Craig Wood, University of Kentucky
Knowing What is Normal
A change in a horse's eating habits can be a signal to the owner or farm manager that something may be wrong. Therefore, it is important to know a horse’s normal feeding behavior to determine if a horse is going "off feed" and not eating normally. A horse’s nutritional and health status should be monitored at least once per day. Things to look for include injuries, a change in attitude, or a change in feeding behavior such as appetite. The fecal matter of a horse should also be examined daily to determine if the appearance, color, or texture is normal or abnormal.
Body weight and body condition scoring are excellent methods of monitoring a horse’s nutritional and health status. Weighing and scoring a young horse every week or a mature horse at least once a month can ensure that the proper feed amounts are being fed. Weighing and scoring may also indicate the health status. Excessive fat or a high body condition score is usually a result of overfeeding.
Reasons Horse Owners Overfeed
- They feel a sense of satisfaction in feeding a horse.
- They feed horses that are not getting adequate daily exercise and use at the same rate they would feed horses that do.
- Fat hides blemishes on a show or sale horse, and fat horses generally sell better than thin horses.
- They think pregnant mares need more feed even before the last trimester.
- The dominant horse in a group of horses is eating all the feed.
Indicators of a Thinning Horse
Weight loss or a low body condition score may indicate nutritional or health problems. For example, if a weanling horse is losing weight, the feed may need to be increased to meet growth requirements. Weight loss also may be an indication of illness. A thin horse may be an indication of:
- poor quality or inadequate amounts of forage and other feed
- dental problems (floating teeth can usually resolve this problem)
- parasites
- not feeding enough during lactation or during intense work--times when energy needs increase
- hot/humid weather, which increases energy needs and decreases feed intake
- disease, which can decrease feed intake or utilization
- being low in the pecking order, resulting in being chased away from the feed bucket or eating little due to fear.