Emma Short BSc (Hons), nutritionist at Baileys Horse Feeds, looks at how correct nutrition can aid the recovering horse
Equine illness or injuries, which require treatment often involve changes to a horse’s routine and diet too, and these can be almost as stressful as the problem itself so need to be handled in a way that minimises the risk of secondary setbacks and, maximises the chances of a speedy recovery.
Gut health
Abrupt dietary changes are generally best avoided but, sometimes a drastic reduction in a fit horse’s concentrate ration is necessary, if his workload is suddenly curtailed or stopped. The length of time the horse will be on box rest and his current feeding regime will determine how significantly his diet needs to be altered. For short term box rest, concentrates can be reduced by about two thirds to bring calorie intake down, and preferably “top dressed” with a balancer to maintain protein and micro-nutrient levels.
Forage provision may need to be increased accordingly, to keep the horse occupied and the gut healthy and, if the box rest becomes prolonged this will be even more important. Since the horse’s gut bacteria take time to adjust, any sudden dietary changes can disrupt their populations resulting in loose droppings, colic or even laminitis. Ensuring forage and fibre intake are maintained and feeding a pre or probiotic will help the gut bacteria to adapt and reduce the risk of digestive upsets, especially if antibiotics or other medications are being given orally, as they can adversely affect bacterial populations.
Feeding for healing
While there have been very few studies, in horses, of the effects of nutrition on healing and recovery, it’s widely assumed, from those in humans and other animals, that it plays a significant role in the achievement of a positive outcome. Under nourishment in any horse will also supress the immune system, leaving the healthy horse more prone to illness and infection and the already sick horse, less capable of recovery.
This highlights the importance of ensuring a fully balanced diet is fed at all times, and that the sick or injured horse is encouraged to eat appropriately as much as possible. Correct nutrition will provide the nutrients required for tissue repair – amino acids for example, are the building blocks of protein and are components of all body cells.Some “essential” amino acids must be supplied by the horse’s diet, as his body cannot manufacture them and, these are particularly important for soft tissue repair eg. muscle and tendon.
With the exception of alfalfa, forages tend not to contain sufficient quality protein to supply essential amino acids so, feeding the recommended amount of a good quality compound feed or balancer should ensure the horse doesn’t go short. Vitamins are essential for body functions and minerals are also integral in cell and tissue structure and, vital for the healing process.
Selenium and vitamins, like C and E, are very important as antioxidants and the stress of injury, illness or a change to routine, makes them just as important to neutralise free radicals as when a horse is working hard. Antioxidants are also involved in the immune response, as are certain bacteria in the hindgut so, an overall balanced diet is of great importance.
Using good quality feeds and balancers, formulated for horses in work, will ensure that the quality and levels of nutrients fed are sufficient to support healing and recovery. Where a horse is normally on the full amount of a working or performance mix or cube, this can be cut back and topped up with a balancer to achieve a “mid-calorie” diet which is still fully balanced. This gives the flexibility to adjust calorie intake up or down, while ensuring the diet remains fully balanced and providing optimum levels of good quality nutrients.
Waistline control
If a horse is facing a longer spell (more than just a few days) of confinement, the overall diet will need reviewing and adapting, according to the horse’s body condition. If the horse is eating well and is normally a good-doer, feeding its normal forage ration plus a low-calorie balancer, will provide all the nutrients essential for well-being and recovery, without unwanted calories. Should unwanted weight gain become a problem, further calorie control will be necessary through adaptations to the forage/fibre ration.
The aim should be for no less than 1.5% of bodyweight in forage to be fed per day and ideally stalkier, later-cut forages should be chosen as these are generally less nutritious and less digestible, while still giving the horse plenty to chew on. Soaking hay for around 8 hours will leach out water soluble carbohydrates (calories), while various slow feeders and small-holed nets will help a reduced amount last longer. To reduce boredom and provide variety, alternative low-calorie fibre sources can be offered as part of the overall forage portion of the diet, such as soaked unmolassed beet pulp and “light” straw-based chaffs.
Condition control
If a horse is naturally prone to dropping condition, illness or infection may cause further weight loss, while the stress of box rest may compound the effect. If these horses still have a good appetite, good quality forage should be fed ad lib, which means ensuring they always have some in front of them and have some left in the morning, indicating they are eating to appetite. If possible, the forage chosen for the poorer-doer should be softer and leafier, having been harvested earlier, and therefore more digestible and nutritious. This reduces the reliance on hard feed to deliver the necessary calories.
A calorie-dense, highly digestible conditioning feed will deliver the necessary additional nutrients to promote and maintain condition and top line, when fed at recommended levels. It is more effective to feed a specially formulated feed like this, as smaller volumes will achieve the desired result, with levels of nutrients able to support tissue repair and healing, while also supporting weight gain. For those prone to gastric ulcers, or who find box rest quite stressful, low starch options are available, which supply calories from oil and fibre rather than cereal grains, to avoid exacerbating these issues.
Water
Maintaining hydration levels in the sick or convalescing horse is very important so, water consumption should be monitored carefully. If you suspect a horse is not drinking as much as they should it may be a time to turn off their automatic waterer and use buckets instead, so that you can watch levels more easily. If the horse is hospitalised, it may not like the taste of “foreign” water so it may be wise to bring some from home which will taste more familiar. Cordials and flavours can be added to water to tempt horses and some will take “sugar beet water”, while other ways to increase overall fluid intake include; feeding wet, sloppy feeds, soaked beet pulps and soaked hay.
In extremely cold weather, some horses will not drink correspondingly cold water so adding some hot water, to take the chill off may help. In acute of cases of dehydration or when the horse is too poorly to drink, the treating vet will decide whether intravenous or enteral (tubed into the stomach) fluids are required. These may contain electrolytes or plasma proteins, depending on the horse’s situation. Be wary of administering any electrolytes unless specifically prescribed by your vet, as a sick horse’s metabolic system becomes acidic, whereas “performance” electrolytes are formulated to balance the system when it becomes basic, during and after exercise.
Venturing out
Once healing has progressed, the horse may begin a careful return to turnout and a reintroduction of pasture to the menu. Ideally, this can be done gradually, through initial hand-grazing or the provision of some hand-picked grass in the stable, depending on availability and time of year. Time at grass can then be steadily increased, according to veterinary guidelines, which will also allow the horse’s gut to adapt. If a prebiotic is not being fed, this is another appropriate time to provide additional support, especially if the grass is lush or plentiful.
Once the horse is spending significant lengths of time at grass, the overall forage ration will need reducing. Should the increased calorie intake from good grazing result in weight gain, measures will need be taken to reduce the calorie content of the forage ration, while access to grazing may also ultimately need to be controlled to avoid unwanted weight gain. For a horse who has struggled to maintain condition, the introduction of daily turnout may be the best solution for promoting weight gain and a reduction in stress levels.
Back to work
One of the worries of lengthy spells of inactivity, for a previously fit, strong working horse, is the loss of muscle tone, strength and top line. A convalescent diet which has been fully balanced, and supplying sufficient good quality protein, should help the body maintain some muscle tone and top line, depending on the level and length of inactivity and, what was there before box rest was enforced.
While a return to correct and appropriate work is essential to begin to build muscle in the right places, the diet must contain the correct building blocks to support this. Rather than turning to expensive muscle-building supplements, feeding the correct amount of a good quality mix, cube or balancer – or a combination which delivers the desired calorie levels, while achieving a fully balanced diet – will supply the necessary amino acids and supporting nutrients.
The energy/calorie content of the diet, as a horse returns to work, may need adjusting according to body condition. If the horse has gained weight while off work, continuing to control calories may still be appropriate until sufficient weight loss has been achieved. As ever, this should not be at the expense of essential nutrients and it may be that a low-calorie balancer is still appropriate as the sole concentrate, although feeding rates may need adjusting as workload increases.
Those horses who require more calories than a forage/balancer diet can provide, and who are rather excited at the prospect of a return to work, are best kept on a low starch feed which supplies slow release energy/calories. Those formulated for horses prone to gastric ulcers will fit this bill and should also contain good levels of vitamins and minerals to continue to support the healing process. Unless confinement was due to colic or other digestive or metabolic issues, there’s no reason why a horse shouldn’t return to the same feeding regime as he was on before injury.
