The wide range of feeds in the store these days can make decisions, confusing, but the elaboration of a horse nutrient requirements need not be complicated. Horses nutrient requirements, which can be calculated on the body weight and activity. What do horse nutrition complicated is the process of selecting feeds to balance the nutrient intake of each nutrient needs, and providing the feeds in a form that corresponds to the digestive system of the horse. There is often a lack of understanding about the relationship between the digestive system of the horse and the shape of the food, and how this relates to the horse that causes the confusion.
It is good in the people that they are, what they eat, founded. Obesity is now one of the most important diseases in the western world - both in humans and horses. Can relationships and similarities between the two species that can be found to improve the health and well-being?
To know where to start, it is helpful to look at some well-known facts. First, grazing alone is often not enough nutrients for horses. Consequently, they are fed supplements in the form of concentrates and hay, but some concentrates can "fast food" are considered - full of energy in the form of sugar and fat. Many horses are overfed on fast food, but under-worked, which can lead to obesity, health problems and behavioral disorders.
Measurement of the energy efficiency The non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) index in horse feed is the glycemic index (GI) in human foods and is a method for measuring the energy in foods by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance - now identified as a serious and life-threatening disease in horses complies with 11 diabetes in humans. Many metabolic disorders in horses associated with high NSC feeds.
Digestion in horses Digestion in horses is not the same as in cattle and sheep, which have large rumen. These animals are called ruminants because they can regurgitate and ruminate that store food in their fore-stomach or rumen and re-chew their food to gain more nutrients. In comparison, horses have a small belly and have to get a little and often graze on nutrient absorption. Horses grazing at least 18 hours per day, ie they are "slow feeders", that is, they eat slowly and the nutrients are taken continuously throughout the day.
Slow feeding To find the relatively "new" idea means 'slow feed' horse makes a lot of sense. It provides a semi-continuous supply of nutrients to the digestive system nutrients in a natural, continuous to digest. This can be achieved with fiber and pastures, but it is difficult to achieve, focusing on the feeding of high energy. Human lifestyles add to the difficulty, because many people do not have time or are not available force feed little and often throughout the day.
Pulses or shock feeding Unfortunately, with modern horses often graze pastures for cattle to be developed and in small paddocks or yards, which may not be sufficient as pasture intake to provide the means necessary nutrients instead - especially for active horses in work. To meet all the nutritional requirements, the horse must often be supplemented with other feeds, including straw, and processed normally leads to grain crops. The living conditions fixed for horses and the lifestyle and working hours of their owners often find that most horses are fed only twice or even once per day.
This type of feeding can produce large loads of nutrients in the digestive system, designed to provide a continuous supply. Named pulse or shock feeding is exacerbated when the values of some feeds digestible nutrients (especially sugar and starch) containing exceed capacity of the horse's intestines and cause spikes in blood sugar levels of the digestive system. These concentrates can be considered as 'fast food'. 'Pulse' feed 'fast food' is one of the most important factors found within the area of metabolic disorders in horses today.
Concentrated feeding Horse nutrition is based on mathematics. The nutrient requirements of horses are calculated and measure the nutrient composition of feeds and feed tables described in. The amount of feed required is a simple calculation, the difficulty is to know the effect of feeding of concentrates as "Pulse" feed rather than 'slow feed', and to know if one is force-feeding feed.
What is a fast food? Studies in recent years have identified the sugar and starch content of feed as an indicator of the "fast food" status of a feed. All feeds contain sugars and starches, which are the main energy supply of the horse. As I said previously, the sugar and starch content than NPC (non structural carbohydrate) and is equal to the glycemic index (GI) in the human diet.
The NSC content in the range of Australian horse feed is down (Richards, N. Proc. Aust. Equine Sc. Symp., Vol 2, 2008) showed
This figure shows that commercial horse feeds contain a number of NSC concentrations. Grains also contain varying amounts of NSC, oats 46%, 57% barley, 65% corn, hay while containing as low as 7% NSC.
Feeds with higher NSC content horses are suited to the active labor with a higher energy requirement, ie increases the work load, the power supply must be increased.
For metabolically sensitive horses, such as the elderly, obese and / or laminitis horses and ponies, and some breeds, NSC request is the proposed "safe" 10-12% of dry matter. It is suggested that feeding more than 12% NSC and does not increase the horse workload is a possible reason for the metabolic disorders with over-feeding and under-work related, because the horse is not to burn the extra energy from the glucose derived from the NSC.
NSC digestion Carbohydrates comprise monosaccharides, which can only be absorbed from the intestine, such as glucose or fructose is. Therefore, all carbohydrates must be broken down to monosaccharides by various enzymes, including amylase, maltase, lactase and sucrose. Amylase is the most important enzyme for the digestion of starch. In contrast to humans, not amylase in the saliva of horses, and the horse is only small amounts of amylase from the pancreas. The horse therefore has limited capacity to digest the starch in the intestine.
Metabolic Disorders The possible effects of overfeeding NSC feeds, in combination with pulse / shock load feeding rather than slow feeding, can be described as follows.
The stomach The horse stomach is divided into two sections. The second half has a thick cell wall lining, and the front half has a thin cell wall lining. For slow feeding the feed enters the first part of the stomach and the horse is free acids in the stomach continuously in order to digest the food. With "shock" feeding (feeding only twice per day) and feeding high NSC feeds the horse triggers higher acidity in the stomach first. The pH decreases, and can cause damage to the thin cell wall lining, leading to ulcers. It is preferable to choose low NSC feeds to reduce acid release in the stomach first, and feed little and often to avoid pulse / shock loads.
Small intestine The small intestine has been developed to digest and absorb proteins, carbohydrates, oils, minerals and vitamins. The gut a maximum digestive capacity, and this capacity can be overloaded by applying too much at any one time. They contain a large population of benign micro-oganisms that live in symbiosis with the horse, that is, they live together, where the horse is the "home" and the food supply and the microbes digest the food and nutrients for the horse offers. Dysbiosis occurs when the relationship between the host and the microbes is disturbed, usually when the feed supply of the microorganisms increases and it is the rapid growth of benign organisms, the cell wall lining of the intestine can colonizing. This can cause leaky gut syndrome which allows the escape of molecules such as glucose into the bloodstream with microbial toxins and other compounds. Leaky gut syndrome is known to occur in humans, and brought in Candida albicans. It is possible that leaky gut in horses fed high NSC feeds occurs and leads to increased blood sugar. What happens to the elevated circulating levels of glucose? If the horse does not use the glucose for energy (eg exercise), the glucose to go anywhere.
The horse releases insulin in order to allow the passage of glucose into muscle cells. If there is too much glucose, is the horse to produce insulin, but the cells lose insulin sensitivy and stop transport glucose into muscle cells. The cells are insulin resistance, which are the same as Type II diabetes in humans. The blood sugar rises and insulin levels to rise. The blood sugar has to go somewhere, and some can be stored in the fat cells, causing obesity. Elevated insulin causes increased cortisol production, which in turn is involved in laminitis, Cushing's syndrome and Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS). In some breeds, the glucose is converted and stored in an unusual polysaccharide in the muscles, leading to bind-up. It is known that low NSC feeds for horses prone to tying up should be supplied. Some glucose can also combine with proteins to form a proteoglycan, which is deposited in the connective tissue in the legs, swelling and possibly stockpiling, lameness and DSLD. It is suggested that the selection of low NSC feeds that do not overload the intestines, causing abnormal growth of benign microbes (dysbiosis) may be a possible means to reduce the impact of some of the feed-metabolic disorders.
Colon The small intestine is to digest a maximum capacity of sugar and starch. Feeding can cause a lot of starch starch overload, ie the sugar and starch in the flow to the rectum. The rectum, similarly as in the rumen of cattle one population of microorganisms. When cattle are fed on grain, this causes acidosis (grain poisoning), the same effect occurs in horses. The additional sugar / starch is fermented by the microbes, and acids that are normally well absorbed in the wall of the rectum for energy. When the rate of fermentation is too high, the microorganisms produce high acids both absorbed and also to a decrease in pH (acid). These acids can cause damage to cell wall and release of microbial nutrients and toxins in the blood stream. The effect of hindgut acidosis causes laminitis is well described by Dr. Chris Pollitt in 'laminitis' Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Pub.No.01/129.
Hind good acidosis is also associated with the onset of hot and fizzy behavior in horses. Feeding low NSC feeds will reduce the flow of fermentable carbohydrates in the rectum, and therefore reducing the production of acids.
Pulse feeding Willow was a way (Richards 2010) were carried out in the feeds with different levels of NSC grazing horses fed. They included a sweet feed (33% NSC), a pelleted feed (25% NSC) and CoolStance copra meal (11% NSC). The supplements were the same feeds, morning and evening, fed in two in the nose-bags to make sure the food was eaten.
Circulating glucose was measured for six hours after pulse feeding. Although a higher feed sweet digestible NSC the NSC was much lower, which suggests that a part of the starch is passed undigested through the sweet feed in the horse.
The results showed that there was an immediate glucose spike after 'pulse' of feeding sweet feed and pelleted feed with NSC> 20%.
The CoolStance copra meal (NSC 11%) do not have the in pasture fed to an increase in blood glucose horses.
NSC is low enough? The grazing study suggests that some of the energy feeds such as copra meal pulse can be fed, and yet be digested as 'slow feed', ie they do not cause a glucose spike. These feeds are low and high NSC DE (digestible energy ) because they contain a combination of oil and digestible fiber. Several low NSC feeds by diluting the concentrate with high NSC poorly digestible, NSC fillers are created, they are low NSC and low DE, but these are generally unsuitable feeds for performance horses.
High NSC Feeds and Horse Behavior It is an age old expression that a horse "feeling his oats. 'This rule reflects a horse, fed the grain and is underworked, causing it to" hot "," excited "or" carbonated. "It is proposed that the glucose peak, and changes in insulin sensitivity from feeding high NSC feeds caused some horses to manage hyperactive and difficult. Reducing the NSC intake by feeding 'cool feeds' containing oils instead of corn or increase roughage is often recommended.
While 'slow feeding' is the natural state for the horse is feeding necessary for the modern horse, but shock / pulse feeding is unfortunately a feature of human life and working hours.
Some concentrate feeds are 'fast food' but there is no labeling requirement for NSC levels in a feed, which is unfortunate as feeding more than 12% NSC and not increase the work level, can be used for many metabolic disorders of performance horses contribute. Special care is given to the lining of the horse activity correspond to not be overfed and work under the horse a high NSC feed. Horse owners can do a lot by browsing the web, searching for keywords and links to divulge win an amazing amount of information, and traditional thought is put into question all the time.
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