HARD KEEPERS AND EASY KEEPERS – Part 1

  When we’re talking about feeding horses, two terms come up frequently. We tend to categorize horses as hard keepers or easy keepers. The horses who seem to gain weight by looking at food or who don’t have any food-related issues earn the name “easy keeper” and we’re all grateful that they are. The term “hard keeper” is reserved for horses that don’t maintain weight well, are picky eaters, or don’t settle well to eat. If you have a hard keeper, you’ve probably spent hours fretting about your horse’s eating habits while your friends with easy keepers get a good night’s sleep. We’re going to look at both types. If you have an easy keeper, you can allow yourself a smug smile, but keep reading. Easy keepers are easy…until they aren’t. Your horse is ageing, and at some point, your happy-go-lucky feeding routine may need to change. If your horse falls into the difficult category, this month’s article will hopefully give you some helpful ideas. PART ONE—HARD KEEPERS Horses that are hard keepers are characterized by what they don’t do. Either they don’t eat well, or they eat but don’t maintain their condition well. For either issue there are many possible causes and a lot of overlap. HEALTH ISSUES: Horses with ulcers may walk away from their bucket, act colicky, or not clean up everything. Colicky horses may do the same or may not eat at all. Horses with tooth problems also display inattentiveness to their feed, and there may be a bad odor coming from their mouth. They may have sores caused by sharp points, or smooth teeth, or missing teeth. These are issues to address with your vet and equine dentist, sooner rather than later. If you suspect colic, it’s always advisable to call your vet, even if it seems like a mild case. The vet may not need to come out but at least you are on his or her radar if things get worse. Parasites can steal a lot of nutrients from your horse. We used to think that horses didn’t get tapeworms, but now we know that they can. Tapeworms aren’t revealed in a fecal sample, but you may notice the small white eggs on your horse’s tail. Other parasites can be detected by fecal sample. Even if you follow a deworming routine, it’s advisable to have a fecal sample done by your vet at least once a year so that you can target the parasites with the appropriate dewormer. Parasites all have unique life cycles, so it is helpful to do some research and talk with your vet before you deworm. If your horse eats the appropriate amount of feed and forage but has trouble maintaining weight, this is a topic for discussion with your vet as well. There may be metabolic issues that are affecting his body’s ability to utilize feed, and you wouldn’t necessarily know just by looking at him. Blood tests may be in order. It is also possible that your horse has allergies to ingredients in his feed. This can be harder to resolve. Your vet may want to talk about allergy testing and limited ingredient testing. You may be able to do some of this on your own, such as withholding feeds with suspect ingredients and gauging his reaction. It can be a long process to figure out if and which ingredients may be causing problems. PHYSICAL FACTORS: Take a good look at your horse’s feeding environment. Is he trying to fit his large head into a small bucket? Is he a nervous horse who doesn’t like tucking his head into a corner feeder and leaving his back exposed? Is he low in herd status and driven away by other horses? Is there something bothering him while he eats? In summer, the wildflowers in my paddock grow taller than my mini. He becomes very nervous because bees and other flying (and stinging) insects love the wildflowers, but they don’t love him. We now keep his paddock mowed short (and plant things in other locations for the pollinators.) INSUFFICIENT CALORIES: There are people who overfeed and people who underfeed. It’s easy do both at the same time in your barn because horses are individuals. The first thing you should do is look at the information on your feed bag. Every product made by a quality company will give you feeding directions in line with the activity level and age of your horse. Note that the feeding rate is in pounds, NOT COFFEE CANS OR SCOOPS. Remember that this is a target point. Your horse’s metabolism is unique, so you may need to feed more or less than recommended …but be very careful here! If the bag suggests feeding five pounds a day and your horses is still not gaining weight on eight pounds, he isn’t on the right feed. You should take a look at a higher calorie feed or considering adding additional fat. If you are feeding less than the recommended amount, bump it up. (Remember that anytime you are feeding below the bag’s specifications, he isn’t getting enough vitamins and minerals unless you are supplementing.) Beware of assuming that all the horses in your barn can be fed the same amount or the same feed. Again, they are all individuals. I don’t usually tell personal stories in this article, but perhaps this will help to show this point. A friend who has “air ferns” acquired a new horse of a different breed. The horse started losing weight, and she asked what to do. We reviewed her feeding routine and realized that, although she was feeding the ponies appropriately, the horse needed much more feed than she thought! She started feeding according to the bag specifications and the horse started gaining weight. OWNER INTERFERENCE: I know this can be a sensitive topic. We love our horses, we want to do well by them, but we can be our own biggest problem. Again, a couple personal stories might show