened to help with water intake and, when moist, serves as a great base for adding supplements) you can increase the amount of fiber in the diet without adding excess calories. Just make sure the beet pulp does not have added molasses. In doing this you will also be providing them with a meal at the same time as the other horses in the barn so they will not get agitated when the others are fed.

Replacing hay with beet pulp is not exactly a great idea. Horses still need their roughage, i.e. hay and pasture, which slows down the passage of feed through the digestive tract and allows for a slower consumption time. Roughage is what keeps horses from being totally bored all day (and it also keeps them from eating fences). The only difference between roughage and fiber is their absorption times.

I don’t usually recommend feeding additional supplements to the average light working horse. I usually recommend adding supplements only in certain circumstances:

1. When feeding poor quality hay. Hay and pasture are where horses get most of their vitamins.
2. When horses have very limited access to pasture. The concentration of vitamins in pasture is quite a bit higher than it is in hay and grain.
3. When a horse is more nervous or stressed than usual (e.g. from an intense show schedule, traveling long distances, intense training), or is generally a nervous horse
4. If a horse has any performance problems including muscular or nervous system problems.

There are many other factors that go into developing a feeding management program for the individual horse; these are just brief guidelines for feeding horses in general. For more information on feeding horses please see our nutrition fact sheets.

Alfalfa has been reported to be a good feed for horses with gastric ulcers due to the potential “buffering” effect of its high mineral content and protein. The higher calcium would not be a problem for your adult mare. However, because of its higher digestibility, if she is stall bound or in limited turnout work you would not be able to feed it free choice. An increase in training along with moving barns may contribute to persistence of the ulcers, but I would stop the GastroGard® once she is on a regular schedule and see if the new diet and routine help. Other supplements are not needed if your horse is maintained on good quality hay. If she is fed grain, try and stick with something that is not only high in fat, but has additional fiber as well (>10%).

When muscle enzymes, which are used to perform reactions in muscles, are found at high levels in the bloodstream, it means that they have somehow escaped from the muscle cells. Usually this occurs when the muscles are damaged by the process of tying-up. Scientifically speaking, the muscle membranes are ruptured and the cell contents leaks out into the bloodstream. This is not a long-term problem because muscles can repair themselves quite quickly; the horse may just be sore for a little while (kind of like when our muscles hurt after strenuous exercise). If the horse keeps tying-up it may become harder or take longer to repair, but usually one episode will not cause permanent damage.

Most low carb feeds have high levels of fiber, which is considered a “structural” carbohydrate. However, because fiber is slowly fermented in the hindgut of the horse, it is not metabolized in the same way that “soluble” carbohydrates are. Soluble carbs, i.e. sugars and starches, are digested in the small intestine. If they are overloaded, they will rapidly ferment in the hindgut.

That said, it is the overload of sugars and starches you want to avoid, such as your high-energy feeds and sweet feeds (e.g. corn, molasses, etc.). Oats, on the other hand, are not high in starch, but in fiber, so they will not be the problem here.

Some low carb feeds not only contain high levels of fiber, but are also formulated to have a high energy content. If so, they will have high levels of fat added to replace the energy lost by removing the starch. Check the feed tag of the feed you are using. It should be around 10% to 12% fat for racehorses. If it is lower than that you can still feed it if you want, but I would recommend adding another fat source to boost the energy content of the diet. You can do this using a vegetable oil or rice bran. You can add up to two cups per day of vegetable oil, but break it over three feedings. I like rice bran the best because horses love the taste and it is also high in fiber along with fat. Most companies will have a rice bran product. You can just feed it as per the directions on the bag.

Another component I recommend adding to the diet of a tied-up horse is vitamin E. Especially in racehorses, vitamin E has been shown to help decrease the amount of muscle damage due to intense exercise. I recommend a pure vitamin E product with no other added components (like selenium). You can feed up to 5,000 IU per day to an exercising horse. Just look on the label of the product to see how many IUs there are per ounce of the product and feed accordingly.

If I understand what you mean by “not right”, I would say he is a little muscle sore. This could have been from the intense work he just had, but if you have never had this problem, it is a bit strange (depending on how old he is). I have a couple of suggestions, but for a more detailed response I need to know more about his diet, i.e. how long and what kind of pasture is he on, what kind and how much hay do you feed, and is he on any other supplements?

I would recommend a high fat feed (at least 10%), with higher fiber content (>10%). Since he is an easy keeper, you shouldn’t need to feed more than 2 to 3 lbs. for your horse.

Make sure he is on good quality grass hay, especially if he is on limited pasture. The one supplement I would try after deciding on a feed is a Vitamin E supplement. I have found good results with higher levels of dietary vitamin E corresponding to lower levels of muscle enzyme leakage and muscle soreness. These commercial feeds have plenty of selenium in them so I would aim for a vitamin E supplement that is pure and does not contain selenium. VitaFlex makes one that is concentrated, so you only feed a little with his small amount of grain. Start with 2,500 IU/day and if you don’t see a difference in a month, or if he gets worse, raise the dosage to 5,000 IU/day.

The best way to get a horse with bad teeth to eat anything, especially roughage, is to feed hay cubes. You can purchase grass, legume or a legume/grass mix cubes. I recommend straight grass hay cubes for your horse. They can be fed with water so they break down and turn into a mash. You can actually add all of his feed to this mash, sweet feed included.

However, if he has no teeth at all, I would recommend switching your sweet feed to a pelleted, or, better yet, an extruded feed that you can add to the water and cubes for a total mash. Beet pulp and rice bran are also good additions to the diet. Rice bran is high in fat and can help him gain weight. Beet pulp is high in fiber, so if he doesn’t like the hay cubes, add beet pulp to the wet mixture. Remember, when feeding moistened feed, always weigh out what you are feeding before adding water to it!

First of all, does the mare have access to sandy soils and overgrazed pasture or is it fed in a paddock with sandy soil? If the mare is on sandy soil, what you describe is a classic sign for sand ingestion. Collect a handful of the mare’s feces and put it in a jar of water. If a layer of sand filters out to the bottom, look into getting her on a regimen of a Psyllium product designed to help eliminate sand. Consult with your veterinarian regarding doses. Try to prevent future ingestion by putting rubber mats under the area where she is fed and using a hay feeder that has a catch basin to keep hay off the ground. Also get her teeth checked for sharp points and hooks, especially at the back of the molars that might be making chewing difficult and affecting her ability to keep weight on.

Regardless of what the results from the above are, you are over supplementing this mare and that, in itself, could be the cause of the problem. Discontinue the probiotics; they are not helping and maybe contributing to the loose stools. The mare/foal feed is unnecessary. The high fat supplement you are using is redundant to the balancer pellet in its mineral and vitamin content and therefore should be discontinued as well. Assuming your veterinarian has not find evidence of liver or kidney problems but does detect pituitary dysfunction, which might be part of her problem, switch her to a low sugar, high fat feed; there are several on the market. Start by taking out one pound of the senior feed and adding one pound of the new feed each day at each feeding until completely switched. If you add a meal of two or more pounds per day (so she’d get three meals, two pounds each) plus the one pound per day of the balancer pellet I think you might see a difference. However, if kidney or liver problems are detected we will have to explore another route.

It is highly recommended to stay away from any form of feed that contains molasses, which is very high in potassium, and just use pure grains (e.g. oats, barley, corn, wheat, etc,) with beet pulp. The oat hay is appropriate; however, timothy and bermuda grass hays are the best in this case. As for the corn syrup, it will potentially help reduce the severity of the episodes. Theoretically, the rapid increases in blood sugar from these grains or the corn syrup will help drive potassium into the muscle cells, preventing the peaks in blood potassium which cause the clinical attacks. However, these have not been research tested, and only have been speculated to help. This is due to the insulin-mediated movement of potassium across cell membranes. You can use small amounts of the syrup on top of the grain meal without harming the horse.

 Other recommendations are to stay away from feeds high in potassium like alfalfa, orchard grass, brome hay and soybean meal, kelp products, and molasses. Also, it is recommended to develop a feeding routine that splits the daily ration into 3 to 5 small meals per day. The theory here is to keep the potassium intake as low as possible in each meal. Horses should have a daily ration between 0.6 and 1.1 % potassium, but ideally meals should contain < 33 g of potassium total. Avoiding exercise for the first three hours after a meal is recommended.

Actually the recommendations are not all that different! For the HYPP you want to restrict potassium; for the PSSM, restrict the sugars and starches. Soaking his grass hay in warm water for 30 minutes before feeding will leach out potassium and sugars, especially if he is fed a chopped hay product. (There are several out there; avoid those with added molasses). Feed no more than 7 to 10 lbs per feeding to prevent it from molding, and discard any leftovers before feeding more. He’ll probably need at least 3 feedings per day.

If he needs extra calories to maintain his weight/condition you could use corn or vegetable oil by pouring ½ to 1 cup over his hay each feeding. Make sure to add it slowly: start with about an eighth to a quarter cup and increase it over a week. The oils have no potassium or sugars. Rice bran and unmolassed beet pulp, both of which are relatively low in both potassium and sugars, can be mixed 1:2 by weight (e.g.: .5 lb bran to 1 lb beet pulp) and soaked in water as another fairly safe energy/protein/mineral type supplement. The oil could be added to that mixture too if extra calories are needed.

 Just avoid any alfalfa or soy meal -based feeds, which are high in potassium, and straight grains like corn or barley or sweet feeds, which are high in sugars.

I suspect that it is diet-related. When he was at the track they probably had him on a high fat, high energy diet. The low carb diet he is on now might not have the same fat content he was used to at the track. If you can get his dietary history from his past trainer that will help you get a sense of what he used to eat. However, since he is not racing anymore he no longer needs that level of fat.

I would recommend adding at least a small amount of a fat supplement to his diet. Without knowing his dietary history I can’t make any exact recommendations — but you can try a coat conditioner or just rice bran or corn oil. He would not need much, just 1/4 cup oil or 1 cup of rice bran. This should help his coat condition.

Your concern about him not eating for 4 days is valid. The phenylbutazone (“Bute”) could be contributing to gastric ulcers that would be also brought about by the stress involved. If the pasture was “stressed” (e.g.: went for a prolonged period without rain or was overgrazed) or the horse is overweight, this could have led to him foundering. If he is overweight I would be even more concerned, because prolonged “starvation” in a fat horse can cause liver damage.

I would try a bran mash. You can chop up carrots or apples to put in the mash; this usually stimulates eating. If he will eat the pelleted feed you typically use, I would strongly suggest changing over to one higher in protein, fiber and fat and lower in carbohydrates than the Equine Senior. Initially, you want to feed small amounts (1 or 2 lbs per feeding) at as frequent of an interval as possible (at least three times a day) if you do find something that he will eat.

The fact that he won’t even graze is especially worrisome; you could try hand picking grass for him and feeding it in his stall. It might be too painful for him to graze on his own. People are typically afraid of alfalfa in a founder-prone horse, but a handful of alfalfa pellets three or four times a day also might help him regain his appetite.

If he seems to do better when fed psyllium, you might try to just keep him on that. I know of no detriment to feeding it daily. There are very few forage substitutes that could easily be managed in a boarding situation and keep him healthy and sane. Three to four pounds of beet pulp fed 3 or 4 times a day might be an option, but it would have to be the type that does not contain molasses. Beet pulp would also require supplementation as it is not a “complete” feed, lacking in vitamins A, D and minerals. Most people feel more comfortable feeding it soaked, which is labor-intensive, but it does not have to be fed this way.

Have you had him allergy tested? Perhaps there is another hay that he could tolerate. Have you tried him on alfalfa? It can be harvested late in its growing season so as not to be so high energy and protein. There are timothy/alfalfa cubes that could be fed dry and basically free choice, which might be a good management-free option. The timothy pellets alone would not give him enough “chew time” to keep him happy, unfortunately. However, the other more obvious option would be plain timothy hay cubes without the alfalfa. These might not cost as much as actual timothy hay.

Your trainer and vet had you bounce the poor colt from one extreme to the other. He was probably overfed initially, but now he is severely deficient in both protein and minerals and is at even greater risk. The challenge now is to get him back on track without a serious compensatory growth spurt.

I would strongly suggest switching his concentrate to a restricted starch product balanced specifically for growing horses. These should have 14-16% protein. (Remember to read your feed tags!) Whichever brand you choose, do not use a sweet feed with added molasses.

Start him at 1 lb twice a day and slowly switch him onto an alfalfa/grass mix hay by adding ½ a flake each day. He needs the extra protein and calcium in the alfalfa. If you can not get a good quality mixed hay, add 1 to 2 lbs of timothy/alfalfa cubes to each feeding. Increase his concentrate intake by a half pound every 2-3 days until he is getting about 3 lbs twice a day. The biggest risk is that he will start to grow very rapidly and start to get upright in his pasterns. If that happens, cut the concentrate feedings in half but do not starve him.

It is pretty common for foals to have epiphysitis. The ration you had him on originally was perfectly fine. In fact, grass hay alone is probably too low in protein and minerals to meet his needs. This is most likely the cause of the epiphysitis, not an excess of protein and minerals. Right now his appearance and calm attitude are due to a lack of calories and protein. You are at risk of stunting his growth by keeping him on his current diet. However, any dietary changes will need to be made very slowly because if you improve his diet too quickly he will get a compensatory growth spurt that could cause problems.

He should be on a grass/legume (either alfalfa or clover) mix hay or free choice pasture, and fed a concentrate formulated for growth, like the Mare & Foal you had him on, up to a total of 6-7 lbs per day divided into 2 or 3 feedings. He should also have free access to salt and water. A plain white salt block is fine. However, do not start him on the concentrate too suddenly since he has had none for a while. I’d suggest giving only ½ lb per feeding for 2 or 3 days, then increasing by ½ lb per day until you reach the desired intake. Same with switching the hay; give only a pound or two of the new hay with the grass hay he is used to and gradually switch over. If he starts to get upright in his pasterns, back down to a slightly lower level for a few days and then gradually start increasing again. Do not discontinue the hay completely. The more turn out and free exercise he can get, the better.

The idea that epiphysitic foals need to be starved and put on low protein diets has been repeatedly disproved by research over the past 15 years. Refer to the fact sheet “Feeding the Rapidly Growing Foal” for more information on this topic.

I assume the mini stallion is in good body condition. If he is overly “plump” (fat pads around his tail, ribs not easily felt) that could be contributing to his problem. If he is fat, put him not only on a starch-restricted diet but also one to reduce his weight. You should be able to get good grass hay – I’d switch him to that instead of the alfalfa. Give him 2% of his body weight per day divided into two or three feedings, and make sure he has free access to salt and water. Assuming he is mature, you should not need other supplements. If you feel you have to give something, I’d suggest maybe 4 ounces of a low starch grain supplement or soaked beet pulp without molasses twice a day. You said the pasture was predominantly weeds, but that it is mowed. Frequent mowing will increase the carbohydrate content of the grasses present and encourage clover, which will contribute to his problems. You might try using a grazing muzzle when he is out

Blood calcium and magnesium concentrations do NOT reflect dietary intake. One can only determine adequacy by analyzing the feeds and supplements in the ration. There is no proven requirement for chromium in horses and it can be toxic if given in excess. It has not been scientifically documented to alter glucose metabolism as claimed on the Internet. Based on controlled, scientific studies performed in the late 90’s, the “recommended” doses of chromium might actually impair immune function, even in insulin resistant horses.

Similarly, magnesium supplementation has never been documented to alter insulin sensitivity and, contrary to popular belief, is not innocuous if given in excess. In a survey of feeding practices on the east coast in the early 90’s, I found that NO farms were feeding rations deficient in magnesium but several were in excess of recommended concentrations-and had an increased incidence of developmental orthopedic disease!

The best way to determine if your horse needs supplementation is to carefully read the labels of the feeds and supplements you are using and get an analysis of your hay and pasture. If you want help in evaluating your horse’s ration, contact an equine nutritionist with all of the pertinent information (age, breed, use of the horse, clinical signs you feel are a problem, amounts and nutrient analysis of all feeds/supplements, exercise regimen, pasture access, feeding regimen, etc.).

There are several options for a horse that is allergic to oats and wheat. First, one can find a feed mill or nutritionist that will formulate an individualized feed. The mill can make a pellet or textured mix without the things the horse is allergic to and then have it balanced with a vitamin/mineral premix. However, this may be expensive and time consuming.

If a commercial feed that does not contain these two ingredients is unavailable, feeding straight grain will probably be more cost effective than going with a custom formulated feed. Corn or barley can be a good substitute for oats, but be aware that corn has much more energy than barley. If it is necessary to feed more than 2-3 pounds of barley per feeding to maintain the horse’s weight, try adding rice bran as a fat source. Add up to 1-2 lbs of calcium fortified rice bran per day, and it will help maintain weight and manage energy level when being ridden. Vegetable or corn oil can also be used to provide more calories, though they are devoid of any other nutrients. A daily feeding of up to one cup per day, divided into several feedings can help maintain optimal body condition. Remember, make dietary changes slowly! So, if planning to add or change anything, try to do so over a period of at least two weeks.

Another important rule is to never forget forage. Horses should consume a minimum of 2.0% of their body weight in forage, whether it is hay, pasture or other source. A good grass hay is probably what your horse needs; however, if it is picky with hay consumption or the hay is not of good quality, feed an alfalfa mix or supplement with some alfalfa cubes or pellets during mealsSince it is a competition horse, balance out the straight grains and hay ration with a general vitamin and mineral supplement selected to complement the grains/hay chosen. Most commercial horse feeds that contain oats already have a premix in them, so if one decides to feed straight grains, provide this supplement separately. One may want to consult with a nutritionist to determine a horse’s needs.

My exact answer to your question would be based on what you use your horse for – i.e., what is his activity level – and what his body condition looks like. Does he keep weight on easily, or is he a hard keeper? The reason I ask is because if he doesn’t need a high energy feed he would do well on rolled barley top-dressed with a vitamin/mineral supplement. If he needs more energy you can add non-stabilized rice bran. You don’t need to add extra calcium if feeding alfalfa. Finding a company that produces a sweet feed without oats will be quite a challenge.

Your other option is to find a feed mill or nutritionist in your area that will work with you to formulate your own feed. You could ask the mill to make you a pellet or textured mix without the things he is allergic to and then have it balanced with a vitamin/mineral premix. Just make sure that any feed you have made is low in protein and calcium, since the alfalfa you will feed will supply all he needs.

Feeding straight grain will probably be more cost effective than going with a specially formulated pellet. If you find that you have to feed more than 2 lb of barley per feeding to maintain his weight then I would recommend rice bran. It will probably cost a bit more, but you can significantly cut back on the barley when you add this. Remember, with horses you always need to make dietary changes slowly! So, if you plan to add or change anything, try to do so over a period of at least 2 weeks.

A general multi-vitamin and mineral supplement for horses or plenty of fresh pasture grass would be better than a daily carrot or apple. The reason for this is because the concentration of vitamins and minerals that horses need in their diet is much greater than what can be provided in 1 carrot or apple per day. Plus, these natural sources are not balanced for a horse where most commercial companies specifically formulate their products for the needs of a horse. With this being said, if a horse is on good quality forage (i.e. hay or pasture) there is typically not a need for other supplements as they get most of what they need from green leafy forages. That is their source of vegetables!

It all depends on what level of E you are giving. I usually recommend that horses with muscle problems be given a 5000 IU/day supplement of E. (Watch that selenium is not increased this much as well.) Studies have shown that groups of horses given vitamin E supplements of 10,000 IU/d had decreased beta-carotene levels compared to groups of horses given a lower (5000 IU/d) dose and control groups (not given a supplement). The levels of beta-carotene were not shown to be deficient (as no deficiency level has been determined), but they could eventually affect vitamin A levels.

I would try to see if your horse could go with 5000 IU/d and still maintain his soundness without muscle problems. If your horse needs 10,000 IU/d of vitamin E, I recommend making sure he consumes good quality pasture or gets a beta-carotene or vitamin A supplement.

I would also consider asking your vet to take a muscle biopsy and test for Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM). It sounds like he might have a mild case since he responded so well to the high fat and high E supplementation.

An 1100 lb horse under heavy exercise requires 22,500 IU of vitamin A and 3300 IU of vitamin D per day, which is significantly below what your horses are receiving in the supplement alone. The upper safe limit reported by the National Research Council’s nutrient requirements for horses for vitamin D is 44 IU/kg of body weight per day; or for the 1100 lb horse about 22,000 IU/d. The level for vitamin A is 16,000 IU/kg of diet intake, or roughly 160,000 IU/d. Since the concentrate you feed has 3,000 IU of vitamin A per lb and 670 IU of vitamin D per lb, your horse is getting 22,500 IU/d of vitamin A and 5,025 IU/d of vitamin D from the feed alone. This is not taking into account any of the forage sources your horses eat, including pasture and hay which are typically excellent sources of vitamin A. If your horses are in the sunlight for at least 3 to 4 hours a day they do not need a dietary source of vitamin D since they can synthesize it in the body. It is not necessary to use supplements as an A or D source, especially if your horses have access to fresh pasture and sunlight. With that being said, you are still lower than the upper safe limit; keep this in mind if you decide to add another supplement to the diet. It is best to not purchase several supplements that have the same nutrients in them. It is good that you are taking the proactive approach to find out if there is a problem.

Copper sulfate can be used as a supplement to provide the trace mineral copper to horses. Copper is a necessary component of the equine diet. It is needed for enzymes that structure collagen for connective tissue, cartilage, and bone. Copper can be found in many tissues in the body, specifically the liver, brain, heart, kidneys, the pigmented part of the eye, and the hair. Important functions of copper include red blood cell formation, bone formation, and hair pigmentation. Copper is also important in the hoof health of horses.

The current National Research Council (NRC) equine copper requirement is 10 parts per million (ppm) for horses of all ages, although that requirement is raised slightly for growing or pregnant horses. This being said, horses can tolerate a dose of up to 800 ppm without adverse effects, but above this amount could be unsafe.

The greatest concern with horses is not copper toxicity, but rather copper deficiency. Copper deficiencies can be seen clearly in the wool of sheep, although in horses the deficiency is not so easily visualized. Some signs of equine copper deficiency include a loss of black pigment in the hair, causing a brown “spectacled” appearance of the hair around the eyes, and a coarse hair quality. A horse with a copper deficiency has a tendency to arterially rupture and develop chronic anemia. In addition, copper deficiency in the horse results in bone abnormalities. The cartilage matrix fails to mineralize properly, so the cortex of long bones will be thin, leaving them more likely to be brittle and easily breakable.

Inorganic sulfur (in forms such as a yellow powder) has not been shown to be essential, although organic sulfur (in forms such as sulfur-containing amino acids found in organic protein sources) is necessary to the equine diet. It is necessary for synthesizing cartilage and other organic components in the body, as well as being an essential component in blood clotting.

Equine sulfur requirements have not been established, but the NRC states that .15% of the diet is adequate. Sulfur toxicity is not a major concern in horses. Excesses of all amino acids cause anorexia and growth depression, but this is not necessarily a concern relating to organic sulfur in particular. Elemental sulfur is actually viewed as one of the least toxic elements.

Sulfur is usually available in the horse’s forage, however if this is not the case there may be a need for a very small amount of sulfur supplementation in the diet. This should occur in the form of an organic source to ensure that the sulfur is absorbed and utilized most effectively. Interestingly, sulfur combined with molybdenum can interfere with copper absorption, causing either copper toxicity or deficiency. A horse that has a high intake of sulfur from any source is at a risk of a copper deficiency. If the sulfur amounts in the diet are below 2200 parts per million (ppm) toxicity will not be a concern.

This is one of my favorite questions! I will answer your last question first. I have asked more farriers and vets than I can count what the correlation is between white hooves and problems. There is no correlation. A lot of people think that there is, but it has never been proven to be true. As for internal supplements to help hoof growth, I can recommend four different ingredients:

• Biotin is a B vitamin that helps to activate production of keratin, which is the major component of the hoof.
• Iodine is essential for thyroid hormones that help develop all body tissues, including hoof tissue.
• Methionine is responsible for helping with the production of keratin.
• Zinc contributes to the health of the hoof and reactions in controlling metabolism.

Each of these ingredients has been studied as to its most effective dose. It is advisable to look at supplement labels when purchasing hoof supplements because many supplements do not contain the appropriate amounts. Biotin should at 20 mg/day, iodine should be 1 mg/day and zinc should be between 175 and 250 mg/day. Amounts for methionine are unknown in terms of hoof health. Just be careful if you are already adding supplements to the diet that contain these products. Excessive iodine and methionine could cause more problems than going without the supplement altogether. You should choose a supplement that is most important to your horse if you have more than one with these ingredients.

Another caution with feeding hoof supplements is that while they are proven to help horses with problem hooves, they have never been shown to improve hooves that are not in need of extra help. Also these supplements take a long time to show any benefits. Hooves grow from the coronet band down, which takes about 1 year to grow from the top until it is trimmed off at the bottom. So give these supplements at least six months to see if they are making an impact on the quality on the hoof as it grows. Some studies have also shown that horses on a good balanced diet are getting just as many benefits as with an added hoof supplement, but that will depend on the horse and the hoof problem. Higher fat diets have also been shown to help with hoof condition as well (if at least 10% fat).

As for any topical solution for hoof strength, any farrier you ask will tell you something different, but the one that most will usually tell you works is venice turpentine. Venice turpentine is a viscous resin from the European Larch, a pine tree. It is used for lithographic work, as a sealing wax, and in varnishes. Horsemen have used it for years as a salve for cuts and as a hoof dressing. The stuff is very sticky, and messy, and applied to the bottom of the hoof, but for horses with thin soles or helping hooves strengthen after an abscess, this seems to work. Many hoof hardener products will include this in their list of ingredients. In most instances an iodine solution will also work if you coat the bottom of the hoof. A lot of the hoof conditioners out there will just put a shinny coat on the hoof and are not really doing much good otherwise. You can apply both of these products as necessary, but usually weekly works unless the conditions are very wet where he is stabled, than daily might be more appropriate.

Assuming your horse is already getting free choice hay, rice bran is a great fat supplement because horses rarely reject it. Rice bran is also high in calories and fiber. Many horses do lose condition in the winter and need extra energy to maintain their ideal body weight. Adding rice bran will increase the calorie content in the feed and will create more energy for weight gain without the effect of a high-sugar diet (hyperactivity). Your horse could probably get about one-to-two pounds per day (based on a 1000 pound horse), but it is best to follow the recommendation on the bag since various products differ somewhat. “Stabilized” rice bran is fortified with a higher level of calcium. Natural rice bran is typically low in this mineral while being very high in phosphorus. Remember, one needs to be careful when adding fat to the diet. It needs to be introduced slowly. For example, start with about ¼ lb and increase the amount slowly over the course of one-to-two weeks. This is the standard time for any change in feed.

Try this for a few weeks to one month and monitor the body condition. As with any horse, one should not be able to see its ribs, but should be able to easily feel them when running a hand down its side. The top line (withers and loin area) should have fat cover without bulging or rippling. If your mare is not on free access to hay, increase hay intake before going to the more expensive supplements.

The dose of psyllium that is reported to help with insulin resistance is less than 1/5 of that used for sand clearance (90 g daily versus 500 g for a week for a 500 kg horse). See the research reference: Moreau et al, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 31, Issue 4, Pages 160-165, April 2011. If your horse will eat the organic psyllium husk, you can certainly try it, but be aware that the actual efficacy of psyllium in clearing sand from the gastrointestinal system of horses is somewhat debatable.

The best treatment for both conditions is to feed grass hay in feeders that are on platforms or mats that are kept clean. This way the horses are not getting high grain rations or scrounging for morsels on the sandy ground. Ideally the hay should be fed free choice, but if your horse is overweight, feed whatever hay it is allotted (should be 1.5 to 2.0% of body weight), divided into at least three, but preferably four, separate feedings.

I usually don’t recommend feeding a lot of supplements, especially if the horse/pony is on a good balanced diet. Ponies in general usually only require good quality hay balanced with a mineral supplement. If they are exercising regularly they may require a small amount of grain to provide additional energy. But with her soy allergy I would avoid doing that if at all possible. When you start mixing a lot of supplements you risk throwing your horse/pony’s diet out of balance.

In terms of the tying-up I would make sure that the beet pulp you are feeding has no molasses in it. Horses that suffer from tying up need as few sugars in the diet as possible. If horses need extra energy it should be provided as fat instead of carbohydrates. In this situation I would also recommend a vitamin E supplement without selenium. This vitamin is found in very low levels in most grass hay and if she is not on grass at all it might be part of the tying up problem. You can feed up to about 2,500 IU/day for a pony. Horses can get about 5,000 IU/day. Read the supplement label to see how many IU are in an ounce or scoop. Make sure it is a pure E supplement and doesn’t have loads of other products in it (especially selenium).

As for the electrolytes, they are only needed when she is sweating profusely, for example, after intense exercise or on a day with 100-degree temperatures. Daily supplementation of electrolytes is of no benefit and may throw off the natural electrolyte balance. The joint supplement could be helpful if she is suffering from a joint problem, however, not all horses will respond the same way. These supplements are not used as a preventative measure for future joint problems.

My final recommendation is this: back down on the electrolytes and check your joint supplement to see if it is necessary. If so, give only a pure supplement (only glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, or MSM; it may have some magnesium or vitamin C) along with a multivitamin formulated for horses/ponies. Check the vitamin E content of this supplement as well. Most don’t have more than 100 IU/scoop, so I would still recommend the straight E supplement. However, if all your supplements have additional or superfluous ingredients, you may be overdoing vitamins and minerals unnecessarily and I would not give the multivitamin.

To my knowledge, pine nut oil has not been specifically tested in horses. Since they can digest and utilize virtually all other edible oils tested, I assume it would be safe in limited (no more than a cup or two per day maximum) quantities if it is introduced slowly to the diet.

There has been research on the efficacy of other edible oils to help with equine gastric ulcers—they do not work. Horses’ stomachs are very different from humans’. The best nutritional strategies to prevent gastric ulcers are to give as much turnout as possible, provide free access to forages (with some alfalfa, which seems to be somewhat protective due to its high calcium content) and to limit grain as much as possible, avoiding large meals of sweet or other high-starch feeds.

1. Glucosamine HCl (hydrochloride) and glucosamine sulfate are commonly found in just about every equine joint supplement along with chondroitin sulfate. Glucosamine (GC) is a building block for glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), one of the major components of the articular cartilage around the joint in adult horses. This molecule is naturally made from glucose by the cartilage cells, however if there is enough inflammation or trauma to the joint, glucosamine and other important molecules can become depleted, leaving the cartilage and underlying bone unprotected from enzymes and inflammatory cells that ultimately can cause arthritis and degenerative joint disease. With respect to oral joint supplements, there are two forms of glucosamine commonly listed among a variety of ingredients. Glucosamine HCl is a water-soluble molecule and is said to be more available to the chondrocytes and other target tissues horse than glucosamine sulfate. While results from clinical research studies remain conflicted, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence supporting the anti-arthritic properties of ingredients like glucosamine HCl.

2. Unfortunately, most joint supplements or nutraceuticals out there are not FDA regulated and do not meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) labeling standards. The products often fall short of the claims made on labels and in advertisements, making them a waste of money. Additionally, the effects of ingredients like MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) and antioxidants (vitamin C) can be achieved simply by maintaining your horse on a nutritionally balanced diet without added supplements.

The dosage will depend on the product chosen. However, one particularly popular product recommends that after the initial treatment, the maintenance dosage for an average horse is one to two scoops daily according to the horse’s weight. Each level scoopful (3.3g) contains 1800mg GC HCl, 600mg sodium chondroitin sulfate, and 16mg manganese ascorbate (vitamin C). Treatment and dosage depends on the nature (type) of injury or disease, how advanced it is, and the intended or current use of the horse, not the horse’s age. Unless the horse has special dietary or medical needs, follow label instructions and always seek the expert opinion of your veterinarian before administering any type of drug, nutraceutical, or supplement.

3.Yucca is incorporated into many joint supplements because it is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties. However, there are no clinical research studies on the properties of yucca and its effect(s), or lack thereof, on joint inflammation in horses or if it contributes to gastric upset in horses. Due to a general lack of sound clinical research on its efficacy, I wouldn’t recommend its use.

It is always a good idea to have your horse examined by a reputable equine veterinarian to determine the nature of the injury or chronic disease causing the pain. The use of oral or injectable NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as phenylbutazone or ketoprofin may be used short-term to reduce and initially control inflammation in joints. Long-term usage of NSAIDs is not recommended due to potential toxic effects such as stomach ulcers. A veterinarian’s expert opinion should be sought before administering any sort of treatment and compliance with drug use regulations for any type of competition should be maintained if applicable. In any case, care should be taken not to inappropriately or prematurely return a horse to training and/or competition performance levels even if response to treatment is quick and effective at reducing lameness.

I am prohibited from making a direct recommendation of a name-brand product, however, I will provide you with the research that I know of on the following product ingredients, and give you a few other options for your horse. These ingredients can be found in many common joint supplements. All of the joint supplements have had a general lack of sound clinical research on their efficacy, however plenty of testimonials are provided for every type. Always be sure to check your supplements; know your ingredients and don’t administer any product to your horse unless the package clearly lists all of its ingredients on the label.

Ingredients: Glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, manganese ascorbate

Administration: Oral
Research: Clinical tests showed no benefit to lameness, stride length, carpal circumference, knee flexion, or joint fluid (synovial fluid) parameters from supplementing at the recommended dose for 36 days in horses were observed. Furthermore, results from a clinical study evaluating the availability of oral glucosamine (GC) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) in horses found that these molecules are not absorbed in the intestine and therefore are not available to the synovial joints through the bloodstream. Joint injections of steroids (glucocorticoids) may also be administered by a veterinarian to reduce inflammation and pain, but again long term or chronic use is not recommended. There are a few FDA regulated products.

Ingredient: Polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAGs)

Administration: Intra-muscular (IM)

Research: These products have been shown to have significant improvements in lameness scores, stride length, flexion, and carpal swelling. It should be noted that while they will most likely help prevent further damage to the articular cartilage, they have not been shown to heal or repair defects already present.

Ingredient: Hyaluronate sodium
Administration: Intravenous (IV); Oral
Research: Clinical research on the efficacy of oral forms of hyaluronan-based supplements has yet to be completed. Intravenous hyaluronic acid (HA) treatment has been shown to improve lameness scores by interacting with cells in the joint fluid and reducing local inflammation and subsequent pain. The best use for HA is thought to be in horses suffering from acute injury or mild to moderate joint inflammation where its anti-inflammatory properties will be the most beneficial/therapeutic.

There is some debate regarding the efficacy of treatment with an intra-articular injection (into the joint) of high molecular weight HA versus low molecular weight HA. Very little clinical research has been conducted on this, and the existing studies do not provide unequivocal evidence that molecular weight has a direct pharmacological effect on efficacy.

Ingredient: Diclofenac sodium

Administration: Topical product (cream applied over the affected joint)

Research: This is another unique ingredient that is worth mentioning. It is brand new and has received FDA approval for the treatment of pain and inflammation associated with degenerative joint disease in horses. Aside from research performed by the company that manufactures the product, outside clinical research has not been published regarding its effectiveness. There have been quite a few horse owners who claim it works well and meets label claims. It can be obtained by prescription only, but it might be a less expensive alternative to other products, assuming your veterinarian has determined that it is an appropriate treatment.

It is always a good idea to have your horse examined by a reputable equine veterinarian to determine lameness score and the nature of the injury or chronic disease causing the pain. The use of oral or injectable NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as phenylbutazone or ketoprofin may be used short-term to reduce and initially control inflammation in joints. Long-term usage of NSAIDs is not recommended due to potential toxic effects such as stomach ulcers. A veterinarian’s expert opinion should be sought before administering any sort of treatment and compliance with drug use regulations for any type of competition should be maintained if applicable. In any case, care should be taken not to inappropriately or prematurely return a horse to training and/or competition performance levels even if response to treatment is quick and effective at reducing lameness.

Anemia in horses is commonly misdiagnosed. Horses have a spleen, which stores about 1/3 of the body’s red blood cells (RBC). In any time of excitement, e.g. exercise or a sudden spook, the spleen will contract, releasing RBC. To accurately diagnose anemia, it is important to take a blood sample when the horse is at rest. Stall rest will give a lower reading than pasture rest because the horse will not be walking around grazing. You can also take several samples over the course of a few days and average the results. The blood will be analyzed for the packed cell volume (PCV), which should range around 40 %. The horse is considered anemic when the PCV drops below 30 %.

Anemia does not result directly from an iron deficiency. Causes of anemia can include blood loss, parasite infection, and RBC degradation or lack of production. The most difficult obstacle in curing anemia is finding the root of the problem first. Once that is eliminated, the anemia will usually correct itself. Iron supplementation will not help unless you correct the underlying problem of the anemia first. Iron injections are commonly used, but should be given with caution! Iron can be toxic and possibly fatal; anaphylactic shock due to the injection is also possible.

With exercise training and conditioning there will be a natural increase in plasma volume to enhance cardiovascular and thermoregulatory stability.  So, fit horses may have a lower resting PCV compared to unfit horses.

The selenium and vitamin E you have him on is a good idea. These are both antioxidants that are known to have a protective effect on cell membranes, specifically protecting cells of the immune system. I would definitely keep him on the vitamin E – you could go up to 2500 IU/day on a non-exercising horse. Selenium can be a little harder to supplement because the soil around here is borderline deficient, feed companies add selenium to their products, and the selenium levels in hay will depend on where it comes from. You don’t want to supplement too much selenium because it can be toxic to the system at high doses (about 18 mg/day). Just be sure to watch the amounts in all your supplements.

Another antioxidant that you tend to find in mixtures for boosting the immune system is glutathione. This compound is used to protect immune cells as well and also recycle vitamin E after it has been used to fight the harmful damage itself. Vitamin C is good to use specifically around stressful times, but long-term use is not needed since the horse’s liver produces its own. However, if your horse has surgery, keeping him on a C supplement (about 7 to 10 g/day) while at the hospital and for about a week after would help him in case he isn’t producing enough to combat the harmful products produced during this stressful time.

 When purchasing supplements, make sure you know how much of each component is in the product. Be very cautious about buying a product that claims its ingredients are “proprietary information” or does not list its ingredients. You should at least be able to know how much of each vitamin and mineral is in the mix. You need to know what you are really feeding! Many supplement companies offer ingredient lists on their websites.

For dietary hoof supplements to be effective, the problem needs to be due to a nutritional deficiency. From what you say about the horse’s condition and ration fed, it does not sound as if the diet is deficient. Also take into account that genetics and the environment play a role in how a horse’s hooves develop. If you would still like to try a supplement, remember they work from the inside out. Feed the supplement for at least six months before deciding whether it is working or not. The things to look at in a hoof dietary supplement are:

Biotin – a B vitamin activates production of keratin. Provide about 20 mg/day in the supplement.

Iodine – essential for thyroid hormones that develop all tissues. Provide about 1 mg/day in the supplement.

Methionine – responsible for keratin within the hoof. The amount needed to have an effect is not known, but should be at least present in a small amount in the supplement.

Zinc – contributes to the health of the hoof and reactions controlling metabolism. Provide between 175-250 mg/day in the supplement.

Because specific problems were not mentioned in the question, the answer provided is generic in nature. There are a few concerns when feeding herbal products: 1) Some herbal products are actually parts of plants that are toxic to horses. Horsetail is a toxic plant that can cause weight loss, diarrhea, and various nervous conditions including lack of coordination if fed in large amounts, 2) Some herbal products have been found to negatively interact with other dietary products and medications; consult with your veterinarian in this case, 3) Many herbal products are on the banned substance list for some show organizations or racing circuits. If your horse is showing, make sure to check the ‘banned substance’ list, 4) Research on most herbal products has not been conducted in horses. There are very few herbal products that have actually been tested in horses (echinacea, garlic, and various poly-herbal products) and many of these have not been found to be beneficial or have the same proven benefits as in other species.

Many humans who exercise on a regular basis have a much higher intake of glutamine than the average human due to protein supplements and high protein meals. Recommendations that athletes take glutamine are made due to the belief that glutamine can support immune function and increase glycogen synthesis. Unfortunately, the beneficial reasons for taking glutamine are not backed by controlled research studies.

Glutamine is an amino acid that normally exists in very high amounts in the body, higher than any other amino acid. Because the body can normally make adequate amounts, it is not an essential dietary amino acid. It is stored mostly in muscle and secondarily in the lungs. Glutamine is required to remove excess ammonia, support brain function and digestion, and to support immune function. After exhaustive prolonged exercise, such as running a marathon, glutamine supplementation may be beneficial, but no evidence exists that it aids in repair after less intense exercise.

Glutamine supplements do exist for horses. Manufacturers’ claims are similar to those for human supplements and are equally lacking in any scientific evidence that they are true. Some studies in horses have shown that extreme stress from exercise or infection causes a decrease in glutamine concentration in the plasma; therefore, these horses may benefit from supplementation of glutamine. During severe malnutrition, research has also shown that supplementation of glutamine can aid in the repair of small intestinal mucosa and immune function in some species. However, due to the potential for interference with absorption and utilization of other amino acids that are essential in the diet, it is not recommended to supplement single amino acids on a regular basis.

In response to your question on garlic I will provide some background and some studies that have shown its effects. Garlic is a plant in the genus Allium. It is given to horses because it is believed to act as an insect repellent, anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, anti-bacterial, disinfectant and anti-allergic. Garlic is related to onions, shallots, and leeks. Years ago, horses were discovered to become ill after consuming large quantities of wild onion. A study was performed in 1972 to test the effects of onion intake in horses. The horse in the study was fed onion tops in large daily quantities. The horse became anemic and lost most of its red blood cells within 11 days.

The anemia is caused by a specific chemical element of allium plants, N-propyl disulfide. The chemical is responsible for altering an enzyme in the red blood cells of the horses. The changes cause the red blood cells to deform and be removed by the spleen. This type of anemia is called Heinz-body anemia.

The issue with garlic is that it has undergone little testing of its own in regards to horses. Cats, dogs, and other animals are known to have this reaction to garlic as well as onions. Some claim horses have been known to show signs of anemia after an overdose of garlic. The worry is that the same effects could occur with small doses over an extended period of time. Studies about the effects of garlic on horses are only a recent occurrence.

In 2005 a study was published that tested the effects of garlic on horses. A study performed at the University of Guelph in Canada tested 4 horses; two given garlic in their daily diets and the other two with a garlic-free diet. The amount of garlic given was increased daily, reaching a maximum of 5 cups per day. The study lasted for 71 days. The blood chemistry of the garlic-fed horses showed signs of changing within three weeks. The horses did show signs of Heinz-body anemia in reaction to garlic exposure. However, the study gave doses of garlic many times the size of those given to horses in real practice. They estimated that effects would appear if horses were fed 500 grams daily.

If you are feeding 10 ml daily, it would not be a high enough dose to cause harmful effects. However, little is known about the long-term effects of such exposure. Some believe that in the long term, although signs would not readily show, the exposure could cause loss in stamina, energy, and resistance to disease. Plus, these studies are all concerning pure garlic. The garlic found in different horse products is considered less controversial. This is because many of the products that contain garlic lack the active ingredient (allicin) that is the cause for concern. This may cause the products to be less effective than straight garlic, but they are thought to be safe. The studies done to date still have no measure for the correct daily dose of garlic that should be given to horses. Some studies believe that the low-dose, long-term exposure would have the same negative effects as the high-dose exposure in the experiments. Others believe that the low dosage could not build up the same effects.

I would try rice bran. It is a high fat/high fiber supplement that is my favorite for putting weight on a horse. It is very palatable, so horses love it, and it is high in fiber, so they get that benefit as well. Make sure when buying rice bran that is it a “stabilized” product. This means that it is balanced for the naturally low levels of calcium found in rice bran.

When starting to feed higher fat supplements you need to start off slowly, read the directions and see how much product is recommended. Start by dropping her grain amount back down to where it was before she was hyper, and slowly increase the rice bran about ½ a cup more every two days until you reach the recommended amount. This process should take 2-3 weeks. Then monitor her weight over the next few months. If she gains, then maintains, you are at a good level. If she is still thin, or keeps gaining too much, add more or back off, but make sure to do so slowly!

If this does not help, you may need to revaluate her hay ration. Remember, horses should eat a total of 2% of their body weight daily, so make sure she is getting adequate hay. They can actually have free choice access to hay, but it should be of good quality so that she is not just getting fiber, but protein and minerals as well.

I know many people who do swear by flax seed, however, I do not have any personal experience using it. The raw seeds contain cyanogenic glycoside compounds which, when the seeds are ground, and especially if moistened, will release cyanide! However, this really is not a concern, since the enzymes needed to cause the cyanide release are inactivated by boiling and gastric acids. So, as long as you don’t add water before feeding the flax meal, it should not be a problem. If the meal is processed in any way it is also probably totally safe. Read the label again to see if there are other substances added. If not, the warning is probably due to the minuscule risk of cyanide poisoning. But it shouldn’t hurt in small enough quantities.

The presence of cyanogenic glycosides in the diet is significant only in relation to dose and the nutritional status of the consumer. Flax seed meal contains two cyanogenic glycosides, linustatin and neolinustatin. Many foods are slightly cyanogenic (e.g. wheat and barley!), probably as an evolutionary adaptation to discourage herbivory, and our body and our horses have a limited capacity to detoxify low concentrations of cyanide through addition of sulphur (from amino acids). Thus, if the dietary levels of sulphur-containing amino acids are high, the body can resist a low intake of cyanide, but if the diet is low in protein overall, then we see toxicity.

It has been determined that up to 50g high-alpha-linolenic acid flaxseed is palatable, safe and may be nutritionally beneficial in humans by raising n-3 fatty acids in plasma and erythrocytes and by decreasing post-prandial glucose responses. (Cunnane S, et al, (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada) Br J Nutr, 69:443, 1993).

I have no direct experience with feeding fish extracts to horses, but there should be no risk with this type of product. The protein quality should be fairly high and highly digestible to horses. According to the 2007 NRC (Nutrient Requirements for Horses), fish meals contain 68.5 to 71.2% protein. They are an excellent source of lysine, which is good for growing race horses. They also contain 5 to 10% fat, which is a good energy source for them as well. I was surprised to see the meals are also high in Calcium (4 to 5%) and Phosphorus (2 to 3%), which would also be good for growing bones. (Menhaden and anchovy are the only fish extracts studied in horses.)

All in all, the fish meals would appear to be a good source of desired nutrients for racing/growing horses; if they will eat them. I do not think they would confer an “extra” advantage when racing, other than allowing balancing for optimal nutrient intake.

Before I answer your question about the fat supplements, let me first ask you if you have had their teeth checked lately and are on a current de-worming schedule, especially the 24-year-old. If they are in good dental health then I would look at the amount and type of sweet feed and oats you are feeding them now. I worry that 2 flakes of hay daily may not be enough. The round bale will help by allowing free choice access, but it is important that it is kept under cover to prevent mold. If it is left out on the ground I would recommend vaccinating your horses against botulism before starting to feed it. If the 24-year-old is having trouble chewing the forage, try hay cubes that can be soaked in water to form a “mush”. There are also complete feeds with increased fiber and lower calorie content meant to be fed in higher quantities to replace the lack of roughage. Most major horse feed companies make these feeds.

If their teeth aren’t the problem then they should be better on free choice forage, especially if it is good quality grass hay. I would steer away from a sweet feed in favor of a feed with higher fat and fiber. This will take care of your fat supplement and keep you from having to use a fat source such as corn oil or rice bran (the 2 most commonly used fat supplements). Look for a feed containing about 7% or higher fat, 10-14% protein, and over 8% fiber. Pick one – don’t mix and match – and offer this feed without the crimped oats. Be sure to introduce the new feed slowly: substitute a pound of the new for a pound of the old until you get them totally switched over. Without knowing their breeds and how much feed they are currently on, it is hard to estimate the total amount they should get at each feeding. The most an average 1,000-pound horse’s stomach can handle at a time is 5 pounds. So, take a bathroom scale and weigh a scoop of what they are getting now against a scoop of the new feed. If they don’t start gaining with just a feed change, you could try adding in a 2- to 3-pound “lunch” or “midnight snack”. I think the lack of hay is the primary cause of the problem and simply increasing their forage quantity will help. Give them at least two weeks to adapt to the new hay and feed before you make the decision to increase their grain.

Additional fat will only help horses that need to put on weight. Most easy keepers should not get additional fat in the diet if they have a body condition score above 6-7 (I’m just guessing, but I thought a specific range might be helpful). You can feed a 1000 lb horse up to 2 cups of fat (oil) per day. However, I would not recommend this for your horse, because it sounds like he does not need any additional calorie load. Typically, when horses have problems with their energy level and are slightly overweight, they are taking in too much sugar/starch in their meals. The “lite” feed you are giving him is a good food source, because its higher fiber content will dilute out the extra energy he might be getting from other carbohydrate sources.

I hate to say it, but some horses that have extra energy may just need to be exercised more to utilize extra calories. Some horses will not respond to changes in feed, others might respond to a calming supplement with extra B-vitamins and amino acids. No research has ever been done on these products to prove if they are effective, but they may work on a case-by-case basis. There is more information on these supplements at https://esc.rutgers.edu/ask_expert/ate_nuts.htm#hcs

For your horse, I would recommend discontinuing the corn oil as it may be providing too much energy. Energy from fat will burn slower than that from carbohydrates. This does cause a calming effect, but due to fat’s additional calories this approach might not be appropriate for your horse or any easy keepers. Try increasing his exercise intensity. If this does not work, try a calming product. His high energy may just be his natural behavior. Sometimes an immediate solution is not evident, but over time, a long-term training solution may prove helpful as the horse gets older.

After searching through many references, I did not come across any scientific peer-reviewed articles either supporting or refuting the use of enteric-coated joint supplements in equines or canines. Several products in equine supplement catalogs advertised different “absorption catalysts”, or different carriers (e.g. an alfalfa base) for the active ingredients in their joint supplements, implying that their product was more readily available to the animal than other products.

More controlled clinical research is needed to investigate the bioavailability of common equine joint support product ingredients. Until we know if, how, and in what form the ingredients are being absorbed, the benefit(s) of enteric-coated supplements is not relevant.

I am not as familiar with canine joint supplement products. However, after reviewing many of the oral products being marketed for dogs, I found many common ingredients between equine and canine joint products. Canine supplements commonly are sold in chewable tabs, powder, or liquid. I did not come across any product claiming enteric coating of their joint support product.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are commonly used to treat joint inflammation and pain. Many orally administered NSAIDs have been found to have toxic effects coinciding with chronic use or large doses, including gastric ulceration in both dogs and horses. I am unaware of enteric-coated NSAID products for horses, but I do think there are some for canines.

To the best of my knowledge, it is unknown if the efficacy of oral joint supplements in equines and canines is improved with the use of enteric-coated ingredients.

Electrolytes may not be needed daily, but they may be the solution to your horse’s drinking problem. They are only lost when a horse sweats profusely, e.g. during heavy competition, a long hard trail ride, or intense schooling. Daily electrolytes are not usually recommended unless the horse is profusely sweating daily, which is not usually the case.

The easiest way to give electrolytes is with a syringe paste, like a dewormer. These electrolytes are already formulated so that one syringe typically contains several doses. If schooling or at home, a dose after riding will be adequate. If at a show for a day or two and your horse typically doesn’t like to drink, you might want to give a dose before leaving for the show (always take your own water), then after the competition is over. Check for signs of dehydration 24 hours after the show (use the skin pinch, capillary refill time and mucous membrane color tests) and if she is looking a little dry give a third dose the day after the show as well. If you had an endurance race or were riding in a competitive trail ride you would probably want to give two more doses on the competition day, however, that again depends on the temperature and humidity outside and amount of sweating.

Most of these supplements will include probiotics; they include those fermentation-related factors such as naturally occurring live organisms Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium. They are found to be beneficial to the digestive tract because they produce digestive enzymes to help break down proteins, starches, fiber, fats and sugars. They also produce B-vitamins and growth inhibitors against pathogenic microbes and fungi. Carriers consist of nutrient dense fermentation solubles. Probiotics are usually intended for all situations where there is a need to restore, stabilize and maintain optimal level of the gastrointestinal micro flora, such as after antibiotic treatment, illness or surgery or other stressful conditions. They are safe for weaned and pre-weaned foals for maintaining proper digestive balance. Many researchers are simply not certain of the precise bacteriostatic roles played by antimicrobials, lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide. What is certain is that substances produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus do help establish a normal gut microflora. They do so by inhibiting the growth of disease-causing organisms within intestinal tracts. With this being said probiotics will not have much impact on the horse with an existing healthy gut flora.

Yeasts are also found in some digestive aids. In scientific research, yeast has been shown to increase fiber digestion, thereby making more nutrients available for the horse to absorb; increase the availability of dietary phosphorus; normalize problem feces, including diarrhea; stabilize gut pH (acid/alkaline level); reduce level of pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria; and result in the production of higher quality milk by lactating mares and improved growth rates and health of their foals.

The full name of the mushroom in question is Cordyceps sinensis. In humans, it has been associated with increased energy levels, reduced fatigue and an enhanced ability to use oxygen. Its proponents claim that it relieves asthma, increases lung function, and improves athletic performance. Many of the available testimonials for Cordyceps are from either geriatrics or people with health problems. It is an expensive supplement – if a dose costs $1.00/day for humans, multiply that by 6 or 7 for horses to get an “effective” dose. There is no proof of safety or efficacy in horses, nor any assurance that the mushroom would not test positive in drug tests as the active ingredient(s) are not yet known. I would be hesitant to use it in racehorses.

Cobalt is a trace element mineral. It is the central element in Cyanocobalamin, better known as vitamin B-12. Vitamin B-12 is commonly given to racehorses. It is depleted during stress, essential for optimal energy utilization and, though not scientifically proven, thought to have a calming effect in high doses. Deficits cause anemia.

High blood cobalt probably would indicate high doses of B-12 being given (the trace mineral is easier to test than the actual vitamin). The calming effect would be undesirable in a racehorse. It is virtually non-toxic and rapidly excreted through the kidneys if given in large doses, so there is no negative consequence other than possibly a quieter horse. It is recommended to give B-12 to stressed horses at around 30 microgram/kg of feed. There are no requirements for cobalt established for horses so it is uncertain what normal or excessive blood concentrations of cobalt would be. The National Research Council (2007) has set the maximum tolerable intake for cobalt to be 25 mg/kg (ppm) in the total ration but admits they base that decision on data from other species. There is no indication that horses on normal rations need supplemental cobalt.

This is a question I am often asked about “calming supplements.” Whether or not they work as they claim to is up in the air. I have not seen any research dealing with calming supplements, but there are plenty of people testifying to their effectiveness. Each ingredient has a proposed mechanism. I can shed some light on this; however, use caution when feeding them, as you may be wasting your money.

Taurine: Low taurine and magnesium levels have been found in patients after heart attacks. Like magnesium, taurine affects cell membrane electrical excitability by normalizing potassium flow in and out of heart muscle cells. Taurine functions in electrically active tissues such as the brain and heart to help stabilize cell membranes. Taurine seems to inhibit and modulate neurotransmitters (like glycine and GABA) in the brain and helps to stabilize cell membranes. It also has functions in the gallbladder, eyes, and blood vessels and appears to have some antioxidant and detoxifying activity. Taurine aids the movement of potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium in and out of cells and thus helps generate nerve impulses.

Thiamine: Thiamine is very important for the normal function of the citric acid cycle. In this cycle, breakdown products of carbohydrates, fats and proteins are brought together for further breakdown and synthesis. High-grain diets result in a greater requirement for thiamine. Thiamine-deficient animals may be weak with poor appetites, weight loss and incoordination (especially in the hind legs) and exhibit nervousness that contributes to inefficient weight gain. A deficiency in thiamine can result in a number of different nervous disorders and hyper-irritability. Ensuring that thiamine status is optimal is a key step in improving weight gain.

Magnesium: Called the “anti-stress mineral,” magnesium aids in relaxing nerves, relieving tension, assisting digestion, activating enzymes important for protein and carbohydrate metabolism, and modulating the electrical potential across all cell membranes. Magnesium is important in the production and transfer of energy, muscle contraction and relaxation, and nerve conduction. It also aids regularity, is necessary to keep vertebrae in their proper position, induces restful sleep, purifies and purges body tissues (by combating acids, toxins, gases, impurities, and neutralizing poisons), and lowers fever. Magnesium is stored in the bowel, nerves and ligaments. Chlorophyll and green vegetables contain large amounts of magnesium.

Inositol: One of the water-soluble B vitamins, inositol is a direct precursor of phospholipids, which are a major component of cell membranes. It helps to maintain proper electrical energy and nutrient transfer across the cell membrane. Studies suggest that inositol is effective in treating depression and may also provide support for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and those who experience panic attacks. Research also suggests that inositol may be useful in the treatment and prevention of neurological disorders associated with diabetes.

Tryptophan and other B vitamins are also proposed to calm a nervous horse; most of these use their neurotransmitting and nerve-conducting capabilities.

To our knowledge there has been no research done on this topic. The seeds do have higher levels of omega-3s compared to corn oil, or other fat sources, which should help horses’ coats, but this has never been tested.

The amount of seeds needed to produce a nice coat shine (I assume no more than 1 cup) would not be enough to create an impaction. Impaction with shelled seeds has been reported, so using unshelled seeds may be a better option. Always make sure the horse has enough water to drink. This will help if impaction is a problem. An associate at my barn has been feeding about 1 cup of black oil sunflower seeds per day for years and has never had a problem.

Another alternative for the coat is to feed oil. Corn, canola, flax or rice bran oil will definitely put a shine on a horse’s coat without risking impaction. You only need to feed ½ to 1 cup per day.

Horses’ hooves can take a lot of wear and tear and may need something to help maintain a healthy condition. If horses are ridden on a hard or sandy area it can cause trauma to the hoof, making it hard to maintain moisture. Lack of moisture in the hoof leads to brittle and cracked hooves.

Research performed in England shows that supplementing biotin to horses with low quality hooves improves the hooves, making them stronger and less likely to crack. Though many other studies have been performed, most have the same results. The dosage shown to best maintain or improve hoof quality is approximately 15-30 mg/day. It was noted that for the best results, an adequate supply of calcium must also come from the horse’s hay or grain. Results of the supplementation were seen within nine to twelve months due to the fact that horses’ hooves take about a year to grow from the coronary band to the ground.

Though biotin is naturally made in the gut of the horse, supplementing it in the diet will not hurt because it is water soluble and is not stored in the body. Vitamin B-deficient horses especially need biotin in their diet and should be supplemented. Also, horses that are stressed from being transported or stabled for long periods of time also can benefit from a biotin supplement.

While biotin helps with a horse’s hooves, it can also help maintain a healthy coat. The coat is the horse’s largest organ. Biotin helps improve coat sheen, which is a sign that the horse itself is in good health. To enhance coat health, a horse may need only 8 mg of biotin per day. Results are usually visible within about five weeks.

Overall biotin is the best supplement to be used on a horse with brittle or cracked hooves or a lackluster coat. Check with your veterinarian to determine an exact dosage schedule.

Hopefully the barn you are moving to will help you with a bit of flexibility during your transition time. Your horse needs to adapt gradually to turnout on pasture if he has no access to it now. The hand grazing now is fine, but when you get to the new barn I would recommend about 2 hours of pasture turnout per day for the first couple of days. Then gradually increase the turnout over the course of 3 weeks until he is up to the full amount.

Assuming it is half-day turnout, you can easily increase the amount over 3 weeks to get up to 8 to 12 hours of pasture consumption. If it is a full 24 hours of pasture, you might want to extend the adaptation to 4 weeks. However, if he is a bit chunky now, I would be concerned that he will gain more weight on the pasture, so along with increasing the pasture over the course of the 3 to 4 weeks, I would recommend cutting the oats and sweet feed ration in half. Pasture has plenty of fiber, sugars, starches, and protein to make up for the decrease in the grain meal.

Pelleted feeds from the major companies, especially the premium product lines, are made from good quality ingredients and are under careful quality control. They are more balanced with respect to minerals and vitamins than straight grains like oats and tend to be more digestible.

The hulls of oats tend to be indigestible, which is why you see them in the feces. There is no real problem with that. While oat kernels are a good source of energy, they do not supply the calcium and minerals needed for proper bone development of young horses. Even with abundant good quality hay, young growing horses should be on a commercial mix (pelleted or otherwise).

Pelleted feeds got a bad reputation early on when they were first introduced in the 70’s because some were made from inferior ingredients. However, the reputable companies do not include substandard ingredients in their top of the line products. Pellets are more balanced, and you can easily pick a product with the nutrient profile you need (e.g. higher fat for a hard keeper, low starch and fat, high fiber for the easy keepers, etc.) without adding supplements.

Even though there is not much research on pastures grazed specifically by sheep, the situation would be similar to mowing the pasture regularly to keep the grass height uniform. As you suspect, the sugar content is higher in grass that has been grazed shorter or mowed. This is because the grasses are trying to grow and produce seeds, and in order to do that they need to produce sugar for energy; therefore, grass will accumulate sugar and use it for growth. Taller, more mature grasses do not put energy into growth, but once they go to seed, they also produce sugars in their seed heads. If sheep are pastured in with this horse, they will graze down the taller grasses, making the field more uniform; however, they won’t graze the fields as low as horses do. Horses can graze grasses down to less than an inch tall, which really stress the grasses. Sheep leave the grasses longer, so while they will be higher in sugar than those very tall grasses, they will not be as high in sugar as the very short grasses your horse prefers to eat.

As for the best time to graze a horse that is sensitive to sugars, research has shown that grasses accumulate sugars throughout the day to be used when the sun goes down at night. On a sunny day, the sugar content will be at its highest in the afternoon and late afternoon hours when the sun is at its highest and before it sets. Then grasses start to use the sugars in the evening, so the lowest point of sugar content (if the evening temperatures haven’t been low enough to turn to frost) will be after midnight until about 10:00 or 11:00 am. This may not be the best grazing time for management purposes, but this is why a lot of people turn their horses out at 6:00 am and bring them in by 11:00 am. Unlimited turnout on lush pasture can lead to obesity in a lot of horses. If a horse is also being fed grain concentrates, one may want to cut them back if its energy needs are being met by the pasture. Remember, forage is the base of the ration and grain concentrates are only necessary to supplement the energy not provided by forage!

You will also need to be careful in introducing sheep into a pasture with a stallion; he might become aggressive toward them.

Usually when referring to grass clippings for horses, most people are thinking of lawn grass. Lawn clippings are generally not the best source of nutrition because the turf grasses used for lawns are not nutritionally balanced for horses. If fed as a treat in small quantities it would be okay, but it should not be used as a major part of the diet. Also, some sources of lawn grasses contain endophytes that may be toxic to horses, so it is a very good idea to know what types of turf grasses were seeded before feeding them. However, Lucerne (alfalfa), pasture grasses, and chaff are perfectly adequate forage sources for horses and are okay to be cut and fed. Just be cautious not to let the clippings sit in a pile long enough for them to mold. Feed them right away or spread them out so they will dry instead of collecting moisture and molding.

No, this situation does not continue throughout the winter months. Once the grasses completely stop metabolizing (i.e. hard freeze for prolonged periods of time), they go dormant and no longer produce any sugars. Normally, grasses make sugars during the day through photosynthesis, and then use the sugars for growth and other processes at night. The most critical situation is when there is a frost overnight so grasses do not use up the sugars, followed by a thaw during the day when sugar is produced again. This is when horse owners with metabolically challenged horses need to be cautious. Be aware that dormant winter grasses store sugars and starches in the roots and bottom of the stems for re-activation in the spring. If the pasture is overgrazed to the point that horses are biting off the grass stems at the roots, some metabolically challenged horses unaccustomed to pasture access can still experience adverse reactions.

Recent research at North Carolina State University (NCSU) found that horses will actually consume more than one would think when grazed for short periods of the day (3-4 hours). Traditionally, we have assumed that if a horse grazes for 1/6 of the day that means it would consume 1/6 of the grass it would eat in an entire day. Conversely, the NCSU research suggests that if the horses know they are only outside for a short period of time, they eat more rapidly and can consume almost their entire daily allotment in just a few hours. Using a grazing muzzle and leaving horses out all day or a half day is actually better than only partial day turnout because they benefit from time outside, but are less likely to overeat grass. As an added bonus, the muzzle also prevents them from clipping off the grasses at the roots.

In the case of horses prone to metabolic problems, be aware of cold evening freezes followed by bright sunny days while the grasses are still green and active. If this is your daily pattern and your horse has Equine Metabolic Syndrome, you might be safer finding a dry lot and feeding them hay until the grass goes dormant for the year.

It is unfortunate that he does not tolerate a grazing muzzle, for that would be the best solution. The short walks under saddle should not be a problem. Fall is the most dangerous time of year for laminitis prone horses because the grasses are accumulating significant amounts of starch and sugar for the winter. The issue is not so much how to acclimatize him but when to let him graze. As long as there has not been an overnight freeze (which prevents the previous day’s sugars from being converted to harmless fiber) the early morning hours are safest, up to about 11 AM or so. On cloudy cool days you can leave him out longer than sunny warm ones, especially if there has been plenty of rain. Grasses accumulate more sugar during a drought too! Five- to ten-minute increments should be safe, but back off under the “danger” conditions. Also make sure he gets his hay or beet pulp before turning him out so he won’t be as hungry.

There isn’t enough information at this time to give more exact recommendations, so in the meantime erring on the side of caution is probably best.

How much walking she can tolerate really depends on how severe the rotation in her hooves is. I would consult with your veterinarian on that issue. Yes, the walking will help with circulation to the hoof, but if there is severe rotation of the pedal bone it could also cause more damage.

Very dry conditions could have led to an unusual accumulation of carbohydrates in the pasture grasses that triggered the founder. Rains and cool weather should reduce the risk, but you want to re-introduce her to pasture slowly since she has been off it for over two months. If you reintroduce her to the pasture, make sure you let her graze only in the early morning (6AM to about 11AM) when the sugar content of the grasses is lowest. If it is cloudy, you could leave her out longer than if it is sunny and warm, which stimulates the grasses to accumulate sugars. If there is an overnight freeze, do not let her graze-the grasses accumulate more sugar and have not yet converted from the previous day’s production to fiber! Gradually increase the amount of time you let her out.

All of the cool season grasses that would thrive in most parts of the country will accumulate fructans and sugars under certain environmental conditions. Timothy and Cocksfoot have been reported to accumulate less than ryegrass, however.

The highest sugar accumulations are after cold (< 32 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight followed by bright sunshine, just after cutting, or during droughts. As long as the temperature overnight is above freezing, the lowest content of sugars is between 4 AM – 10 AM. Also, grasses accumulate more sugars in May and late August/September.

So, restricting access to only the early morning hours during the summer, and keeping at-risk horses off pasture or a day or two after mowing, if there is a drought or after an overnight freeze would be your safest approach.

I would not risk your babies or mares by feeding fescue. It is hard to say if that infection rate is “safe”, but if you are really concerned, I would not trust it. I usually recommend that people with fescue is remove the mares when they are 30 to 90 days from foaling. I don’t know what your management situation is, but if you have a way to do this, do it – it is the best option. Removing them could be as simple as putting them in a pasture with less or no fescue, or keeping them in a barn or dry lot and supplementing their diet with hay to replace the pasture forage. The other option is to give Domperidone in their last trimester, but this is a pretty expensive option. The reproductive problems you would most likely see are retained placenta and agalactia (lack of milk production). Other problems like late term abortion or premature separation of the placenta could also arise.

There is no such thing as a ‘no starch’ feed for horses. Carbohydrates make up the majority of all animal feeds including forages. Some grain-based products are formulated to have lower starch and/or sugar by not using molasses and replacing grains with forage such as legume or grass hays or high fiber ingredients like beet pulp. However, your horses probably do not need any grain at all. A good quality hay or hay cube can provide all the nutrients that a horse needs, as long as they are not growing, lactating or undergoing heavy exercise. The lowest starch type of forage is going to be grass hay or hay cubes. Usually these are made from timothy and/or alfalfa and tend to be a consistent source of nutrients, especially if selecting from a manufacturer instead of a hay producer. Cubes take a while for horses to consume, so the potential of boredom that could come from lack of long stem forage in the diet. I would also recommend trying to keep these horses in a dry lot to prevent them from eating any of the pasture grasses that may have a higher starch content this time of year due to the freeze-thaw cycle (day/night) and the overgrazing that can occur with the reduction of grass growth.

Make sure the horses are at least eating 1.5 % of their goal body weight (i.e. current a 1200 lb horse, with a goal weight of 1000 lb should eat 15 lbs per day) however, and it may be a good idea to also provide them with a vitamin and mineral supplement to make up for the lack of nutrients in the hay you are providing.

It is never a bad idea to slowly introduce anything new to a horse’s diet. That includes new hay. Mixing the hay over the course of about a week would be the healthiest option for any horse, especially horses that are prone to digestive problems due to change in feed; although, your list of triggers indicate that the horse may be sensitive to a lot of other environmental triggers. Start by adding a small amount of new hay and removing a small amount of old hay. Then go to ½ new and ½ old, and finally mostly all new. This should help decrease the incidence of diarrhea.

Out west, cereal grain hays are commonly fed to horses. These include oat and wheat hay (beardless wheat is more common for horses). They are perfectly fine hays, but it might take a little while for your horses to get used to them. Start your horses off gradually, over the course of 3 weeks or so, and they might not reject it too much. I teach a 3-day nutrition course in California and have done some consults where all folks feed is beardless wheat. Horses do well on it, and like it.

I think the biggest thing you will have to contend with is getting your horses completely switched over. They should be able to consume as much wheat hay as they would grass hay. The nutrient content is similar: the average protein content is 10 %. Wheat is fairly low in calcium though; be careful if you are feeding it to lactating mares or growing foals. They might need additional legume hay or a mineral supplement. The sugar and energy content of wheat hay is low to moderate, so that should not be a concern. Wheat hay is fairly high in fiber, which will keep horses from chewing fences, etc.

There is very limited information on feeding Vetch to horses. There have been some trials wherein it was fed to donkeys with good results. It seems to be used commonly in Australia and Mexico. It is a high protein legume and indeed it should be fed in limited amounts to reduce risk of obesity. I could not find a complete nutrient analysis (ie: calcium and phosphorus content) for it. Most of the studies I could find used a mix of common vetch and oat hay, which would probably be comparable to your bluegrass/timothy mix. The grass/oat hays would dilute the protein and energy content somewhat so that free choice feeding would not be as great a concern.

I strongly suggest that you get a complete nutrient analysis run on your bales, especially if you are feeding broodmares and foals. Your local extension agent should have a hay corer for taking representative samples. Go to http://www.equi-analytical.com/ for details on sampling and submission of forages for analysis.

That being said, I usually do not recommend feeding round bales to horses unless the bales are in a covered area and in feeders kept off the ground. There is a significantly increased risk of botulism otherwise. I recommend that you vaccinate your horses against botulism if you are using round bales. Also, make sure the bales do not become moldy if left outside too long. It is best if you can go through the round bales quickly without letting them sit for weeks at a time.

It depends on the quality of the hay and the horse. An “easy keeper” adult horse with light to no exercise should be able to do just fine on free choice good quality grass hay, water and a salt block. If the hay was over mature at harvest (you will see lots of seed heads in the bale of hay if so), has been sitting around for a long period of time, or has a lot of weeds, a “complete” vitamin/mineral supplement might be in order. Soaked beet pulp is one suggestion for a “carrier” for the supplement, since horses often will not eat supplements alone. Beet pulp has moderate calcium and phosphorus in a good ratio, good fiber content, some protein and some calories, but minimal vitamins and trace minerals.

It is best for horses to have free choice access to hay, particularly when they are in stalls. This can prevent vices which occur due to boredom. Horse stomachs, unlike those of humans, constantly produce acid. This can contribute to gastric ulcers if the acid is not buffered by the constant intake of forage.

It sounds like you are feeding more hay than most places I see. A 1000-lb horse should eat about 20 lbs daily, or 2% of their body weight. By providing the round bale outside, the horses have free choice for ½ of the day, and feeding 10 lbs inside gives them approximately the other 50% of their daily intake.

That said, I would monitor each horse for their leftover or wasted hay in the morning. If some horses are cleaning up every last morsel of hay, I would consider feeding them another pound or two. However, if others are leaving some scraps behind, they are getting an adequate amount and feeding them more would be wasteful.

Also, look at the body condition of these horses. Some overweight horses can consume up to 3 to 3.5% of their body weight, and if doing so they need to have their food intake restricted. However, some hard-to-keep horses will not eat all the hay they should, so finding other sources of hay that they will consume might be necessary. Feeds such as alfalfa cubes or beet pulp might help in this case.

The bottom line is to check your horses. It sounds like some of them might be getting enough hay, but others might not.

Dr. Bill Meyer is a professor in the Department of Plant Biology & Pathology at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the New Jersey Agricultural Experimentation Station who has been conducting research with Teff Grass. His reply is below:

“We analyzed a few of our experimental entries and one commercial lot of Teff hay. We were discouraged because the protein content ran around 6-7% and some were higher in sugar than others. When I asked a breeder from Ethiopia about the low protein he said we were high at 6%. When we showed our tests to Dr. Ralston, an equine nutritionist and member of the Equine Science Center, she thought an inactive horse could be maintained on Teff hay, but active horses would need more nutrients. We also had problems with lodging as a hay crop, and one year when it was dry after the first cutting, it did not grow back.”

It would probably be appropriate for ponies, as they don’t need quite as high a level of protein or other nutrients as do exercising horses. In this case the 6-7% would be fine. However Dr. Ralston also says that some of the samples analyzed had a reverse calcium to phosphorus ratio and high sugar content, as mentioned above. If your pony is prone to founder or if you are feeding it other concentrates that are high in phosphorus, it might be a good idea to at least get a sample of the variety you are feeding analyzed.

There is a growing body of information concerning teff. At Rutgers we were not really sure about how well it performs in New Jersey and so we began some field trials and observed some farm fields.

A farming study compared 6 different species of teff at one of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Stations. We found that the variety Pharaoh performed best in terms of yield. All teff varieties can withstand dry, hot temperatures better than bluegrass and timothy, but they do suffer nonetheless with reduced yields and lodging as seen during the August drought. This was a little disappointing, as we were hoping for a drought-resistant grass that could give good yields during mid-summer when most pastures and hay fields go semi-dormant. With the harvest of standard commercial varieties this season, we saw some very reduced yields loaded with crabgrass that outcompeted the bluegrass, fescue and timothy under such poor growing condition. There may be fewer weeds in teff plots.

We are still processing the nutritional analysis results for teff varieties compared to 40 other standard pasture/hay blends. These results will be published on the Equine Science Center website after they are complete. It’s interesting that the grain is nutritional enough for humans to consume as well.

A few horse owners and farm managers have reported that horses quickly consume teff and may prefer it over some standard varieties. However, a more extensive survey is needed. The seed prices for teff are reasonable. At a low planting rate, the hay price should be competitive. Here in New Jersey we can’t produce enough of our own local product and thus are forced to go with $8.00/bale imports. Supporting your local grower could help encourage more New Jersey teff production, which should save considerable transport costs.

Large round bales of hay, usually weighing 800 to 2000 lbs, are easy to use if you have the proper equipment to move them around, and fairly economic compared to square bales. However, a study from the University of Minnesota discovered that if they are placed directly on the ground, uncovered, the cost benefits are less because so much hay is wasted from trampling by horses. There are several round bale feeders on the market that are quite effective at reducing wastage.

If bales are left on the ground, mold can form at the bottom of the bales. Although the mold is probably not pathogenic, once the mold spores have formed they will persist, even in freezing weather, and can cause allergic reactions in some horses. Most horses will avoid eating moldy hay if they can. Round bales are certainly used extensively, especially in the more arid western states, so feeding round bales is not necessarily a bad idea. However, in the humid, warm regions of the country, one needs to take some precautions.

Botulism is the main concern when feeding round bales in a humid climate. It is caused by a toxin secreted by a Clostridial bacterium under certain anaerobic, humid conditions. The bacterium is fairly ubiquitous in the soil in many regions and even in the intestinal tracts of animals. The bacterium itself is not pathogenic. However, in anaerobic environments such as that seen in a dead animal’s carcass or in moldy or fermenting hay, the bacterium sporulates and releases a toxin (Botulin). During the baling of hay (even the small square bales) small animals like mice, moles, rabbits, snakes and even baby deer can get hit by the harvesters and have their carcasses incorporated into the hay bales. As they decompose inside the tightly baled hay where there is little to no oxygen present, the decaying tissues provide the necessary conditions under which the Clostridial bacteria release toxins into the surrounding hay. Even if the carcasses are found and removed, the hay will remain contaminated and could potentially harm the horses eating it. If you do find a carcass in a bale of hay, discard all of the flakes in contact with the carcass or even better, the whole bale. It is more likely for toxicity to happen with large round bales than with small squares because it is easier to detect a dead animal when feeding the smaller “flakes” or “laps” of hay from the square bales.

Horses can recover from botulism, and the severity of the disease will depend on the amount of toxin ingested. Again, most horses would avoid eating hay that “smells” like a dead animal, even if the carcass is no longer present. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended that horses fed round bales, especially in humid climates where it seems to be more of a problem, are vaccinated against the botulin toxin. Unfortunately there are several different strains of these bacteria, and the vaccine only protects against the two most common toxins. The vaccine does not guarantee 100% protection, but it is certainly worth the cost.

While feeding horses round bales is not ideal, as long as the horses are vaccinated against botulism and the bales are under cover where they will not mold as quickly it should be okay. The main concerns when feeding round bales are mold and botulism. The amount of “pecking order” behavior and fighting you may see will depend on how the bales are placed and how many horses will be eating from each round bale.

Oat hay will not make horses “hot” or excitable if it was harvested early, when the oat grains are in the early dough stage. Oat hay is high in fiber and, like most grass hays, generates a fair amount of fermentation heat while being digested which actually helps keep horses warm in the winter. Oats have higher energy in them than hay alone. Since they are mixed with stems and leaves and still in their high fiber hulls, oats found in hay should not cause major swings in glucose or insulin, or give horses excess energy that may make them excitable. Whole oats are the highest fiber grain, which is why they are so popular to use in horse feeds. Feeding hull-less oats can be more of a problem. See question about feeding oats.

For more information on how digestion produces heat, refer to the previously answered question:https://esc.rutgers.edu/ask_expert/ate_nuto.htm#dph

I will try to answer your question as accurately as possible; however, it really depends on a number of things. First, yes: hay does lose its nutrient content over time, especially vitamins! Vitamins are one of the most unstable components in hay, so even if it is stored properly over the course of months to years you will lose some vitamin and mineral content. Most of the other nutrients are more stable, so the protein, fat and carbohydrates should be maintained. If hay is left in the sun, the vitamin content will go to zero in a matter of weeks. The longer hay is sun-cured/sufficiently dried, the lower its vitamin content will be even if freshly baled.

I have not seen any research done as to whether hay’s vitamin and mineral content changes with round or square bales, however, I assume it would be similar. The only concern here is if the round bales aren’t cared for they can mold much more rapidly.

The amount of nutrients in the hay will vary between different types of hay, not necessarily due to storing methods. So if you are storing alfalfa and timothy hay the same way, I really don’t think one would lose nutrients faster than the other. However, alfalfa has the highest nutrient content, especially in terms of vitamins — so after a year of storage, alfalfa would still have a higher level of nutrients compared to grass hay, even if both are stored the same way.

If a horse has a history of chronic laminitis my first concern would be to address the metabolic issues contributing to the problem. Usually, these are obesity and/or pituitary dysfunction, both of which are treatable. If the horse is truly insulin resistant or glucose intolerant, there is no one type of grass hay guaranteed not to trigger a bout of laminitis. It depends more on the harvest conditions, not the species of grass, as to whether a batch of hay contains sufficient non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) to cause a problem. NSCs include starches, water-soluble sugars and fructans. Most horses tolerate over 20% NSC without adverse effects, and most grass hays, especially from the eastern states; contain only 7-18% NSC, with an average of 12%. Even legume hays, on average, contain less than 15% NSC. Oat hay, on the other hand, averages 22% NSC. (Values are based on 5 years of data from Equi-Analytical laboratories).

Grasses accumulate NSC throughout the day, with highest concentrations achieved late in the day if the sun is shining. If temperatures are above freezing and adequate water is present, NSC is converted to cellulose and other structural carbohydrates overnight, resulting in very low sugar concentrations by daybreak. If this process is disrupted by drought or freezing temperatures overnight, NSC concentrations can increase significantly. The grasses continue to “respire” after cutting until the hay is baled and “cured”. The longer the hay is dried in the field, the lower the NSC will be. Also, sugars and fructans are water soluble – if the hay is rained on, or soaked in water, the overall NSC will also be reduced. “Warm season” grasses such as coastal Bermuda and crabgrass tend to accumulate lesser amounts of sugars than the “cool season” grasses like fescue, orchard grass and timothy under adverse conditions, but some accumulation will still occur if the conditions are right. Be aware that most horses are not adversely affected by this variability; either in pasture grasses or hays.

If a horse really is sensitive to NSC content, the “safest” hay would be coastal Bermuda or timothy cut early in the day after a warm night and recent rainfall, and dried in the field for at least a day or two – even rained on a bit! (I.e. hay from the first or second cutting, depending on the year, from the eastern states). Western hay producers tend to cut their hay later in the day to prevent excessive drying, and also can get it baled more quickly than is possible in the humid east – all of which tends to preserve the NSC present.

It sounds like what happened is that when the horse was finally being fed the right nutrients in a balanced diet, it felt better and had more energy! It wasn’t necessarily the fat and the protein in the feed; it was just the feed in general. Fat is a good energy source for underweight horses because it has more calories per gram than carbohydrates; however, it has a much slower release of energy than carbohydrates, so it doesn’t cause the same burst of energy that feeding something like corn would. Protein is not really ever used as an energy source (only 15% of our total energy normally comes from protein) unless the body has no other choice (i.e. starvation or certain diets like the human Atkins diet). So the protein in the feed is definitely not the problem. Excess sweating is actually a good thing; the time you need to worry is if the horse doesn’t sweat enough. It probably isn’t used to this much work or having this much energy to be utilized towards work.

Adding oats to the feed you are giving the horse isn’t the best idea. What you are doing is essentially diluting the nutrients that are concentrated in the commercial feed. The high fat, protein and other vitamins and minerals are now much lower in the total feed because oats are not as concentrated. As long as the horse has access to plenty of pasture or good quality forage, you should not be at risk for any nutrient deficiencies because most forages contain more than adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals for an adult horse. Watch that the horse doesn’t start gaining too much weight. You probably can back down on the grain you are feeding assuming the horse is now in good body condition.

Compared to barley, alfalfa is definitely the superior hay in terms of nutritional content for a couple of reasons. Its protein level is the main reason; alfalfa usually has an average of about 20% protein whereas barley hay, if sun-cured, only has about 8 – 9%. The energy content of barley hay is slightly lower as well. However, fiber content of the two hays is similar. This is usually the case for most hays, but will vary depending on how mature the hay was when cut (which is also the case for protein levels. The more mature they hay is when cut, the more fiber and less protein it has, and vice versa). Minerals to be concerned about are calcium and phosphorus. They are needed in a ratio of 1:1 to 2:1. Barley hay has low levels overall in a ratio of close to 1:1. However, alfalfa has much higher levels of calcium in a ratio of around 6:1.

As a general recommendation, if a horse is a harder keeper or needs a bit of a supplement, alfalfa would be the better choice. If barley hay is being fed alone with no grass or cereal grain supplement, a vitamin and mineral multi-supplement may be a wise choice to add to the diet.

That is exactly what bran mash is for them…a treat. It is really neither good nor bad if given on occasion. It is more of a “comfort food” for both them and us. It will not throw off their nutrition if only given on weekends or before hauling or on cold days. It usually just makes us feel better to give our horses something warm to eat, much in the same way a bowl of hot oatmeal feels good to us on a cold morning.

It does sound like a ration balancer is a good choice for your horse. The principle behind the ration balancer is to provide the appropriate amount of protein, vitamins and minerals for a horse without providing extra energy (calories). Most average-sized horses with a good quality grass hay diet only usually require one pound or less per day of a ration balancer to meet their needs. If more energy is needed, these can also be fed in combination with a sweet feed or other grain product in low amounts as well.

For your horse, the grain-based feed is contributing to the weight problem and can be discontinued. You should also remove the oil from the ration, which is pure energy and definitely adding unnecessary calories. Since a ration balancer is completely fortified and designed to be fed with only hay or forage, the extra supplements could disrupt the horse’s vitamin/mineral balance, depending on what type of supplements they are.

To encourage weight loss, continue feeding the hay used now, but it should be weighed out each feeding to make sure the horse gets no more than 1.5% of its body weight per day (assuming it is about 1,000 pounds, no more than 15 pounds) divided into three feedings so the horse does not go for prolonged periods without feed. Also consider the pastures: lush, high-quality pasture can provide an enormous amount of energy and could require that the horse wear a grazing muzzle when turned out. You can then provide one pound of a ration balancer per day (split into two feedings of a half pound each). In approximately 1-2 months, one should start to see a decrease in weight. If the horse can be exercised, one might see the change sooner; however, healthy weight loss is a long term process. Keeping a record of weight (using a weight tape) and body condition is a good idea, and if no progress is seen after several months, decrease the hay portions even more. Once the horse reaches the desired body condition/weight, increase hay intake to 2.0 to 2.5% of its body weight. Grazing in the spring and late fall, however, should still be limited or not allowed due to this horse’s chronic problem with laminitis.

Corn is a perfectly acceptable, high energy grain to feed to horses. Concern about the Omega 6 content is regarding corn oil. However, the actual research on which the concern is based used significantly high amounts of the pure oil. It is also not necessary to add flaxseed.

Roasted soybeans will add more protein and a bit more fat to the ration. But if you are trying to keep costs down, I would strongly suggest adding alfalfa pellets or meal to the grain mix for broodmares and young stock to provide extra protein and calcium, which is currently lacking in your mix. You could totally replace soybeans with alfalfa. It depends on how expensive alfalfa is in your region. If you are getting your feed custom mixed, considering the price of corn often fluctuates, if you made a mix of 250 lbs oats, 250lbs corn and 500 lbs of 17% protein alfalfa pellets or meal with 1 to 2% molasses, you would have a mix that provides 16% protein, 0.8% calcium and 0.3% phosphorus which is right at the needs of your breeding and growing animals.

Feeding it at the rate of 0.5 to 1.0 % body weight divided into two or three meals a day with free access to grass hay should meet the horses’ nutritional needs. No supplements other than salt and water are needed.