HELPING THE HARD KEEPER
After 3 months of being on HHIO formulas and recommended feed protocol you would expect to see improvements in coat, hoof, top line and condition if that were an issue to begin with.
Please refer to the Extra Protein & Calories as your first port of call.
In our experience if results are not being achieved these are the top 5 things to look at:
1) Are their protein and calorie needs are being fully met
Ruling out medical and environmental causes of weight loss or failure to gain weight:
2) Digestive disruption and dysregulation including Gastric Ulcers (especially if not eating or fussy with hard feed and/or hay)
3) Pain - hoof, teeth, saddle, structural and soft tissue (structural combined with soft tissue is top of the list as a starting point)
4) Oxidative stress - excessive and unbalanced iron or potassium; or protein and/or starch.
5) Liver health (see below)
Other things to check and consider:
Parasites & resistance
Poor dental health/age
Toxicities - heavy metals
Diseases - PPID/Cushings
Environmental stress - feeling of safety, security and comfort
Emotional aspects - past trauma, grief, depression, sadness, anger
Specific things to address nutritionally if you have not already done utilising our feed protocol, are:
Aim to remove all potentially inflammatory and/or excessive feeds or ingredients as follows....
-grains (wheat, maize & barley)
-remove all soy from the diet (be careful soy is named lots of things)
-if feeding Beet or a product with beet in it, remove
-eliminate all poly-unsaturated oils (vegetables, canola/rapeseed, rice bran, sunflower, soya)
-remove excessive salt (Feed 10g per 100kg of salt in hard feed and leave a bucket of loose salt in paddock to self regulate for extra)
-remove sugar additives (don’t forget sugar has many names) If you are feeding to the HHIO protocol this shouldn't be an issue
-remove excess Iron, Manganese, Potassium from the diet.
-remove excessive levels of protein (restrict grass, increase hay, remove high protein feeds especially if also high in starch)
-remove high starch sources
-Increase Zinc & Copper levels
-Feed a minimum of 1.7% of body weight in dry feed (pasture, hay, chaff and hard feed). Often horses are not getting their simple nutritional needs such as fibre and protein requirements meet.
-Insufficient roughage to generate heat to stay warm causes the body to shiver away fat storage. A healthy horse at maintenance should be fed 1.7% of their ideal body weight per day in roughage, that's 8.5kg of good quality hay for a 500kg horse. A horse that needs to put weight on should be around 2%-3% subject to individual - which is 10-15kg of good quality hay. That can be a lot of hay - this is where fermented fibre can be utilised to increase energy and calorie needs whilst reducing the overall amount fed.
-Covering in winter is helpful, ensuring that the horse does not over or under heat in cover. Alternatively an area where they can get out of wind and rain to shelter adequately if you are not able to change or monitor covers regularly. If this is not an option, a cover without an attached neck (especially the synthetic versions) is helpful in not allowing a horse to over heat which is really stressful to a horse, or alternatively go for canvas that is more breathable.
-Checking protein and/or energy needs are being met. Testing hay and/or pasture is recommended here.
Particular attention should be paid to the liver and kidney health in horses that struggle to put weight on. The liver plays a key role in digestive health, metabolism, and cleansing the blood from toxins. Any disruption in its function could contribute to weight loss or gain!. This vital organ contributes to health in a variety of ways:
-Production of bile. The horse relies on bile to start fat digestion. Bile also aids in detoxification.
-Fat metabolism. Fat is processed in the liver to make it useful to the body’s tissues.
-Synthesis of blood proteins. These are necessary for water balance, as well as for transporting minerals to tissues.
-Storage of nutrients. These include the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) as well as B vitamins, minerals, and glycogen (storage form of glucose).
Older horses can have issues with weight primarily because of inadequate chewing of their forage which is the number one cause of poor protein utilization, which is essential for building quality muscle. It is the exposing of the protein to digestive enzymes by thoroughly chewing, being the biggest factor in its digestibility. Hay is harder for oldies to eat and digest than grass. Ensuring there is a highly digestible protein source is important.
