Horse Nutrition- what you don't know you don't know!

 I want to start this post out with stating:

I AM NOT AN EQUINE NUTRITIONIST

I am not offering any advice or suggestions.  I am merely documenting my discoveries in feed with my own horses.  I will link to sources as appropriate but for a full assessment of any animals diet please consult a certified equine nutritionist.  Veterinarians are not specialists in nutrition, they can help some but they have their specialty in disease prevention, lameness etc. etc.

I AM NOT AN EQUINE NUTRITIONIST

When I first owned horses I just just had Dani at a boarding facility that fed grass hay and I supplemented with some vitamin/mineral supplement from SmartPak.  Eventually I moved on to just using a Ration Balancer since I was sold on the idea that it was cheaper and still had a low feeding rate for an easy keeper that stayed quite healthy on just grass hay.

I never really had any issues.  Then with Chance he was on the same regimen here in NC.  Once Dani had laminitis and then Chance started loosing weight and not eating a Senior feed I had for him.  I started to delve in and learn a bit more.  I needed more fat for Chance but it needed to be low sugar and starch.

NSC description......... Low NSC feed is recommended for Insulin resistant horses and those with Cushings.  Check for Chance on Cushings and check for Dani on IR and Cushings.  The ration balancer I had Dani on was good but I found one with an even lower NSC level and lower feeding amount.  

Then in fall 2023 I broke down and got a hay probe ($150-$180 for these suckers!!) By then I had Seamus too and he is a young horse, so I was determined that I get more information about what I was feeding my horses.

What is in a hay test analysis?

Depends on what you purchase.  I went with a lower level analysis but it gave me a general idea of the nutrition and most important for my IR and cushings horses the sugar content.

Starch and WSC are used to estimate the NSChttps://extension.umn.edu/horse-nutrition/understanding-your-hay-analysis. Non-structural carbohydrates if in a higher level for sugar sensitive horses can then have an issue if these compounds are still undigested in larger amounts in the hindgut and can lead to laminitis. The NSC is calculated at 9% for this hay so well within the safe rang for my mare.   https://excelequinefeeds.com/non-structural-carbohydrates-in-equine-feeds/

The iron, zinc, and copper were what I wanted to figure out for my black horse Seamus.  The imbalance in these minerals can cause sun bleaching but also in my research I've learned that having a prolonged excess of Iron in the diet can have issues for IR horses.  It does not cause insulin resistance, a common misconception, but either way, mineral imbalances are not good for any horse

The ratio of zinc and copper should be 3:1 and the max iron intake should be around 400mg per day https://madbarn.com/iron-for-horses/

Based on the hay I am feeding, and typical of most forage, my horses are getting more than enough iron.  

But feeds and even ration balancers all seem to have ADDED Iron!!!!

The Meta Safe ration balancer that I have been using do to an extremely low NSC was adding an additional 200mg of iron! My soil is high in iron as is my water and I don't have those numbers to compute at this time.  I was shocked.  Iron is rarely a deficiency in horses, usually quite the opposite.  Asking why they add iron to feeds is a topic for another day. 

My quest was to find a low feed rate ration balancer or supplement that would balance the minerals for my horses and provide added benefits like biotin and amino acids. Some of the best I found were Blue Bonnet 101 and California Trace...but the cost for feeding two horses was a bit steep for me. I finally found Ucklele's Sport Horse Grass Pellets 

I was pleased with the ratios and the ingredients, it's always a give and take.  I also wanted to add more zinc and copper, in proper ratios to counteract the still higher iron levels that are endemic to the area. https://thehorse.com/16846/coppers-impact-on-equine-coat-color/ 

Hopefully this will help with Seamus's fading summer coat but also continue to improve both his and Dani's coats, hooves and overall balanced health.  Neither needs extra calories!  The transition will happen soon as I am getting down to the very end of the last bag of MetaSafe.

Seamus with Northern Lights from Oct. 10, 2024
(blurry since it was handheld long exposure)

And if any were curious, Chance's feed doesn't have added iron.  He's bay but I've not noted any bleaching of his dark mane and tail.  I will most likely run through his nutritional balance soon as well. Addressing the copper and zinc deficiencies seemed more pressing at this time!